Carnivores: Ultimate Hunter

Escape

Donovan ran, bursting through the foilage, not stopping. Then he saw it. It was a massive antenna like the ones on earth. It was easily ten feet wide and thirty feet tall.  He walked up to it, avoiding the enormous straw nest only eight feet away. He saw the phone connected to it. It looked like an ancient phone with two receivers. One to speak into, one to hear from. He removed it from the antenna. He heard the modem click, and then there was an uneasy voice, "Yes? Who is this?"

Donovan spoke rapidly, "This is Donovan Manchester. I'm stranded on Delphine Hills and I need to be evacuated."

The voice laughed and said, "No, that's not happening. That is a forty-million-dollar trip to just save you. Forty million dollars. You're not being rescued on Delphine Hills. That is a promise."

Donovan felt the world descend on him and he stammered, "How can I get off of this planet and back onto the hub?"

There was the sound of mouse clicks and paper being moved and the voice said, "On Nebelgum Paradise there's a pickup in 5 hours at the coordinates of 15, 25. Be there if you want to get off the planet. It's either that or you could wait for twenty-eight hours on the pick up on Manya Jungle."

Donovan sighed and said, "How the hell do I get on Nebelgum Paradise?"

The voice clicked a couple more times, "There were old service tunnels that connect the islands. After the Dilo's infested the tunnels we abandoned them. Use the tunnels to get there. It should only take an hour or two. There's an entrance on the other side of this antenna."

In a fit of anger, he thrust the phone down onto the receiver and said, "Fuck head." With that said he would enter the tunnel and slowly climb down the rungs. He was infuriated as he began to walk through the tunnel.

It was a dull gray concrete tube with small fluorescent lights humming in a painful screech. Dripping from the ceiling was small dirty drops of water. He was perturbed by this. If the tunnels were in good functionality, why were they abandoned? Especially if the trips to the planet were so expensive.

Then he got his answer.

At first, he thought the tunnel was ending, or perhaps turning, but that wasn't right. Slight gaps of light slipped through the shadows. It was easily six or seven feet tall. It had a slight crest on its head. He knew the animal from heart, Dilophosaurus. It sniffed the air and even though it was sixty feet away, Donovan froze. Its small squared jaws opened and closed, its teeth scarlet gray in the shadows.  Donovan's mind was racing. This animal wasn't a part of the dinosaurs that he was briefed on. It wasn't supposed to exist.

It slowly began to move forwards, completely silent. Donovan swallowed his fear, and saliva. He felt his hands grow clammy and sweaty as he looked at the approaching animal. Donovan's legs burned and stung, he couldn't outrun it. The Dilophosaurus moved closer still, about forty or so feet away now.

He had a handgun, and with that, he had only a few rounds. So, he slowly raised the barrel of the gun up and shot. The bullet tore through the Dilophosaur's skull, blood splattering on the wall. Donovan let go of the breath he didn't know he was holding as the sound and feel of his heart beating crescendo.

He walked through, stepping over the animal's corpse. He half expected the animal to lunge and attack him. But, the animal remained dead. As he continued to walk down the tunnel he saw more evidence of animals living there.

Small white dung on the floor, and the most startling, small nests. He was either getting lucky that there wasn't another Dilophosaurus or the tunnels were a lot more expansive. He moved quickly and methodically, ignoring the slight burning in his legs.

After a few more minutes he saw a branch in the tunnel.

<---- Tunnel Armoury & Barracks
Nebelgum Paradise ---->
                ^
Testing | facilities

Donovan turned left and continued to follow the tunnel. If he was going to get out of here he needed better weapons. After a few minutes, he came to a door and forced it open. The rusted hinges screamed and hissed. The room had eight or nine beds in it, and a small cabinet padlocked. Donovan shot the padlock and the door swung open.

It was empty. Only a box of shotgun shells, which were in good condition, he grudgingly took them. He left the room without realizing the cabinet was marked 'Personal' and another cabinet on the other side marked 'Weaponry'.

He came back to the sign, and his curiosity over took him and he went to the testing facilities.