Welcome To Jurassic Hell

Ch. 60: You're Gonna Need a Bigger Tranq

Well, it certainly didn't take very long to find them.

Or one of them, really.

Almost right after Ben's small speech, a small flash of movement caught my eye coming from the tree above, right where my brother was standing holding the gun. My heart stuttered upon seeing the Scorpios hovering right above him, eyes glaring down with a predatorial watch. Nobody else seemed to notice, as they began talking about figuring out a plan to find the rexes.

To me it was quite easy.

The monster didn't seem ready to attack quite yet, but I could see in the way it slowly neared Ben that it was preparing to. There was only mere seconds before it would jump him, I knew, and I couldn't let that happen.

Not wanting to alert the Scorpios that I could see it, I cautiously took one step forward. Again, nobody noticed anything. Ben was currently still in place arguing with Kenji about something I couldn't care less about over the danger right over his head.

I got just close enough to where the Scorpios still hadn't noticed my awareness. It crawled another centimeter down or so, coming just above everyone's line of sight — so, if they were to look up even just slightly, they'd probably see it.

And I could tell it knew that by how slow and careful it was being. It's tail was wrapped ever so slightly around one of the branches of the tree, stabilizing it while it's claws were sunk into the bark enough to stay on tree, but not enough to make any noise. It's scales and quills were forcefully pushed down, making me realize it was trying to stay camouflaged, like a tiger in the tall yellow grass.

The monster's jaws were flared just a bit. It's tongue was positioned to keep any spit from coming out and ruining its hiding spot.

The fact that it was so intelligent about even the smallest things was almost scarier than the fact that it was targeting Ben.

Almost.

I was close to acting quick and screaming to warn everyone.

But instincts reminded me to keep cautious.

And it was a good idea, as I finally noticed as it slowly began to peel its sharp fingernails out of the skin of the bark, and opening to create a wide spider-like shape, while it's feet and legs kept it hanging still. It's mouth opened wider, and it's eyes flashed with a show of hunger and readiness.

It was going to jump in just a moment.

In five...

Four...

Three...

Two...

One...

Just as it let out a wretched screech, I leapt forward, just a half second before it itself pushed off from the tree.

"Ben!" I screamed as I pushed him, launching him backward before he could so much as shout in surprise at the abrupt movement. I barely managed to also pass the dinosaur's landing, falling flat on my stomach just a few inches behind it, while Ben rolled forward a few extra feet.

Everyone started screaming, instincts quick to check in.

The others ran back, though didn't immediately started to bolt away from the danger. Darius fell back onto his ass and crawled away fearfully when the dinosaur's eyes fell on him, it's shock of failing to catch its prey quickly wearing off.

I didn't hesitate, didn't even check to see if Ben was okay.

I grabbed by bow (staff? Whatever it was now) and smacked its hind leg just before it could attack Dar. It instantly span around to look at me, mouth flaring open to reveal its harp, menacing teeth, and gross spit flying from it. I noticed right away that this was the new copy of the Scorpios — it didn't have an arrow or hole in its tongue, nor did it anywhere else in its body.