I Used To Like Dinosaurs

Chapter Four: In Which Eric Finds Uses For T.rex Pee

                       Eric stood up cautiously, still staring at the ceiling. What was on the roof? His questions were answered when a high pitched trill pierced the air. The same trill that had haunted his nightmares that visited him every night on this godforsaken island. Compys. Oh no. Oh no oh  no no no . Memories of Bens agonized final moments began replaying themselves in his head.

                       That couldn't happen to him. He couldn't be torn apart like that. He couldn't. He started hyperventilating, chest rising and falling with uneven gasps. The lantern that had seemed so warm a minute ago now cast ominous shadows on the wall. Calm down, he told himself. Breathe. Think logically. There's no way they can get in here with the hatch closed. The footsteps continued, and Eric didn't sleep the rest of the night.

                      Eric made one more mark on the wall with the claw. The footsteps and trills had gone away after what he supposed were a few hours, but Eric still sat huddled against the wall, breathing ragged breaths. After what happened to Ben, compys scared him more than the T.rex did. He hoped to never see one of those tiny monsters again.

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                         There were now fifteen marks on the wall instead of nine. Eric had seen the T.rex again, from a distance, and had made sure to stay out of its way. The rain collecting idea worked. Every time it rained, he put out all the flasks, canteens, and jars the compound had to offer. It had rained the night before. He stepped out of the truck, ready to gather up all the containers. A trill sounded behind him, between him and the hatch. The sound stopped him in his tracks.

                            Eric slowly turned around. A Procompsognathus stood there. It chirped innocently. His heart began to pound, and he gasped for breath. It lifted it's head and chirped again. And again. Almost like - it was calling for the others that were undoubtedly around somewhere. Eric was turned around, so he didn't notice the bushes beginning to rustle at his back. He did, however, notice after he felt a small bite on his back.

                            Eric yelled and started swatting the biting, clinging monsters. But it seemed that for every one he swept off, ten more jumped to take its place. Eric scrambled away, tripping backwards through the hatch and cracking his head against the metal floor of the truck. He grunted in pain. He quickly stood up and closed the hatch, but there was still about seven or eight creatures in the truck with him. Then gathered together in the rear of the truck, hissing and chattering at him. He grabbed Bens knife from where he'd last dropped it and brandished it in front of himself. One of the compys lunged at him and he slashed its neck open with the pocketknife. It fell down dead. The other things snarled and backed off warily.

                           Eric's brain was whirling madly, trying to find a way out of this awful situation. Another one lunged at him, and he tripped backwards and fell on his butt. He scrabbled in the dust, searching for something, anything to use against the monsters. His fingers closed around the bottle of T.rex urine. He honestly had no idea why he'd kept it, but maybe he could throw it at them or something. As he picked it up, the lid fell off. Eric's nose wrinkled up in distaste. Gosh, that stuff smelled horrible!

                           Suddenly the compys hissed in unison and backed away. Eric frowned in confusion. What was with them? He looked down at the vial in his hand, then at the compys. An idea began to form in his mind. He held the bottle out in front of himself, and began to wave it slowly from side to side. The creatures began to scramble over each other in an effort to get away. Eric grinned, despite himself. The compys must smell T.rex, and it was freaking them out being so close to what they thought was one.