Un-Evolved

Chapter 3

The pair walked back towards where Charles had left Alex. "How is he?" Tanner asked. "Do you think he'll be okay?" "I don't know," Charles replied. "If we can get him to the medical team within the next two or three days, he'll probably be fine, but any longer and his arm'll become gangrenous." They continued walking. They came to where Alex was, and approached him. Tanner knelt down to examine the wounds. "How are you holding up Alex?" he asked. Alex opened his eyes a little, and groaned quietly. He then closed his eyes again.

Tanner and Charles sat on the ground across from each other. "What do we do now?" Tanner asked. "Well, we head back to the Jeep and gather supplies. Then we head south towards base camp. If we're lucky, we'll be back by dinnertime." "If they're serving corndogs again, then I'll go that way instead." Tanner said jokingly, and pointing northward. Charles snickered.

"How are we going to move Alex?" Tanner asked. Charles, growing tired of repetitive questions, replied, "You know what? We'll burn that bridge when we get there." "That's not... Nevermind." Tanner replied.

"For now, you head to the Jeep and collect all of the supplies that are left. I'll stay and watch Alex," Charles suggested. "You should come, we'll have a lot to carry." Tanner replied. "But what if the thing comes back?" Charles argued. "You can just make multiple trips." "Fine." Tanner said, and he began toward the where he had left the Jeep.

-

After the third trip, Tanner had retrieved everything that was left in the Jeep. They had three small backpacks, two flashlights, a first aid kit, a package of expired protein bars, three quarts of water, a package of beef jerky, Charles' phone, and Alex' camera. In the bags, they had two sleeping bags and a blanket, two phone charging battery packs, spare batteries, a compass, and a pillow. There was also a few animal species classification books. Tanner also managed to take the cloth/plastic top off of the Jeep, to use as a gurney if needed.

Charles took the first aid kit, and bandaged up Alex' arm. Charles and Tanner then began to ration the food and water. Suspecting that they would only be out for a few hours to a day, they decided not to spread it out for a long period of time.

When Alex began to stir, he clutched his injured arm, and groaned. Tanner ran up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Charles returned to the medical kit, and retrieved some painkillers. "Take these mate," Charles said, holding out the pills, "trust me, you'll feel better." Alex reluctantly reached out his hand and grabbed the pills, and popped them into his mouth. Tanner handed him a water bottle.

Tanner and Charles explained to Alex the situation. They told him that he had lost a lot of blood, and that they would need him to walk back with them if he could. Alex agreed. The two began to pack up the supplies. Tanner took two of the backpacks, while Charles took one, as well as the first aid kit and the Jeep cover draped over his shoulder. They helped Alex to his feet, and he stumbled, so Charles helped him walk, while Tanner followed them from behind. "Do me a favor mate." Charles said to Alex. "What's that?" "Stop using the spray on deodorant, you're literally killing me with Axe. Tanner came up and offered to support Alex instead. Charles walked ahead, while Tanner supported Alex for the rest of the trip.

-

Geoff's phone rang in his pocket. He stood from his chair, and took of the wet gloves on his hands, which he wore because he was dissecting a dead bird that was found outside of the camp. "Hello, this is Geoff," he said into the phone. "Geoff, this is Mr. Williamson." The man said in a thick Australian accent. "Mr. Will, what a pleasant surprise!" Geoff replied.

"I just wanted to call and check on our little project. The one involving the large cast that one of your researchers found."

"Yes, well I have our top researchers on top of things."

"Good. Cancel the research."

"What?"

"Cancel the research. Call the researchers back."

"Why? Did something com-"

"YES SOMETHING CAME UP! The d*** Government of the Congo found out that we found something and wants us to shut it up!

"What for?"

"Don't tell anyone this, but they revealed some top secret stuff to me, and are counting on discretion.

"What is it?"

"You may want to sit down for this Geoff."

-

"So," Tanner said, "What do you think that thing really is?" "I don't know." Charles replied, flipping through one of the animal books on lizards. As they walked, Charles bag was unzipped, and some books dangled from the opening. Suddenly, one of the books fell. Tanner stopped to pick it up. Looking at the cover, it had a picture of a familiar array of dinosaurs. Tanner looked at it for a moment, considering it. Then it dawned on him. He quickly flipped through the book as they walked. "What is it?" Charles asked. "Hold on." He replied. He skimmed through the Triassic period, Jurassic period, and finally the Cretaceous period. He stopped on a page labeled: "Spinosauridae."

"Here it is!" Tanner shouted. Charles stopped and went to look at the book. They looked across the pages covered with pictures and detailed descriptions of each dinosaur. "Wait, you're not telling me that that thing is a dinosaur. You must be crazy!" Charles criticized. He continued to read anyway.

The book read:

o Baryonyx: This theropod dinosaur lived in the early Cretaceous period, in what is now the UK and the Iberian Peninsula. Its name means "Heavy Claw" due to its oversized claw on the first finger. This fish eater typically grew up to 33 feet in length, and up to 2 tons in weight.

"Do you think it's a baryonyx?" Charles asked. "I don't know," said Tanner

o Irritator: The Irritator was a slightly smaller spinosaurid that only grew to around 26 feet and weighed only 1 ton. Its name comes from the scientists frustration of restoring the creatures skull when it was illegally lengthened by fossil dealers. The creature fed on mostly fish and other aquatic/semi-aquatic creatures in modern day Brazil."

"Could it be an Irritator?" Charles pestered. "No, I think it's bigger."

o Suchomimus: The second largest of the spinosaurids, the suchomimus grew up to 30 feet in length and almost 3 tons in mass. Its name was derived from Greek, and means "Crocodile Mimic." This species was discovered in the country of Niger, in Africa. It is believed to have eaten mostly fish, but could have gone after larger prey.

"Such-o-mimus... is that what it is?" Charles asked. Tanner just gave him a look. "How could it have survived though? Wouldn't it have died after billions of years or so?" "It's millions, Charles," Tanner replied, "at least according to scientists." "Does it really matter? Either way, it should be dead."

As if on cue, the trio heard a familiar roar in the distance. They immediately darted deeper into the jungle.