Hunger (Old)

Hunger | Chapter Three | A Little Tree Eater

~Thank you so much for including my art in your story, Levi Dougan! My good friend and amazing co-writer! And for a shameless plug, if y'all want to see my art then follow my Instagram - artwithdylan !~

All I saw was red, my vision was hazy and at first I didn't want to stand up, but I knew I had to. That behemoth tyrannosaur whispered his name in my ear and I could still hear it, clear as day.

Hemlock, a dark, corrupt, tick-ridden, monstrosity. I bit my own tongue so I wouldn't roar and make my neck wounds bleed again.

I had one mission, and that was to find the gate. Along the western wing was my destination, yet, I was at least two miles away.

I began to run, hearing echoes of large herbivores oddly close to me, they could probably see the gate from way up there.

On my trek I passed a huge parasaurolophus herd, their bellows reached each side of our huge enclosure. The plains belonged to the gallimimus, I hadn't gone through that but I knew I was close once I heard their squawks.

Soon I was only yards away, and my way was blocked by two triceratops and their hatchling.

I snarled to them and they threatened me with their huge horns, you could see it in their eyes that they were hellbent on escaping. I let them, I wasn't going to deal with that.

The hatchling stared at me, it's yellow eyes were captivating, but I had a pack to find. I growled at it and it didn't move. It just stared deep into my soul.

Like it knew something, something I didn't. I raced away from the creature that ran to join its parents quickly after.

The sight before my eyes was terrifying, it struck my very being and I could feel my heart harden. Something cold slithered in my veins. Something dark.

Around me now we're my friends. I walked over to Arrow, his neck was barely holding on to the rest of his body, not even the bone was attached and his back was arched backward. Lily, his mate, had a crushed face, the only way you could even recognize her was her blood stained fur pattering.

Nettle, the little rex hatchling was thrown against the wall, she had stopped squirming and lay there dead, spine crushed. Fern, her brother, was impaled through the chest by a twisting branch, it looked like he had tried to run away with it stabbing its way into his heart. He didn't get far.

My eyes seemed static, the world was empty, next, was Birch. Her leg was twisted violently, so that her toe claws angled backward and her hip was broken. Her ribs had been bitten into and it seemed a vital organ had been ruptured, the blood implied that.

I dreaded this, Spruce. He laid there with a bite mark in his throat, his tail was crooked and somewhat sinking into the mud as it began to rain lightly. A storm was approaching.

As I walked up to him he spoke, his tone broken and there was a prominent lisp, his jaw lay limp to one side, broken.

"You were right, Reed," He told me, "As soon as the gates opened we were blinded by freedom, we forgot everything." You could see the pain in his eyes.

"You've only been with us for two days, yet, once I saw you, I saw myself." He coughed and sputtered up blood. His voice became a whisper. "You were.. a so-" his eyes, blue like the ocean in dusk, seemed to lose their characteristics, every muscle that once writhed had now relaxed. He was still.

I laid my forehead on his bleeding neck, "Son." I finished for him. My voice was devoid of emotion. I got up, as a rex I couldn't cry, but if I were able to I would lay myself down and do so.
I saw the humans cry once or twice, they usually were looking at their tiny, glowing, rectangles and they drunk from a big bottle of glass. Humans were special no doubt.

I saw the huge necks of titanosaurus above the trees of this new world outside of the cage, they slowly faded into the gray fog. Thunder rolled and a strike of lightning struck a tree in the far distance.

This all didn't feel real, I ran but I didn't feel as if I was running, it wasn't possible. This was a dream, it had to be. That massacre wasn't real.

Deep down I knew it was, I had to have been hours away from my past home I was so used to. There was a giant tree, it didn't provide much cover from the rain but I sat under it anyway, It was a Spruce tree. I saw the nettles around me and remembered everyone, everyone I had grown used to and everyone I had thought I was going to live with for years.

A toot of sorts, like that of a baby elephant, sounded my way. I looked up to see an injured triceratops fall over, it's mate was nowhere to be seen and it had a baby in tow. That baby was the same one I saw stare at me at the gate. It nudged its mother and she didn't move. My heart melted from its cold slumber, the blood flowing through my veins felt warm for the first time all day.

That little trike was in the same boat as I was. I reached down in the back of my throat and released a low, guttural sound. One that was inviting. It looked to me in terror until it recognized my hazel eyes. It whined, a mixture between something happy to see me and something so very sad. Again, my heart felt warm.

The little guy walked up to me, pain in his tiny eyes, yet there was also a comfort there as he snuggled up to my side and I wrapped my tail around his cold body. As he slept I watched as the ground rumbled underneath me. Little bits of rock trembled up and down. Sauropods of huge proportions, probably brachiosaurus, walked by. The triceratops hatchling slept through it all.

Behind the brachiosaurus there was one dinosaur I did not want to see. The murderous Hemlock. He sniffed at the mother triceratops, by now the baby by my side was awake. I flicked my tail over his eyes and turned my head to face him. I was essentially balled up. I heard the crunching of bone behind me which made me cringe.

"What's wrong?" The three horned hatchling asked in his rather calming accent I hadn't heard before. "Nothing," I told him, "just make sure to whisper so we don't get caught." I tried to smile the best I could.

"You're really a horrible liar, but ok." He chuckled to himself. "What is your name? And why are you so nice to me?" The triceratops was smarter than I thought, or maybe I was just bad at lying.

"Reed, that's my name that I gave myself at least, I don't know if I ever had parents, I was created rather than birthed." I told him. "Oh, wow." He replied to me. "Yeah," I said, "and I'm so nice to you because you're in the same situation I'm in, your parents died by the jaws of that abomination of a tyrannosaur. And my friends were killed by him too."

His eyes shone sincerity, "I'm sorry." He told me and yawned. "Get some more rest," I replied to him, "we both need it after today." He closed his eyes and almost instantly his breathing slowed down to a relaxed state.

I looked over to the body and it was mangled, chewed up. Hemlock was nowhere to be seen. A car with bright suns for eyes raced by with humans in it and I quickly balled up again. I kept the baby triceratops warm with my fur and safe with my body.

"Goodnight brother." He told me. I growled and said "Don't call me that." He laughed sleepily and drifted off. I was not far behind him at this point.

~What is this? A chapter on Wednesday?? YES IT IS! Gonna update my posting times to Wednesdays and Sunday's!!~