The Lost World: Jurassic Kratts

Lost in the Woods

"Take a break! Five minutes!" Roland's announcement echoed through the redwood forest. Immediately, the marchers dropped where they stood, absolutely drained after marching for what seemed like hours. Thanks to the Kratt Brothers, they were able to get to this point without any further incidents from predators. As everyone made themselves comfortable on the surrounding logs in the clearing, Sarah walked past Roland to sit on a rock beyond. As she passed, he noticed the blood smeared all over her overshirt. A palm brushed against Sarah's back as she walks past, now smeared with a few drops of crimson. Setting his gun next to a nearby tree, the outdoorsman sat next to her and gestures to the bloodied shirt.
"You're injured?"
"Huh?" The hunter pointed toward her stained shoulder. "Oh no, it's from the baby. I set its broken leg. Doesn't seem to dry in this humidity."
"You've been wearing it all night?"
Sarah paused. "Yeah. Why?"
"Roland! C'mere a minute."called Ludlow, holding a satellite map.
With nothing better to do, Roland got up and went over to consult with him, taking the map away. Nick came not long after, sitting next to Sarah.
"Making friends with Ahab, huh?" The photographer then noticed Roland's gun, untended, leaning against the tree. Plucking off one of her boots, the redhead removed any gravel or debris when she presently felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Laura close by.
"Hey, Sarah. Mind if I see your jacket?" The redhead removed it without question, handing it over to the blonde ranger. She was quick to regret her decision however in a matter of seconds.
"Laura? Laura, what are you doing?!"
Laura said not a word as she used her shotel blade to tear the jacket to shreds. Switching to one of her axes, the African ranger then dug a deep depression in the ground before burying some of the pieces into the dirt.
"Are you sure you're okay?"she asked, looking Sarah in the eyes.
"Yes, I'm fine."the paleontologist replied.
"Good."
SLAP!
"Oww! What the hell was that for?!"asked the befuddled bone-digger, rubbing her sore cheek.
"Ever wondered why the Carnotaurs were after us to begin with?"came the stern reply. For emphasis, the ranger showed the redhead the crimson stains on a single ragged piece of cloth. That too was soon buried. "We can not afford to be careless out here."
Sarah heaved a sigh, visibly disappointed in herself; maybe it was a stupid move. What's more, three men had already paid the price for her recklessness, leaving her friends to deal with the brunt of her mistake. Maybe she needed to take her own advice. "You're right. And I'm sorry. Some creature expert I am."
Hearing Sarah's apology was enough for Laura's smile to return. She playfully punched the redhead's shoulder. "Happens to the best of us. Which reminds me," Here, she glanced over at the congregation of hunters and mercenaries talking among themselves, exchanging their limited supplies of food and water to one another.
Meanwhile, Martin was casually strolling through the lines when he spied Eddie hard at work on something at his lap. Scattered around him were various spare parts salvaged from wreckage of the night before. At his side, Ian assisted the injured technician by holding the contraption or by handing him necessary equipment. The InGen physicians, meanwhile, had their hands tied up with caring for other injured personnel. Drawn by his insatiable curiosity and remembering the fact that Eddie Carr had once been Aviva's mentor, the Kratt in blue went over to investigate.
"Hey, Eddie. Whatcha working on?"he asked, peering over the industrious technician's shoulder. Unaware of his audience, Eddie jolted.
"Don't sneak up on me like that! Jeez. Scared the hell outta me," Next to the field equipment expert, Malcolm chuckled, earning him a slight glare from the field equipment expert in question.
"Sorry,"the creature adventurer apologized.
Pacified, Eddie replied, "To answer your question, Martin, I'm trying to make some adjustments to this brace, so I can walk." Lifting up his injured leg, the tech expert displayed a mechanical version of the brace, made up of old parts salvaged from the wreckage. The foot was spring-loaded at the sole to absorb weight, and heavily reinforced by carefully crafted wires, bolts, and bars of aluminum. "What do ya think? Pretty cool, right? See, I packed a kilo of polymer resin for glue, but I figured that I could use it to reinforce the brace, so that it solidifies hard as steel. Should do the trick just fine."
"It's neat. But Eddie, you need to rest up in order for you to get better."said a concerned Martin. "We'll protect you."
"That's the thing. Last time, the doctors ran off when the Carnotaurs attacked. I was helpless to do anything. And you guys almost died on my account. Pass me the wrench please." This was said to Malcolm who complied. The injured tech expert heaved a sigh, tightening the nuts at knee level. "Sometimes, especially now, you gotta run before you can walk."
Seeing that Eddie was adamant about this, Martin shrugged. He knew that once an inventor set their mind to something, there was no stopping them. He glanced over at the mathematician who gave him a look that said, I tried.
"Experiment one. Guys, I need you on standby."
Ian began the countdown. "Three! Two! One!"
Slowly, tentatively, the technician rose from place on the log, carefully standing on his own two feet. Pleased with the success so far, Eddie took a few more steps. "It's working!"
Suddenly, in a cruel twist of fate, some bolts started to come loose, causing some of the iron bars to fall off, and the spring at his foot started to go haywire. Eddie struggled for balance, hopping on his good leg before ultimately falling to the ground.
"Goddammit!"cursed the technician seeing his contraption falling to pieces around him. Fortunately it was a minor setback, but it dealt the inventor a stinging blow. "Sorry about this, guys. I'm a little out of my depth here. Hope I won't be a liability."
"Bullshit."said Ian. Luckily for him, Kelly was elsewhere in the camp with Chris. "Without you, none of us would've made it this far."
"Yeah." Martin stepped in. "And Chris told me how you saved his life on the plains. For that you have my thanks."
Eddie smiled, before heaving an exasperated sigh. "Well, back to the drawing board."
As the trio attempted to quite literally pick up the pieces, they were soon plagued by a swarm of blood sucking mosquitoes buzzing around their heads. "Great place, huh?"muttered Eddie, slapping himself. "No shortage of mosquitoes. Buzz off! Usually I don't like the field very much, especially when it's infested with insects."
In that moment, the Kratt in blue snapped his fingers, his brain having hatched an idea. "I got it!"
Martin rummaged through his own backpack, scattering its contents on the forest floor. "No, that's not it. Where did I put it? It's gotta be around somewh—Here we are!" Martin had finally found what he was searching for: his personal Insecto-Copter pack. After strapping it in his back, the Kratt in blue gave a quick demonstration by hovering several feet off the ground and flying in and around the surrounding redwoods, bewildering a few of the InGen hunters. He returned to his spot to find the pair rather slack jawed. "Behold, the Insecto-Copter! Why walk when you can fly?"
Malcolm was perplexed to say the least. "Wh-Where did you? When did you have time to–to pack that–"
"What can I say? I'm the best prepared."boasted the Kratt in blue. To the technician, he said, "Here. Try this on. Aviva made this."
Eddie inspected the new gadget, clearly made to resemble the outer carapace of an insect, probably a beetle. And upon closer inspection, he could see they operated much the same way. "Given that Aviva made this, it should definitely work." Eddie conceded, having faith in his star pupil's creation. He strapped it on his back. "Let's do this."
"Experiment one." Martin snickered. "That's funny. Usually it's Chris who conducts these experiments." Once again, another field test was underway. "Ian, stand by. Ready, Eddie?"
"Ready!"
"Three! Two! One!"
Eddie closed his eyes at the last second, half expecting his face to meet the floor. But on the contrary, the rapid beating of wings could be heard as the technician couldn't feel anything under his feet. He opened his eyes to see himself hovering twelve inches off the ground.
"And we have lift off!"exclaimed Martin in excitement while the mathematician's jaw dropped in disbelief.
Eddie chuckled nervously as he ascended higher. "I– I'm flying! I'm flying!" Just then his eyes widened in dread upon one realization. "Wait a minute, how do I steer this thiiiing?!"
"It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill."mused Malcolm thoughtfully as he watched the airborne guinea pig beginning to spiral out of control. "Chaos at work."
Eddie's wild ride brought him right into the midst of camp, zooming right above the heads of discombobulated hunters who instinctively ducked for cover while the airborne technician shouted hurried apologies. From his place on his respective seat, Nick rubbed his eyes, not believing what he had just seen.
"What the hell?"
"Eddie, come back!" In that moment, Ian and Martin could be seen racing after their highflying friend.
"I've officially seen everything."said Laura after a moment of stunned silence. Sarah nodded in agreement.
"Somebody get me down from this thing!"screamed Eddie as he continued flying out of control until—
CRASH! The technician's field test was brought to an abrupt halt when he smashed into a redwood tree like a bug on a windshield. Fortunately the wings stopped beating as Eddie slid down the tree until he reached the forest floor, landing on his back with a thud!
" Ahh god..."he groaned, laying on the ground. Martin and Ian were quick to lend a hand, dragging him back onto the log. "I think I saw my life flash before my eyes."
"That was a pretty good start."said the older Kratt in encouragement, casting a wide grin and a thumbs up. "That's very good!"
"Another happy landing."commented Malcolm sardonically.
The Kratt in blue grabbed the tech expert by his shoulders. "Remember, Eddie: Think bee."
"Think bee." Eddie repeated before drawing a deep breath. "Alright. I'll give it another shot." Martin smiled.
"That's the spirit!"
In that moment, Chris and Kelly arrived on the scene. "Martin! There you are."said Chris. "Me and Kelly are gonna do some practice runs for her gymnastics class."
"Wanna come with?"asked the girl.
Martin's beaming smile said it all. "Would I ever?" The older Kratt raced off to join them, calling over his shoulder, "Later, Eddie! Ian!"
"Don't wander off, you hear?"they heard Malcolm call out. The trio laughed merrily, making their way to a nearby clearing when they froze dead in their tracks. Before them was a rather small theropod dinosaur caught in a net, struggling to break free and shrieking in distress.
"A Troodon!"cried Martin. At six feet long, the Troodon was very similar in build to the Velociraptor, including the telltale claws on their feet, but far more gracile in appearance with longer legs and more slender snout. Black stripes decorated a green body well suited for camouflage among the forest undergrowth. But the most distinctive feature was the pair of large, forward facing green eyes that spoke of an intelligent and crafty creature.
The nearby ferns rustled before giving up the burly shape of Gourmand closing in on the trapped dinosaur with a cleaver in hand. "Gotcha! I've always wanted to try some roasted raptor."he said, holding up the net as the Troodon shook with fear. "I bet you'll be lip-smacking delicious."
"What do you think you're doing, Gourmand?"said Chris sternly, marching up to the chef.
"Get outta here Green Grape! Can't a fella enjoy his lunch in peace?"snapped Gourmand, none to pleased to have the banes of his existence trying to foil his plans once again. "Today's special is roasted raptor."
"That's not a raptor! That's a Troodon!" Martin corrected.
Gourmand rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He would have been on his merry way had it not been for Kelly standing in his path.
"Hey, leave her alone! She's probably trying to find food to feed her babies or something. How would you like it if someone were to kidnap your momma? Just let her go."she pleaded. "Please?"
"No." But the chef slowly felt his resolve starting to waiver as the little brat continued staring into his soul with those big brown eyes. "Alright, fine! Have it your way!"
The illegal chef reluctantly opened the net, relinquishing his catch.
"Go, Troodon! Go! Get outta here!" Martin called out to the fleeing theropod as she scampered back to the depths of the forest.
"If you wanna eat something, try these wild gooseberries."the younger Kratt offered, placing a handful of wild berries in Gourmand's beefy hands. The endangered species chef muttered unintelligible curses as he stomped back to camp.
"Boy, he sure looks steamed."the older Kratt observed.
"Yeah, he's like a steamed vegetable only smarter."his brother quipped.
"But not by much."added the girl.
"You shouldn't show too much compassion. After all, nature is brutal." The trio turned their heads to see none other than Roland, arms folded, leaned back against a redwood. The outdoorsman had just finished his conversation with Ludlow and was now strolling around camp to maintain law and order in this unruly group. He had been there long enough to see what had just transpired. "You may think me heartless, but there's no point in being sentimental."he said, as if reading their thoughts. "I don't think she will thank you for your compassion."
A long pause.
"All those animals that you hunt. Don't you ever feel sorry for them?" Martin asked.
"Nope. No more than they would for me."came the indifferent reply.
"But animals have no idea of right and wrong,"said Chris, "only instinct and you're a human being."
"You have a choice."added his brother.
Roland's expression never wavered as he turned to walk away. "Forgive me but perhaps you don't understand the cruelty of nature."
"Perhaps not. But perhaps I am beginning to understand the kind of person you are, Roland Tembo."said Kelly darkly. Unfazed, the Great White hunter went elsewhere to patrol his camp.
Elsewhere, Dieter Stark pulled a wad of toilet paper from his pack, dropping the pack on the ground in doing so before turning to the hunter nearest him, his friend Carter who sat on a fallen log. "Carter, I'm going to the ladies' room. Wait for me here, okay?" With that he walked off the path, into the jungle. Unknown to Stark, his words fell on deaf ears as Carter was listening to music on his Walkman, the headphones blaring tinnily in his ears.
Only a few feet off the clearing, it was primary forest, the canopy so thick that almost all sunlight is obscured. Dieter clawed forward until he found a suitable spot to relieve himself. After clearing away a bunch of leaves and debris, he raised his hand to his belt buckle when suddenly, he froze, hearing a shrill warbling cry somewhere in the undergrowth. He instinctively grabbed his rifle, eyes darting in all directions.
Turning to his left, the hunter began to head in that direction, looking for whatever interrupted him. Gun in hand, he stalked under a fallen tree, senses on high alert. Upon hearing the snapping of a twig, Dieter peered through a stand of ferns, rifle held at the ready.
Suddenly a piercing shriek was heard as a pointed snout erupted out of the ferns, scaring the daylights out of the man who instinctively took aim. Upon taking a closer look, however, Dieter chuckled in relief; his 'attacker' was nothing more than a pint sized Compsognathus. The little compy was still
pretending to threaten Dieter as it raised and lowered its head in a display of aggression while snapping its jaws.
"It's not polite to sneak up on people."
The hunter pulled out his cattle prod, but the lithe little dinosaur reacted quickly by hopping back into the cover of thick foliage. Dieter made random strikes with the prod in a vain attempt at hitting the reptile, buzzing with each failed attempt. The Compsognathus managed to escape, disappearing into the forest's green depths.
  Now satisfied, the vindictive hunter retraced his steps back to the camp.
Dieter clambered through the foliage ten or twelve paces, pushes aside two large palm fronds, and steps out into more jungle. Deeply puzzled, he stopped, not sure if he went back or forward. He looked behind him, pausing to recalculate the path he took coming into the jungle, all the while muttering to himself, gesturing with his hands, retracing his steps. Adjusting his angle slightly to the right, he began to head off in that direction. But after five or six hard-fought steps, he stopped again. Still nothing but jungle.
"Hey, Carter!" Dieter called out. "Where are ya?" Only his own echo reverberated in answer. "Hey, Carter! I got turned around in here!"
Still no response.
"Shit."
**** Meanwhile...****
"Hey, Carter! Let me hear from ya!"
Not far away, in a wide forest clearing, Kelly was running some acrobatic practice drills with Martin and Chris.
Just then, the girl froze.
"You hear something?" Kelly asked.
The two creature adventurers exchanged glances before they shrugged. "Nope."
**** Back with Dieter...****
"Hey, Carter!"
By this point, Dieter's search became more frantic as he trotted along the forest understory, trying desperately to retrace his steps. He knew that he had to find the others before something else found him. And every minute he spent lost in this damned jungle drastically decreased his chances of survival, and even his rifle wouldn't save him then.
They just had to be nearby. He couldn't have wandered too far. He would be more than relieved to see somebody, anybody. Hell, he'd even be glad to see those insufferable Kratt Brothers.
   Dieter haphazardly jumped over old roots and trampled over dry twigs before coming to an area blocked by ferns.
"Hey, Cart–aghh!" He was cut off mid sentence as his careless feet had stepped on uneven ground, causing him to tumble and fall down a steep hill, his gun slipping out of his hands. Dust went flying as he continued to roll, hitting rocks and fallen logs on the way down. Reaching the bottom, his face slammed into the dirt. With the shock starting to wear off, Dieter raised his head and coughed, causing dirt to go everywhere. He clenched his teeth, eyes shut tight from the pain of the fall. Coughing and panting, he was brought back to earth by a faint rustling sound among the foliage.
  Stark was immediately on the alert as more and more rustling could be heard, as well as the pitter patter of what seemed to be hundreds of tiny feet. All coming straight towards him!
Screeches and growls could be heard as a horde of compys, over forty in number, shrieked and hurled themselves forward, covering Dieter's body, teeth and claws flashing as they each tried to grab a scrap of his flesh, tearing savagely. "Carter!" Dieter screamed and flailed, waving his arms and legs wildly, causing some of the tiny animals lose their grip and sail off, smashing into trees or stones on the ground. But dozens of others hung on, causing the man to fall over backwards, now lying on his back on the ground. Hysterical, he fought like hell to get to his feet, screaming, shaking, swatting the compys loose. One Compsognathus grabbed his bloody lip, refusing to let go. Dieter, painfully, ripped it off his face before throwing the screeching compy away like a rag doll.
He spun, and that tactic seemed to work as the compys themselves begin to panic and drop off of him as he wasted no time in rising to his feet, throwing off any varmints still clinging to him. Losing the attack, the lithe little dinosaurs turned and darted away en masse, stopping ten yards away from him along the edge of a creek. But soon hunger won over caution as the compys turned and began to regroup, facing him in a line, hopping up and down, chirping and warbling as if to taunt the man.
Happy to have the little devils off him, but unsure why they let him go, he slowly turned around and headed downstream. As he stepped in a puddle the compys dashed towards the wounded man once again. Dieter turned around. The compys stopped. As before they just stood there, hooting and warbling.
Tiring of this game, Dieter charged, shouting and waving his arms, causing the Compsognathus to scatter and flee like frightened birds. To add more distance, Dieter looked around in the stream for something, anything to throw. He picked up a handful of stones and threw them at the retreating compys who disappeared into the trees.
But the little predators have tasted blood, and like an invisible thread, it will lead them back to their quarry. To seal his fate.
But he was not going to give them that satisfaction. One thing was certain however: Dieter was definitely not out of the woods yet. "Hey, Roland!"
**** In the Forest Clearing...****
"Everyone pay close attention!"thundered the Great White hunter into the midst of the gathering. "Ms. Wilkinson has an announcement she would like to make."
After a nod of approval from Ajay, Laura stepped forward into the clearing for all to see. "If any of you wish to live, listen up!"the blonde ranger began. "Be careful that you don't get too comfortable. Remember that every living thing in that jungle can and will kill you. If they get half the chance. Do not give them that chance.
"Believe me, back in Africa, I've seen things you've only seen in your nightmares. Things you can't even imagine. Things.... you can't even see. There were things that hunt you in the night. And something screams. Then you hear them eating, and you hope to God that you're not dessert. Believe me when I say that this place makes the African savannah look like a rose garden.
"The choices you make determine whether or not you get off this island alive. Rule number one: stay in groups. Rule number two: stay within shouting distance of camp at all times. And number three: we leave no scent of any kind." Here, she glanced over to Sarah where she sat next to Ian, Kelly, and Nick. "No hair tonics, no cologne, no insect repellant, seal all food in plastic bags. No hunting, unless you plan on sharing your kill with the predators out there. Use your guns only if it's a life or death situation." A nearby hunter was just about to light a cigarette in his mouth when SLASH! the cigarette was sliced in half by a downward strike from Laura's shotel blade. "And no smoking! You can do that once we're all out of here. And you better keep up, because if a predator catches you, you're on your own."
Silence reigned long after the African ranger had finished.
"Thank you, Ms. Wilkinson. Okay, break over. Moving on!"boomed Roland. The exhausted marchers dragged themselves back to their feet and started to march again. This time however, they took even more care than before. At the rear of the group, someone tapped Carter's shoulder, still listening to his music. Brought out of his trance, he got up, hoisting his backpack, and marched away with the others. Behind him, unbeknownst to anyone, Dieter's pack was left, forgotten, on the jungle trail.
  At the rear of the caravan, Gourmand was in a rather foul mood, having been foiled by the Kratt Brothers once again. Nobody said survival was fun, but it really did work up a big appetite. "These berries ain't gonna cut it."he grumbled, discarding the edible wild berries from his hands. "I gotta have protein. I gotta have... eggs."
Just then, the chef's sensitive nose caught wind of a delectable odor somewhere in the forest. "Why speak of the devil..." Following his nose, the chef crawled on all fours, leaving no log unturned until his search brought him to a clump of ferns. Hidden among the foliage, he found what he was looking for.
"What have we here?"
He leaned over to pick it up. It was an oval shape about eight inches long, with a pebbled exterior to match the forest floor. A dinosaur egg. With his bulbous nose, he sniffed the egg, savoring the scent of the meal to come.
"Coriander. Yes, coriander will make the best seasoning. With a hint of pepper."the chef decided, and he carefully placed the egg in a satchel he wore over one shoulder. "Gourmand has something gourmet planned for you. You'll make a fantastic omelette! A real blast from the past. Hehehe."
But the nest raider was in for a nasty surprise.
"Y'oww!" Hands on his bitten buttocks, the chef spun around and came face to face with the source of his annoyance; a rather small bipedal dinosaur no more than six feet long. The creature possessed rather large eyes and a triangular bird like beak. And just like a bird, it squawked and chittered rather loudly, ringing Gourmand's eardrums.
"Outta my way ya scaly chicken! I am not in the mood!" The little dinosaur in question continued to chitter and showed no signs of letting up.
The chef's blood boiled. "Fine. Guess I'll cook you too! C'mere!" With surprising speed for his size, Gourmand incapacitated the dinosaur, using his strong arms to snap its neck. He looked around cautiously; the last thing he wanted was to alert those pesky Wild Kratts croutons and have them spoil his dinner. All clear.
The illegal chef then looked upon the dead dinosaur; he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he shoved the mother's body into the burlap sack over his shoulder. "I suppose one side dish is better than none,"
His burden firmly on his broad shoulders, Gourmand rejoined the unsuspecting group, snickering to himself.
He was eating well tonight.
**** Somewhere in the forest...****
Dieter Stark continued to wander aimlessly further into the woods, unaware that with each step, he was venturing further and further away from camp.
"Carter!"he called out. "Roland!" But the only answers he got were the warbling and chittering of the compys, following the injured man to the ends of the earth.
"Get off!"he shouted, throwing stones at his pursuers, kicking up his feet. Still they followed.
The hunter turned prey stumbled along, exhausted and bleeding. He reached the edge of a stream that ran under the foliage, and his feet slipped on the stones. He fell onto the rocky stream with a splash.
"Somebody?! Anybody, please, I'M IN HERE!!"
Behind him, the army of compys poured over the little hill he just crested. They disappeared for a moment, down an incline— and then swarm over his body! In a frenzy of splashing and screaming, Dieter managed to shake them off and crawled away through the stream. He rose to his feet but weakened from exhaustion and his injuries, he falls again, this time over a log.
Seeing their prey now within their grasp, the tenacious little scavengers swarmed the doomed man from all sides, biting and tearing. Dieter's agonized screams filled the air as his struggles grew weaker with each attack. He was going to die out here, and by these little pests no less.
Suddenly, there was a soft hooting cry of an owl in the forest. Just as quickly as it started, the attack on Dieter ceased as the entire swarm of Compsognathus darted away and disappeared into the foliage, vanishing without a trace.
This did little to reassure Stark; he knew that only one thing intimidated a predator: a bigger one.
Once again on his feet, Dieter looked frantically in every direction, hoping to see the unknown threat before it saw him. He heard the soft hooting cry once more, and this time he paused. That hadn't really sounded like an owl. And it seemed close by, in the jungle somewhere off to his right. And as he listened, he heard a crashing sound in the underbrush. Then silence. He waited, and heard it again. It sounded distinctly like something big, moving slowly through the jungle toward him!
Get out of there, his instincts were screaming. He tried to run, splashing and making a lot of noise. But try as he might, Dieter was too injured and too exhausted to go far, and he could hear the animal crashing through the foliage.
It was coming closer.
Dieter had just scrambled up the hill when he froze. The animal was already there.
The dinosaur stood twenty feet away at the edge of the tree line. Dieter didn't remember encountering one of these strange creatures on yesterday's roundup, but there was no mistaking a predator. And he would have remembered seeing a predator that stood nearly ten feet tall and sporting a pair of V-shaped crests on its head.
Summoning whatever courage he could, the hunter waved his arms and shouted in an attempt to scare the dinosaur off. "Get outta here! Get!"
The animal hissed, a brightly colored fan around its neck flared wildly, two bulbous sacs on either side of its neck inflate.  It reared its head back again–and it spat.
SPLAT! A big glob of something wet smacked into the middle of Dieter's chest.  He reaches down and touches the goo that's dribbling down his vest.
Jesus Christ! That's disgusting! he thought.
SPLAT!  Another glob of goo smacked into the fallen tree, right next to Dieter's head. A look of confusion crossed his face.  Lifting his right hand, the one that he touched the spit with, he looked at it strangely, flexing it, feeling a slight stinging sensation–
POW! This time the lugie hit Stark right smack in the face. He screamed and rubbed it away frantically. Because it hurt like hell, as if his eyes were being stabbed with spikes into the back of his skull.
  Dieter fell back, clawing at this eyes, in excruciating pain that brought him to his knees, and he splashed his face continuously with water in an attempt to wash away the burning poison. Pulling his hands away, he started to hyperventilate. He flailed his arms in front of him, blinking a mile a minute, but everything was black.
He could hear the predator coming closer, and despite the pain, he forced his eyes open and still he saw nothing but black. Slowly the realization dawned upon him.
He was blind.
And then a stiffness took over his body as Dieter felt himself unable to move, like the world's biggest muscle cramp. His heart pounded with unadulterated terror as one thing became terrifyingly clear: there was no escape.
With a spine-chilling shriek, the mystery predator made its charge.
A geyser of water splashed up in the air behind the log as Dieter and his attacker dropped out of sight and the quiet creek was filled with the doomed man's agonizing screams. Then silence as the waters turned pink and then red.
**** Several Miles Away...****
After several more hours of arduous trekking, the column of travelers had finally reached the island ridge, where they were silhouetted against the setting sun. Roland stood at the edge of the ridge. From this vantage point, one can see all the way to the far side of the island, a rim of hard black cliff, miles away. Between here and the cliffs there was nothing but gently undulating jungle.
"When did you last see him?"he asked sternly, looking Carter dead in the eyes. They were currently near the rear of the group along with Sarah, Nick, Malcolm and Ludlow.
"An hour ago. Maybe more." came the shaky reply.
"I'll take a few guys and look for him."Nick volunteered, walking up to the outdoorsman.
"Absolutely not." Roland refused. "Christ, Dieter..."he mumbled half to himself. He thought of his next course of action, looking around at the exhausted marchers, sprawled out on rocks or over the ground. "All right, we rest here. If he's alive, he'll catch up. If not.... well, that's that. And Ms. Harding. Nobody tells the little girl. Last thing we need is screaming hysterics."
"We'll go look for him."
All eyes turned to see the Kratt Brothers standing before the Great White hunter.
"You go if you like, but we're not waiting for you."he answered coldly.
"Don't worry about us, Roland."said Martin, not put off by the cold reception as he and Chris darted back into the darkness of the forest. "We'll be back faster than you can say Micropachycephalosaurus!"
"Besides, Sarah and Laura can cover for us!"they heard Chris call out.
The caravan watched the adventurous Kratt Brothers disappear out of sight into the forest's green depths.
   "The worker village is down in there, about a mile and a half northwest from the base of these cliffs."declared Ludlow, trusty map in hand.
"The climb down won't be easy."the big game hunter observed, looking at the formidable cliff formations, the result of volcanic activity and years of erosion.
"I'm sure Laura and I can find a game trail."said Sarah. "Some kind of path that goes down there."
The great white hunter shook his head. "First we eat. Sleep. Two hours. Then we hit it."
**** Surprise! Two chapters for the price of one. Now I'm no engineering expert, but I looked into brace designs and read about some ideas from the novels. And Martin's Insecto-Copter is the same one we see in the Honey Seekers episode and I thought it would be cool to see that invention in action again. I had a lot of fun writing the field tests. Put a Kratt Brother into the mix and hilarity ensues.
Now you may have noticed that I've made a few slight changes in a couple of scenes. Let's be honest: we all thought that Sarah marching across a dinosaur infested island was a recipe for disaster. For a so-called predator expert, that was a stupid idea. Fortunately that crisis is averted. Or is it? Digital cookie to whoever could figure out what dino killed Dieter Stark. (Also inspired by the novels...) It's a grim reminder that this island is no tropical getaway.
PS, everyone stay safe and watch your personal hygiene in these crazy times. It may not be man-eating dinosaurs, but it's every bit as dangerous. No storm lasts forever, and remember: we're all in this together...
See you on the Creature Trail!