The Lost World: Jurassic Kratts

The Killing Fields

The terrified hunters emerged from the gully at the edge of the jungle.  Ahead of them, there was a large expanse of open plain covered by a sea of long elephant grass. Ajay, running along with them, stopped abruptly at the edge of the grass, shouting to the others. "Don't go into the long grass!"
Blinded by the frenzy of fear, they ignored him, pressing forward. Torn between a sense of responsibility and his better judgement, Ajay opted for the former and raced into the tall grasses after the others, waving his arms. "Not into the long grass!"
Further afield, the group of mercenaries waded into the middle of the long grass, reaching up to their chests. One of them stopped and turned, looking back at the treeline from whence they had come. The tyrannosaurs were nowhere to be seen. Nor could their thundering roars be heard in the distance.
"They gave up!"shouted one hunter. "They're not chasing us!" Cheers and sighs of relief soon followed.
In the distance, Ajay's voice could be heard, faintly calling to them to come back. But in the giddiness of their escape, they paid it no mind. They continued plowing into the high grass, unaware they were being watched. On all sides of the unsuspecting traveling party, the grass rippled as slender shapes moved toward them, undetected, inexorable as torpedoes. And these torpedoes were on target. One hunter is suddenly dragged down, yanked silently below the surface of the tall grass. In his place, a long, lizard-like tail shot up as the animal dropped its head to make the kill. Behind him, two more hunters were taken down, and two more sinewy tails rose up in their place. Alerted by the rustling in the foliage behind him, one mercenary turned back. His face turned white with horror as behind him, a snarling Velociraptor sprang out of cover.
  In the blink of an eye, the raptor slammed into the body of its intended prey, finishing him off in a flurry of fangs and claws. A feeding frenzy ensued. Realizing the danger they were in, the hunters ran in all directions, but were pulled down, vanishing into the thrashing long grass one by one. Another predator attacked from the right, leaping high into the air, past the full moon, slamming into the chest of more human prey, taking him down, into the green inferno. Triggered by the smell of blood, the raptors were now killing at will, altogether foregoing stealth as the fields were filled with their spine-chilling screams.
Behind them, Ajay's face fell, defeated. Looking around, the tracker realized he too was now stranded in the middle of the long grass, at the mercy of unseen killers. The screams of the fallen hunters and the metallic stench of death were everywhere. Around him, four torpedo trails head straight for him. Ajay simply closed his eyes, awaiting the inevitable.
  He didn't have long to wait.
Heart racing, Gourmand plowed his way through the tall grass in the way taken by the others. The chef was already alerted by the smell and noise of the carnage beyond. Armed with his spare dough blaster, he proceeded with caution, senses on high alert. Barely a few paces into the grass, he froze upon hearing an ever so slight disturbance behind him. Several more rustles could be heard in the surrounding underbrush, and the fry cook's abnormally large nose detected a musky odor mixed with the metallic essence of blood.
   "If it's trouble you varmints want, I'll give it to ya!"
With nowhere to escape, Gourmand stood his ground, dough blaster held in readiness for any foe lurking in the tall grass. "Afraid to face me?"he challenged into the darkness. "Show yourself!"
A moment of deadly silence.... before a rustle was heard among the tall grass before him. In that instant, the illegal chef opened fire. Gourmand yelled wildly as he unleashed hell upon his assailants, but the hidden raptors were clever enough to anticipate the chef's attack and kept well out of range, evading the blasts.
Gourmand continued to fire until– CLICK! CLICK!
His ammunition gone, the chef discarded his blaster in favor of a kitchen knife that glimmered in the moonlight.
"C'mon out!"
Gourmand didn't have long to wait. With a bloodcurdling scream, a Velociraptor erupted out of the grass, pouncing straight for him! The sudden attack caught the chef off guard as they tumbled and wrestled on the ground in a flurry of teeth, blades and claws.
"I ain't about to be your supper tonight!"
Bleeding from a number of cuts, his clothing and apron torn to shreds, the chef grappled with the dinosaur from behind before using his knife to slit the beast's throat.
His attacker bled to death at his feet.
Another raptor came from behind in an attempt to finish him off. "Oh no you don't!" Fueled by raging levels of adrenaline, Gourmand tackled his assailant in a headlock while the dinosaur's jaws snapped repeatedly as it frantically struggled to break free.
SNAP! One twist of the fry cook's muscular arms broke the Velociraptor's neck.
The rest of the pack began to close in from the shadows, eyes glowing, flashing their fangs. Seeing the fight in this foe, however, had made the predators more cautious.
"C'mon! Come an' get some!"the illegal chef challenged, a wild look in his eyes. "Who's next?"
Suddenly, a blinding white light surrounded the chef, frightening the raptors away. It has so bright that he had to use his hand to shield his eyes.
"What the–?" The next thing Gourmand knew, he was lifted into the air before disappearing into the sky's inky blackness.
At the edge of the forest, Martin Rex emerged from the shadows, with Chris and the rest of the gang riding on his back while Eddie hovered overhead. Heedless of the danger within, he plunged forward. The tall grasses came up to his ankles as he trudged on with little difficulty, determined to get himself and his team to safety. Suddenly he halted, his sensitive nostrils catching whiff of something hidden in the undergrowth.
"Why'd we stop?" Malcolm demanded as the blue tyrannosaur brought his snout to the ground. He promptly raised his head again, with something clenched in his teeth.
Nick recognized the item Martin held. "I think it's Ajay's bag." With a sideways jerk of his head, the blue theropod tossed the bag into the tech expert's grasp. That was when they heard the screams.
Far beyond the shelter of the trees, came the bloodcurdling screams of the doomed mercenaries fallen somewhere in that green inferno, followed by the hellish shrieks of their tormentors. For the longest time, no one dared to move. Only the distant screams broke the silent spell.
The Kratt Brothers knew those eerie calls. "Velociraptors."
"Are–are they part of Tiger Claw's pack?"Eddie asked hopefully.
Sarah shook her head. "No. We're far beyond the borders of their territory."
Chris replied, saying what they all dreaded. "This isn't Tiger Claw's pack. They could be dangerous."
"Wait. I smell something." Martin growled, baring his fangs a little.
"Uhh guys? I see them."said Eddie fearfully, seeing the hidden Velociraptors from his vantage point as they prowled within the tall grass. Creeping towards them! It wasn't long before they could hear the rustling in the foliage, as well as the chittering and silent growls of the predators, waiting for their chance to strike. And if they stayed silent long enough, they would have also heard the quiet click of the alpha's killing claws as he readied himself for the pounce.
"Martin. Go. As fast as you can." Malcolm urged, barely moving a muscle.
"Go."
With a sudden burst of speed, Martin took off! Behind them, the grasses parted and a Velociraptor leaped forward, snarling, its jaws stained red with blood. Having tasted blood, the raptors had gotten bolder, and seeing the strange Tyrannosaurus on the run only encouraged them. This was their territory and they had their giant enemy severely outnumbered. And their quarry seemed to know it. They began to give chase.
  Martin plowed ahead, the tall grass slapping at his feet while Eddie hovered overhead. Several more raptors joined the chase, eyes glowing in the darkness, jaws salivating with the prospect of slaughter.
One raptor leaped on the tyrannosaur's right flank before inflicting a savage bite, causing Martin Rex to roar in pain. Another one jumped from the left side, landing on the blue theropod's back, snapping its teeth at the terrified humans before being whacked away by Laura's staff. The predator's surprise attack caused Kelly to jump back in fright, falling dangerously close to the sea of raptor infested grass.
"Kelly!"cried Malcolm, instinctively grabbing his daughter's hand. This was every parent's worst nightmare.
Below the dangling girl, other raptors snapped at her feet should she fall into their midst, causing her to scream in fright with each attempt on her life.
"I got you Kelly! Keep your eyes on me!" The mathematician was able to pull her up to safely just as one of the vicious predators jumped on the T-rex's right side, its teeth narrowly missing Kelly by mere inches. Instead of the girl's soft flesh, the raptor's jaws were greeted by a well placed kick from Nick's boot, causing it to tumble into the grass.
"Sorry!"yelled Chris apologetically as Martin ran on without a backwards glance.
By now, the entire pack had joined the chase, the presence of the humans, their most hated enemies, triggering them into a frenzy; some of them snapping at Martin's heels, while others pounced in attempts at catching the humans on his back. But each attack was thwarted by the efforts made by the frightened two-legged invaders to repel them, or by the blue tyrannosaur swinging his huge head and tail to deflect any frontal assault. But they just kept on coming.
"Martin, look out!"
Alerted by the technician's warning, Martin's eyes flew wide open as he saw something far ahead that forced him to come to a screeching halt. Everyone clung on for dear life as the blue Rex dug his clawed feet firmly to the ground as he tried to stop himself from falling over the edge; down below was a two hundred-foot drop into a dark chasm shrouded in shadow and fog. There was nowhere to run, and the rustling in the tall grass told them that the raptors were closing in. Turning around, they could see that the vicious carnivores had already formed a half circle to cut off any chances of escape.
Raptors behind and a sudden drop ahead, the team knew that there was no alternative than to face the pack. Before them, the raptors readied themselves for a massacre; the humans were easy prey enough, but the big-jawed monsters didn't go down so easily. Taking on one of these beasts head on sometimes meant sacrificing the lives of several of their members. No matter, they would defend their turf and their young at any cost.
A number of the pack advanced forward only to be repelled back by a loud roar from Martin Rex. Others were warded off by snapping jaws.
"There's too many of them!"cried the Kratt in green. "We can't fight them all."
"What are we gonna do?"asked Eddie fearfully.
"By the looks of things, I'd say our options are either A: jump off the cliff, or B: resign ourselves to becoming mincemeat."said Malcolm gloomily.
"I don't like either of those options."replied Kelly, clinging to her father.
"Then we'll fall fighting."Laura retorted defiantly, already brandishing her sword.
"What about option C?"asked Sarah.
Chris raised an eyebrow. "Option C?"
"I hate to say it, but I uhh... I see no version of this where we make it out of here alive,"stated the mathematician.
"What do you suggest?"inquired Chris addressing the bone digger, now open to suggestions.
After finding what she was looking for, Sarah blew the raptor whistle, producing an eerie high-pitched call that seemed to echo across the silent plains. In that moment the raptors froze, all thoughts of the kill momentarily forgotten.
"They–they've stopped."Malcolm observed in visible astonishment.
"For now."the Kratt in green replied. They weren't out of the woods yet.
"Eddie, see if you can lower everyone down that ravine."Sarah demanded, never taking her eyes off of the pack. Especially not giving any attention to the dizzying heights behind her. "Martin, Chris and I will buy you some time."
"You got it,"he replied.
"Kelly, you go first." Malcolm insisted, urging the girl into the technician's waiting arms.
The girl complied. "Okay." After entrusting her to Eddie's care, the anxious father watched as his daughter slowly faded into the cover of the fog, relieved for the moment that she was out of harm's way. One Velociraptor took notice of this and tried to leap in to stop them only to be stopped in turn by a warning growl from Martin.
  After the longest half minute of his life, the tech expert reappeared.
"She's okay. She's waiting down below."he said, answering the mathematician's unspoken question. "Alrighty. Who's next?"
While Eddie was busy lowering Nick and Ian into the canyon, Chris followed the paleontologist's lead and pulled out the Raptor Decoder while Martin and Laura stood in readiness, fangs and blades unsheathed should things take a turn for the worse.
"Greetings, raptor pack! We come in peace."he greeted with a nervous smile, slowly waving his arms to keep the attention off of his retreating friends. With Tiger Claw's pack, they had at least two weeks of familiarizing themselves with each individual and gaining their trust. But here, they were treading unknown waters; there was absolutely no way of knowing what these raptors would do. Once he finished speaking, the device gave off the appropriate translation in Raptorese.
  The alpha male cocked his head in surprise. All around him the rest of his pack chittered and shrieked in visible confusion. How could these humans speak in their language?
Clearing his throat, the younger Kratt continued. "Forgive us for our untimely intrusion, we were only passing through." The Raptor Decoder clicked and chittered in the submissive tone of a raptor that had unknowingly stepped past the proper boundaries and sought out forgiveness.
For the longest time, the dominant raptor stood silently, cold calculating eyes gazing at these strange humans, as well as the beast they were riding, which now stood docilely. This had to be some kind of trick. Tapping his toe claws on the ground, tail sweeping slowly, he regarded them with suspicion. Finally, with his head held high, he spoke.
"What're they saying?"asked the African ranger once the dinosaur had finished, never once taking her eyes off of him.
"They're saying that we have no business being on their territory."the younger Kratt translated. "We should leave unless we want to end up like..." Chris gulped, "like those trespassers they've killed." Sarah and Laura exchanged fearful glances.
"You don't have to tell us twice."said the blue tyrannosaur. "We'll just be on our merry– waaaaaaaaaay!"
"Guys!"cried Eddie above them.
Martin had only moved one step before he felt the ground give way beneath his feet, caving in with a rumbling shudder. He hardly had any time to struggle as the forces of gravity pulled him over the edge of the cliff, along with his passengers. The canyon walls echoed with their screams as they fell into the black abyss below.