Ice Cave by Toby J Nichols

Author:Toby J Nichols [Nichols, Toby J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severed Press
Published: 2020-01-20T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

The leaves no longer brushed his legs, and the raptors weren’t bothering about remaining hidden. They were slick, dark shadows that stalked them. Brian was breathing hard as they reached the edge of the tree line. Saxon had made his plan, and it involved getting up a tree and telling Brian to be the hero.

But he hesitated when he saw where they were going.

What he’d thought were fallen trees and branches from a distance weren’t. He was ten meters away and saw it was a tangle of branches and bones that had never had the chance to be bleached. He was staring at a primitive fence. A corral.

They weren’t just being herded—they were being penned.

“Oh shit.” The words were little more than a sigh as he tried to catch his breath. The sauropods on the other side looked over the fence and bellowed. A family of sauropods…a breeding pair.

Saxon glanced at Brian. The raptors had culled Viv but not Carmel for a reason. They knew who the couple was. That meant he was expendable. His gaze slid to the raptors. They bounced from foot to foot like dogs waiting for the game to begin. Their large eyes watched him and Brian, and their nostrils flared. They clicked and chirped to each other.

“Viv!” Brian shouted, stepping next to Saxon.

Saxon put a hand on him. “Wait a moment.”

“Viv, we’re here. Give us a sign if you can.”

“If we run out there, they’ll chase us. They want us to run.” Not a total lie but he didn’t see any reason to let Brian know what he was thinking. He might be wrong.

He hoped he was wrong.

It wasn’t like there was a body of research he could draw on and as far as he knew, no other predator penned their prey. Farmed their prey. He swallowed and swallowed again, his mouth dry.

Then he pulled out what was left of his chocolate bar, took a bite, and then tossed it toward the closest raptor. They weren’t stupid, and he’d just proven it was edible.

“I’m scouting.” Then he was up the nearest tree, pulling his legs up as fast as he could. A raptor snapped at his heels but missed.

“You lazy shit,” Brian cursed him, but Saxon didn’t care.

He climbed higher until he could see through the leaves. Viv was standing. “She’s alive.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

And the raptors hadn’t attacked Brian, confirming his suspicions. His odds of survival dropped to something much closer to zero. Although, given the choice between being farmed by the local raptors and death, it wasn’t much of a choice.

While up the tree, he went through his bag, looking for anything that might be useful. He had more food, but he didn’t want to waste it…on the other hand, he didn’t know why he was saving it. He shoved the small knife into his pocket. He had the pick and a torch which could be a club…he looked at the luminous blue twilight.

It was softly lit to him, but to the raptors, this was full daylight.

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