dinosaur island part 2
Dinosaur island part 2
All four of the soldiers spun around, dropping into crouches and raising their guns to shoulder-height, looking straight down their sights at the heavy steel door.
Dave flipped his eyepiece down, quickly selecting the thermal-vision, which would be able to distinguish shapes beyond the steel door.
He got nothing, which meant that whoever had spoken was well behind the door or that it was a recording.
Dave slung his Dragunov and drew his Vle, flipping hie eyepiece back into the standby position. To his surprise, he saw that the raptor was not dead, as he had initially supposed. It was very obviously alive, as it was now standing at the door, peering intently at them through the thick iron bars, eyes glistening with intelligence.
Dave's eyes grew wide. There was someone trapped in there with it!
He made quick motions with his hands, ordering that two female team members to take up flanking positions on each side of the door, and for Carson to rig the door with explosives.
He pointed at the new member of the squad, realising that he didn't know her name. He motioned for her weapon, and she threw it to him. He slung his dragunov and caught the Usas-12 in one easy movement, hefting it and testing its weight, checking how many rounds were left in the barrel.
Carson finished placing the c-6, a new version of the popular c-4. C-6 was modified to destroy heavy, dense objects, and was very concentrated. If packed correctly, as it was now, it could knock the door off its hinges, and not even harm the two females standing either side of it.
Dave saw the raptor had moved and started a countdown of three seconds on his fingers, and as he got to one, he leapt for the door. Just a he reached it, it exploded inwards, spinning across the room with great force. The raptor was nowhere to be found.
Dave just stared around the bare room. Which was when the raptor, which had leapt upwards when the door exploded, landed flat on top of him with both feet.
Dave crumpled, the shotgun spinning from his fingers and bouncing against the far wall as the rest of the team entered, commando style.
The raptor dropped into a crouch as the silenced Fal held by Carson chattered and spilled shells from its side, the bullets whirring through the air above the creatures head.
The raptor spun around, her tail flipping out and catching Carson around the ankles as he entered the room, closely followed by the new recruit, who was holding a silenced AP Army pistol. The AP Army was a rather small pistol, which fired the equally small 5.7 millimetre projectile. The AP Army pistol was designed when gun producers decided that they wanted to make a gun with high armour-piecing capabilities. They succeeded in that respect, as the bullet, which tapered to a sharp point, could pierce most armour, but didn't really carry all that much fire-power.
The raptor kept spinning, coming up in a right-foot roundhouse kick, knocking Gena out with a well-placed hit. She spun again, her left foot coming out and knocking the gun clean out of the other female's soldier's hand, sending it spiralling into the air.
She spun yet again, her foot coming down in an axe-kick, knocking out Carson, who was trying to get to his feet, hic gun pinned underneath him.
She spun one last time, and did a perfect sidekick as the AP Army pistol descended. She hit the gun, hard, with perfect accuracy, returning it to it's owner, knocking her clean of her feet, where she hit the ground, writhing and clutching her face, where he nose was most likely broken.
Dave finally succeeded in drawing his Vle, and aimed it straight for the raptors head. The whole attack had happened in less than three seconds.
"Hey!" He called, and the raptor wheeled around, hissing at him. Which was when Dave pulled the trigger.
The gun didn't fire. Dave stared at the non-responsive gun, which was when he noticed that the transponder ring that was on his right hand was gone, smashed to pieces when he hit the ground, which meant that he was holding a useless, thousand dollar piece of metal junk.
The raptor stepped forwards and slammed him full in the face with her foot, knocking him out.
* * *
Dave groaned and opened his eyes slowly, the world completely out of focus and seeming top tilt at an odd angle.
He could see the three soldiers standing around him, the new recruit leaning over him and rubbing a moist cloth across his forehead.
"What happened?" he asked, and tried to stand, only to find that the world was spinning at a completely strange axis, which prevented him from standing properly. He lay back down, and waited for a response, eyes closed.
"Sir. Well, she didn't like us blowing her door down, turns out that she just wanted us to give her a final meal. Sir." She said.
"Who? The little girl?" Dave asked weakly.
"Sir. Sort of. I think you should see for yourself sir." She said.
Dave opened his eyes again, and stood up reluctantly, clutching the new recruit for balance.
He could see that she had two black eyes and a very broken nose.
"How long was I out?" He asked her directly.
"Sir. Only a few minutes, she didn't hit you too hard. Sir." She replied.
"Tell that to my head." Dave replied, earning himself a weak smile from her. "Stand still soldier, this is going to hurt a lot." He said, reaching for her head.
She did as ordered, and he clutched her nose suddenly, yanking the bone straight by breaking it again. She swore and ducked back, holding her now twice-broken nose.
That was when Dave noticed that the raptor was still very well alive.
She was standing in the corner, standing atop a pile of their weapons. She was just standing there, watching them all impassively.
Dave turned back to his team, a look of bewilderment on his face, about to ask what the fuck was going on, when he heard a voice say, "I'm sorry about hitting you, but you were going to hurt me." It said.
Dave whirled. It was the little girl voice again; only there was no one else in the room.
Carson tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned to him.
"It talks man. It fucking talks." He whispered, almost hysterically.
Dave turned back to the raptor, and stared at her.
"Why aren't we dead?" He asked, not really expecting an answer.
"Because I don't want to kill you." The raptor replied in perfect English.
Dave was so taken aback at being answered that his next question just slipped out.
"What the fuck are you?" He asked, rather rudely.
He was even more surprised when the raptor didn't kill him for being impudent.
"I am a raptor, created in a laboratory, I can talk, and I can disarm four soldiers with great ease." She said, saying the last with great pride.
"How long till you kill us?" He asked, a very real question, and not just a stalling tactic.
"Don't be barbaric." She replied, as if hurt by his accusations, "I'm not going to kill you."
"Then give us our weapons back." He said.
The raptor flicked her foot, and the deagle sailed through the air. Dave was once again so surprised that he just stood there as it bounced off his chest.
Carson dove for the gun, aiming to take it and kill the raptor. The raptor started moving, but Dave was quicker.
He flicked the gun with his foot, and it spiralled up to head-height, where Dave caught it and brought it down on the back of Carson's neck, almost knocking him out.
"Pull yourself together soldier." He said, staring down at the huge soldier. "She doesn't mean us any harm."
"She's a fucking animal sarge!" Carson roared, earning himself another hit to the head with the butt of the gun.
"She's what I say she is." Dave replied coldly. "Now are you going to follow orders, or do you want to be stripped of your firearms and tossed into the hallway?" Dave asked dangerously.
"No sir." Carson replied, giving him a look of deep loathing. Dave made a mental note to watch that soldier closely in future.
The raptor had watched all this without a word.
"What do you want?" Dave asked.
"I don't want anything, I just want to be left alone." She replied, looking forlornly around.
"You've never left the lab have you?" He asked, his features softening. He knew what it was to be confined. He had been captured by Iraqi soldiers and been a POW for several months during a tour of duty on a peacekeeping mission.
"No." She replied quietly.
The raptor walked out past them, and headed for another cell, shutting the door firmly with her dextrous claws.
Dave followed her, while the rest of the team moved to the corner and started picking up their weapons and placing them in their holsters.
"I'm not leaving you behind." Dave stated coldly. This could be a big break for him. If he brought back a sentient life form from the labs, alive, and with speech capabilities, then he would get promoted, and then he might be able to retire early.
"Why not?" She asked, once again peering at him through the bars.
"Because you are the only sentient creature to ever be created successfully, you're to important to die in this shit-hole lab." He said.
"You'd take me with you, even though you'd be forever looking over your shoulder, afraid that I would attack you from behind?" She asked.
"Yes." Dave replied firmly. "We can do this with you following us willingly, or with you tied to a sled and drugged up so much that you won't know who you are. Your choice."
"On one condition." She replied.
"What?" Dave asked wearily.
"You have to feed me regularly." She replied.
"What do you eat?" Dave asked with trepidation. He had the sickening image of going back and getting one of his former team members and cutting them up to feed to the beast.
"Meat, obviously." She said, giving him a predatory smile. "Not human of course. You lot are tasty, but not good for eating. I'm sure that there is some meat over there behind that big shiny door."
Dave was confused, how could they taste good and not be good for eating? But he was also scared, wondering how she knew what human tasted like.
"Do you have a name?" Dave asked. "I can't keep calling you 'it'."
"No, I don't have a name. The scientists were all afraid of me forming emotional bonds with the lab staff, which would make it hard for them to cut me into little pieces. You could name me if you want." She said, trying valiantly to sound as if it didn't mean anything to her, but her voice held a bit of hope in it.
Dave looked around, wondering what the hell he could use for a name.
His eyes alighted on the sign above her door.
Single entity raptorially artificial finished intelligence non anthropomorphic. S.E.R.A.F.I.N.A
"How about 'Serafina?'" He asked.
She nodded happily, still peering at him from behind the bars, like a caged animal, which, Dave reminded himself, she was.
He went over, unlocked the door, and motioned for her to follow.
The rest of the team had just finished strapping on their various pieces of weapon.
Dave moved his hand slightly, so that it was closer to his deagle. He was very wary of Carson, just in case he should raise his Fal and destroy his promotion.
"Serafina's coming with us. She is our new priority." Dave stated as he stepped into the cell.
The new soldier tossed him his Wakizashi. Dave caught it and put it back in it sheath.
He looked around at the remaining soldiers, and he could see that he was fooling no one.
"I say fuck your promotion. Let's off this bitch right now." Carson growled, lifting his Fal to shoulder height and staring down the barrel at the raptor.
Dave stepped forwards, knocked the gun to the side with a careless swipe of his hand, and then slammed the much heavier soldier into the wall, his right hand holding his deagle aimed right at his face.
"You stow that shit right now! You fuck with her, you fuck with me!" Dave proclaimed coldly, pressing the barrel of the gun against his cheek.
He let go of Carson, and then stepped back, waiting with his deagle in his hand until Carson lowered his weapon.
"Enjoy your promotion. Sir." Carson spat, walking towards the door.
He heaved on the door, and was about to step through when something came flying through the crack, knocking him to the floor.
The creature, obviously a raptor, now that Dave could get a good look at it, shrieked and tried to bite Carson's face. He raised his arm, and it bit it instead, tearing into the flesh of his left forearm with veracity.
Dave dropped into a crouch, drawing his deagle and aiming it.
The raptor, as if possessed of some sort of premonitory ability, leapt upwards, and the bullets swept past it, splashing against the wall harmlessly.
The creature landed fully on Carson, puncturing his left arm above the elbow with its huge, sickle-shaped claw.
The creature then turned, and attacked.
Dave opened fire again, as he heard both the USAS-12 and the G36K open fire.
The raptor performed a complex movement, dodging the bullets as if the whole fight was scripted.
The raptor leapt at Dave, lifting fully three metres off the ground, aiming to land on his chest and tear him apart.
Dave had a half-formed though of dodging and drawing his sword, but there was no way he would be able to move fast enough.
Just as the raptor was about to land, a light-brown shape hurtled from his right, travelling at amazing speed, shrieking and roaring in rage.
Serafina intercepted the airborne raptor, sending them both skidding across the metal floor, Serafina on her feet, skidding like a human on ski's, the other raptor on its back.
Serafina leapt as soon as the creature regained its feet, in a very strange movement.
Dave could only stare as she leapt forwards and upwards, lifting both her feet to catch it in the chest, lifting it off the ground as well, and then pushing it onto its back at the zenith of their arc, and then slamming it into the ground hard, balancing so that she ended up standing on its chest, both sets of claws digging in deep. She reached down, and nudged its head to the side as it tried to bite her face, and bit deep into its neck.
She jerked her head hard, tearing a large amount of skin and flesh off.
The creature began to writhe in pain. The wound was painful, but not fatal. The creature finally succeeded in throwing Serafina clear, and leapt at her, about to return the favour, when Dave intervened.
Dave stepped in just as it made one of those gravity-defying leaps. He caught it with his right foot, just above the solar plexus, knocking it clean off its feet.
The creature rolled to its feet, and snarled at him.
Dave looked at it dispassionately, almost as if he was bored. The creature hissed louder, opening its mouth wide, revealing two rows of very sharp teeth.
Dave drew his deagle and fired in one smooth action, shooting it in the mouth.
The .50 jacketed hollow point round hit it just above the windpipe, exploding as it hit the creatures neck bones, shattering them, cutting its spinal cord in three places, several splinters of metal jamming up through the soft matter of its brain, killing it instantly.
Dave dashed over, and shut the door, seeing that there were several more raptors coming down the hallway. Then he went over to help the wounded soldier.
* * *
Okay people, who noticed the discrepancy in this chapter? It's pretty hard to find, you'll have to read carefully. The only clue is that it has something to do with the eyepiece. E-mail me with the correct answer and you can characterise the male in the new dragon's lust story. (Physical appearance, and name)