The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 35: Starving

Part 2/2

The pounding footsteps grew louder and louder, the ground shaking with such intensity Alan almost bounced up and down. Sweat poured down Alan’s face and his implant began to shine.

“I’m nervous, Bob,” Alan said.

“It’s okay to be nervous,” Bob replied, the calluses on his hands rubbing against the trigger of the crossbow, “Just don’t back down, okay?”

“Stand proud, Alan.”

And then it came. In all its primal savageness, a Tyrannosaurus emerged from the treelines, its giant skull and bone-crushing teeth laying bloodthirsty and battle-ready within its fine jaws. Its disproportionate arms flailed softly, and it clenched a fist of rage. Its eyes squinted at the two with malice, and then with hunger.

Its two powerful legs carried it onto the black sands, where it studied the two carefully. It was huge, Alan barely reached its ankle, and to the Tyrannosaurus, the humans were nothing more than snacks to fill its ever growing appetite.

Bob found it a little humorous that this was nothing close to the most powerful dinosaur on the ARK.

“Don’t. Move. A muscle,” Alan whispered.

Bob instantly began to reach for the pillar strapped to his back, and the Tyrannosaurus began to move forward. Alan let out a scream and began to run away.

“AHHH!!!” Alan screamed, taking him as far as his legs could.

“ALAN!” Bob screamed back, slamming the pillar into the sand, “What did I say?”

The Tyrannosaurus made its way to Bob, letting out a roar of dominance as it did. Bob felt his stomach boil, but luckily nothing came out. He shot an arrow at the Rex and began to run away.

The Rex stopped its roaring, its beady eyes locked onto Bob. It reached one of its powerful legs forward, stepped onto the pillar…

And slipped.

The Tyrannosaurus collapsed to the ground, and then it struggled to get up. It tried propelling itself back up with one of its legs, but it was too big and heavy. It began to slam its tail into the sand and let out cries of anger.

Alan turned around skeptically, his eyes wide in surprise and Bob began to shoot at it with his crossbow.

“Woah, it’s down! It’s knocked down!” Alan shouted.

“Less talking, more shooting!” Bob yelled in anger.

“S-Sorry Bob!” Alan replied. He aimed his crossbow at Rex's skull and shot, an arrow flying loose and hitting it right in the cheek.

The duo quickly shot a dozen more arrows at the Rex, and with a final roar, it stopped its senseless roaring and fell asleep. Alan let out a cheer, and a “woo hoo!” for his celebratory first tame. He dropped his crossbow into the sand and began to pump his fists into the air.

“We did it Bob, we did it!” Alan cheered with glee.

“We sure did, Alan,” Bob replied with a grin. He slowly walked up to the Tyrannosaurus, which was breathing steadily, almost if it had a rhythm to it. He took out a few slabs of meat from his pouch and set them in front of the Rex to feed. Soon, a Tyrannosaurus would be theirs to lead.

But then a growl struck the air.

Bob jolted around in an instant to see Alan keeled over the floor, clutching his stomach and clenching his eyes as if he were going through intense labor. Alan let out a seethe of pain and fell to his knees, putting his head on the sand and letting out a groan.

“Alan?! Are you okay?” Bob asked, rushing to his side. Alan looked up, opening his eyes to reveal a bloodshot mess. His breath was raspy and the growling continued some more. It was coming from his stomach.

“I’m absolutely STARVING!” Alan cried, a sadistic grin growing on his face. His implant began to glow intensely, and Bob dug his hands into his pockets, pulling out tons and tons of berries.

“Come on, eat this you’ll be filled up in no time,” Bob ordered him gently. Alan grabbed fistfuls of the berries and began pouring them in his mouth, chewing loudly and letting berry juice pour out from his lips.

Soon, the bloodshot in his eyes began to disappear, and he wiped the juice off his mouth. He blinked his eyes gently, and his stomach stopped growling.

“T-Thank you. Thank you so much,” Alan whispered.

“You’re going to have to tell me more about what just happened later,” Bob decided. He looked up at the sky to see a Pteranodon flying overhead. It slowed down for a second, then two, then three, before flying off again.