The Arks: Over Heaven

Chapter 35: Starving

Original Post Date: Mar 15, 2024

Note: Story starts in Wyvern, Aerial ABC backwards filter and has a Prologue. Last chapter in Ammonite, next chapter in Angler.

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BAM! BAM! BAM!

Bob slammed a hammer onto a piece of metal lay on top of an anvil, which lay on his makeshift smithy. He was making crossbows for Alan and him. Alan was looking around his house with a timidness that couldn’t be described, bouncing up and down at the sight of all the contraptions and things inside of his small little house.

“It’s very machine-y in here,” Alan noted, looking at the mortar and pestle on the ground.

“Yeah, it is, you’ll get used to it in no time,” Bob replied.

“How’d you even know how to make any of this stuff?” Alan asked, picking up a torch hanging on the wall, “I thought you were just the tennis coach?”

“I was,” Bob explained, “Here on this island there are large beacons which allow you to… earn some rewards.”

“Like loot crates?”

“Yeah, loot crates.”

“That’s pretty cool. But I’ve never seen one before. Not even on the way here…” Alan replied.

“Maybe you’re not looking in the right spots,” Bob said as he wiped some sweat from his forehead, “The farther up north you go, the more beacons you find-”

“How do you know that?” Alan asked with a raised brow. Bob looked back at Alan and stared at the features of his face intensely. He looked so much like Agent Jackpot. The resemblance was almost uncanny.

But Alan had a much different structure compared to Agent Jackpot. They could not have been the same.

A few minutes of molding and pounding later, and Bob had managed to create two compact crossbows along with a stack of arrows dipped with a knock out poison. He also had a stone pillar slung around his shoulder for some reason.

“What’s the pillar for?” Alan asked.

“You’ll see soon enough,” Bob replied. He gave a crossbow to Alan along with a stash of tranquiliser arrows, which he placed in his pocket.

“Come on, let’s go find a T-Rex.”

Bob and Alan exited the home, and Bob began to walk along the river’s black sands. Alan looked to the right and looked on in awe at the redwood forests. The trees looked so huge. Something about the place was mystifying to Alan.

“Looks pretty cool up close, huh?” Bob asked.

“Yeah, yeah it does,” Alan said, “I wanna go in there sometime soon. I bet there’s so many cool things in there we can tame!”

Bob chuckled a little at Alan’s naivety.

“Oh trust me there’s a lot of dangerous critters in that forest. We’re not going in there anytime soon. Not until we’re prepared.”

Alan kept on looking at the forest. He could see big bears walking along the river. There were small sauropods with long necks that slanted horizontally. There was even a beehive hung on one of the trees.

He tore his eyes away from the forest and to Bob, who was loading an arrow into his crossbow.

“How do you even tame things? Like, what does that mean?” Alan asked, “I didn’t know you could even do that. I thought they were just there to eat you! Not even she- not even SHE knows you can do that.”

Bob raised his thick, bushy eyebrow.

“Who’s SHE?”

“Well, you know, that mean lady that ordered me to come all the way up here? THAT’S the one,” Alan said with a shudder, “Queen June… Brrr, her power gives me chills just thinking about it.”

“Her power? What is it?”

“Fire,” Alan replied with a darkness in his eyes, “Her power is fire. She can summon fire within the palm of her hand and make her enemies burn. In. Hell.”

“FIRE?!” Bob thought sweatily, “That’s- interesting.”

“Scary,” Bob replied.

This wasn’t good.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, step by step. Thunderous footsteps echoed from the forest beyond the black sands, and Alan paused in his tracks, looking with shrunken pupils.

“What was that?!” Alan asked with fear in his voice.

“It might be what we’re looking for,” Bob said with a sly smile. He held his crossbow up boisterously, “Weapons up.”

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.