The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 24: Carnotaurus Carnage

Part 2/3

“You heard all of that?” Samuel gasped with wide eyes.

“Of course I did. Neddy’s snoring kept me up for a bit before I was even able to get to bed, that loud mouth!” Ruby glared while clenching her fist.

“Shouldn’t you be more concerned about your boyfriend Neddy than my affairs?” Samuel asked with anger.

“Uh, he isn’t my boyfriend,” Ruby laughed nervously, putting her hands in her pockets, “Where’d you get that from? Ben or something? You know you can’t trust that guy, he doesn’t know nothing about love!”

“I just want to know why you want to meddle in my business.”

“No reason, I just think it spices things up a bit, you know? Sometimes life isn’t about fighting dinosaurs. Sometimes it’s about the juicy drama and gossip,” Ruby said while putting her hands in her pockets.

Something about that last sentence made Samuel uncomfortable, because it reminded him of Nova.

“That does sound pretty cool, but things will be so boring now! We won’t see any more school fights or get any juicy gossip!” Nova had complained at the graduation ceremony.

“Cat got your tongue?” Ruby teased, “I see that look on your face. Aurora would have never fallen if it weren’t for you. You did something to make her fall in love with you.”

“I highly doubt it,” Samuel replied, blinking his eyes and wiping sweat off his face, “I did nothing. It was all on her own accord.”

“Well maybe you did do something. You just don’t know it for sure, because you’re a freak who’s never felt love before,” Ruby said, “No offense. That’s just the vibe I get from you.”

“Ouch, dude,” Samuel replied, his eyes darting to the jungle floor.

“Well, you know what they say,” Ruby added on, “Love is blind.”

“That’s not what the saying means,” Samuel quickly shot back, “Love is blind states that whenever we love someone, we don’t see any flaws within them-”

“Oooooooooh,” Ruby said while pointing her finger at Samuel, “I guess you DO know something about love. I guess you are a player. Or maybe, maybe you really do like Aurora but are too afraid to do anything about it-”

“SHUT up,” Samuel shouted back, “Just because I know about it doesn’t mean I partake in those activities. So LEAVE it be.”

Rahhhh.

“Uhhh, what was that?” Ruby asked as white washed over her face.

“Might be what we’re looking for,” Samuel replied. He dived into a bush, “Take out your crossbow just in case.”

Ruby reached for the crossbow that was attached to a quiver on his back and took it out. She nocked a few arrows dipped in a special narcotic that could knock any creature out unconscious. Then she hid behind a tree, pulling the string back.

“What is it, Samuel?” Ruby whispered as softly as she could.

“It’s what we’re looking for,” Samuel muttered.

Standing in the distance was a giant, horned beast with stubby arms and thick, powerful legs. Its tail swished back and forth as it walked around, looking for something to hunt and kill for its next meal. Its jaws looked like that of a pug and it had two short horns planted on its head. It was a sort of greenish-white, its skin making it partially blend in with the jungle.

“Okay, shoot your shot,” Samuel replied, “It doesn’t even know we’re here.”

Wordlessly, Ruby aimed her crossbow at the head of the Carnotaurus and pressed the trigger. Swoosh! The arrow pierced the jaw of the beast, and it let out a roar and began to run around frantically.

“Nice, but I think you need to shoot it a few more times,” Samuel suggested. Ruby aimed again, and shot another arrow. Pew! The arrow hit the beast’s torso, and now it was getting aggravated. It began to ram trees down in an attempt to find the attacker. Too bad for the stupid beast its foes were from a far and safe distance that it would never be able to spot it.

Yet despite this it still continued to run amok.

“Wow, this thing still hasn’t gone down yet. Shoot it one more time,” Samuel said. Ruby nodded, aimed at the Carnotaurus one last time, and pressed the trigger. Wew! Plick! One more arrow, and the Carnotaurus began to show signs of drowsiness. It stumbled around, until at last it collapsed to the ground.

Ruby pumped her fist in the air.

“Yes, I did it!”

The two slowly approached the fallen beast, and sure enough it was knocked out cold. It was breathing slowly, but who knew how long it’d take before it’d wake up? They would have to feed it fast. Samuel and Ruby took out slabs of raw meat from their pouches and began to feed it to the Carnotaurus.

For the next few minutes, they kept on feeding it and feeding it, until eventually the beast’s eyes shot open. Ruby let out a gasp and tripped backwards, but as the Carnotaurus got back on its powerful legs, it didn’t seem to pose any threat to them. It walked forward and sniffed Ruby’s face a little, before sneezing all over her like some sort of dog.