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The Arks: Over Heaven

Chapter 2: Beasts of the Past - Venom Spitters

“What the hell…” Samuel gasped with a disgusted look on his face.

“Now I know you think this looks bad,” Neddy replied with worry on his face, “But I don’t mean no harm.”

“I think the more important question is where are your clothes?” Samuel asked. The strange bird squawked at Neddy in disapproval. Neddy gasped as his eyes lay on the strange bird.

“Woah… I can’t believe it, a dodo!” Neddy cried in pleasure.

“Hey, you haven’t answered my question!” Samuel yelled at him.

“Oh, heh heh heh, sorry,” Neddy apologized, “I ditched the robe because it was getting itchy.”

Samuel gave Neddy a suspicious look.

“I think you’re just a weirdo.”

“I’m not a weirdo, I promise.”

Neddy got up from the ground, brushing the sands and dirts off his pale skin. In comparison Neddy was much shorter than Samuel, by about say 5 inches. Neddy’s back was hunched over, and a sour smell radiated from his armpits. Upon closer inspection of him, Samuel got a feeling that he had met this boy before.

“Wait a minute… You’re-” Samuel began to laugh, as he leaned over, slapping his hand on his knee while Neddy looked on nervously. “You’re Neddy the Nerd, the guy in computer engineering! Oh my goodness I didn’t think I’d meet you of all people here on this damned place.”

Neddy scrunched up his face, rubbing his nose as he did so.

“Y-Yeah. That’s me, heh heh,” Neddy laughed back.

Samuel noticed Neddy’s unease and reassured him.

“Don’t worry dude. I’m not going to hurt you, I have no reason to,” Samuel said, “But, why were you hiding in the bushes anyway?”

“Well, I felt a sudden urge to come here. The gem told me to,” Neddy explained.

“What gem are you talking about?”

“The gem on your wrist, don’t you have it too?”

Neddy showed his left arm to Samuel, and he winced and gritted his teeth at the sight. There a rhombus-shaped implant was embedded deep into his bone and flesh. The implant had lines along it that glowed a tinge of blue.

“What is that thing?” Samuel asked, getting dizzy.

“I dunno. When I woke up on the beach I felt an itch on my wrist and it was there,” Neddy said. Neddy’s eyes darted to Samuel’s wrist. “Looks like you don’t have it.”

Samuel carefully checked his wrist, as if the implant would be there too, but it wasn’t. He ran his fingers along his wrist, and it felt coarse and grainy. There was nothing there, everything was as it should’ve been.

“I find it weird, but yeah,” Neddy explained, “When I woke up, I decided to walk along the beach to see what I could find. That was when I felt a hum from the implant, and the farther I walked along the coast the more the hum grew. I guess the implant was drawing me here to find you?”

“Huh,” Samuel muttered, “I guess it could be like that.”

Just then, the dodo bird pecked Samuel on the leg. Samuel looked down.

“What is it?” he asked impatiently. Suddenly the bushes ahead rustled, and all eyes went to the bushes. The wind was silent but soft, brushing along their skin as no noise was made. Then the slight call that rang across the sand.

Haw. Haw?? Haw!

The rattle of what sounded like a rattlesnake sounded, and a glob of green goop was suddenly sent flying at Neddy! Neddy let out a scream of surprise as the goop hit him in the face, blocking his eyesight. It was then a strange creature that stood on its hind legs and had small arms jumped out of the bushes and onto Neddy. Neddy let out a scream of fear as the strange beast began to claw at Neddy’s chest. Samuel quickly clutched onto the rock and rushed forward, slamming it into the beast’s head. CLUNK! Upon contact, the beast collapsed to the ground, globs of venom pouring out of its mouth as it did, the frills on its head collapsing back into its head. Neddy took a moment to breathe, as the wind blew harder on them. The tree leaves rustled, the tension in the air faded away.

“What was that?!” Samuel asked, albeit not as scared as Neddy. Neddy took his glasses off, wiping them on his body and then throwing them to the side. He wiped the remaining green stuff off his face and took a moment to look at the creature.

“A Dilophosaurus,” Neddy diagnosed, “A dinosaur straight from the past… Just like the dodo. They were predatory creatures that used mainly their claws to kill their prey due to their weak jaws. Movies like Jurassic Park idealized the concept of them using venom to blind their prey.”

“So, there’s dinosaurs here,” Samuel said with a gulp. The island didn’t seem so dangerous at first. Samuel thought that maybe there would be a bear or two, but not dinosaurs straight from the Mesozoic Era.

“This island is a lot more dangerous than we think,” Neddy told Samuel, “We’re going to have to tread carefully from now on. We don’t know what else could be out there, wanting to eat us for their next meal.”

Samuel looked around himself, as if another dinosaur was going to pop up.

“You think… You think there’s a T-Rex on here?” Samuel asked with worry. Neddy paused.

“Let’s hope not.”

Neddy got up from the ground, looking behind him and at a plateau rise that stuck out from the rest of the ground, like a small hill that protruded from the earth. A point of interest.

“So, what’s the plan?” Samuel asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Neddy replied, “Surviving on the island alone is futile, and too risky. We’re going to have to work together, and find more people that could hopefully help us out.”

“It sounds like a plan,” Samuel replied. The dodo bird squawked in agreement.

“Then let’s go,” Neddy said.

With that, the three of them walked off to the plateau, with danger around at every corner.

All for Chapter 2. - Ben