Dinosaur Armageddon Vol. 1: Vengeful Promise

Chapter 4

I made my way through the forest, never straying from the path Hailey followed, a huge bag on her back, just like me. I also held two other bags-one in each hand. All around us, huge trees dwarfed us.

"Let's rest here," she said.

She looked back at me and smiled warmly and stopped. I stood next to her as we dropped our bags and sat down. Hailey sat next to me. We both took our backpacks off and unzipped them, taking out our canteens and drinking from them.

It's been four days since I woke up in the cabin. Two days prior, I was able to walk outside. It was another hot summer day in the forest. There were sounds all around us. We were on our way to the grocery store about three miles from the cabin. All the food there was frozen, that way it lasted longer than usual. Perfect for two humans looking for a decent meal.

"If I recall correctly," Hailey said, wiping her lips with her sleeve, "we're about halfway there."

"That's good to hear," I said, putting my canteen back into my backpack. According to Hailey, the path we were taking was the safest one she knew, but we still carried our weapons--my Glock and her one-bladed sword--just in case.

We sat there in silence for some time, but Hailey broke it. "How old did you say you were again?"

"Seventeen," I replied. "I just had my birthday four weeks ago."

"Oh," she said. "I'm sixteen. My birthday was three months ago."

"Cool."

Minutes passed slowly, but after a while, we made our way back to the store once more.

The grocery store looked in perfect condition. Aside from the vines that clung to it's brick walls and that the big neon letters were missing or shattered, it was unharmed. Hailey pulled the two, once functioning automatic doors apart from each other. We both walked inside and Hailey closed the doors behind us. She looked back at me with a smile.

"Okay," she said, pulling a small piece of paper from her white nurse coat pocket. She folded it and ripped it in half. She gave me one half. "Now, just take what's on the list. Meet me here when you're done."

"Okay," I said, nodding my head. Hailey shuffled away to the aisles and disappeared. When she vanished, I looked at the list. Fortunately, there were only a few items.

Ha, I thought. This won't take long at all.

I quickly made my way through the aisles, taking all the items we needed. Despite the fact that it was freezing cold and that much of the perishable food was preserved in thin layers of frost, I moved at a fast pace. By the time I finished my, hands turned to an alarming shade of red. No worries, though.

I made my way to the exit, carrying the bags of food. Hailey waited for me there and she smiled when she saw me.

"You got everything, Toby?" she asked.

I nodded. "All set."

"Okay," she said, lifting her bags. "Let's go."

We left the building, hefting the bags.

When we reached the halfway point of the parking lot--completely empty of vehicles--I heard a hiss. I stopped in my tracks, all of my senses on high alert. That hiss wasn't like that of a snake or an angry alligator: it was a dinosaur, without a doubt.

We were being hunted.

Hailey stopped and looked at me with a curious expression. "Are you okay? Is something wrong, Tobias?"