Dinosaur Armageddon Vol. 1: Vengeful Promise

Chapter 15

The man's head, neck, and some of his shoulders disappeared in the monster's jaws, but Josh could still hear his dying screams. The killer shook its head violently, blood dripping from its mouth. Joshua could hear the sound of bones breaking.

He watched as a second dinosaur lunged toward the first and clamped its jaws around one of the man's legs. The both growled as they tugged on the screaming man.

In the firelight, Josh could see the dinosaurs clearly. They were about twenty feet long each and a couple of feet taller than a man. They were covered in thick, tan scales. Along their red-striped backs were keels, like those on a crocodile. Their arms were tucked close to their bodies, kind of like a boxer. Each of their hands had four fingers capped with short claws. Their top of their long snouts had a single large horn and two smaller horns in front and above the eyes.

The second dinosaur jerked its head back, ripping off the man's leg. The screaming stopped; the man was dead.

Josh became paralyzed with fear as he watched the violent scene unfold. He could almost hear his heart as it tried to make a beeline out of his chest. Sweat rolled down is face. He felt his body shiver and shake. He had never been so terrified in his life.

The second dinosaur began to tear into the mutilated leg, but the first roared at it aggressively and lunged, making it back off into the bushes just four yards away from the kill. The first animal began to rip the inside carcass with its knife-like teeth, tearing out intestines.

"Josh," he heard Marshall say softly, his voice unable to hide the fear that has gripped him. He wondered if his father was as shocked and frightened as he was.

Then the second dinosaur perked its head up and it slowly, very slowly, menacingly slowly, turned its gaze to Josh.

Josh felt as though his heart froze as the pair of dark yellow eyes glared at him. It was like as if staring right into the eyes of death. Fear froze his blood into ice. His sweat grew cold.

"JOSH!" Marshall screamed. "RUN! DON'T LOOK BACK!"

His father's scream gave Josh enough motivation to turn back and sprint further into the forest. He watched as his father sprinted in a different direction. Josh guessed Marshall did that was to make the dinosaur decide who to chase; which he hoped would be him, not Josh.

Josh heard the dinosaur roar and start running. It became obvious that the monster was chasing after him.

Shit!!

He could hear the big animal's feet as they stomped on the ground, crushing rotten foliage and fallen branches. He could hear the predator's snorting and huffing breath. Josh couldn't see much in the darkness, but he could make out the trees and bushes he passed, even if they were nothing but blurs as he sprinted. He felt a branch slap him in the face hard; then a stinging sensation on his cheek, as if a belt had lashed onto his face.

Still, he shoot through the woods, despite the pain. His breath came out if loud huffs. He could feel his heart hammer with effort. His lungs burned like acid and his throat stung. He could feel sweat roll down his face.

The dinosaur roared loudly snapping the branch off the tree as it ran like a twig. The dinosaur's cry was a sound from a nightmare. An unworldly scream from hell. Josh didn't look back, but he could imagine seeing the dinosaur's maw, ropes of saliva clinging to its teeth and dripping down its lower jaw; the dark yellow eyes narrowed, locked onto him. He could almost feel the hot breath, he could almost smell the rotten reek of carcass.

Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!

The dinosaur's feet slammed on the ground, snapping and crushing anything underneath its feet.