Day of the Predator - Alex Scarrow [50]
‘Yeah, probably … whatever that belonged to is small. Probably pack hunters.’
‘Pack hunters?’ Jonah straightened up. ‘You know, I think Mr Whitmore’s right. Maybe we should go.’
‘Uh-huh,’ said Whitmore, smiling quickly, uncomfortably. Looking around the clearing. ‘Well, Franklyn, a fascinating find. We can all talk about it on the way back.’
‘Pack hunters?’ said Lam. ‘Like raptors? You said there weren’t raptors!’
‘These aren’t. Look at the footprints … there’d be indentations from their sickle toe. No, these are some other species, maybe not even therapods. Something entirely different.’ He stood up. ‘This is so cool!’
‘Yes, well …’ Liam looked at the others. ‘So now we know for sure we’re sharing this place with dinosaurs.’ He looked at the buffalo-sized carcass. ‘And now that we know there’s some bigger types we could hunt for food I think Mr Whitmore’s right – we ought to head back to the camp.’
Four heads bobbed enthusiastically.
Franklyn sighed. ‘OK.’
‘Right, then.’ Liam gestured down the path they’d beaten. ‘After you, gents.’ They filed quickly past him, Whitmore glancing awkwardly back over his shoulder as he stepped by. ‘Actually, I really wish we hadn’t spotted that,’ he said quietly, pulling a face.
Liam knew what he meant. The poor beast, whatever it had once been, looked like it hadn’t just been killed for meat. The organs splayed out on to the jungle floor, the intestines dangling from loops of vine … it was as if the creatures that had brought it down had frolicked and played with the grisly remains – a gory celebration of the kill. The idea of an animal species capable of celebrating seemed somewhat disconcerting. It hinted at ritual. It hinted at intelligence.
Maybe they’re just messy eaters?
In the gathering stillness, he thought he heard the softest click – like the tiniest twig snapping beneath impatient, shifting weight. He glanced back once more at the blood-splashed clearing and wondered if predators’ eyes were cautiously eyeing him in turn from the cover of the dense green foliage.
Yellow, unblinking eyes studied the curious creatures as they departed. Just a dozen yards away – no more than three or four strides from where the beast crouched – there were five of these pale creatures the like of which he had never seen before. They made odd noises, not a million miles away from the cranial bark he made when calling for the attention of the rest of the pack. And these odd creatures moved in a not dissimilar way: upright, on long, developed rear legs, but far more slowly, sluggishly.
The creature shifted position slightly, bobbing down lower to get a better look between the broad leaves of the fern he was hiding behind. These pale upright things, these new creatures … he wondered if this was the entirety of their pack, or whether there were more of them elsewhere.
They seemed harmless. They appeared to have no visible teeth, no slashing claws, nothing that signalled any danger about them at all. Nothing that identified them as potential rival predators.
Except … except – the creature could see this – these pale things were clever. They appeared to work co-operatively, sharing tasks. Just like his pack did. He watched in absolute stillness, his olive skin a perfect disguise among the varied greens of the jungle. He watched with intense eyes that faced forward, capable of binocular vision; capable of judging distance, range.
A predator’s advantage.
These strange newcomers, these new creatures, also had eyes that faced forward. Another reason to be so very wary of them. Perhaps they too were predators of some kind, unlike the docile plant-eaters, whose eyes on either side of their heads were designed to detect potential danger from two directions.
Yes … these things had predators’ eyes. And yet they appeared utterly defenceless, harmless and pitifully slow and clumsy in the way they moved around the clearing.
He cocked his head curiously. The long fishhook-shaped razor-sharp claws on its left front paw clacked together carelessly.
The last of the new creatures suddenly turned and