Primitive War

by Ethan Pettus

“Pl-please-” The creature’s head shot forward and it snatched Kendrick’s throat in its jaws. The animal shook him violently from side to side, ripping the flesh of his neck like tissue. Hot blood ran down Kendrick’s torso and the creature let go of him.

Well damn

In his last fleeting moment of consciousness, Kendrick watched as the creature buried its snout into his abdomen and tugged out coils of intestine. The last thing he felt was his own horrendous death rattle boring through the ragged holes in his throat. This was not the war he knew.

Ooph am in for a wild ride here or what?

Somewhere out there, he knew, Kendrick Anderson was in desperate need of help.

Yeahhhh. About that...

“We’ve arrived; hold onto yer butts, we’re descending.”

I see what you did there lol

Squid go pro and shit.” “Quid pro quo,” Miller said.

Lol. Squid go pro. I love it.

“Morality is a gradient, infinite shades of light and darkness. You may drift through it, but even when you think you’re in the light, you’re still in the shadows. You don’t know who you’re hurting until the damage is done. Remember that.”

Ooh I like that.

“If it was a tiger,” Leon said. “It could’ve been a bear.” “Guys, I don’t want to hear anymore about tigers or bears,” Ryan said. “Oh my,” Gerald said, rolling his eyes.

Lol you gotta do it

Aleksandr thrashed and the creature dragged its talons down to the small of his back, scraping the vertebrae.

Owww

Xavier faced forward and bolted upright. Yellow eyes stared back at him from the forest.

Niiiice

All of Xavier’s thoughts left him at once. His head slowly tilted back and he stared up into the eyes of a creature ten feet above him.

Ooph, that's spooky

It was then that Ryan saw the tyrannosaurus had lost its footing and was falling in after them.

Good grief! Water hunt now?

Ryan looked over his shoulder and saw that the T. rex had reclaimed its bearings. It slid through the water like an enormous crocodile, water glittering on its feathers like crystal beads. “Oh, of course it can swim!” Ryan screamed.

Oh joy lol

Fate had lined this moment up for him at birth, and every decision he had ever made had led him to this point, to a dinosaur frothing in his face.

One decision can often make or break our lives.

Without a sound, the quetzalcoatlus jabbed its beak in and out of Tolstoy’s body, punching holes through his torso, destroying organs, snapping his bones into splinters. Tolstoy vomited thick and red; his skull was empty, screaming as he was lifted by his neck.

Ooph what a way to go

With a horrendous scream, Tolstoy’s arms were pulled apart by the quetzalcoatlus’ tongues. They swallowed his limbs whole, then repeated the process with his legs. Tolstoy’s screams dropped into a breathless wheezing.

Good GRIEF, whyyyyyy is he taking so long to die?!

The deinonychus climbed onto Gerald’s chest and snapped at his cheek. He grabbed the dinosaur’s neck in both hands and bit into its throat, pulling it close so the claws couldn’t reach his face or neck.

Gotta do what you gotta do, I guess lol

Gerald shoved off the dead dinosaur and stumbled to his feet. He beat his chest and howled at the animals, spitting blood. The deinonychus looked at him, and then at each other, and they hissed lowly.

Lol they be shooketh

Fiery pain spread through Gerald’s gut as his abdomen was split open. Gerald screamed mutely and squirmed, but the utahraptor didn’t notice his struggles. Gerald felt warm, wet snakes crawl over his waist. It was with abhorrent shock he realized that his intestines were slithering out of his gut.

Oh boy....

As he fell into darkness, he heard a distant, echoing voice. “Gerald!” Logan!

Dude, it's way too late for you now that your intestines are out.

Ryan saw shining intestines coiled over Gerald’s gut and his eyes shot open. Nobody moved. “What are you waiting for?!” Eli hissed. “Roast that fucking turkey!” “Not yet,” Ryan said. The utahraptor’s curved toe claw was poised over Gerald’s throat. “If we shoot it, it’s going to kill Gerald. Wait until it turns its back.”

Dude, Gerald did so beyond saving! Just put him out of his misery

“His guts are out, for god’s sake,” Logan cried. “What do we do?!”

Exactly what I'm saying! He can't be saved.

Ryan swiped the lab equipment off of the table, and Logan and Leon set Gerald on top of it. Gerald stirred and groaned.

How in the HECK can he still be alive?!

“I don’t know where they are, but they’ll find a way in. They always, uh, find a way.”

Lol nice

Gerald was blind in his pain, and Logan was sick. The pistol in his hand was warm and damp; its energy was infectious. Logan stroked Gerald’s hair and lowered the pistol to his temple. The screaming wouldn’t stop. Gerald Gerald dead dead Gerald Die Gerald The pistol went off with a pop, and Gerald crumpled into Logan’s arms.

Finally. Dude suffered enough!

“Must go faster,” Leon hissed.

Hah!

It was over; they were going home.

Hah, doubt it.

“Ignorance isn’t an escape from the truth,” Andrei said. “Nobody knows the gravity of their actions until it’s too late; we have hindsight when we need foresight.

Sucks, doesn't it?

The beasts crushed him against the rough bark, and their tusks broke through the bones of his legs. Pain exploded through Logan’s body and he screamed upon revelation. The animals stripped the flesh from Logan’s ribs with their claws, and they wrenched away his limbs in their jaws.

Good griiiiiiief!

The past doesn’t determine your future - only you do.

The present you.

The force of the impact severed the man in two, and his divided sections flailed down to the earth, connected by long bungees of intestine.

Ouch

“Fear can make monsters of men,”

Truth.

“The past is a part of you, but it doesn’t have to be who you are,” Ryan continued. “If you keep hiding, you’ll only give your shadow strength over who you really are, or who you could be. There’s no escape; only survival. You have to accept the things you can’t change and learn from them to grow and adapt; evolve.”

Good advice.

Sergei was crouched amongst the ferns and palm fronds. He aimed an AK-47 at Borodin’s face. Borodin shook his head roughly, no. Sergei nodded. He didn’t show any emotion. The AK-47 screamed to life, and bullets struck the wall beside Borodin’s head with an ear-piercing clatter. Borodin dove forward and scrambled to his feet, right into the line of sight of the two tyrannosaurs.

Bye, dude!

“There are only four of them?” Sergei asked. “Yeah, only four,” Andrei said. The flash of lightning subsided, and the golden eyes were suspended in darkness. The predators were silent as they stared at the small group of men. A dozen more pairs of eyes suddenly blinked open throughout the compound. Ryan’s jaw fell open and he nearly dropped his rifle. Eli choked on his chewing tobacco. “…But I’ve been wrong before,” Andrei muttered.

Yeah, I'll say!

Beneath them, Sergei was being thrown across the room by the second utahraptor. The other two utahraptors quickly circled him and kicked his bare body with their sickle-shaped toe claws. Long gashes were spread across Sergei’s torso as he was tossed back and forth between them, each kick revealing bright white bone and pink striated flesh.

Good gawd. Horrific.

Borodin could hardly contain his delirious laughter once the behemoth was gone. He rolled onto his side and gasped, overwhelmed by his good fortune. Yes, god was watching. Russia would rise again. Fetid breath washed over Borodin’s neck, and a set of jaws ensnared his throat before he could scream. His head was twisted around until his vision faded. A utahraptor stared into his eyes with cold malice.

Hah. You were saying?

Borodin screamed until his throat bled. The chicks squealed and burrowed deeper inside of him. Borodin could only stare and plead forgiveness as he was eaten alive from the inside-out. He prayed for the escape of death.

Oh it's coming, dude.