Dinosaur Armageddon Vol. 1: Vengeful Promise

Chapter 18

"I still can't believe your uncle was one of the most brilliant paleontologists to ever exist," Vinny said with a smile.

I smiled back. It was true. My uncle, Jeremiah Horner, was among the most famous paleontologists to live. You could say that fossil hunting ran in his blood, especially seeing that we were descendants of world renowned paleontologist Jack Horner, who was one of the most respected paleontologists of his age. Jack was even the main dinosaur consultant for the makers of the Jurassic Park films. And I guess his passion for fossil hunting was passed down to his descendants, my uncle being one of them. Jeremiah climbed his way up his career until the point where he managed to surpass his ancestor. He became famous, he was awarded for being the brightest mind in paleontological studies, and of course the story goes.

Whenever I could, my uncle would take me with him on his expeditions, allowing me to watch how fossils were dug out. Sometimes, I would help out by brushing the bones with a paintbrush, cover the remains in plaster, and he would even test me by trying to make me identify what kind of creature had just been found. It's because of my uncle's teachings that I know so much about different kinds of dinosaurs.

Just a year before he passed away, Jeremiah created the Dinopedia app, which I installed in my phone. The app pretty much had every kind of entry for every kind of dinosaur, pterosaur, and other kinds of prehistoric animals from the Mesozoic era. And the app had been very useful to me, particularly whenever I was between a rock and a tough place. And now it was helping us. I gave the link to the Dinopedia to Hailey, Vinny, and Walt not too long before we set out to find the Coelophysis nest. By doing so, they could use it to try to identify what kind of dinosaur they see.

"I think we might be heading in the right direction," Vinny said, shrugging his backpack. "We should be getting close to the Coelophysis' hunting grounds. If we follow the direction the Anurognathus flew to, we should be heading the right way."

"What makes you say that?" I said, raising my brow.

"Anurognathus are exclusively bug eaters," Vinny said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with a finger. "And they travel with large herbivores to eat any insects that land on them. So, where there's Anurognathus, there are herbivores. And where there's herbivores--"

"Then there are sure to be predators," I said, finally understanding.

Vinny smiled and nodded. "Damn right. Now let's get going."

The two of us made our way forward, heading in the direction the tiny pterosaurs flew off to. While we walked, I could hear the unmistakable sound of the gurgling river, I could smell the scent of the running water. With each step I could sense we were closing the gap. My legs cramped a bit, but it didn't bother me all that much. All that I had on my mind was the task we had at hand.

Within moments, we came out of the trees and onto the rocky shore. Below our feet were huge gray boulders with bits of moss here and there. The river flowed and a calm, gentle way. The other side of the river was no different than the side we were standing on; a rocky shoreline and a thick growth of trees. A bird chirped and zipped through the air like a dart.

I took a deep breath and sighed slowly. "It feels really peaceful out here. I'm not going to lie about that."

Vinny nodded. "You got that right. And it might be more peaceful if we weren't so worried about the Coelophysis hiding out here some place. But I think we should take some time to rest." He took his pack off of him and dropped it onto the ground. "My legs are killing me."

I nodded in agreement, setting my bag down on the ground and sitting down. "I agree."

Vinny took a seat on the ground in front of me. He then unzipped his bag, took out a water bottle, and drank from it. He sighed after swallowing and placed the bottle back into his bag. "Okay. So, we've found the water source. Now we just need to figure out where the prey is."