"Oh, come on, Blue!!!"
Owen stared at the footprints in the snow, keeping his voice down as he let out a low, utterly frustrated groan.
The large tarp he had planned to use to cover his pickup truck was gone, and the trail of tracks left in the snow clearly pointed to the culprit. Even though he couldn't tell exactly which Velociraptor was responsible, Owen's default rule of thumb was "when in doubt, blame Blue." As for who actually did it, Blue would handle them anyway.
If this had been a one-time thing, Owen wouldn't even be that mad. He'd probably just think, Hey, you guys actually came by to visit.
But this was clearly not the first time.
A few days ago, his flashlight had been swiped. A week ago, his barbecue ingredients vanished. And going back a bit further, his radio was stolen!
God only knew what a Velociraptor wanted with a radio. To listen to the news? Has dinosaur intelligence evolved that much already?
If that's really the case, why don't you guys just write me a shopping list? I'll buy it for you on my way home!
"Sigh..."
Owen exhaled heavily and pulled off his gloves, intending to toss them onto the wooden stump he used as a stool. He froze mid-throw, thought better of it, and ultimately carried the gloves inside the house with him.
Sizzle...
The sound of cooking on an iron skillet echoed from the kitchen. The indoor heating was running incredibly well; the moment Owen opened the wooden door, a wave of hot air washed over him.
A thin plume of gray smoke drifted into the sky from the chimney on the roof. Compared to when it was first built, the wooden cabin had lost that pristine, freshly-finished look, replaced by the comfortable, worn-in traces of daily life.
Click.
The wooden door shut tightly, sealing the cozy warmth of the indoors away from the biting cold outside.
The cold wind howls*
"Eeek!"
Feeling the sudden surge of cold, Delta couldn't help but shudder. She lifted her head, stretching a bit to warm up her body.
After scanning her surroundings, she lowered her head again, gripped the tarp she had swiped from Owen in her jaws, and resumed dragging it back toward their habitat.
Yes. It was her again, for the millionth time. Every single item swiped from Owen had been the work of her alone.
Previously, she had been strictly punished by Blue, the alpha, for neglecting her actual duties. She knew she had to make a change!
Faced with Blue's punishment, Delta's choice was...
To perform exceptionally well! To work extra hard! And strive to make Blue reward her handsomely!
Though, if Blue ever found out what kind of "good deed" Delta had actually pulled, that reward and punishment would probably turn into the exact same thing.
How tragic.
"Aok!"
Delta let out a high-pitched cry as she neared the habitat, and it wasn't long before Echo and Blue responded in unison.
This was their method for verifying that the habitat was safe. They would leave one or two Velociraptors to guard the nest, confirming whether the territory was secure, and call back to returning foragers to let them know the coast was clear.
Some might think this was a dangerous tactic, what if it drew in other predators? But for the Velociraptors who already thoroughly knew this region... if it actually drew something in, wouldn't that be even better?
The place where Owen's family of three… well, six, lived was a remote, mountainous forest near northern America, chosen primarily because of the Velociraptors and Maisie's status as a clone.
Among the native wildlife here, the only thing truly capable of hurting them was a grizzly bear. However, with the sudden appearance of dinosaurs, vast numbers of native habitats had been seized and overrun, pushing a significant portion of local animals onto the endangered species list.
Instead of worrying about grizzly bears, they had more reason to worry about their neighbor, the Yutyrannus.
"Roar—"
A deafening roar echoed from the horizon. Even from a massive distance, the Yutyrannus's cry still made a dinosaur's heart skip a beat.
Fortunately, they needed to migrate alongside their prey. While they wouldn't stay too far from Owen's family, there was a very low probability of a direct confrontation. Furthermore, Owen went out every single day to verify the Yutyrannus's migration route.
Delta quickened her pace and returned to the Velociraptor camp, specifically, the site of the wrecked school bus.
"Aok?"
Echo looked at Delta dragging a massive piece of cloth, tilting her head with a puzzled chirp.
"Aok!"
Delta dropped the tarp from her mouth and chirped back, explaining her grand plan to Echo.
While the enclosed space of the school bus was reasonably warm, a freezing draft would frequently blow in through the shattered glass windows, chilling a dinosaur to the bone, especially Delta, who liked to sleep right by the window.
Her logic was simple: put the cloth on top of the bus to cover the windows, and then the freezing wind wouldn't blow inside anymore!
"Aok!"
Echo didn't entirely comprehend Delta's bizarre stroke of genius, but she still chirped in agreement.
The sound of metal being struck*
With a light leap, Echo bounded onto the roof of the school bus. Her scimitar-like sickle claws tapped twice against the sheet metal, making a crisp tap-tap sound.
"Aok!"
She turned around and called down to Delta below.
"Aok!"
Seeing this, Delta responded happily. She lowered her head to grab the tarp again and marched toward the bus.
Blue seemed to have gone out to handle something, otherwise the two of them would have had a much easier time.
The sound of shattering glass shards*
The thud of snow being struck*
Dragging the heavy tarp meant Delta couldn't jump very high. She managed to rest her two feet on the broken window frame, her relatively slender arms leaving several deep scratches on the roof before she slipped and crashed back down into the snow.
Still perched on the roof, Echo clamped her jaws onto the tarp handed up to her, successfully dragging the heavy fabric all the way up.
"Aok!"
Delta scrambled up from the snow, shaking her body to brush off the stray flakes. She looked back up at the roof, and realizing they had succeeded, let out a cheerful chirp.
Thud, thump... thud...
She tried to leap onto the roof just like Echo, but an accident occurred. The two fractures she had suffered in the past seemed to have left her with some lingering underlying injuries; she stumbled a few times upon landing, though fortunately, it wasn't anything serious.
By now, Echo had already hopped down from the roof, quietly watching Delta do her thing. After all, she hadn't really understood what her packmate was trying to achieve anyway, so she figured it was best not to get in the way and make a mess of things.
Delta looked thoroughly delighted with herself. She lowered her head to smooth out the large tarp, her scimitar claws tapping against the roof every now and then with rhythmic, alternating pressure.
To tell the truth, she had learned this rhythm from Owen's radio.
How does a Velociraptor operate a radio? Simple. Slap it with your tail, it turns on. Slap it again, it turns off.
However, this method seemed a bit destructive to the hardware. The radio she had swiped last month had already started glitching out with heavy static, and it looked like it was right on the verge of breaking apart.
Hmm... she'd just have to go swipe another one in a little while.
Footsteps crunching in the snow*
Delta landed back on the ground and looked at the rear half of the school bus, which was now completely covered. She was immensely satisfied.
Right on cue, Blue, who had been out gathering branches in the habitat to build their nest, returned. Delta immediately trotted forward with a proud chirp, seemingly claiming credit for her hard work.
Blue followed Delta's gesture and looked up at the giant tarp covering the roof of the school bus, but...
The cold wind howls*
A sudden gust of wind swept through. The giant tarp, which hadn't been completely flattened out, shifted slightly. A corner was instantly caught by the breeze, hoisted up, and then completely whipped away by the sheer force of the wind, finally getting hopelessly snagged on some tree branches not far away.
Blue turned her gaze to Delta.
Delta was still frozen in her exact same pose, her face frozen in a mask of satisfaction and joy as she stared at the bus, but her soul appeared to have entirely departed her body.
How tragic.
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