Chapter 18: Raptors

The two Velociraptors snarled, one lowering its head and crouching, ready to pounce. Ellie and Malcolm braced for the inevitable, when -

A thunderous sound ricocheted through the air - the crack of a gunshot. The raptors halted their advance, thrown off guard by the unnatural disturbance.

They turned their bodies in reaction to the source of the noise. As they parted, Ellie and Malcolm were able to make out a silhouette on the cliff behind the raptors. It was Muldoon.

With silent stern determination, Muldoon pumped the next round into his shotgun, his sights trained on the raptors. With stunning speed one of the raptors leapt onto the cliff and started closing in on him. 

Muldoon didn’t fire - he’d read Grant’s report. This raptor was distracting him. The attack doesn’t come from the front, but from the side. Sure enough the other raptor began scrambling up the rocks on his left. 

He wheeled and fired, catching the raptor in the snout with buckshot. It fell heavily to the ground. 

In a flash, the second raptor rushed forward, but Muldoon had already cycled his next round with a firm pump, and let off another round into the side of the advancing creature. It screamed in pain, the shotgun having dealt a gaping wound to the raptor’s flank. It ran off into the forest, abandoning it’s downed companion.

Muldoon smirked, gazing at the dead raptor on the side of the cliff, smoke spiralling out the barrel of the shotgun. “Clever Girl.”