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There was a
feathery sauropod in the way, obviously wounded from its staggering slow pace
and bloody wounded on its flanks. “Damn, damn damn,” he muttered, noting it was
limping.
    It gave a long soft awkward cry,
tossing its head to a distant shape. He looked in the indicated direction,
noting the herd of sauropods getting further and further away. “Not your day
mate,” he said sympathetically.  A rustle in the nearby brush made him look
over. The sauropod looked over wearily, and then it thrashed its tail and tried
to amble away faster.
    “Oh shit, not my day either.”
     Out of the brush a giant raptor
like creature came, massive, easily four times larger than the raptors. “Oh
fuck me,” he muttered as the thing bellowed a challenge. He linked the camera
feeds to the log and set it to record.
    The creature was just huge. Most
of the head was bare scales, from the top of the head back was a white stripe
down the spine bordered by a pair of black stripes that tapered into tiger
stripes down the flanks. The body feathers were a mix of browns and tans.
    It had a massive head ending in a
beak. Sharp steak knife like teeth line the rear of its jaw and muzzle. The
arms were built like a raptor’s, but without the vestigial wings. The hind
quarters were solidly built; the tail was short, ending in a stub of feathers.
“T-Rex meet big bird, film at eleven,” Mitch commented, watching the massive
thing stalk the now distressed sauropod. A rustle in the bush and another of
the creatures stepped out, then a juvenile version.
    “Bring the whole family why don’t
you. Dinner is served,” Mitch sighed, shaking his head. Sighing in frustration
he waited and watched. He turned his head as they clear the camera view,
catching sight of the sauropod as it headed North and possible safety. “Good,”
he muttered...”Ah crap, me and my big mouth,” he muttered as a giant t-Rex
creature rushed out of the brush on the far side, tearing into the surprised
creature.
    With a bawl it tried to strike,
thrashing its neck and tail, but unable to hit the Rex. The Rex clamped down on
the already torn and bloodied neck; a muttered growl can be heard over the
saurapods throaty bellow. Its forelimbs tore into the sauropod, latching on
with meat hook claws, and began to pull it down. With a shrieking cry and low
moan the gentle giant stumbled, then fell. Mitch felt the truck suspension bob
as the fall generated a small earth tremor. The herbivore tried to move, but
the others arrived and began to tear at it as the ambusher bit down. They tore
into the giant, eating it while it was still alive.
    Muttering about poor table
manners Mitch flicked to the KITT AI and ordered the tractor to get moving. He
passed the tractor, keeping it between him and the Rex family. The juvenile
looked up interested, mouth dripping gore, but the slurping sound behind it was
too much and it returned to the meal in front of it. Mitch sighed in relief.
    He thought about trying a double
load, but then talked himself out of it. It would just be too dangerous if
something would go wrong, especially near the Rex family. Last thing he needed
was to tempt fate any more than he had already.
    Unfortunately due to the lay of
the land he couldn’t detour without adding three to four hours each way to the
trip. The detour would expose the convoy vehicles to the grasslands as well. He
logged the Rex family as capital predators with the security AI, making sure
they kept an eye out for them.
    There were only thirty four
large, and twenty two small cargo trailers left, as well as a half a dozen
flatbeds. Most of the gear was not short term critical, things like textile
mills, the autoclave, asphalt maker, kilns, helicopters, plane, and other gear
were nice to have long term, but he could in theory live without them. Not that
he intended to do so unless it was absolutely necessary. He hooked up the
tractors and last fertilizer truck and headed off.
    It would have been nice to