Jack woke up with a groan. His back was killing him from sleeping on the hard cave floor. His arm muscles were sore, and he was extremely thirsty. He drank his fill of the rainwater the night before, but he was already sweating when he woke up. It was just too hot and humid.

He left the cave after checking on Gordon. His friend was asleep and Jack had been told several times that all they could do was wait for him to fight it off. They had to keep him fed, hydrated and comfortable. There was no timeline for him getting better, and there were a lot of risks, but at least he was still breathing.

People had been organized into groups, and he spotted Marcus and Jade each directing people to start gathering one thing or another. Jack covered a yawn and waved good morning. Marcus waved back, but didn't come over to chat. Jack figured he had a few minutes to himself.

First order of business would be laundry. He walked down to the pool and took off his shirt. He sat on a flat rock and started washing it in the water. It had gotten three new tears in it from the adventures over the past few days. He scrubbed as much dirt and grime out of it as possible, then laid it on the rock beside him.

He debated taking his jeans off to do the same thing. They definitely needed it, but seeing as the pool was the dead center of their camp and literally the entire tribe would be awake soon and looking at him, he decided to just jump in with them on. The water was cool and refreshing, and he had to constantly remind himself not to drink it. He was getting tired of hot water, and would have killed for some ice.

He washed himself as best he could, scrubbing his fingers through his hair and along his jeans. When he pulled himself from the water he was cleaner, which was an overall improvement. He spent the next thirty minutes sunbathing on the rocks trying to get dry. When Marcus, Soren, and Mattock came to find him he was damp, but clean.

“I see you decided to take the plunge.” Soren said with a smile. “How is the water?”

“It's chilly, but in this heat it feels nice.” Jack said as he put his shirt back on.

“Well, Miles is going to try and turn this waterfall into some sort of shower, so hopefully everyone can get clean.” Marcus said. Mattock just grunted, he didn’t seem to be much of a morning person. Eventually Clara joined them. She looked around and seemed confused.

“Where is Jack?” She asked, her tone playful.

Jack waved at her, his eyes squinting some. She looked him over.

“Nah. This isn’t Jack. This guy is clean. Jack’s the guy with the club who’s had gore in his hair for two days. Big dude, likes to smash stuff. You are far too clean to be Jack.” The group laughed, and Jack reached up to feel his hair. He was pretty sure he hadn’t had gore in his hair. But he had carried a lot of bloody bodies over the past few days.

“Very funny. Should I toss you in the lake?” He responded, but Clara just stuck her tongue out.

“You would have to catch me first.” She teased.

Marcus hid his smile and coughed. Getting the meeting on track.

“I’m having Lottie and Haden stay back today. I want Lottie to stay by Gordon and keep him hydrated. She is also recovering from the past few days, and needs some time to rest for herself. She may be used to walking around barefoot, but that much travel is rough. Haden’s leg also needs a day or two of rest. I handed him off to Mavis to help try and make some better tools. I would like you all to do some exploring and try to bring back some meat. Don’t go after anything too big to carry home. Another Moschops would be great if you find one. Also, keep an eye out for nests. Dino eggs are going to be great sources of food, and if they hatch we get a free dino we can let imprint on someone. Secondly, keep an eye out for anything we can tame. I want to grab a Triceratops or Stegosaurus, something large that can help protect the tribe. If you find anything that fits the bill, come back to camp and grab me.”

Everyone nodded along to Marcus’s orders. When he was done and it was clear there were no questions, the hunters gathered their spears. Jack waved good morning to Mavis, and then met the others at the edge of camp. Soren was already waiting for him.

“So. What direction should we head? Just straight out into the woods? Or do you want to hug the cliff?” He asked.

Jack shrugged.

“Well, we know the big herbivores like the clearings. Maybe we try to pick off a straggler from one of the herds? Or hunt the woods around them for outcasts?”

Soren shuddered.

“I don’t want anything to do with those big Brontos. One swipe of their tail and we are dead. I say we stick to the woods.”

Clara and Mattock joined them a few minutes later, and the four of them set off into the woods. Mattock led the group, and after a few minutes of walking they could no longer hear the roaring falls or the tribe chatter, and they focused on moving quietly and listening to the sounds of the woods. Mattock started poking bushes again, sending a few small squirrel-like creatures scattering.

“Hmm. We could probably set snares to catch animals like that. Though we would probably get Compys more than anything else.” He said.

“What should we be looking for today?” Jack asked the more experienced hunter.

Mattock started looking around for footprints, but didn’t find anything noteworthy.

“I'm no expert. Maybe one of those Ostrich looking things we saw from the cliffs. They looked light enough to carry back, and had plenty of meat. But we will have to see what we find.”

They continued deeper into the woods. According to the map they had used yesterday the river was a good three miles away from their base. One of the large clearings was two miles away, and spanned most of the remaining mile to the river. This gave the hunters two miles of woodland to cover on their hunt. They chatted for an hour as they explored. Finding and following game trials and learning their local environment. An hour and a half in, they found their first group of young Triceratops in the woods.

The five herbivores were clearly uneasy with the hunters, and the largest of them stepped forward to bellow at them. Each one was the size of a truck, and the largest was closer in size to an eighteen wheeler. They could tell that it was agitated, and quickly backed off. That was a fight they did not want.

“What do you think it would take for us to take down a group that size?” Jack asked Mattock. Who looked back at the dinosaurs thoughtfully.

“I would say twice our number of hunters, with well made bows and arrows. If we surround them we could shoot past their bony crests. It would be difficult. I am guessing their anatomy is similar to a big cow, but who knows if their hearts are in the same spot. I would want to kill a lone one first and butcher it, figure out where we need to target to bring them down quickly. We either need better weapons, or some predators of our own. Two of those Baryonyx, ridden by people could probably tear that little group of Trikes apart. It would not be without risk, but that's probably the easiest way to do it. I wouldn’t mess with the big one though. That guy would need a rex to take down.”

Jack nodded. Thinking through how they could get to that point.

“We will need bows at some point regardless. I don’t want to fight a T-Rex with a spear. Do you have any ideas on how to make them?” He asked the experienced hunter, but Mattock just shook his head.

“I’ve not used a bow since I was your age. I used rifles when I hunted. One of my friends enjoyed bow hunting, but I never let him talk me into going with him. I don’t know the first thing about making them.” Mattock leaned down to pick up a rock, hefting it over his shoulder.

“That's a shame. I am sure we can figure it out though. The idea isn’t hard.” Jack replied.

Mattock chuckled.

“We will have better luck with slings I think. I can make leather if we can kill something with a hide or pelt. I don’t know what to do with scales. I think I could make some sort of leather out of the Parasaurolophus skin, maybe. People used to make crocodile skin boots and such. But we really need to kill one of those sloths or some large mammal. I know what to do with those. I wonder if there are prehistoric deer or something?” Mattock mused as they walked.

“I remember reading about something like that. I think they used to live in the British isles?” Soren added. “I think that was mostly ice age stuff though.”

“Well we saw sabertooth tigers and giant sloths. So it's possible. They probably won’t show up in the jungle though.” Jack said as he stabbed out at one of the bushes they were passing.

“That would be quite the hunt.” Mattock said dreamily.

“Matt, we’re hunting dinosaurs. It doesn’t get much crazier than that.” Clara said.

Mattock blinked.

“Oh, yeah. I suppose that is pretty cool.” He paused. “It was a lot more fun in my head.”

Everyone else chuckled.

“Well, as soon as we can figure out a solid bow, I bet you will be able to take down a T-Rex. That will be a hell of a hunt.” Jack said.

“Let's hope we have some big dinos of our own by then. I want to ride a T-Rex, not fight one. Maybe one of those big Brontos would be good to ride on as well. They are certainly large enough to carry most of the tribe.” Clara said.

Jack remembered watching from the cliff as one of the big sauropods accidentally crushed one of the smaller herbivores and barely noticed. The massive dinosaurs were impressive, and he had no doubt that they were capable of fully fighting off a T-Rex. Now that he thought about it, the large herds of herbivores probably followed the Brontos around for that exact reason.

“I don’t want to think about how much meat it would take to care for a T-Rex.” Mattock said. “We would probably need to double or triple the amount of meat it takes to feed the tribe if we manage to tame one. The Rex would need to work just to feed itself with us.”

“Getting the big herbivores is probably better then. We can just let them graze when we aren’t riding them. Less work and less upkeep.” Soren added.

“Did you see the water dinos when Mavis pulled up the river threat list? The oceans and lakes here must be insane. I am glad we don’t have to deal with Megolodons or anything.” Jack said.

“Are those the mega sharks?” Clara asked.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Yeah, like three or four times larger than a great white, and they aren’t even the biggest predators in the ocean.” Jack answered and Clara whistled.

“I suspect the first mega predator we will find in the valley will be Spinosaurus. I spent some time studying those footprints in the canyon. We found plenty of medium sized dinos, but nothing that could have been a mega predator like a T-Rex. I think the Rexs stay on the mountainside, and the Spinos stay by the water.” Mattock said.

“Spinos are going to be interesting. I didn’t see any from the cliff, but if they are like the one from the movie they could easily fix our mega crocodile problem. And we could just let it fish for itself along the river. Might be even better than taming a Rex if we are going to stay in the valley for the long haul.” Soren said.

Jack thought about the massive predator. It was certainly cool, and extremely dangerous. He would trust it to fight in the wetlands and river much better than a T-Rex. However, it would be harder to ride and its sail would make it a poor pack animal. He wasn’t sure if there was any judgment to make on if the Spino or the Rex was stronger or faster. Maybe he could sit down with Mavis and read over the encyclopedias.

Clara stopped the group and pointed out a small herd of herbivores. Three triceratops were walking alongside what looked like an armored boulder covered in spikes. It’s armor was a dull gray color, and its tail ended in a massive club. Jack recognized it as an Ankylosaurus. Or at least something from that family. There were a few other dinosaurs that looked similar to Thrasher, but without the large head crest. They had longer heads and were fully quadrupedal. Jack guessed they were Iguanodon or some sort of Hadrosaur. He once again wished he could carry the tribe artifact around just to identify stuff.

The herd seemed to ignore them until the breeze changed. The herbivores smelled the new people and started to become agitated. The Triceratops grunted at them and the Ankylosaur bellowed its dissatisfaction. The hunters took the hint and backed up. They traveled further around the clearing until the small herd was well away from them.

After walking quietly for another hour, Mattock raised his hand to stop the group, and he pointed through the trees on their right. There was a lone Pachysepholosaurus chewing on a berry bush two hundred feet away from them. It hadn't seemed to take notice of them, or if it had it simply did not care.

The dinosaur was approximately five feet tall, seven feet long. Its large bony skull was covered in tree bark and dried blood. It had a large scar running across its right leg, and seemed less skittish than the last pack they had seen. It had clearly seen some sort of fight recently.

“Do we go for it?” Clara asked. “This is the first thing we have found on its own. And it's small enough that we could carry it back.”

Everyone watched the Pachy eat from the bush with large blackberries. It hadn’t even twitched when Clara spoke. Just continued to eat slowly. Jack adjusted the grip on his club and Soren pulled out his second spear.

Mattock watched the Pachy. Waiting to see if it had others around or if its simple demeanor was a trick. They were downwind of the dinosaur, which could explain why it hadn’t reacted to them. They had been talking when they first saw it and it should have noticed them. But it truly was alone and maybe even injured. Jack felt that it was worth the risk. He nodded to the group.

“Ok, Clara and Jack go left. Soren and I will go right and start by throwing our spare spears at it. It should flee towards you two. Aim for its belly or legs and try to bring it down quickly. Be very careful of its head. That beak is sharp, and it's clearly used to using its skull as a weapon.” Mattock gave his orders, and everyone nodded.

Jack and Lottie started moving to their left, slowly stalking closer to their prey. They tried to keep trees and bushes between them as much as possible, and from what they could tell the Pachycephalosaurus still didn’t notice them. A few tense minutes passed as they waited for Mattock and Soren to get into place. Jack couldn’t help but wonder if the dinosaur was somehow sick. It was barely looking around and seemed entirely at ease.

Jack caught sight of Soren from behind a tree on the far side of the Pachy, spear raised. He didn’t see Mattock, but that wasn’t much of a surprise, the older man was head and shoulders above the rest of them in bushcraft. He caught Soren’s eye, and the young man held up a hand, counting down from five. Jack gripped his club and prepared to react. The countdown ended, and two spears flew from the bush and pierced the Pachy’s side. Its eyes snapped open and it let out a bellow of pain. Soren’s spear had stabbed into the meat between its leg and tail and was stuck in, but Mattock’s had hit the chest, and the dinosaur wasted no time in thrashing its arms and breaking the spear. A thick spray of blood poured from its wound, and its bellowing cry turned sharp.

Jack wound up a swing, preparing for the dinosaur to flee towards him and Clara. Her spear was ready as well, and as soon as the Pachy stepped past their tree, it would take two blows to the back which would hopefully be enough to kill it quickly. But the footsteps of the Pachy did not approach Jack, instead the dinosaur decided to charge at Soren. He and Clara exchanged panicked looks, and that moment of hesitation cost them. A crack of bone on wood split the air as the Pachy collided with the tree Soren had jumped behind. It was one of the smaller trees, and the force was enough to shatter the bark and cause the tree to lean. Soren let out a shout of fear and surprise, and Jack could hear Mattock grunt with effort.

Clara was a step ahead of Jack as they charged to help their fellow hunters. She sprinted the distance and stuck out with her spear. It collided with the hard scales on the dinosaur's back that almost looked like armor, and glanced off. Its tail swung out and swept at Clara. Fortunately she had been close to the tail and it had not had the space to increase its speed and force before slamming into her. It was enough to toss her aside though, but none of her bones snapped. Jack followed up, swinging his club into the back of the Pachy’s knee and shattering it. It fell to the ground, and a second later Mattock was beside Jack, his spear stabbing down into the dinosaur's throat. The tip of the spear broke, but the blood poured from the dinosaur as its screams were cut off, and it finally went still.

“You ok?” Jack asked Clara as he ran to help her up. Soren let out a groan from behind the tilted tree, and Mattock helped him up.

“I’m fine. It just swept me off my feet. If it had more time it probably would have tried to stomp on me, but other than a scrape I'm fine.” Clara replied as she took Jack’s hand and stood up.

“I’m fine as well.” Soren groaned. “But I think all our spears are broken. Mine snapped when I fell.”

Jack looked down at the body, Soren’s original spear was hanging limp from its side, and the other weapons were all snapped or broken. Jack held the only viable weapon, and his club left much to be desired.

Mattock looked at the body of the Pachy. It was small enough that they could carry it back with some work. But the question was, how could they do it safely. Jack was undoubtedly the strongest one with them, but he was also the only one who could effectively use the club as a weapon. “Well we either carry it back slowly, and have Jack guard us, or we all carry it back as fast as we can. I still have my knife, so we could try and make some more spears on the way back.” He glanced at Jack. “Do you think you and Soren could move this thing on your own? If not we can do some field dressing and carry it back in smaller bits. Though I know we will want to gather the bones and such as well, so the more we bring back the better.”

Jack thought about it. He glanced at Soren who just shrugged. Soren was fit, but Jack was easily twice as strong as him.

“I say we drag it back, you and Clara try to make more spears as we move. Once you each have one we can each take a leg and speed up.” Jack finally suggested. He moved to the Pachy’s legs, and squatted down to get a good grip. The body was covered in blood and quite slippery.

Clara took his club, and Mattock started searching for additional sticks to sharpen. Soren grabbed the Pachy by its arms and they managed to lift most of the way off the ground. Its tail still dragged, and Jack was doing most of the work, but they got moving.

Clara led the way, taking wild swings at the bushes as they passed to clear the way and ward off predators. They were not going to be stealthy, not while carrying a bloody corpse with them, so they didn’t even try. Mattock finished crafting a makeshift spear and strapped it to his back before starting on another.

The group was extremely focused, and they knew this was going to be one of the most dangerous parts of their journey. A pack of a dozen Compy’s emerged from behind them and started to chirp and follow them. They would run up and try to take bites out of the dragging tail, and Clara had to step back and swing the club at them to keep them away. She wasn’t fast enough to hit them, but she pushed them off for a time. When a pack of Velociraptors started chirping in the woods ahead of them Mattock stopped the group and passed out the makeshift spear he had to Soren, and had Jack take the club back. He had his knife, and Clara used the second spear he had not fully finished as a staff.

The raptors ran out of the bushes towards them, one leaping to attack Clara. But she battled it out of the air like a baseball hard enough to crush its skull against the nearby tree. Jack was just behind her, swinging his larger club in a downwards smash. The raptors were quick enough to dodge the swipe, but they had to slow their momentum and Mattock and Soren both took the chance to step forward and stab at the pack. The raptors cried out and tried to bite at them, but Soren’s spear was too long and Mattock’s steel knife had managed to cut deep into the second Raptor’s neck, causing it to twitch and die. The turkey sized dinosaurs retreated once Clara landed another solid crack with her staff, and Jack’s club sent one flying like a golf ball. The remaining creatures ran into the woods, not having expected to lose half their numbers so easily.

“Damn. Good thing those are the small ones. I would hate to try that against the movie sized ones.” Soren said, and Jack could only nod. He was still full of adrenaline and constantly searching the woods for more threats.

Clara and Mattock checked everyone for wounds, and they decided they were well armed enough for everyone to grab a part of the kill and run on ahead. They bundled up the dead raptors and tossed it onto the Pachy, then continued their jog to camp. The herbivores they passed became agitated and retreated at the smell of blood. They did not encounter any more predators, save for the Compys that continued to follow them.

Thirty minutes later, they had arrived back home and the tribe let out a small cheer when they saw the large kill and the extra raptor bodies. They dropped the body off by the largest campfire, and were all told to go bathe. Each of them were covered in blood and gore and dirt, and most of the camp could smell them from fifty feet away.

Jack was surprised to see Miles and three other men finishing the installation of a wood bridge under the waterfall. They had cut down two of the thinner trees using stone axes, and lashed them together with twine, digging out furrows in the banks of the pond. They then piled mud around the furrows and secured both ends with large flat rocks. It was a very primitive bridge, but it would let them stand under the waterfall and take full showers. There was already a small group of exhausted men cleaning themselves, and Clara grumbled as she was politely sent to help with preparing the meat while the men bathed.

It was awkward, bathing in boxers with a bunch of other men, knowing that they were also surrounded by thirty or so women who could just as easily look over at them. But the water was cool and refreshing and they quickly focused on the bathing. Jack did his best once again to clean his jeans and shirt. He got it wet and scrubbed off as much blood and gore as he could. He laid the shirt out to dry and shimmied the wet pants back on. It was uncomfortable, but he didn’t complain. He went and sat by the fire, letting Clara go and clean off while he helped with the meat.

Mattock had already gutted and cleaned the kill. It was a process Jack was familiar with, so he had stepped back so that others could get a full demonstration. He would need to practice, but he would get plenty of opportunities to do so. He spent time carving the Pachy meat into long strips and helping Ms Margret wrap them around the ends of sticks and slowly cook them over the fire. They didn’t have a large enough spit roast to fully cook the dinosaur, but once Jack had worked at it for an hour they had managed to get enough meat to feed the entire tribe. There was still a lot more. A kill this size could probably last another day or two.

Under the direction of Ms Margert, Jack helped cut and cook the long strips of meat, then lay the strips down on large leaves that Skye had delivered. Apparently they had been washed as well, and the stone knife Ms Margert was using had been made earlier in the day and sanitized the best they knew how. Once the cooked meat was laid out on the leaves, they bundled it up and wrapped it with primitive twine. Jack was impressed how well it was made, he doubted he could have done anything impressive with the random plant fibers. Finally the cooked meat was stored in a basket that was only half finished and placed in the cave. It wasn’t refrigerated by any means, but it was slightly cooler in the cave and it would keep it out of the sun.

As the sun set, a bonfire was built and Marcus gathered the majority of the tribe around it. They moved over logs and rocks, and cleared flat areas for everyone to sit more comfortably. The food was handed out, still warm and very juicy. They used leaves as plates, and the knives were passed around to help cut the meat. Clean water was still a problem, but people had gotten a few drinks in over the day. A few notable people were missing. Mavis and some of her crafting team had gone to sleep, Gordon was still knocked out in the cave, and Mattock was walking the perimeter on vigilant watch.

As everyone began to eat and the quiet muttering overtook the crackling of the fire, Marcus stood on the largest rock overlooking the bonfire. He called out and raised his hands, getting everyone's attention. Jade, Taressa, Miles, and Lottie stood under him, all facing the tribe.

“Good evening everyone. We have survived another day, and we have started to lay the foundations of a settlement here. Please eat and rest, but lend me your ears. Tonight will be our first official meeting and we have much that must be discussed.”