For Years, Our Town's Been Terrorized

Life was rough for a lone baby dinosaur. When Kanna hatched, she was surrounded by eggshells and cryolophosaurus scent that was several days old. She’d been the last to hatch, and, evidently, her family hadn't felt like sticking around and waiting for her. So from the very beginning, she was alone.

She spent a few days trying to follow the scent of her family, but she was slow, rambling, and inexperienced, and realized she had no hope of finding them. So she left the scent-trail behind and went off to find her own path.

Her aimless wandering brought her to one of the human cities—well, it had been a human city at one point, but it was more like nature’s city now. The humans were all long gone, and much of what they’d left behind was overgrown with vines and moss. But Kanna could smell other dinosaurs around, and if they’d found a way to survive there, so could she. A hint of confidence was the only thing she had to her name.

Many of the dinosaurs patrolling the streets were larger than her, so she learned to stick to the dark alleyways. Most of the grown predators couldn’t be bothered to squeeze into the little passages, so they were relatively safe.

Kanna didn’t like going into the buildings themselves very much. Many of them were dark, their light bulbs long dead, and the ones with caved-in ceilings made her feel small and exposed. She saw a tropeognathus swoop in through a dilapidated roof and gobble up a squirrel and was unable to ever unsee it. Buildings were too dangerous.

One night, the sky was laden with dark clouds, and rain came pouring down. Kanna discovered that she was not a fan of being rained on.

Not wanting to head indoors, she ducked into an alleyway to try and find somewhere dry. And luckily for her, against one of the walls was an overturned dumpster. The flaps of the lid had fallen to the ground and all the trash had been cleared out, creating a makeshift den the perfect size for a young cryo to wait out a storm.

Kanna wasted no time, hopping in, curling up, and tucking her nose beneath her tail. Before she knew it, she’d fallen asleep.

#

When she woke up, she couldn’t hear the drumming of raindrops against the dumpster anymore, but it was still dark. Kanna’s half-asleep mind thought that the clouds were still blocking out the sun, or maybe she’d only taken a short nap and it was still nighttime.

Until she tried to leave the dumpster and bumped her nose against the lid.

It hadn’t been closed when she’d gone to sleep. Which meant someone must have closed it, but why?

Something slammed hard against the lid, smacking Kanna on the nose. She yelped and jumped back.

“Wake up, sleepyhead!” called a voice from outside.

“Who- who’s there!”

“Jolene! The one who’s sleeping spot you stole!” Jolene jumped on top of the dumpster and stomped her feet, making Kanna’s whole world shake. “You think you can just take whatever spot you want, huh? You can show up anywhere you’d like and share and be friends?”

“Yes!” Kanna squeaked. “I hope so!”

Kanna didn’t know why this was happening to her. It’s not like she even had a chance to get out before she was being rattled around! And she hadn’t stolen someone’s den on purpose! The rain must have washed Jolene’s scent away.

Jolene giggled, a strangely sweet sound given her attitude. “Poor thing! You don’t know how anything works, do you?”

“That’s not my fault! My parents never taught me anything!”

“Then I guess I’ll have to teach you. Rule number one! Sleep with one eye open.” A tiny crack appeared in the corner of the dumpster, but the light it could have brought in was blocked by an emerald eye. Kanna realized that Jolene was a cryo, too—she saw the outline of a crest on the back of her head. “You never know who could be nearby.”

“Th-Thank you?”

Jolene laughed again, her eye disappearing as the dumpster shut. If only Kanna had actually jumped for the opening, then maybe she could have gotten out! She scolded herself as Jolene continued.

“That’s all you get, intruder. One rule. Let’s hope you learn well, because the next cryo you meet might not be as nice as me!”

“But you’re not nice!” Kanna shouted, the loudest and boldest she’d ever been. “You locked me in a dumpster and laughed at me!”

The dumpster lid slammed to the ground. Kanna could get a good look at Jolene now. She was big enough to take up the whole dumpster, not just a corner of it like Kanna, and her slowly-swinging tail was long and powerful. “I’m not nice? Oh, but I found you asleep in my den without a care in the world. I could have done anything. I could have killed you in your sleep and left you for the ravens, but here I am! Letting you go!”

Jolene smiled sweetly. It made Kanna feel sick.

Watching the older cryo warily, Kanna slunk out of the dumpster. Jolene was about twice her height. Twice as strong. Kanna didn’t point out that she could have just left the dumpster open, or politely awoken her to let her know the territory was claimed. She had a feeling Jolene was perfectly aware of that, and just wanted to be cruel for the fun of it.

Jolene circled around her so that she was between Kanna and the dumpster.

In an instant, her smile disappeared, replaced by a throaty snarl.

“Now get out!” she snapped. “I don’t ever want to see your grimy little face again!”

Tail tucked between her legs and too frightened to speak, Kanna ran out of the alley as fast as her feet could take her.

No more cities for her, she decided, her panicked mind running just as fast. Maybe she could try a beach. Or a mountain! Or anywhere, as long as she wouldn’t have to see Jolene ever again.