I've been writing for this story since the day after I saw the most recent Jurassic Park back in June. For some reason, Chris Pratt's character reminded me a little of Daryl and so, this story was born. This has been my baby for the past seven months and I hope you all are kind to it. And the reason why I didn't put this story into the crossover section is because the only similarity between this and Jurassic Park (the first one) is the name of the park and a few small details.

With school kicking my ass. I'll probably only update this about once a week.

I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter One

"That Ed Peletier seems nice."

Cassandra Logan, a pretty middle-aged woman, said in a way she hoped sounded casual. A conversation starter. Idly, she flipped through the pages of her Vogue magazine and didn't even look at her daughter as she spoke.

However, Carol could see right through her, of course. This wasn't the first time the subject of Ed had come up, and knowing her mother, Carol knew that it wouldn't be the last. Unfortunately.

"I'm pretty sure we know two different Ed Peletiers." Carol flipped a glossy page of some magazine she didn't know the name of. She was only sitting there, in the living room, to spend time with her mother. The magazines never really interested her. "The Ed I know isn't nice. At all."

Carol had gone to high school with Ed and then, later to college. Unfortunately. She knew exactly how nice the cocky bastard was and wanted no part of it. Carol wondered how her mother would react if she were to tell her what had happened to Ed's last girlfriend.

The girl had come to class with a black eye and split lip. The next day, she was gone. Transferred to another school on the other side of the country. Carol didn't have to ask what had happened to her. Ed's bloody knuckles had told the truth.

"Well, he's handsome." Cassandra was not willing to give up.

"That's subjective," Carol replied, sounding bored. She flipped another page and skimmed over the shallow articles and photoshopped pictures. Not for the first time, she wished she had a real book in her hands. But this was time spent with her mother and her mother loved looking through all the different fashion magazines with her daughter and only child.

Cassandra had enough of her daughter's uncaring attitude. She threw her Vogue magazine on the ground and sat up. "I want grandchildren!"

The outburst seemed to have no effect on her daughter as Carol placed her magazine down on the coffee table. Calmly. "And you'll get them. Someday. Just not with Ed Peletier or any other asshole like him."

"Watch your language, Carol Ann!"

"Mom, I'm twenty-four years old, not ten. I think I'm allowed to talk however I want."

"It's not becoming of a lady," Cassandra sniffed and picked up the Vogue magazine once more. Some of the pages had creases on them, but she carefully flattened them out and opened to the page she had been on before her little tantrum. Carol sighed loudly and leaned her head on the back of her chair, clearly done looking at the magazines.

I need to get away from here, she thought and closed her eyes. At least for a little bit. Mom is driving me crazy!

"Mom, I'm going to grab the paper," she said, breaking the tense silence in the living room. Cassandra looked up and nodded, still upset with her daughter. Carol walked past the couch and went to the front door, glad for the escape. Though it was a temporary one.

Carol didn't even know her mother continued to pay for the paper. She never read it. Unless it was the Sunday paper, and only then, did she look at all the ads. Carol, most of the time, received her news from going on her computer.

"We're just wasting trees," she muttered and picked up the paper. Carol took the paper and went to the kitchen with it, where she sat at one of the barstools pulled up to the counter. She opened it and was ready to read the goings on in the world when a glossy sheet of paper slipped out and landed on her lap.

Looking down, she nearly fell from her stool. On the paper, was a picture of a T-Rex. An honest to God T-Rex. It was an ad for the new attraction called Jurassic Park, which had actual live dinosaurs. The news had been abuzz with the place and several people had already booked their ticket for when the park opened in May, which was only four months away.

She picked up the ad and flipped it over, surprised that there was a backside. There was information covering almost the whole back. It talked about the park, what there was to do, the dinosaurs they had and how much a ticket was. Carol's eyes bugged out at the price. There was no way she would be going there anytime soon.

Then, her eyes stopped at something in the right hand corner. Help Wanted: Though we have many staff members under our employ, we are still in need of some tour guides and security. If interested, please visit this website and apply! And no, you do not need to have knowledge of our prehistoric friends before applying. If hired, you will be trained accordingly.

Carol's answer to getting away was staring her right in the face.

Clutching the ad in her hand, she ran upstairs to her computer.

A blue plaid shirt went flying through the air, landing on a heap in the middle of a bed. With a huff, Daryl Dixon finally turned from his closet, satisfied that he had found every bit of decent clothing he owned. There would be no more sleeveless shirts and ripped jeans where he was going. Though, he still packed a few because if he didn't, he would be doing a lot of laundry.

"Are you sure they ain't playin' you for a fool, little brother?" Merle hovered in the doorway to Daryl's room, a concerned look on his face. A look which rarely graced the oldest Dixon brother's features.

Daryl shrugged and began the annoying task of folding his clothes before placing them as neat as possible into his suitcase. "If they are, I'm still gettin' a vacation." Tomorrow, Daryl would be leaving on a plane that would take him to some island in the Atlantic.

"You really think they're goin' to actually give you eighty grand for working only seven months? It sounds a little too good to be true." Merle's constant doubt and nagging over the last month was grating on Daryl's last nerve, but Daryl forced himself to take a deep breath and stay calm. After tomorrow, he wouldn't be seeing his older brother for seven months.

"I'm doin' this for you, asshole," he growled. "Or have you forgotten about all the money you owe Gareth? I may be makin' eighty grand, but I won't be getting eighty grand. Hell, I won't even be gettin' half of it!" Merle had the sense to look guilty.

"Instead of harpin' on me twenty-four seven, you should be glad you ain't goin' to be the next body found in a ditch!"

Merle remained silent. Daryl wasn't finished.

"And since your ass has a record, you couldn't apply for this job. So, I did. Looks I'm the one gettin' you out of trouble. Again." Daryl finished folding up the last shirt and zipped up his suitcase. He turned to Merle. "You know, I'm actually lookin' forward to these seven months away."

He loved Merle. There was no doubt about it. But at twenty-four, Daryl hadn't done much in his life. He was always following his older brother around and getting him out of trouble. Now, with this job, Daryl was given the opportunity to be on his own and to be far away from Merle's influence.

"But dinosaurs, Daryl? Some of those motherfuckers can eat you and you're willin'' to work with them? Fuck. What if they escape?"

Daryl knew that was a valid worry, he worried the same thing, but this was also the twentieth time his brother brought it up in the past thirty days and it was just getting old. "I'm sure they wouldn't open up a park to the public if there were any chance they could escape. Plus, I ain't goin' to be workin' directly with them. I'm just a security guard. I probably just have to stand by some important people and make sure none of the guests bring in any weapons."

"Eighty grand to be a damn security guard? That doesn't sound weird to you?"

"No. It's eighty grand to be on a security guard on an island with dinosaurs. How many people would apply to that job if they were only gettin' minimum wage?" Daryl set his suitcase on the floor by his bed before taking a seat on the mattress. It was getting late.

"Listen, I'm goin' to send you all the money I can while I'm there. I probably won't need any, since they feed and house us. So, it should be about five or six months before you get enough to pay Gareth back. Once that debt it paid, I ain't sendin' anymore." He looked up at his brother, face serious. "I ain't askin' you to get completely clean, even though you need to, but I'm not doin' this, anymore. Once this debt is squared away, I'm done gettin' your ass out of a hole every time you fall in one."

"I'll try, Daryl. I really will." It was the least he could do. Merle was the oldest brother, but it was Daryl who kept an eye out for him.

"Okay, Merle." There was sharp pain in Merle's gut when he saw the look on Daryl's face after he spoke.

Daryl didn't believe him. He had lost faith in his older brother a long time ago.

"I can't believe you're actually doing this, Carol!" Cassandra exclaimed for the fifth time that morning. The first time had been earlier when she walked into Carol's room just as Carol had turned on her side to get more comfortable in her bed.

She hadn't gotten much sleep after that.

"Believe it, mom," Carol sighed. It was too early to be doing this. She hadn't even had a cup of coffee, yet.

"So, you're just going to up and leave and not tell anyone else you're going?" By anyone, Cassandra meant Ed, who she still wanted Carol to date despite Carol's protests.

"Pretty much." Carol shuffled to the coffee maker and poured herself a cup. Her mother hadn't even left enough for a full mug. She scowled.

"Fine. What about me? You may be fine with leaving behind your friends for seven months, but what about your mother? You're going to leave me here while you're on some island."

"Do what you always do, mom." Carol took her coffee and set it beside the stove. A skillet was already on the burner and she cracked two eggs inside. A full breakfast before going on a plane for the first time in her life probably wasn't a good idea, but she was starving.

"At least tell me you'll make an effort to meet someone while you're gone."

Carol's shoulders slumped and she sighed deep and long. "I don't know, mom. This is my job and I don't know if I'll have much time to socialize." It was a lie. There was no way they would keep her working all the time, but she wasn't going there to find herself a husband.

"Can you try? For me?"

Carol didn't want to turn around to see the look her mom was giving her back. With a defeated groan, she said, "Fine." She also agreed to get her mother off her back. Now, Carol could practically feel the smugness radiating off her.

A few minutes later, Carol slid her eggs onto a plate and went to grab the piece of toast that had popped up in the toaster. She was about to turn around and sit at the table when Cassandra's voice stopped her. "I'm going to miss you, honey." It had been awhile since Carol's mother had used that tone of voice. Carol looked over her shoulder to give her a small smile.

"I'll miss you, too, mom."

She would miss her, but Carol still couldn't wait to get on that plane.

"Uh, excuse me? I think that's my seat." A soft, gruff voice broke Carol from her reverie. Looking up, she was surprised that the face didn't match the voice. A rugged, handsome man with tousled brown hair was staring at her as he gnawed on the skin of his thumb. Instantly, she wondered if it was a nervous tick of his.

"Um. The one I'm sitting in?" She had double-checked her seat number and the stewardess had been the one to seat her. But there still could be a mistake, of course.

"No. It's the one next to you. I didn't want to try to walk by and not let you know first."

"That was nice of you." She pulled her knees to her chest and the man blushed as he walked by to get himself settled into his seat, which was the window seat. Carol was totally jealous.

"Thanks." He settled himself and things got a little awkward. There were a few other passengers already on the plane and the quiet murmur of voices could be heard. Carol wondered if any of them were working at the theme park, too.

"So. Are you going to work for Jurassic Park?" She turned to the man and asked, figuring that she should be the one to start a conversation. Especially if they were going to be seating by one another for a few hours.

"Actually, yeah. Security. You?"

The man had beautiful blue eyes.

"Oh, um," she had to look somewhere else. "Yeah. I'm going to be a tour guide. Probably should practice my smile, huh?"

"And I should practice my scowl. I have to look intimidatin'."

She giggled. "We're going to be on an island with creatures that can eat us. Looking scarier than them is going to be real challenge."

Oh. God.

She was going to be on an island with animals that could eat her.

"It all just hit you, huh?"

She ran a hand through her curly hair, not caring if she messed it up. "God, yes. Do you think it's too late to quit?" She was only being half-serious.

"I'm sure if you walk off this plane that would be considered quittin'." He leaned slightly closer. "But you look like someone who wouldn't do that, though. You don't look like the type that quits easily."

"I'm not." She held up her chin. "I signed up for this and I'm sticking to it." There was also the thought that if she did quit, she would have to go right back to her mother who would push Carol to get a husband.

"The money ain't bad, either." He leaned back in his seat.

She laughed. "You're right about that." The money was really good and Carol had decided that once she returned to Georgia in October, she would get her own place. Away from her mother.

"I'm Daryl, by the way." He held out a hand.

Carol shook it, feeling the calluses on his palm. "I'm Carol."

Daryl settled back into his chair and turned his head in her direction, a small smile on his face. "So, dinosaurs, huh?"

Smiling, she huffed a little laugh. "Yeah. Dinosaurs."

*cue Jurassic Park theme music*

So, I'm super, super nervous. PLEASE tell me what you all think!

Thanks for reading!