Thank you so much for reading the first book of my Ark series! I have the second book already in progress. It's based more off of Ark lore than this book. Characters like Helena Walker and Mei-Yin will appear in the second volume. Also, please note that I wrote this book all the way back in 2015-2016. My skills weren't as honed as they are today so there may be some minor discrepancies, plot holes or grammatical errors. Dialogue is also not quite as realistic as it should be in some places. Still, I hope you can enjoy the book for what it is! Excited to hear any feedback you may have!

Chapter 1

Stranded

Villages in Africa were sometimes busy, sometimes not. This one was as busy as it gets.

"That's great!" said a voice.

The other voice replied, "Yes it is."

"Best of luck to you David, you sure did deserve that promotion."

It was James Castor, a professional explorer, survivalist and animal trainer. His career had started back in 1996, and he was able to build up the society he had a hand in raising up. It was known as the ESC, or the Explorers Society of the Congo. It was a society that specialized in cryptozoology and probing ever deeper into the Congo's depths. James was talking to David, a member of the ESC, congratulating him on his promotion.

David was a quiet man, and soon hurried off to the meeting.

"I'll see you there David!" James called back.

David waved and walked over to the clubhouse just outside of the village. Amakoko Village was much busier than a normal village since it was the last one before the deep jungle of the Congo. You're on your own after that.

James was a tall man, just barely over six feet tall, and with short brown hair that went up at the front. He had blue eyes and a face with a near permanent smile on it. He had grown up in America, and had always had an extreme interest in the outdoors, and with animals both living and extinct. In his teenage years he had decided to become a survivalist. Later, he had helped found the ESC, his friend George Anderson becoming co-executive.

James kept walking briskly along, looking down the main row. The marketplace he was at was full of people buying items. He went up to one of the booths and slowly let his nose take in the overwhelming aroma of spices. He kept walking along until he saw the clubhouse, a large thatched hut, where he would meet the 50 or so people on the team.

He walked inside and saw the podium where he would announce the beginning of the mission. He was the president of this particular club, and some of his friends were there. There was David near the back. He was a quiet man, who kept to himself, and usually explored on his own. He was tall, and muscular, with short black hair, and military style clothing. He had a tattoo with his brand on it. He was a mercenary before he had went into the army. David then left the army after his tour of duty to enter the ESC, but his naturally quiet, serious mood stuck with him, causing some to call him a stoic, which was more or less true.

Over in the corner was Shira, an Israeli woman who had been admitted to the club since her father was friends with the CEO of the ESC. She was also quiet, though her quietness didn't echo of confidence like David. She always seemed to be sad and depressed, as if something terrible had happened. He had tried to break the ice with her, but she didn't open up. Though James didn't have any romantic attachments to her, he liked her. Shira was slim, with green eyes and long, flowing black hair. She was in her middle 20's, and was average height. Even though she was sometimes gloomy, she was happiest when she was in the field. James had admired Shira work with large animals, and she had such a way with them. Lions and tigers which had given trainers trouble day after day, Shira could tame after a few short days of work. She was often hired out by zoos or animal sanctuaries to help them control their troublesome animals. She had once been much happier, as James considered her a happy person for some years. But since the last two or so years James reckoned, she had become sad and gloomy, though she never talked about it.

McClure was also there. He was extremely skilled at taming animals, and had been around African predators his entire life.

Brian, who was a slight amateur, had been admitted due to his knowledge of field equipment.

There were many other faces there, and James looked at them all with a smile. James stepped up on the podium, got out his notes, and began to speak.

"OK…Well, welcome to the Explorer's Society of the Congo. We have many people from many countries here today, and on this mission, we will be going into the heart of the Congo by helicopter. There's a large double-rotor copter waiting on the village helipad, we'll all be going there and traveling down to the Congo's heart. One of the reasons for this mission is to discover any new species of animals in the area."

He continued for another hour, answered various questions, filled out rosters, and then the entire team entered the huge helicopter and lifted off. There was a tiny airstrip on the edge of the jungle where they were going. They were going off in search of new landmarks in the Congo. It was one of the least explored areas in the world, and they were about to explore it. They would fly above a small part of the ocean, and then, after landing on the strip just inside the jungle, go into the jungle to explore. One of their goals was to find new animal species, hence the amount of animal handlers, and also to find any new landmarks in the Congo.

After a few hours in the air, James went up to the cockpit. He had some piloting experience, though he hadn't been in one of these big choppers for several years. He admired the controls for a while, before he looked over to the pilot.

"Doing alright?" he asked.

"Yep. Nearly ready for takeoff." responded the pilot.

James went back to the main chamber. The chopper was wide, with a large middle lane full of supplies and two long bench seats that went the length of the copter. He passed Shira, who gave him a weak smile, which made James wince inside. When people were sad, or in trouble, he had an extreme desire to help. He had tried to get Shira to open up time and again, but nothing helped. He sat near the front of the group. Shira had gotten high up in the ranks since her father was a good friend of the CEO of the ESC. That much he knew about her.

He looked down at his watch: 12:47 PM.

"Hmm," he said to himself.

Another few hours and they'd reach the ocean.

A few hours later and they were above the ocean. But there was a big problem. The pilot called James up to the cockpit. James looked at it.

"What's the matter?" asked James.

The pilot pointed at the sky. There was a tremendous thunderstorm gathering right above them. There was no avoiding it.

James tried his best to remain calm, "They didn't call for a storm!"

James was right. The weather forecast, which should've been very trustworthy, had gone terribly wrong.

The pilot strapped in and yelled back, "Everybody, hold on!"

They all held on with all their might. The pilot tried to turn around away from the storm. The storm was too fast however, and the rain suddenly pelted down on the cockpit windshield. James gritted his teeth and watched as lightning flashed, turning the black sky a blinding white, before turning black again. The wind came up, which was the pilot's worst enemy. If a large enough sudden gust of wind hit the propellers, the copter would lose control and crash.

Then, the worst happened. An overwhelming gust of wind smashed into the propellers, which caused the helicopter to flip. Everybody in the copter was flying, supplies flying, and then they spiraled down, down, down. The last thing James remembered was a gigantic splash, and then everything went dark.

He woke up bobbing in a corner of the helicopter. He was in an air pocket, and the rest of him was surrounded by water. This frightened him almost to death. He knew he was underwater. He gasped and looked around for something he could use. There was an axe on the corner he was at. He thought, but if he were to hack out a part of the helicopter skin, water would pour into the air pocket. He knew he wasn't in very deep. There was some light leaking through the open parts of the copter, and if he was deep the pressure would have crushed in the porthole. There were no oxygen tanks in the helicopter near him. He thought he could swim down and see if there was a way out, but that would mean swimming away from the air pocket. He wasn't about to do that. He decided to risk it. Die in the air pocket, or swim out.

He reached out and took the axe, and with one mighty swing, smashed a huge hole into the helicopter's skin. Water poured into the hole. He swung one last time, opening up the hole considerably. He tore open the rest of the hole with his adrenaline fueled hands, breathed a huge breath, and swam up to the surface with all his might. He was about 25 feet down. He got up to the surface and gasped. He looked for land and there it was; about a mile or two away. He swam with what energy he had remaining. As he reached the shore, he let the waves help him. Then, at last reaching the beach, he crawled onto shore. He laid flat on the sand, exhausted and soaked. He feebly looked up, shaking. The treeline was strangely shaped, as if he had crashed on some tropical island. His head hit the sand and he fell unconscious from exhaustion.

When he awoke, he saw where he was. This was a tropical island. He couldn't see any land near where they were. There was a cliff near the beach, and rocks everywhere. There was a forest behind a large field. He stumbled up and covered his face in his hands. His eyes were blurred, and it took James a bit to adjust. His head was pounding and thudding, with pain hammering on his skull like a rhythmic sledge hammer. When he finally got everything into focus, James saw where he was. He was indeed on a tropical island, though it looked very different from the thick jungles of the Congo. The beach was long, with rocks and logs covering it.

He got to his feet and began slowly walking down the beach, looking for any signs of survivors. He suddenly saw some sort of animal pacing down the beach in front of him. It looked like it was on two legs, and was quite big. He couldn't see clearly. He began walking towards it, but he suddenly felt horribly dizzy and fell onto the ground. He tried to get up. After a bit of a struggle he got up on his feet. He slowly walked towards where the animal was. When he saw it closer he had to rub his eyes in disbelief. No…it couldn't be. But it was. The animal was a dinosaur; something that had been extinct for thousands of years. Upon closer inspection he saw it was a type of Hadrosaur called Parasaurolophus.

James gasped; this was almost too amazing to be true. He kept looking in amazement. It honked with its bizarre crest and looked at James. He tried to reach out and touch it. The Parasaurolophus simply let him do it. James could hardly believe it, an extinct animal, still here on the earth. Well, he had at least discovered some new animal species. He also saw a huge tortoise near the Parasaurolophus. He had heard of giant extinct tortoises called Colossochelys, meaning Giant Turtle, and there was one of those on the beach as well.

James was having a hard time taking it in. What could this mean? This was, possibly, an island, where dinosaurs or supposedly extinct animals had lived in isolation since Noah and the Ark. In fact, that's what he was going to call this island, Ark Island. Since he may have been the only survivor in this new world, like Noah and his family were when they left their own ark. James was just a bit boggled about how this island could've remained undiscovered with all the sonar and radars and satellites orbiting and scanning the earth. He wasn't quite sure exactly how large this island was, or how far away it was from any other land source. Wherever he was, he needed to find out if there were any other survivors.

He kept looking down the shore. He was hoping some people had survived the crash. The last thing he wanted was to be on this mysterious island alone.

He yelled out, "Hello! Is anybody there! Anyone alive! Survivors?! Hello!"

Nothing. He knew they could be anywhere, but there was the terror of it. He searched desperately, shouting the entire time. Then, after a few hours he saw smoke. He ran towards it, and gasped in relief. There was McClure, David, and Brian. Shira was also there. They seemed to be the only survivors. James let out a sigh of relief as he ran towards them.

David looked and saw him, "James! James!"

Shira looked over and sat bolt upright, then she got up and she and David began jogging over.

"Oh James! You're alive!" Shira said sounding relieved.

James nodded and looked around, "Is there anyone else?" he asked.

David shook his head, "No. If there's anybody else we haven't found them yet. What is this place? There's…creatures here. Extinct creatures. How is that possible?"

James didn't reply.

"We need to form a plan," James said, "Assess our situation. Then we can look for more survivors."

They each discussed their own story, and then talked of survival plans. The helicopter was at the bottom of the sea, and they might be the only survivors.

Shira had escaped by jumping from the chopper moments before it hit the water. David had done the same. Tom and Brian were both stuck to the choppers safety restraints, but struggled free just before they drowned.

"James I think I saw you hit your head against something and then you were thrown from your seat. I thought you were dead." David said.

James replied, "I should be. Now for all we know, we're the only survivors. There may be others though, so let's comb the beach a bit more."

They agreed, but just as they began to disperse, a man came charging down the beach. It was Tom.

"Oh...You're alive!" Tom said, "I've been running down the beach for several hours."

"Oh Tom! I'm so glad you're alive!" James said, "Did you see any other survivors? Anybody at all?"

Tom didn't smile.

"No. I saw the others in the chopper. They...They were all dead."

James' face went pale, "What do you mean?"

"I had to swim through the choppers body to escape. I was in the back chamber when we crashed. When I got out, there was everyone…Just, floating in the water."

Tom crashed down on the ground and put his face in his hands.

James said in a grim voice, "Well then we are alone."

A moment of silence ensued as each began to truly understand what that meant.

"Let's make some shelter." James said, before they all nodded and began to work.

The last thing James saw was Shira putting her face in her hands, before he went into the jungle in search of timber.

They each built a lean-to, as all the people present were survivalists, or at least had decent survival training. They all could hardly believe that there were extinct animals alive on the island. James looked up to the sky and saw a large flying animal. It was a Pteranodon, or at least that's what he thought. He went back to the beach, wondering at what he saw. There was another Parasaurolophus along the beach, and a new creature, a dodo. He looked at it. The dodo looked back at James. He tried to capture it, and when he did, he killed it with a stone to the head.

"Let's see if this thing is edible," he said to himself.

Later that night, the survivors had roasted dodo. McClure was the first one to try it. He chewed it a bit and swallowed.

"A bit tough…not as good as roast chicken but not too bad."

the rest tried some, and agreed with McClure. The next cut they roasted they cooked for a little bit less time. It worked. The dodo was a bit less tough. The taste was more gamey than chicken, though it had a chicken's consistency.

They started constructing a thatch huts the following day. They gathered palm leaves, set up branches as supports, and by nightfall it was done. At least they had some kind of roof over their heads.

Later that night James went off by himself out into the beach. He looked up at the immense expanse of ocean and sky above him. One was black as coal, scattered with stars shining like diamonds. The other was the deepest blue possible, which was seemingly eternal, and unable to be crossed. He looked out into it, wondering if he'd ever be able to see home again.

James felt the sunlight beaming into his eyes before he opened them. Slowly, his eyes opened, and he saw sunlight pouring in through the thatch roof. He got up off his mat and looked around. Most of the dodo meat had been eaten the night before, and he decided to try foraging around the area. Close the camp there were some berries in patches.

James knew what any survivalist knows about food that you don't know about. To see if it's poisonous, touch it to your skin, if nothing comes up in four hours; touch it to your tongue. If nothing comes up for four more hours, swallow a little bit. Nothing after that, and you can know if it's safe to eat. James did this with a berry that looked like a raspberry but was blue. He called them azulberries, and they were safe to eat. He also found little yellow berries that were the size of a pea. They were inedible, since the inside was basically a huge seed. He called these amarberries. There were other types, ones that looked like black cherries he called tintoberries, and those were edible. He named another purple type that looked like a blueberry, Mejoberry. The Mejoberry was very sweet, and was James' favorite of the ones he tried. There were also small white berries called stimberries, which turned out to be quite bitter.

The last type of berry they found was jet black, and the size of a grape. McClure was the first person to try one. After eating a few, he soon became dizzy, and then he fell down, knocked out. James was worried McClure may have been poisoned, but McClure woke up a few hours later, unharmed. It turned out that the little black berries had a certain toxin in them that would cause the consumer to fall asleep on the spot, but after he woke up, he wouldn't suffer any adverse effects. James called these Narcoberries.

A few days later they had built a more solid base. They had made a fire, and a single building, though they knew they'd be here for a long, long time; possibly for good. James was exploring the area. He saw something rush across the field and chase down a Parasaurolophus. He stared in terror. It was a large Dromaeosaur called Utahraptor. He carefully went back to the base and warned everybody.

"There are Raptors in the area." he said.

The others James was getting hungry. He needed to find out what food there was in the area. A steady supply of berries to eat wouldn't sustain them for long. He went down to the beach. He waded into the warm water, looking around for some fish, a large rock in his hand. He saw what looked like a Coelacanth in the water. It was a Coelacanth. He got right above the fish, which, not being afraid of man did nothing as James raised the rock above his head. He threw it down on the fish's head with all his might. The fish was stunned just long enough for James to drag it out of the water and finish it off. He took it to camp, filleted it, and ate it, sharing some with the rest of the people. Coelacanths could get up to five feet long, which was a lot of meat. This one was about two feet long, giving each person a decent serving.

He went back along the beach the next day, and he saw a shark. He was terrified. Now there were Raptors on land and huge sharks in the water. It was about 20 feet long, with orange stripes. For all he knew, it may be a juvenile Megalodon…he was right.

When he went back to shore he met Shira standing on the beach. It was windy, and her black hair was flowing in the air like wisps of smoke. She was standing as still as a statue, looking dead on at the horizon in a way that made James shudder. James decided to go up and talk to her. He walked over to her, and she looked his way, not smiling, just looking, almost coldly, but the coldness wasn't directed at James. James had the strange sensation that the coldness in her face was directed at herself. It was a strange feeling, but it almost seemed to James as if she was grieving but James couldn't see what, or why. Shira instantly looked away though.

"Shira, what's the matter?"

Shira shook her head, "Nothing James. Really nothing. It's..."

James felt as if he couldn't say anything. He and Shira had always been friends, and sometimes Shira would confide in James.

"Shira...really, what's wrong?"

"I'm just remembering. When I lived in Israel my dad would always take me to the Mediterranean Sea to watch the waves. I loved those times. He'd just sit beside me, and we'd just watch the water until the sun had set. He stopped doing it when...when..."

James didn't decide to push it, and though he wanted to help, he certainly didn't ask about what or who she was talking about.

"It's alright." James said reassuringly.

Shira looked into James' eyes, then she looked back into the water. James sighed and put a hand on Shira's shoulder. Shira put her hand on James'.

"Thank you James."

James nodded, and they each looked into the water.

He went out again in search of more dodos. He carried a rock in his hand, and looked around. He found a group of three. He picked the fattest one, and flung the rock. It hit its mark. Practicing rock throwing as a kid had finally paid off. They all had some more roast dodo to eat, and as James went for a walk along the beach that evening, he saw another Parasaurolophus. He really wanted to have one. The other one he first saw didn't seem hard to tame. If he could just be able to make a saddle he'd get one. He shook off the notion. This wasn't Dinotopia, it was a hazardous, dangerous place that James knew almost nothing about.

He decided to try to make something useful. He got some wood for a stone pick. That would be useful. He carved a stone into a pickaxe shape, and then took a large wooden branch, and then bound his creation with fiber and thatch. Now he had a tool. He began gathering more stone with it, to make more weapons or tools.

Shira had been around the camp, but she still seemed gloomy. Even worse than when she had been in the ESC. James had tried to help, but she had seemed to exclude herself from all camp activities. He decided to leave her alone. Chances were she was working something out in her soul. He didn't want to interfere with that process, which he had to do himself sometimes. Hopefully she'd perk up soon, and James hoped that someday he'd be able to help her find the healing she needed.

As he returned to the camp, he saw another new dinosaur which was large and four-legged with had three horns on its head and was about 30 feet long. It was a Triceratops. He watched as the dinosaur walked off. He wanted to know about all the dinosaurs on the island, there seemed to be so many! On the way to the base he spotted another new dinosaur. It was about six feet long and had a small frill. James looked and said, "Is that a Dilophosaurus?"