Episode One: Something Old, Someone New

Even with the engagement, the events of New Dawn are still weighing heavily on Connor's shoulders, Matt has to deal with his own secrets, Jess is finding Becker more distant than ever, and an incursion of Euthecodon's in a local park push the team to their limits.


"Where is everyone?" Emily's hands dropped from the blonde's hair, the twirling of her fingers no longer keeping her distracted from what needed to be said. As she stole a glance up, she was instantly met with the bright, blue eyes staring back at her, the mirror showing every trace of worry that the blonde held on her face. For a moment, her brain racked through the many excuses she could've said to her. She was told to make sure the blonde wouldn't worry. She was told to keep her distracted for as long as possible until they arrived. Yet they were late by half an hour, and the former Victorian could no longer stop herself from feeling anxious, at this rate they would have to postpone the whole event.

"I don't know," She regretted the words instantly. She'd never seen so many emotions wash over a person's face in such a short time.

"What do you mean 'you don't know'? How is that even possible?"

"Abby, it'll be ok, we just need to finish getting you ready," Emily began, but the second her fingers reached out for the blonde curls, her head whipped away.

"Where are they? Where's Connor? Why isn't he here? What's wrong?" The blonde felt herself shake as she stood to face Emily, all sign of serenity gone. "Where is he?"

"I think you need to sit down, you don't look so good," All instincts to reach out and steady the woman in front of her were instantly held back; trying to help her when she was in this kind of state never ended well, it only made her feel weak, Emily had grown to understand that now.

"Don't tell me what to do! Where are they?" A moment's silence passed before the blonde stormed past her, the trail of glowing white fabric following close behind. "Emily, please! What's going on?"

"Connor didn't want to worry you..."

"What do you mean?" She turned to face the door, blue eyes staring at the dark wood as if it would help provide the answers she needed. She took a deep breath, steadying herself as head took a little spin. This couldn't be happening. Not today, not now.

"They all agreed you didn't need the stress, they said it wouldn't be good for you, they said they'd be back in time,"

"Back from where?" Abby snapped, eyes wide as she turned back to face Emily, everything in her body telling her something wasn't right. Connor always told her he trusted her gut feelings, but how could she dare trust them when they told her he wasn't safe.

"Abby..."

"No, this can't be happening!" The door crashed against the wall, shocking Emily into a standstill as the white dress disappeared down the corridor.

"Abby, wait!" She moved after her, her ears picking up on the sound of another set of doors opening, and not quietly. If it hadn't been such a hostile action, Emily would've imagined the music being set into motion, despite the absence of the groom. However, judging by the murmurs of confused guests, she could guess that wasn't the case.

As Emily met the gaze of a hundred people, the phone hooked into Abby's shoe sent a shrill ring through the large hall of the building. She could only beg it was Connor ringing to apologise for being late, but Emily knew the chances of her hopes coming true were slim.

"What's going on? Where the hell are you?" The former Victorian felt ill at the blonde's words, her own nerves rapidly becoming more and more overwhelming, more than she could handle. "What?" The descent of volume unnerved Emily, to the point where her whole body was unwilling to move a single muscle. The breathlessness to the blonde's question made her heart beat that little bit faster, and she was sure she'd faint if her head kept finding new scenarios worse than the previous thought.

"Abby?"

The phone clattered to the floor. Despite the growing silence, the voice on the other end was inaudible. Her hand dropped to the diamond necklace on her neck before she turned to face Emily, skin paler than she'd ever thought possible.

"Abby, what happened?"


Six months earlier...

If someone were to make a list of the rarest occurrences in the world, a sunny day in London during late October would most certainly be in the top five. With the cloudless sky, scorching winter sun and dry ground, the day seemed to give the perfect opportunity for a family outing. One of the more known places for these outings was Riverside Park, a local area of rich, green grass, and a beautiful large lake, half shadowed by the looming oak trees that adorned the east side of the park. It was places like these that showed the world could still be peaceful, with the laughter of children acting as the loudest sound to be heard. It was a common misconception that innocence like this could remain unscathed.

"Amelia, come here," The gentle voice called, an eyebrow raised in question as she watched the child hesitate. "Put some more sun cream on before you go running off again," Though reluctantly, the young girl followed her mother's voice, planting herself down on the ground beside her. "Honestly, you act as if it's going to eat you," The woman remarked, shaking her head as she reapplied the protection to her oldest child's skin. "There, all done,"

The young girl pouted before disappearing once more towards the trees, her bright pink shoes hitting the grass as fast as her legs would take her.

"Don't go too far!" Her mother shouted; breathing a sigh before turning to the young boy sat crossed-legged on the picnic mat. His tiny hands clutched the toys as he impersonated a variety of car sounds, sending the miniature vehicles off into the grass. "God help me when you reach that age," She added, though the younger child merely looked up at her with big brown eyes that reminded her too much of his father, and chose not to say a word. "Or maybe you'll be different," She murmured, forcing herself to look away, a long breath falling past her lips. At this point she wasn't really sure what she wanted anymore.

Amelia discarded her new pink shoes beside the riverbed, knowing all too well how angry her mother would be if she ruined them. Placing herself on the edge of the grass, the eight year old let her feet dip into the cold water, flinching at the chill. Ahead of her she saw a young boy and his father sat in a wooden boat, floating calmly on the lake's surface, and further past there sat a group of children pushing a paper ship across the water. She'd done that once before. Her dad showed her how to make it, and he had helped as she sat by this very lake, using a stick to send the tiny boat out further into the water. She didn't think that would ever happen again, she hadn't seen her dad in a long time.

A splash over to her left stole her attention, a flurry of ripples creating patterns on the lake's surface. Curious, Amelia stood up, stepping further into the tree's shadows as she followed the sound, tilting her head as she looked at the water. It had been a while since she'd seen a fish in this lake, they were very hard to find, and she felt an instant happiness over the prospect of finally seeing one again.

Placing her youngest child back on the mat, the mother closed the bottle of sun cream, shoving it back into the bag beside the picnic basket. It still felt strange being back here, and even after a year she would always feel that stab of nostalgia when she gazed across the park, knowing her ex-husband wasn't somewhere joining in with Amelia's games, or walking back to the car to grab his phone as he always managed to forget it every time. He used to say it was so easy to forget the simple things when his mind was on his family. Yet, his mind didn't seem to be on his family now, he'd been gone for a year, and not once had he shown any interest in seeing his own children. It seemed that Amelia and Jacob were all she had left.

Her thoughts were soon drowned out by the high-pitched scream that echoed through the once peaceful park, and it was as if her heart had stopped beating.


"Some people are calling it judgement day..."

"There are an increasing number of reports on serious attacks..."

"People are being eaten alive..."

An arm from behind him reached out to cut the power, and the once bright screen in front of him soon faded into darkness. He felt himself blink a number of times before his weary eyes adjusted to the new surroundings. By the sound of the small gulp and the following silence, he assumed she didn't quite know what else to do or say now.

"Connor..." She sighed, watching solemnly as he remained still, as if he hadn't heard her at all. "Why are you still watching those?" At first she didn't think he'd answer, the long pause of silence was unbearable.

"I don't understand," He murmured, his body still not daring to move a muscle. He sounded as confused as Abby felt, but she couldn't let it get to her, one of them had to remain strong through this. She wouldn't, no, in fact she couldn't let him see her weak. It would be selfish of her to do so, right?

So instead she bit back the emotion threatening to spill out into her voice. "Don't understand what?"

"Where all the footage went, how this hasn't gone global, how I'm the only one with the videos," The traces of anger in his voice only heightened the volume. "I mean, who sent them to me, why haven't we figured that out yet?"

"I don't know, Con. Look, we've been through this..."

"I know!" It took every bit of strength she had to remain unfazed by his snap. "I'm sorry Abs, it's just-"

The ring of her mobile cut him off, and despite her hesitation to answer, he didn't say anymore, reverting back to a silent form. She took one last glance before turning away, bringing the phone to her ear. "What's up?"

"Anomaly alert, Riverside Park, meet you there straight away?"

"Yeah," She responded, biting her lip as she looked over towards her fiancé, "I'll be there shortly," With that, she hung up, sliding the phone back into her pocket. "Connor-"

"Anomaly?"

"Yeah," She murmured, walking over to him slowly as if he were a deer she was afraid to startle. "I think you should get some rest, we can handle this one,"

"I'm fine," It was the same hostile, stubborn tone he used whenever he strongly disagreed with someone. He'd never used that tone with her before.

"Please, at least until I get back, yeah?" Rarely did she use such a quiet, pleading tone in her life, but this time definitely required it. It seemed to work too. He didn't respond so quickly, he didn't speak at all; instead he simply nodded, walking away without a second glance. She really couldn't understand how he'd changed so much. After New Dawn, after she proposed, he'd been happy to accept, he'd seemed to have forgiven himself. It was a week later that it appeared to really dawn on him, and the news footage hadn't helped. It was as if the whole world had forgotten what had happened, and all evidence was eradicated excluding a copy of videos sent to Connor's email. No one knew who sent them, no one knew why, and no one could understand how the anomalies hadn't gone global. To Abby though, it felt as though it was only a matter of time.


The unwelcome sound of the alarm had the team leader racing through the ARC corridors in order to reach the main control room with little time to spare. As usual, Jess was sat whizzing away at the screens, drawing up all data that would assist the team in their latest anomaly alert. Surprisingly, the head of security, Captain Becker, hadn't been making it his mission to be first at the monitors lately, something Matt couldn't quite figure out why. What had changed all of a sudden?

"Jess, what do we have?"

"Anomaly, Miocene, seven or eight feet in height, east section of Riverside Park, only a couple feet from the lake," The field co-ordinator informed, throwing a glance back at the man before returning to the screens. Though as Matt predicted, it only took a second, tops, before the chair spun back round to face him. "Is everything alright? You look a little-actually you look a lot... You look tired,"

"I'm fine, where's Becker?" The look in her eye told him she wasn't finished with this conversation, but she entertained his subject change for now, slowly turning to check for the soldier's black-box signal.

A couple more taps of the keyboard and the young brunette found the answer she was looking for, though Becker's absence in the control room was really starting to bug her. "It looks like he's packing the cars," She told him. He used to always check in before leaving; had she done something wrong, upset him maybe?

"Right, I'll ring Abby on the way, she'll meet us down there. Keep tuned for any reports coming in, the last thing we need is a dinosaur loose in a family park," Matt stated, not taking a second glance back before heading out from the room, and in all honestly, lately, Jess had never felt so alone here.

The question as to whether or not Matt's fear would come true was answered as the government vehicles pulled up to the side of the park. It had only been one scream at first, then a person running, and then like dominoes everyone was set off. It was scenes like this that made their work feel more and more unbearable. To see such fear and confusion, to know that someone's life could be moments away from ending wasn't a feeling that any one of the team members enjoyed. Only problem was, it came with the job, and they had to push past those feelings in order to do it properly, otherwise who knows what would be at stake. At times this whole process felt like the only thing they really knew how to do anymore.

"Becker, get the EMD's, Lee, get the ALD, everyone else sweep the park for the incursion. Emily, you're with me, we need to find out what's going on," Matt ordered, and everyone separated to fulfill their individual jobs, the former Victorian jumping out of the car to assist him. "We need to speak to that woman by the lake, if there's anyone here who knows anything then it's her," He added as they headed across the grass.

Emily couldn't help but sneak a few glances up at the man as they walked, it seemed as though he was feeling worse and worse every day. His eyes were lacking their usual spark, purple bags hanging under them, and his mind was becoming a thing of worry. It was as if over the past month he'd been in a completely different place, so distracted by something that Emily couldn't even begin to figure out. She was concerned for him, to say the least.

"Do you think she knows what happened?" The brunette asked after a few minute's silence, bringing herself to find his gaze.

"Maybe, I'm guessing she's involved somehow," Matt told her, his eyes focussing on the woman ahead, a small child in her arms as she ran towards various people, screaming for help. Her hands that were wrapped around the boy were shaking, and she seemed more than likely to be feeling hopeless, with all attempts to get help failing. Her eyes lit up as she spotted the two growing closer and Emily had never seen a person move so fast in her life.

"Please, help me!" She begged, a hand gripping Matt's shirt to stop him, "My baby, she- I need your help... I heard a-"

"I need you to remain calm and tell me exactly what you saw," The team leader instructed, almost instinctively, resting a gentle hand on the woman's shoulder as he spoke.

She took a frantic glance around before meeting their gaze again, a look of desperation in her eyes that Emily found hard to watch, "I heard my baby scream, my little girl, she was over by the-" She took a quick breath, lip trembling slightly, "She was playing by the lake and I heard her scream, I know it was her. I ran to find her but I couldn't," A hand rushed up to her mouth as she let out a sob. The child in her arms cuddled into her, and before Matt had a chance to speak, she continued, "Please help me, please,"

"We'll find her, where was she playing?" Emily asked, keeping her voice soft as she spoke. If she'd had a tissue on her, she'd have handed it to the woman in an instant; she hated to see a person cry.

"Over there," The woman pointed towards the lake edge, an area shadowed by the trees growing tall. The shade seemed almost daunting from a distance, and all Emily could think of was the young girl hiding in there, more terrified than she'd ever been before.

"If you head in the direction of those vehicles out of the way, there'll be someone who will watch over you," Matt informed, giving a nod towards the ARC cars.

"I promise we'll bring her to you safe," Emily told her, giving the woman's shoulder a gentle squeeze before she silently thanked her and headed shakily in the direction Matt had pointed.

"You shouldn't promise things like that," Matt stated once the mother was out of earshot. Though the look Emily shot him as soon as the words left his mouth told him otherwise.

"Why not? Don't you think she needs to hear that?"

"We can't save everyone," He murmured in response, breaking their eye contact and glancing over towards the edge of the lake. "Doesn't work that way,"

"We can try," Emily reasoned, her tone a little harsh, "It wasn't that long ago you would have said the same thing," She muttered, storming past him, brown hair catching in the wind. Matt watched for a moment, slightly taken aback by her comment. He couldn't see how he'd angered her that much, though truth be told things between him and her were starting to feel a little more complicated these days.

"What's the situation?" Becker interrupted, rushing towards him and coming to a stop as he passed the team leader an EMD to arm himself with.

"Little girl went missing over by the lake, we're guessing an incursion," Matt told him, stepping out into a walk as the two men followed in Emily's tracks.

"Anything else?" The soldier asked, taking a moment to look out at the brunette in front of them, a little frustration in her step. He knew things were getting tense between the two, he just didn't know how much, nor did he know why.

"No, that's it," He responded, and Becker knew he wasn't going to get any details out of the man right now, there was never a point in pressing the issue.

"Guys, I've got something," The two perked up as they heard Emily's voice call over to them, her figure faded amongst the darkness under the trees. Her head tilted slightly as they approached her, though her brown eyes remained glued to the scene ahead of her. "What is it?" She asked as she felt Becker move beside her, not daring to move a muscle.

"Euthecodon," A voice from behind them informed, and the three turned to see Abby wandering up to the scene, though she didn't seem any happier than when they'd last seen her. "It was on some crocodile programme Connor watched a few weeks back," She added, begging no one had picked up on the way her voice shook as she said his name.

"So it's a crocodile?" Becker clarified, eyes glancing back down at the large reptile spread out in front of them. The creature had to be at least ten metres, a long snout adorned with a collection of teeth that the soldier certainly didn't want to get too acquainted with.

"Yeah, prehistoric one," Abby told them, interrupted by Matt before she could say anymore.

"My question would be what's it doing lying here, unconscious. Last time I checked, none of us fired an EMD," He stated, glancing around at the three team members he was surrounded with.

Abby didn't have a chance to respond as the heart-shattering scream tore through the air.