Hanna felt like hurling. Her head pounded like a jackhammer was hitting against it. She tasted the bile in her throat. Her forehead ached too due to all the bumps the jeep rode over. At any second, she could vomit from the movement. What was worse was the heat. It was a scorching day. The canvas may have shielded them from the sun a bit, but the heat trapped in the trunk was not helping them. She and her mother were sweating like crazy, almost like they were going to pass out from a heat stroke. If it were not for the water bottles they packed, they would have.

The archer felt like screaming every time the jeep went up. She wanted to just pop out of the canvas and tell Nigel to stop. Exposing herself would be a godsend, just so she could recover.

But her mother would not allow that, not when they were so close. They were there to find out what her sister was hiding. Demanding to be taken to her secret place was out of the question. Her sister would not allow that to happen at all. Hazel could just make up some kind of excuse to leave them in the dust or make an alibi.

Her sister would never leave them behind, but her mind pestered on what she was hiding. So Hanna kept quiet, stifling her screams and nausea.

She had no idea how much time had passed. She and her mother tried to take naps, but they ended up being short rests due to being woken up by the jeep going over something sharp like a rock or a bump. The items in the back would go up an inch or so before coming back down. Hanna could see why riding in the trunk was considered a hazard to most people. Getting tossed around by items in the back was an invitation to a quick trip to a hospital. Broken bones and concussions were a probability. Thankfully, neither she nor her mother was seriously injured. All they sustained were bruises on their bodies.

"Hazel, rise and shine! We're here!" she heard Nigel say.

"Ungh...we're here already?" Hazel roused from her apparent nap.

"You were out like a light."

Hanna heard her older sister yawn. "I guess I was."

"So yesterday, I told everyone at the park to start moving our supplies to the temporary facility. Right about now, they should be nearly done with moving the Residents. Everything should be set before the end of today."

"Oh? How are they coping with the new place?" she asked.

"They're adjusting. It's a new place for them, but they'll get used to their surroundings. Did you pack everything?"

"Yup. Everything I needed was in those bags I put in front of my room."

"Okay good," said Nigel. "Those have already been taken to your quarters. I'll have one of the volunteers lead you there when you arrive."

Hazel sighed. Something creaked in the front of the jeep. What she was moving up there, Hanna had no clue. Maybe she was adjusting her chair?

"Okay. Are you sure about this location? I know Martha and the Big Guy are up to it, but I'm not too sure about everyone else."

"Relax Hazel," he reassured. "The place you're going to is in the middle of the summer season. Other than some nippy days, the climate should be accommodating for everybody. But it doesn't hurt to be prepared for any unexpected cold chills either."

"I'll take your word for it."

Hanna and her mother looked at each other, puzzlement clear on their features. Hazel told them she and Nigel were going on a world tour to record a nature documentary. What they had just overheard contradicted everything she said. She never said anything about going to a temporary facility in the middle of summer. And Residents? Were they referring to the animals in the sanctuary? Why would they need to be moved? Who were Martha and this Big Guy? Were they a couple of animals?

Then, before she could ponder more on it, they felt the jeep slow down before coming to an abrupt stop. The two of them had to grip on the flooring just to prevent themselves from sliding forward.

The jeep had arrived at its destination; that much she was sure of.

The sound of the squeaking jeep doors flew open before crashing on both sides against the vehicle.

"Well, time for us to get a bite to eat," said Nigel. "Can't continue with moving on an empty stomach."

Hazel giggled at that. "I'm going to get a stuffed omelet."

The voices of the young woman and her mentor faded as they left the jeep. Other than the chatter and the commotion caused by the employees passing by, whether by vehicle or not, they were practically alone. As soon as it was quiet, her mother placed an arm on the canvas and straightened herself. The heavy, rough cloth flopped on itself with a "plap". Fresh air and a cool breeze met her skin like an old friend greeting her after an eternity of separation. Hanna propped herself up, wiping her brow, face, and everywhere else on her body from the sweat that plagued her.

The two women unlatched the door of the trunk. Gingerly, they disembarked onto the grass of the unknown location. Taking a quick look, they saw employees chatting amongst each other as they carried what looked like construction supplies and wood in various directions. None of them seemed to take notice of the two stowaways as they went about their day.

The place they were in did not seem anything odd. They were expecting to be in some kind of small town or a heavily guarded place filled with military personnel. The staff, while armed with what looked like sniper guns of some sort, was dressed in brown shorts and dark green polos with what looked like a snake curling around a label.

Towering mountains coated with forests that reached the base surrounded a lush, green valley. The weather was clear, not many clouds coated the sky. Birds tweeted above them and the smell of wildlife reached their nostrils. It was practically a safari paradise here.

"So this is where Hazel works now…" her mother looked around slowly.

"Where are the animals?" Hanna asked, trying to spot any of the "Residents" that her sister and Nigel were talking about. Her head was now throbbing a little less by the minute thanks to them not moving anymore. It was a miracle she did not vomit during the trip.

"No time for sightseeing. Right now, I want to get a good look at this place," Beth sternly proclaimed and walked straight ahead.

The teenager hurriedly caught up to her, but not before quickly shutting the trunk shut. They did not want it to see too out of the ordinary with the trunk left ajar.

"But what about Ate Hazel?" she brought up.

"We'll deal with her later."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Several minutes went by. Hanna followed her mother into this mysterious place. As they went along, they found small buildings situated in places close to the animal enclosures. Most of them were only a single floor, but others were up to three floors high. Each enclosure encompassed a distinct habitat for whatever was living there. She found it odd that most of them looked like they would be situated in a tropical or temperate setting; ferns, cycads, palms, and other plants she could not name directly were planted there. It wasn't just the plants either. The whole enclosures looked like what a setting would be in the wild.

But there was something off about them. There were no animals. Hanna immediately thought back to the conversation she overheard between her sister and Nigel. They must have already been moved to that new location. She was curious on what animals they were. These fences were far too large for any normal animal in a zoo. They were far too expansive. And each one of them had what looked to be like an encased generator in steel coverings. What kind of animals would need all this space and what was with those generators?

As she took in her surroundings, they had caught the eyes of the wandering employees. The workers cast them odd looks; some of them whispered amongst each other. Some of them asked them of their identities and where they were headed. Her mother would always reply that they were "friends of the head of the park" and were invited here by his invitation. Half of that was true. It was quick thinking on her mother's part. The employees would just leave them alone before leaving their helpful offer in the air.

"Now, I want to see why Hazel was keeping this place a secret from us," her mother said, after explaining to another worker their "reasons" for the fifth time.

"It looks like some kind of zoo," the archer remarked. "I don't know where the animals are, but nothing seems to be off about this place, except for the lack of animals of course."

"Well keep your eyes peeled," her eyes darted from left to right. "We don't know what sort of things we'll come across here."

It was then that Hanna noticed movement off to her right. Her body froze and her breathing became shallow. Knots developed in her stomach. Her arms started to tremble. Like an antelope in headlights, she found herself unable to move from what she was looking at.

"Um…Mom?" she called out.

"Oh and get your phone ready," she said, not seeing what was coming at her. Her mother was looking up at part of the surrounding mountains in the opposite direction, admiring their beauty. "I want to call Hazel when I'm ready to talk to her."

Hanna croaked out again. "Mom?"

"Not now, dear," her reply was followed by a squishing sound, along with the woman crying out in disgust. If Hanna had been paying any attention, she would have seen that she had stepped on a pile of fresh animal dung. "Agh! Gross! Do they let these animals run about!? What kind of zoo does that!?"

Not having any more of her lack of attention, Hanna screamed out to her without taking a glance back.

"MOM!"

She looked at her with a frustrated face. Her task of wiping her favorite shoe clean of the feces on the grass was proving to be harder than anticipated. "What?"

When her daughter pointed towards the right, her eyes turned into saucers. Her mouth fell agape as if rocks had been stuffed into her lower jaw. Hanna did not need to look to see that her mother was frightened. The gasps and frightened partial screams were enough to tell her that. Hanna had never seen her mother so afraid, much less heard her act like it.

She was about to learn about first hand as the towering red horned monster and its associates stomped towards them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Diablo was not having a good day. Sure he did not care about the whole move to a new location, but being babysat by a group of armed humans and some carnivores that supported their ideals was not to his liking. He'd rather stay and fess up to whatever projects they were doing rather than go with everyone else to this new place. Of course, he was told that their projects would involve keeping him up at night for the next two years, something he would really be irritated about. Between staying here without having the annoyance of knowing that there were other Residents living in this valley without a care, but putting up with the annoying "construction" that the humans were going to do or being in a new location where he did not have to put up with the expansion racket yet have to deal with everyone else's' presence, his answer was obvious.

If the ones that he abhorred to the point that he wished to kill them were not present, then his revenge would be moot.

So the Carnotaur agreed to the move, on the condition that his transfer would be supervised by several armed keepers and a couple of large carnivores that would keep him under control should he decide to rebel. One of them was one he knew full well; Terrence, the younger of the twin Tyrannosaurus that lived in the valley. The rex had grown a bit since he last saw him. He was several inches below the towering Carnotaurus. If Diablo had decided to attack, the dappled grey and pale green rex would have no trouble overtaking him.

Of course, he was joined by two others. Diablo had never seen these two, but he heard of them, thanks to the constant ramblings of that blasted Terror Bird. They were a couple of rescues that the Veran brat brought in after a mission into a time called the Jurassic. They were smaller than both him and Terrence by a bit, but nearly the same size. They were both the same species, save for the fact that one was a female and the other male. Both of them had slate grey skin with vertical black stripes on the back. Their eye crests were red, almost looking like horns. Much like the rex that was stalking him from the back, they had a slender build, especially on their snout; a direct contrast to Diablo's short muzzle. And like the rex, they lacked the bony horns and tiny spikes that Diablo had on his back.

Diablo could take them on. He had contended with two T. rexes before. But if he tried to, he would be quickly overtaken. Three large carnivores plus a group of armed humans were odds that he could not fare against. It would be a waste of energy.

He hated that blue wretch and his herd the most, but he also had a bone to pick with the humans of this place. They kept him locked up in that wooden prison. Their cause to "allow Residents to live in peace" was utter crap to his nonexistent ears. Not to mention they would fire their weapons on him whenever he tried to break out of said prison. Sure, they fed him and kept him healthy, but such hospitality made him uncomfortable. He was raised in a time where it was kill or be killed. Getting excessive treatment like what the humans were doing was…unsettling. However, as time passed, he became tolerant of their actions. They were looking after him, keeping him alive.

It was an ongoing battle in his mind on whether to continue hating the humans or not. That Veran brat was practically the only human he hated the most, but even she was beginning to mellow up to him, even if the signs were minute. The only reason why he hated her was because she was friends with that blue wretch and his friends. She was also the one who deprived him of the chance to take out his anger, and get a decent meal, on that leaf sucker's herd. His mate died when one of his kind caused a cave ceiling to collapse on them. Only he survived the avalanche.

Then again, she only fought to protect her friends and she did save him from that fall down that canyon. The passed "winter festivities" had revealed a kinder side to her. She catered to his celebration of The Feast of Tarnac by giving him piles of meat.

"Humph, as if I could get along with anybody here," he huffed.

Then, the oversized Carnotaur caught a whiff of something off in the air. It was faint, but it was present. It was a smell that he had gotten used to the whole time he had been in this place. Each creature had their own scent signature, but this one was something he knew all too well. It was the Veran brat, but it was more prominent, as if there were two of them.

Two of them? He could barely stand one! How could there be two of that human? Unless…

He looked around, until he finally found his answer.

Diablo pressed forward, with the humans yelling in surprise and the other carnivores going after him as he strayed from the desired route. He stopped as soon as he was close to the two human females that had that scent. They were dressed differently than the brat, but they bore some features similar to her. One of them looked like she was younger than her and the other was older.

"Well, what do we have here?" he rumbled, lowering his snout so he was at their level. The human females cowered in his presence like frightened deer. "Some new faces it seems."

His escorts caught up to him. The other predators flanked him on each side, with the humans putting distance between him and the strange women. The trespassers stammered and screamed as the other keepers told them stay back.

"Back off, you big lug," the Allosaurus known as Big Al growled at him from this right. He was soon joined by the female, which he recalled was named Alyssa. Both of them growled threateningly at him. "You hurt them and I'll-"

"Relax shrimp," he laughed sadistically. "I just want to take a look at them."

Then, one of the keepers was foolish enough to try to push him back. Stun gun aimed for his head, the man hollered at him with his weapon at the ready.

"Keep moving Diablo!" he warned, the gun cocking loudly. "You've got someplace to be!"

Another human warned the women, whom he gestured to back away with one of his hands. "Ladies, get back! This is a highly dangerous motherfucker!"

Diablo, annoyed by how irritating the situation got, bared his teeth at the man.

"Quiet! Call me that one more time and you'll find your head detached from your neck!" he cautioned in his most beastly manner.

The human that called him out staggered back a few steps. The rest, minus the carnivores that surrounded him, did the same. Even the females that he was inspecting cowered still.

He then glared at the other human that was ordering him to move; when he was a few feet from his muzzle, now he was at least ten feet away. "And you! I will not hurt them. I merely want to inspect them."

Seeing that they were warily eyeing him, he knew that they were heeding his words, albeit reluctantly. Diablo took a good whiff at them, their hair and clothes rustled as he did so. He almost laughed when he saw them gag when they smelled his breath. But that was stopped when the scent hit his nostrils. He himself recoiled in disgust when his senses registered the smell.

"I knew it," he growled in distaste. "You smell like that Veran brat. Judging by your appearances, I wouldn't be surprised if you were related to her."

The human females continued to shiver in fear. No words escaped from their maws. Their eyes were filled with terror at the immense monster that was before them. While Diablo abhorred anything in relation to the Veran brat, he could not help but be amused by the relatives being afraid. And he knew full well that they could not understand him. They did not sport that earpiece that would translate a thing he was saying. All they could hear were inaudible grunts, growls, and roars from him.

Diablo chuckled viciously. "Are you scared of me? ARE YOU!?"

That last phrase made them gasp in horror. The carnivores around him growled intensely, their teeth bared and ready to strike at him. The other humans readied their weapons, prepared to fire their annoying electric shocks.

"Good," he replied, not minding the ill circumstances he was in. "I don't want to deal with any Veran kin today. Now SCRAM!" he roared his full beastly call at the women.

His threat had its intended effect. The women screamed, turning tail and fled in the other direction. The screams in his ears were grating; his hearing may have been lost if they were louder. For being so small, humans had one of the shrillest voices he had ever encountered.

While he laughed at how amusing they were from sending them off, the humans surrounding him yelled at him for his actions. The Allosaurus and the lone rex roared and berated him equally. Diablo did not care. At least he got some fun out of this pseudo-punishment.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Martha looked upon her extended family. All of them did their best to hide their sorrow on what was about to happen today. While none of them were agreeable to going to a new land due to some "biological schedules", they could not do anything to hide the sadness of one of their own leaving for that land, even though it was temporary.

As they made their way to where the portal was to be activated, the matriarch decided to ask her once more about the topic they discussed this morning.

"Martha, are you sure you want to go through with this?" Mujaji pressed again, who was catching up to the lone mammoth.

"Yes Mujaji," replied Martha. "There will be days when we'll experience some cold days and mostly everyone here has not experienced that. We will be in a time that will be warm, but they will still need guidance."

"Oh alright. I cannot stop you then. We will miss you though," the elephant matriarch twirled her trunk around her adopted sister's, who in turn gave her a gentle squeeze.

"I will too," the Ice Age denizen returned the gesture. "You are all my family. It saddens me that you cannot come."

The elephant leader lifted her trunk. She placed it on the mammoth's thick-furred shoulder before giving squeezing it as well. Martha welcomed the feeling, like her own family from the past would do to her.

"Do not worry. We will not be parted for long. By the time you and everyone else return, this land will be rejuvenated."

She was not wrong. The valley was lush with so much green when Martha first arrived there. There was so much vegetation that it was a contrast to the icy world she came from. But with all of the free-roaming Residents living there, it was not long before the plains started to look a little barren. Several of the low-lying vegetation at the base of the mountains showed little signs of recovery as the dinosaurs capable of eating at the greenery stripped them clean.

Now with the whole transfer to the past for "3 months/2 years", the whole place should be a lot better and bigger once they return.

Martha was happy that her new home would recover, but she was still saddened that her whole family was not going to come with her. Among her herd, Mujaji and her calf were the ones she was closest to. Mikiya was a bundle of joy to the Pleistocene pachyderm. Innocent, cheery, and outgoing, she was someone she would sorely miss. The young calf was her niece in everything but blood.

And that very niece became so saddened by the mammoth's departure to the past that she had not been seen around the herd since that morning at breakfast.

"Say, where is my beloved niece?" Martha brought up. She took a quick look back at the herd, hoping to catch a glimpse of a trotting little calf coming up to her. Her heart ached when she found no such calf.

The matriarch sighed and rubbed the top of her head, an equivalent to a human doing the same in a frustrating situation. "I do not know. If I had to guess, she was distraught in your leaving of this place. I had one of the keepers go off to look for her, but he has not returned. Well, if she is not found by the time you leave, I will send her your regards."

Martha frowned. She was well aware that being away for some time would also mean that her niece would grow up without her around. By the time she comes back from Temporary Park, the little calf would already be close to her teenage years, if not already. "It's a shame...I wanted to say goodbye myself."

Her ears, though miniscule yet flipping against her, suddenly perked up. Elephants are known to have very sensitive hearing. They could detect sounds as low as 14 to 16 hz. Martha may not be an African elephant, but her hearing was just as impressive. She could pick up sounds from miles away.

Her impressive hearing picked up something in the air. It sounded like individuals in distress. They were screaming. Other than a few other Residents that still remained in this time, such as the modern day crocodiles, birds, and the male elephants, they were the only ones there. The few prehistoric Residents still in the park were in the process of being escorted to Temporary Park. The only others that remained in Prehistoric Park were the humans that worked there.

Martha had been around humans long enough to know how they sounded like when they screamed. So she was already on alert when she picked up on the signs of distress.

"What in Great Spirits is that?" Martha asked, turning her massive head towards the left.

Her action was followed by the rest of the sisterhood, who also picked up on the sounds. Murmurs and clamors erupted in the herd as they tried to discern what would make a human scream. Some of them worried that it may be something bad, like one of the predatory Residents going rogue.

"I do not know," said Mujaji, who was spreading her membranous ears apart to allow the sounds to reach her ears fully. "It sounds human, but what would cause them to act this way?"

Their answer came when they saw what was coming to them in the distance. Running with their hands waving in the air and hair flopping in the wind were two human females.

The elephants were not afraid of humans, but they did wonder what would make them be so afraid. The Sisterhood looked ahead of them, hoping there were not such predators. They all relaxed when they found there were none.

They were, however, puzzled at the two arrivals.

Martha witnessed the Sisterhood part ways for them. Taking a good look at the humans, she saw that they had tan skin and black hair, much like the Veran child. The younger of the two seemed to possess a bit more muscle than the young Prehistoric Park employee. The other, a much older female, looked to possess characteristics of the youngster with her and a bit of Hazel.

It was then that Martha made the assumption that these two may be in direct relation to Hazel. She knew from her stories that the Veran girl had a long-standing feud with her mother. Her familial problems transcended for years before it came to an end just months ago. What the mammoth did not know was that any of her family was coming this day.

It was odd because Hazel made it clear that she would not dare expose this valley to anybody on the outside so carelessly. Martha got the idea that their home was a secret from the world after many conversations with Nigel and the other keepers about that very topic. She got the idea that the world was not ready for them, at least not yet. The mammoth did not care about exposing herself to outsiders. The world was a vastly different place than what she was used to. Outsiders becoming acquainted with this place would take a long time, something that Martha was in no rush for.

But encountering outsiders, especially Hazel's own kin, was certainly odd.

"What? I did not know we were getting any human visitors," Mujaji turned to her adopted sister, who nodded in agreement. "I thought this place forbade any outside interactions."

Martha chuckled. The women skidded to a stop before her and hugged each other tightly. Fear and apprehension were clear on their faces. The mammoth understood their plight. This must be their first time seeing a mammoth after all. Unhindered by their reactions, she did her best to put on a good first impression.

"Well, if they are visitors," she glanced at Mujaji before returning to the humans. "We might as well be on our best behavior. My name is-"

Her attempt was foiled when the shrill screams of the humans reached her ears. Being an animal with powerful hearing had its perks and its downsides. Having such sensitive hearing also meant that the loudest sounds could hurt your more than others. Martha and the other elephants trumpeted in surprise; agony reached their craniums at breakneck speeds. All of them fidgeted uncontrollably.

"Ow! That hurts!" one of the females complained.

"Tell them to stop!" another whined.

"It's hurting my head!" screamed another.

Before Martha or her sister could try to calm the two, they found the strange humans darting passed them towards who knows where in the park. The other elephants gradually relaxed when they found the sources of the screaming fading from their senses.

"Oh dear…I wonder what has gotten into them?" said the Ice Age megafauna. As she watched them disappear towards the direction of the Holding Pens, she wondered about what would cause them to act this way.

She hoped that if Hazel were still around, assuming they were her relatives, she could clear up any misunderstandings they had.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hanna nearly lost her footing when she stopped. Her shoes had gone over a slick spot and she lost some traction. After what she and her mother went through, her mind went from either some dropping water, her going over something moist by accident, or an animal that urinated on the spot.

The youngest Veran's brain was having a hard time processing what she had just seen. Real dinosaurs and mammoths were in this place! What she thought about prehistory had been drastically changed. Those animals were supposed to have died off 65 million years ago; mammoths even earlier. But here they were, walking around without a care in the world! And they were nearly eaten by that big red stout-faced beast! Was that a T. rex? No, it couldn't be. It was too bulky and had horns to be one. Maybe the other one that was following it? It was a possibility; it did have two fingers in each arm.

Then there were the employees in the place. They weren't the least bit concerned about their presence! Were they talking to those things before? Did they go crazy? What was this place!? Was she going crazy? If her sister slipped something in her morning juice before she left then that drug was working. But those things looked all too real to be fake. Plus, her sister would not do something as deceitful as that.

Her chest and throat ached with each breath she took. She and her mother had been running for what she thought was the whole park. Then again, this place could be bigger too. Sweat once again ran down her body; the breeze that came to her eased her of the heat.

Hanna's mind felt like it was about to implode. She was equally worried about her mother and wondered how she was taking it.

"Mom...did you see...what I just saw?" she gasped, looking at her mother next to her, who was hunched over onto her knees.

The woman eyed her with disbelief and plain shock. No other words would describe her reactions in this state, for those would be the most accurate. "You mean those dinosaurs and that wooly mammoth? Then yes!"

"Okay good. I'm not going crazy," Hanna straightened herself up. They were in the middle of some sort of forest. Looking over to her right, she noticed a few buildings suspended from the ground, though they seemed to be a few ways off.

She jumped at the sound of cawing above. Looking up, she saw they were just regular birds, not dinosaurs. Hanna wanted to slap herself. She feared of anything in this valley now. Any sound could be some dangerous dinosaur, or worse. The only thing she found respite in was that there were no other dinosaurs when they were running to this forest, so they seemed to be safe for the moment.

It astonished her that the people in this place would allow animals to roam around. Letting dangerous creatures out is a zoo keeper's worst nightmare. Yet they did so without minding anyone else's safety. Well, those keepers were armed with weapons and did tell them to back off as that huge red monster was dangerous. They did have those gun things or whatever so it looked like they had it under control.

Control…did they control these animals? They were talking to those carnivores. Did they teach them commands of some sort? If they did, then they really needed to work on it for that horned creature.

At least they had a way to defend themselves. Those guns seemed sufficient to do some harm.

Wait, Hanna did have a weapon! Her bow! But it was in the trunk of that jeep, which was all the way back in that building they left. Those monsters may still be roaming about there. Going back would be like offering themselves up like a dinner platter.

If they needed protection, then they would need to improvise. At least they were out of danger, for now.

"What the heck is this place? Some kind of ripoff from Jurassic Park?" Hanna blurted while looking about the forest in place.

"How could Hazel keep this from us!?" Beth exploded. Her fury and rage became ever so clear on her features. If Hanna had an overactive imagination, she could have seen her mother grow claws when she curled her fingers in front of her. "She could not trust us, her own family, with something this big!?"

"Well, in her defense, even if she did tell us, I don't think we would have believed her," she said, defending her sister. While she was shocked about being in a place filled with relics of prehistory, she had an idea that her sister would not be able to explain to them of her secret. Even she was having a hard time believing they were in this place.

"Hanna, I do not want to get into this!" she made the youngest daughter fall quiet. She knew better than to upset her mother more. Experience had taught her that. "Now, call your sister. I want to have a talk with her on this place. Animals running about without cages. And dinosaurs no doubt! If she thinks I'm going to let her stay here with all of these monsters, then she is sorely mistaken!"

"Well, what I want to know is why everyone else doesn't seem too scared about them," Hanna brought up, thinking about the keepers and the carnivores that they were with. "Sure those other guys had those guns pointed at that T. rex and...whatever those other things were, but they didn't seem as scared as we were. And, why were they talking to them?"

She fell silent again when she saw an angry glare meet her gaze. Her mother revealed her gritted teeth, her face taking on a hint of red.

"Hanna, call your sister."

The archer rolled her eyes, hiding the fear that she bore. The girl took out her phone, an iPhone 8 covered by a grey and white Otterbox. Upon pressing the circle button at the bottom, a screenshot of a lily in a pond appeared on the screen. She typed the 4 number password in and started to work on calling her sister.

"I hope Hazel has a good explanation for this...she is in big trouble!" Beth exclaimed.

Unfortunately, that outburst had done more harm than vent out her anger. A squawk sounded off from their right. The path that was once clear stood a 10 foot tall creature. Well, to be more accurate, it looked like a large, flightless bird that was covered in yellow feathers with a hint of black.

Hanna felt her stomach drop when she saw the creature rasp and squawk while coming towards them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Espantos was just minding his own business. He had finished with moving his things from his enclosure to his new enclosure in Alaska. It was a lot of things; his laptop that he always kept hidden, his knitting needles and yarn, his various board games, his video camera that he rarely used, so many novels that he obtained via "classified" means, his huge collection of printed/written fanfictions, and other Knick knacks that any keeper would spend forever with organizing. It took him days to transfer those items to his vacation home, and he did so in between his courier times. Of course, with so many things in tow, he needed to use some of the jeep doors to haul his things over. Many of the trinkets he owned were thanks to his new Super Awesome Best Friend Ellis who indulged him in his interests; he really should get him a thank you present for all he's done.

With the whole move and all, he found it odd that no human was going off trying to tranquilize him during those times. He soon found out that Nigel had told everyone not to mind his zaniness and that he was just working on moving his things.

Today was like a freebie for him. He wanted to take one last look at Prehistoric Park before leaving for the field trip. He knew the field trip would last a while, in fact, he was beginning to think it may be more of a retreat or something. Sure, he would miss his first friend Nigel Marven and his other buddies, but he also had the rest of his neighbors, the Hazelnut, and his super awesome best friend Ellis to keep him company.

He was going to miss this place. The Terror Bird pondered on what this place would be like once he got back. Maybe they were going to add candy trees and a chocolate river like that one book that had that human who made fantastical candy. That would be a super awesome addition. He tried to pry Nigel of any hints on what he was going to do, but all he got was "it's a surprise".

Espantos loved surprises. But the tension on the wait was what the agonizing bit was. He wanted to know what was happening!

He was about to go ask Nigel one more time when he came across something strange. Not one, but two human females stood in the forest he was walking through.

The Phorusrhacos knew everyone in the park; from the youngest hatchling to the biggest sauropod. He knew what everyone liked, what their personalities were, their favorite foods, everything! Yet, he had never met these two before.

Curiosity getting the better of him, the Terror Bird decided to get to know them.

"Oh! Hello! I didn't see you there!" he greeted.

As he approached, he saw them gasp and back away in surprise. Espantos thought nothing of it. This was a rather common occurrence whenever someone new met him. The last time it happened, it was with those new people who started living here a while back. They were sure surprised when they saw him. Then, after a while, they started to get to know each other and he was friends with them. Though for some reason, they would start yelling at him. He had no idea why, he just wanted to strike up conversations with him. He usually took it as them being busy or something.

These ladies seemed to be taking the whole nervous approach with him. Realizing his mistake, he adjusted himself.

"Oops! I guess I kind of overdid it there," he stopped just a few feet from them. They still cowered in shock. "I am Espantos! I've never seen you two around here. Where are you from?"

Neither of them gave any answer. The older female merely cowered behind the younger one, as if using her as a shield.

"Oh? Not the talkative types? Okay! Well, I'm from the Miocene period in the wilds of South America. My species is known as a Phorusrhacos, but you can just say Terror Bird. I'm a long-time friend of Nigel Marven by the way. Have you met him? He's a really nice guy."

Still no answer came from them. They just stammered, but ultimately, no words came out.

Then, upon taking a good look at them, he saw something that struck up a realization. Why he did not see it before was his own fault. But the uncanny resemblance to one of his friends just made him all the more excited.

"Wait a Strike-Tagging second, you new ladies have the same hair and eyes and my best friend the Hazelnut! And since one of you is older, no offense, and the other is younger, you must be her Mom and sister! Oh my gosh, this is great! What are you doing here? OH OH! I know! You must be here to throw her a surprise party! Ooh, this'll be great! We'll all be hiding, waiting to surprise the Hazelnut, and then we'll all jump out and scream: SURPRISE!"

Regrettably, his way of introducing himself to two humans who have just met creatures who they thought were extinct came out as threatening to them. The ladies screamed and ran down the path. Espantos, thinking that it was some kind of game, decided to follow them; their screaming had done nothing to hinder his hearing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Prehistoric Park Café…

Hazel stepped out into the sunlight, full from eating a much needed brunch after a 4 hour long journey. One Southwest-style omelet and a Nutella crepe plus a glass of orange juice were a sufficient meal for her. She was glad the park café had an omelet station that ran for the whole work day. Nigel had an omelet too, only it was just a Mediterranean style omelet; he was a vegetarian after all.

Before the two left the café, Hazel thought it would be wise to get into a change of clothes that were better suited for the environment she was going to encounter in Temporary Park. When she came out of the ladies bathroom, she was dressed in a blue long-sleeved V neck with a black hooded sweater vest and denim jeggings. Black combat boots covered her feet due to how rugged the terrain may be. It was a good thing she decided to bring her spare change of clothes in another bag before her other things got shipped to Temporary Park. The only item left was her brand new purple and grey travel backpack, which had her favorite items such as her laptop and charger, her phone charger, a new glass waterbottle she recently got over her Christmas vacation, her father's dagger, and some other items of value to her. She wanted to keep those items close as she wanted to be the one to handle them just in case.

When she stepped out in the mid-day sun, her body became blasted by the African heat. The café was a favorable cool temperature, so going outside was like stepping into a hot summer day. It was nothing she couldn't handle.

Nigel's radio erupted with the sound of a man's voice and the static of the radio frequency.

"Kevin to Nigel," he said before becoming silent. His voice sounded rather urgent.

While Hazel was told to try and get to know the employees of the park, at Nigel's behest some time ago to add on to her training to be a leader, she could not tell which person this was. There were at least 5 people in the park that were named Kevin. Nevertheless, she drowned that conversation out, thinking it was something not important.

"This is Nigel. Go ahead," Nigel replied after retrieving the radio from his side and pressing the button to reply.

"We've got a bit of a situation here at the infirmary," Kevin said in a more stressed-out tone. Screams erupted in the background before the call cut off.

Hazel's interest was then piqued. She wondered what kind of trouble was occurring. Surely not a breakout; all of the Residents should have been transferred to Temporary Park by now. The woman then thought about equipment trouble. Perhaps one of their supplies decided to malfunction and was wreaking havoc.

"What's going on?" Nigel answered, remaining calm yet sounded concerned.

"Well first, Espantos is there. He's causing quite a racket."

Both she and the head park leader rolled their eyes. While the Terror Bird had been in the park for a long time, new parts of his personality just seemed to pop up every now and then. But him causing havoc as a result of some of his zaniness was nothing out of the norm in Prehistoric Park. Usually it would be because he was trying to retrieve something for a project he was doing, he was having a party, or, very rarely, someone accidentally gave him chocolate. The last one was a worst case scenario. Espantos was a kind soul; he may appear threatening, but he had a good heart. His darker side, however, would always appear if he was fed chocolate.

To Hazel, he would be the equivalent of a Nazi brigade plus a Grand Theft Auto character high on mushrooms mixed together. It would take forever to try to trap him and get him tranquilized; he would always run out of their range before they could fire their guns.

"Did somebody feed him chocolate?" Nigel asked wanting to make sure it wasn't the worst case scenario.

"No."

"Thank God," the woman muttered.

"Then what's happening?"

"He's chased two strangers up a column of cushions. I don't know who they are. I've never seen them before."

Hazel felt her heart drop to her stomach. The mention of strangers had made one of her fears come to fruition. Prehistoric Park becoming discovered to the public was like a death sentence to her life in the park. This place was a haven from the ravages of the outside world. The Residents here lived in peace, where they could start anew. The long-time goal was to help extinct species to flourish again, but that process was a gradual one. The Residents were not ready for the public eye, and neither was the world.

Hearing that two unknown strangers had wandered into the park borders right under their noses was a nightmare coming to life. This place was about to get exposed, and it would not be long before thousands of people would come here just to see its relics of the past. And worse, the idea of poachers coming to hunt down the Residents to sell to the Black Market would undermine everything they've been working for. Her family, getting hunted down like animals; no, she would not let that happen!

Hazel balled her fists. Thoughts of hurting the strangers for wandering into the park with ill intent dominated her mind. It would increase tenfold if any of them dared to hurt her friends.

"Strangers?" Nigel asked, doing his best to hide his worry.

"Two women," Kevin started. "They don't look like employees either. I think they might be tourists. I don't know why nobody phoned this in earlier!"

The young time traveler looked to her mentor. Dread crept up in his features like flames eating at a dried log. There was no doubt that he was feeling the same way as well, though she knew he would not go towards a violent route.

"Are there more of them? Is there anybody else that came with them?"

"No. They were the only ones. We've been trying to get Espantos to stop, but he's too preoccupied with trying to get to know these girls that he's scaring them!" he yelled into the radio over the sounds of stun guns firing. The screaming in the background got louder and louder.

"What do they look like?" Nigel questioned loudly over the sounds of the screaming.

"Um...one of them looks to be in her forties I think. And the other looks younger, like a teenager barely out of high school. What's even weirder is they both kind of look like Hazel."

"WHAT!?" the girl exclaimed, making Nigel jump a bit.

For a moment, Hazel thought her heart stopped beating. Her world slowed down as those words echoed in her mind. They "looked kind of like" her. The woman began to hyperventilate. The public may not have found this place, but the second worst scenario was coming true. There were only two people she knew of that fit those descriptions. A teenager barely out of high school and a woman in her forties were dead giveaways to her.

It did not take her long to put the pieces together. Her mother and sister had followed her to Prehistoric Park.

She paced in circles around Nigel, her hands running through her hair. Hazel incessantly said "Oh my God" continuously. It was only through Nigel's intervention by placing a hand on her shoulder that she did stop. He quietly told her to calm down, which she hesitantly complied to.

"Kevin, try to get Espantos away from those two," he spoke into the radio. "We're on our way!"

"Yes sir!" the man on the other side hung up for the final time.

The two of them looked at each other worriedly. Hazel did her best to make her heart beat slow down, but with little effect.

"Oh my God. This is bad. Really bad! How did they get here!? They couldn't have followed us! We would have noticed them!" Hazel was almost in tears.

"No time for that," said her mentor. "Come on, we need to get to the infirmary."

None of them said a word as they made their way towards the large warehouse where the large Residents would be taken in emergencies. They hoped that nobody was getting seriously hurt in this misunderstanding.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At the Infirmary…

Things were chaotic in the airplane hangar-sized infirmary. At least twenty keepers were gathered there, all of which were either armed with a stun gun or a tranquilizer gun. All of them were aiming at the Terror Bird that rushed around a stack of mats against the back wall.

Hanna and her mother cowered in fear of the Miocene hyper carnivore that stalked around them. Out of some miracle, they were able to run from him without being mauled over. Espantos was faster than any of them, yet they did not know that he did not wish to knock them over and devour them. In fact, they had no idea that he was only playing with them.

Espantos knew how fast humans ran; that was from experience on getting chased by keepers for stealing their stuff. It was a game of tag he wanted to play and he was going easy on the two women. The frightened ladies had run towards the large infirmary and found safety by climbing a stack of mats against a wall, one that Espantos could not scale due to his anatomy. The only other thing he could do was to jump up to meet them, but that would only last for a few seconds before he dropped onto the ground.

The keepers kept on firing their Taser stun guns at the Terror Bird, but he would just weave out of the way of the line of fire. Those that did manage to hit him became shock-faced that he was barely affected at all. He would stop for a moment before he continued his rabble. Those that tried their luck with their tranquilizer guns had equal trouble as well; Espantos was just too quick for them.

"Hey! Are you two trying to relax up there? Make room for me! I want to have a nice view too!" he called out to the women up top.

"AAHHH! Get that beast away from us!" Beth screamed.

"Please don't eat me!" Hanna added, hugging her mother for dear life.

One of the keepers fired his stun gun, the wire going for the avian's neck. He groaned when he found the wire barely touching his body, only nabbing onto a few feathers as he moved away.

"It's okay ladies! Just stay calm! We'll take care of him!" he tried to reassure them.

"Why is he not in a cage!? What kind of a zoo is this place to let animals run free!? I'm going to have a talk with your superiors about how you run this place!" the Veran mother ranted.

"It's not a zoo!" corrected one of the on-site vets.

"Whatever! Just save us!" she screamed again when Espantos jumped high again.

"Aw come on!" Espantos whined. "Can you at least come down? Or help me up! I want to play whatever game you have!"

"Espantos! They don't want to play! Now stop it! You're scaring them!"

As much as the vets and keepers were doing their best to tell the Terror Bird to stop, the Miocene predator seemed to ignore them. He was so intent on wanting to get to know the new visitors that he filtered out any warnings that the humans were telling him. His excitement got him so riled up that he was starting to lean into the mats a bit too much that the tower started to shook a bit with his added weight. The women on top screamed for dear life at the sudden force the bird was giving it.

"AGH! Help us! Help us!" Hanna clutched harder on her mother.

"Oh! Sorry!" the avian stopped for a bit and looked up at the top. "I didn't mean to do that! I'll save you!"

"No! No saving! You'll only make it worse!" said another keeper.

Unfortunately, Espantos did so again. His drive in rescuing the helpless humans only made the tower shake again. The mats wobbled from side to side like an unstable stack of cards. The women up top screamed again, this time holding onto the ridges of the wall for futile support.

"Oops! Too close!" the bird yelled again. "Someone give me a stool! I'll pick them up and jump off with them like Black Panther!"

"What the heck!? Black Panther!? You don't even have arms!" yelled another keeper, who was just as annoyed as everyone else on the situation. "Also, how do you know about that? You haven't even seen the movie!"

"Yes I did!"

"What!? How!? The DVD isn't even out yet!"

Espantos giggled and then shushed at the crowd behind him. "A magician never reveals his secrets!"

"ESPANTOS!"

Upon the call of his name, the Terror Bird peered through the crowd. The humans parted an opening for a new person to come through. Espantos gasped with glee when he found his friend the Hazelnut and first friend Nigel Marven coming through. And neither of them looked too pleased with what was happening.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At Hazel and Nigel's intervention, everyone stopped what they were doing. The employees were at ease, now that their superior and his apprentice was there to calm everything down. Hazel rushed up to them, eager to nip this particular problem in the bud. As Hazel approached the Phorusrhacos, Nigel urged the keepers to lower their weapons. Seeing her family precariously perched on the tower of mats, Hazel wanted to find out WHY her mother and sister were here, but she put that train of thinking on the backburner. She would rather deal with the Terror Bird's antics than deal with the potential fallout with her family.

Seeing her older sister approach the obviously lethal predator, Hanna was instantly gripped with fear. The younger Veran sister gasped in fright. "Ate Hazel! Be careful!"

Unknown to the human visitor, causing bodily harm to anyone was the last thing on the Terror Bird's mind.

"HAZELNUT! There you are! I was wondering where you were! I found some pretty ladies who look just like you! If the face, skin, and hair color did not give it away, I would say that they're your family!" Espantos happily squawked.

"Yeah I noticed." Hazel dryly commented.

"Why didn't you tell me they were coming over? Oh I could have fixed up my place to make it more presentable! Are you planning to have a party with them? Why wasn't I invited!?" Espantos inanely rattled off, eager to make Beth and Hanna's acquaintance.

"Espantos, there was no party! They somehow snuck into this place without my knowledge." Hazel said exasperated. She took a moment to glare at her frightened family, irritated at the lengths her mother and sister would go to snoop into her private life. However, she couldn't deal with that at the moment; a certain bird's behavior needed curbing. "Now, I know you want to meet them, but right now, they need a bit of space. I need to talk to them so that I can help calm them down. They've had a long trip and all the excitement here is a bit much for them. Let me talk to them first and, I promise, you can meet them. You understand?"

She was met with a vigorous nod. "Yes! I can clean up my place in the meantime!"

Hazel rolled her eyes and gently reminded the Terror Bird. "Espantos, remember the 'field trip' we're having?"

"Oh...right…" the Phorusrhacos said with sadness before immediately perking up again. "I'll go clean up my vacation home then!"

"Okay, you go do that. I'll see you there." Hazel neutrally said as she prompted the Terror Bird with a pat.

"Okay! Bye Hazelnut! Bye Hazelnut's family that I will make friends with later!"

Espantos ran off to get to the open portal towards Temporary Park. With his things already in the past, he just needed to sprint on through the portal. Nigel, satisfied at how Hazel handled the situation, turned around and gave his orders to everyone else.

"Alright everyone! Nothing to see here! We've got this under control. There's a lot of work to be done before the end of the night so I want everyone to get back to work!" As employees were filing out, he walked in step with a Keeper to question him. "Where is Mitch? I want to talk to him about inventory on our supplies?"

The Keepers and other employees hesitantly separate and get back to work per their boss' instructions. As Nigel was exiting, he stopped next to Hazel and then whispered in her ear.

"Hazel, I'm going to be a bit busy getting things back under control. I should be done in the next hour or so."

Hazel, catching on with the message, replies. "No, I've got this. This is a family matter. You just go ahead and continue with the transfer."

Nigel was concerned but nodded. "Alright. The portal will be closing soon though."

"I know. Let me know when it's ready."

"You have something in mind?"

Hazel whispers something in his ear. After a moment, Nigel nods.

"Alright, good luck Hazel."

He leaves to get everyone back in shape and finish the remaining jobs around Prehistoric Park. Hazel approached the mats just as her mom and sister were climbing down. Hanna was the first to reach the ground and Beth soon followed, albeit with a slight stumble.

"Sorry about that. Are you two—?"

*SLAP!*

Hazel's head whipped to the side, with a red handprint emblazoned on her cheek. Snapping her eyes forward, all she saw was her mother's angry eyes and her hand crossed her body, evidence that she had indeed slapped her. Although pain wasn't a foreign concept to Hazel, it was a long time that her own mother physically disciplined her. She was more shocked that her mother struck her than the feeling of the actual stinging sensation slap.

Hazel gingerly massaged her cheek as she backed away from her mom. "Okay I probably deserved that..."

At her daughter's seemingly casual dismissal made Beth explode in an angry tirade. "You stupid, idiotic, selfish girl! How dare you keep secrets from me! Your own mother!"

"I'm sorry! But I only did that to protect my friends!" Hazel shouted, standing up to her mom.

Beth scoffed. "Friends? Not the integrity of this...pseudo-terrorist zoo!?"

The young adventurer rolled her eyes. "First, it's not a zoo, it's a sanctuary. There's a difference! And second, I kept this from you to protect this place AND my friends! And third, 'terrorist zoo'? Really Mom? Don't you think that's a bit much?"

The older woman scoffed at her daughter's "naivety". "Friends? What kind of friends would allow wild animals, or more specifically, man-eating DINOSAURS roam about without cages!"

Hazel rubs her temples with her fingers and sighs. This was going to harder than she thought. Her Mom didn't even like dogs, so seeing all kinds of prehistoric wildlife was causing her mom to have a slight panic attack.

Beth slaps her hips and laughs in an uncomfortable manner. "So this is why you couldn't tell us. You were keeping dinosaurs around like pets!"

"Mom-." Hazel tried.

"What the heck are you thinking!? Keeping dangerous animals around! Extinct ones too! How could you endanger yourself day in and day out knowing that they would eat you at any day!?"

"It's not like that! They're our friends!"

"Your friends?" Beth scoffed. "How can they be? They're beasts! And what was that about before? Why were you talking to that...that...big ostrich?"

"If you let me explain, then maybe you'll see what's really going on."

"Good! I think we ALL deserve an explanation."

Hazel sighed as she led Hanna and her Mother towards the outside of the infirmary.

"Follow me."

"Where are we going?" Hanna asked.

"The café. You two must be hungry. Following me and Nigel to this place is a 4 hour drive from Johannesburg. It's also more comfortable to have a talk there rather than being in the middle of a bustling infirmary meant to house giant dinosaurs."

She turns around and starts to head over there, with her mother and sister hot on her heels. Hazel dreads whatever was about to happen next and hopes that Nigel completes the transfer soon.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Prehistoric Park cafe...

The Verans sat at one of the tables. The cafe is pretty deserted, since everyone was helping with the big move and all. Hanna and Beth were eating some soup and salad from the bar, one of the only food items currently available at the moment. Hazel was sitting there at the table, sipping some chamomile tea (with this stressful situation, she needs to calm herself down a bit), contemplating how to break the ice.

Beth and Hanna retrieved their items from the jeep they snuck in on. Their luggage sat on the side of the exit of the café, just for their added comfort. Hanna took it a step further and had her bow and quiver lying against the café table. It was more like a comfort blanket for the cautious Veran sister; despite the many attempts Hazel made to inform her family that the Park was perfectly safe.

After a few minutes of quietness, Hazel decides to break the silence.

"So...I know you two have a lot of questions. But first, I'd like to say I'm sorry for everything that has happened to you and for...keeping all of this from you."

"We were scared Ate." Hanna started, taking a sip of water to calm her nerves. "We met some big meat-eaters that wanted to eat us."

"Which...ones?" Hazel asked, arching her brow.

"Well...the first few I'm not really sure what they are. I think one of them was a T. rex. Two of them looked exactly like each other and were colored grey." Hanna recalled. "And the last one was big, red, and had horns. He was roaring at us and... We were scared!"

Hazel groans and rubbed her temples.

"Okay, sorry about that. First, the T. rex was most likely Terrence. The grey carnivores you described were Big Al and his mate Alyssa. Those guys are friendly Allosaurus. Were they surrounded by keepers?"

"Yeah. They had guns."

"Okay. Just to clarify things, the keepers and those three carnivores were there to make sure the big red guy, Diablo, would not cause trouble." The older sister informed.

"It sure didn't seem like it..." Hanna grumbled.

"Diablo didn't hurt you...did he?"

Hanna shook her head. "No. But he scared us."

Hazel nodded in understanding. That sounded like something the ornery Carnotaurus would do. "Okay I'm sorry about that. We're working on his behavior. He's not very tolerant with new faces and kind of has a grudge against everybody in the park. Those guys were just transferring him to a new location, which I'll spare you the details on. What others did you meet?"

"Um...a wooly mammoth?"

Hazel chuckled lightly.

"Martha. She's friendly, don't worry. And she's herbivorous."

"Okay. I thought she was going to hurt us there. Then there was that big...bird thing."

"Yeah, that's Espantos. Again, sorry about him. He has his own way of socializing with people. He may look menacing but he's a really nice guy. Think of him as a big parrot with the brain of a ten year old."

"Is he a...carnivore?" Hanna asked with trepidation.

"Yes. But he won't eat humans. He knows who his friends are."

"Okay that's enough!" Beth shouted as she slammed her hands on the table, causing both girls to jump. "Hazel, your sister and I have been through shit, trying to figure out what you do for a living. We nearly got eaten, were sent running around this place, and got harassed by an overgrown ostrich!"

"Terror Bird." Hazel dully said as she sipped her tea absently.

"I don't care!" The mother shouted again. "I don't care if that was an ostrich, a T. rex, or a Saber tooth cat! You owe us an explanation!"

Hazel managed to hide a smirk behind her cup of tea. If only her mom knew the park had both T. rexes AND Saber Cats. Hazel then sighed and set down her tea. She hoped it would not have to come to this but judging from the circumstances, she didn't have a choice.

"Alright fine. I'll tell you everything. Just promise me to not talk until after I finish."

Both Hanna and Beth fell silent and awaited Hazel's explanation.