Location: 24°35'04.26"S. 70°33'07.39"W.
From the blackness, Libby opened her eyes, squinting so that her eyes wouldn't hurt from seeing things for the first time in... however long it had been since her home had been destroyed. Fortunately, it wasn't long for her to fully adjust and stand up. For some reason, she had somehow been placed above the current sea level, whether someone had taken her out of the water, or if it was just the tide, was up to her questioning. All around the flat sandy-ish beach she currently resided in was surrounded by vast mountains, looking for any path out of the enclave, the mountains did indeed go from coastline to coastline, there was no way out.
Unless...
It was then she heard a faint noise, just loud enough to make out, but it was consistent. Walking to whatever the noise was, it became sharper, more identifiable, until it was clearly the sound of running water- a stream, flowing down from the top of the v-shaped valley. With no owther way out of this small inlet, she made her way up the stream. Twists and bends made sure she couldn't see how far up she had climbed, or even how far she had left to go, she just kept going up, and up, and up.
After what had felt to her like 2 hours passing, the steep path she had taken had only just start to even out to a small plain covered by hills. Where the river seemed to bend to the left she turned right, where only one or two hills were visible- and going past said hills, a much wider plateau outlined by hills emerged. Seeming like there was no obvious way to go, she observed the outline of the hills; noticing that the hills in front dipped down slightly. It wasn't much to go by, but it was a good enough excuse to go in that directon.
There were some things she noticed as she kept walking, such as the change in colour of the sands, they were a range of colours from a light beige to a rust red colour, and sometimes even a dark- almost black colour. Looking from the top of the hill revealed the steep decent down to the vast desert area covered in hills and mountains. Perhaps going down this hill and then walking parallel to it might be more helpful than going across a desert. She knew that deserts were known to be notiriously dry, so going deeper into said desert would be of no use to her. So with those two instincts she galloped down the hill, doing her best not to trip over both going down and slowing down at the bottom.
No way to know if turning left or right would be the best of decisions, but something about going left felt comfortable to Libby. With that, she walked parallel to the scarp and vale hills, all the way until they had shrunck beyond recognition. Making a slow left turn again she came across a junction, where she could either go left, probably back to where she started, or right, which had a smooth downhill approach. It was obvious enough that she turned right, but along the way, there had to of been some thought process that made her turn right again, perhaps it was the mountains in front that made her think it was a dead end.
After some twists and turns, uphills and downhills, smooth and rough terrain, there was something along the plateau she was on currently that caught her attention: a series of small, but narrow blocks of some kind. Before her eyes layed something she'd never seen before, and all attention/curiosity focused on whatever those things were. Arriving to the site showed that they were used as living space, like the homestead.
"Uuh, Anyone here?" Libby called out, almost too nervous to get her own words out. It seemed fortunate, or unfortunate, that no responce came from the wood-clay-mixed buildings. Venturing further, toward the apparent center of the hamlet, various sounds other than the wind were audible. Creaking, rattling, various ambient sounds coming from each and every building. Seeing that this place might've been abandoned due to something similar to the event that destroyed her home, Libby thought it would be best not to hang around too long.
Without warning, a tail grasped hold and spun her 180 degrees, forcing her to face an intimidating Parasaurolophus. The sudden situation she had now succumb to was enough for her to stop moving in fear. All she could do is stare, hoping that whatever events happened next were fortunate.
"Could we get this lass some w'ter? She looks in need of it!" the Parasaurolophus called out. "You really don't have to do that mam, I'm fine really." Libby said, really it was more that she was still uncomfortable of the situation. "No really, you look real parched young one. Ey uh, what's ya name?", "Uuuh, it's Libby." For some odd reason, the Parasaurolophus seemed delighted of the name. "Why, that's the sweetest name I've heard around here." Most likely a compliment, Libby felt slightly flattered, this hamlet seemed to be kind enough to immedately get her both food and water. As the day went by, it felt like they had given her all the hospitality she needed.
"We would love it for you to stay, ever since the apocolypse occured, we've had it hard, but only here will you be comfortable for years to come!" Another member of the hamlet said, sounding much more defined than the previous aquaintence she met. Instinct made her feel the need to say yes, but there was something that kept her from doing so. A croud of various dinosaurs were emerging from each building, all of them wanting her to stay. It was then they all lifted their heads up, seemingly no longer focused on Libby but rather on something else.
As Libby turned around, she could see an impending cloud cover slowly creeping in, one that had an unusual yellow colour to it. Confused, Libby asked them why they were weary of the clouds. In responce, they explained that clouds of this colour recently came around and rained down a liquid unlike water, one that burned the skin of any animal, while also explaining that that last time it came around the buildings nearly collapsed, threatening their lives, and that this time, there was no chance of them surviving.
"Libby, you must go now, away from the clouds, just go, GO!" Although she was forced to leave, she knew it was a better chance of survival leaving the hamlet than to stay and risk being killed. Pacing as fast as she could, unknowingly going north-east, she soon slowed down as the cloud changed direction after raining down on the town. Although she felt a deep sympathy for everyone there, it was going to be hopeless going back and trying to rescue those who had just recently helped her.
The sun had started to set, and normal-white clouds had covered 80% of the sky, excluding said sun. She could tell however someone was partially blocking the sun, casting a silouhette on the land. Understanding the direction this one was walking to, she changed direction to head in a direction closer to north (of course still not knowing she was going north). As this dinosaur got closer, it had seemed like they both saw each other. A lone hill amongst the vast plain seemed to be the direction both were heading in, getting closer and closer, until the hill blocked their view. As Libby climbed up, not knowing who would be on the other side.
And then they saw each other, full recognition on both their faces. As the sun set, its rays casted upon Ida and Libby, now reunited. Running to each other's sides, they embraced for a moment or two. "I'm so glad you're here Libby. You okay?"
"Yes momma, I'm fine."
A silent pause ensued.
"Well then, if you're close, the others can't be too far right?"
Audio Message #2: Subject Member #6: Member #6, also known as Libby, has successfully located Member #4. Total distance travelled about 252 Km (157 miles). Along the way, she has met friends of many kinds in a small hamlet, now destroyed by an acid rain storm. Providing all goes well, they both should be ready to continue their way back home. Chances of survival for both are positively high. End of Message.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait, mock exams are a pain sometimes. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if you guys thought I was coming up with a bunch of excuses so that I wouldn't do more chapters, that's not the case. I love making these chapters, it's just that writers block and life stuff keep me from getting these out on time. My attempt right now is to just hope nothing else happens, I'm so sorry for not being as active. But anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and the story so far!
Next chapter: An Apaton Truce
Fun Facts: N/A