Drew stood, rooted to the spot as the theropod before him scanned the clearing; he did not want this gigantic predator to notice him. He breathed a sigh of relief when the theropod ignored him and returned to its meal. Now, he could get a look at it in greater detail. The theropod that towered over him looked like a larger, more heavily built version of the Allosaurus back at the park; from head to tail it must have been forty-three feet long. It was dark brown with a tan underbelly, with brown stripes on its arms and legs. Its head was large and powerful looking and a snarl revealed serrated, shark-like teeth. It looked an intimidating sight and, before it, Drew felt as insignificant as a mouse. Drew began to slowly back away from the giant, in the hope that it, occupied with its current kill, wouldn't notice him. Suddenly, the theropod paused and sniffed the air, before turning its head to look at him. Drew went rigid; he'd been found.
The theropod let out a low roar, before turning towards Drew, regarding him with a vicious coldness. It moved, slowly and surely, toward him, its massive strides meaning that it was quickly covering the distance towards him. There was only one sensible thing to do. Run.
He turned and sprinted out of the clearing. The theropod, its prey drive activated, took off after him. Suddenly, Drew's foot hit a rock and he fell, landing on the walkie-talkie. Drew, tired and bruised, turned back to look at his pursuer, now advancing towards him; whilst its average top speed was slower than his, it had a longer stride length. He stood no chance, unless he hid.
He picked up the radio, ran towards a hollow log and dived inside, wedging himself in. As he hid, he saw the theropod's cold yellow eyes staring in and smelt its hot, stinking breath. Fortunately, the theropod, having lost interest, walked off. When he was sure it had gone, Drew picked up the walkie-talkie, switched it ton and said, "Guys, I'm sending you my co-ordinates…" His only response was static. Drew sighed; this meant only one thing, the radio was busted. He must have knocked it when he fell on it. He muttered to himself, "Crap. I'll have to head back to camp…" Suddenly, he heard a loud bellow from a clearing.
Following the bellow, he found a sauropod lying on its belly in a clearing. It was an Argentinosaurus; a male by the looks of it. Despite its enormous size, it probably wasn't even fully grown. It was a strange composite; its front legs were longer and more powerful looking than its back ones and its tail was comparatively short, like the Brachiosaurus, whilst it had a long, low head like the Diplodocus. However, it was much bulkier than any of the other sauropods at the park. Its skin was a tannish green, with a lighter underbelly and stripes on its tail. A small row of iguana-like spikes ran down the middle of its back to he edge of its tail.
Drew looked at the injured behemoth; what was he supposed to do? He couldn't coax the Argentinosaurus back to camp and he couldn't contact his team because his radio was… Suddenly, the radio fizzed into life and a voice echoed from the other end, "Drew?" Drew smiled, "About damn time you guys picked up. Listen, I'm sending you my co-ordinates now. I've found something …"
About half an hour earlier, Leon and Cynthia were waiting at the lakeside camp for Drew. Earlier that day, Drew had said that he was going on a brief reconnaissance around the lake to see if anything had changed overnight; he hadn't been back for four hours. Meanwhile, Leon and Cynthia had gone on the Jeep earlier on a little reconnaissance and had observed a herd of Argentinosaurus headed towards the lake. They had tried to contact Drew about this, but to no avail. Leon put down the radio and screamed, half exasperated and half worried, "He's not answering!" Suddenly, the radio whirred into life and Cynthia picked it up. "Hey, Drew", she said, almost casually, "We saw a herd of argens heading… slow down, slow down, you've found what?", her eyes widened, "OK, we're on our way." She put the walkie-talkie down, "Alright, Drew's found something; he's sent us the co-ordinates and he wants us to head there now". As she headed off, she turned and looked at a dumbfounded Leon, "Come on!"
Meanwhile, in the Cessna, Jack, Alice and Adrian were approaching land. After morning in Appalachia, they had followed the Ornithocheirus to cross the Atlantic. After only two hours of flying, they had flown across the Atlantic, about two hours ahead of their target. Jack turned to look at the fuel gauge, "Uh, bad news, guys… we're running out of fuel. We've got fuel to spare, but we'll need to refill." Adrian said, "So what do we do?", to which Jack shrugged, "We land. Fortunately, we have land ahead." Jack turned to look at the island to find a spot to land; all along its western coast, sheer cliffs rose out of the ocean, with the rocks below wave-battered into jagged, black shapes. A coastal landing was impossible. Better to fly inland.
Having landed the Cessna towards the centre of the island and having replaced the fuel, they decided to explore. The island they were standing on would, one-hundred-and-twenty million years hence become the Isle of Wight. They ascended a hill to see a large, dark freshwater lake below them; a magnet for the animals of the island. They looked at each other; if they wanted to bring back additional creatures, this was the place.
As they approached the lake, they realised it well-stocked. A small pterosaur struck the water with its beak and flapped quickly to rise up; in its beak was the silvery glint of a fish. As it flew up, Jack, Alice and Adrian realised it was a male Ornithocheirus; a young one by the looks of it. It was half the size of the giant male they had been pursuing, and the keel-shaped crest on its bill smaller, but still recognisably an Ornithocheirus.
Suddenly, a shadow moved across the ground and Jack, Alice and Adrian looked up to see the giant male Ornithocheirus veering towards the smaller pterosaur as it headed for shore. Showing remarkable agility for his size, the bigger Ornithocheirus swept in front of the adolescent, issuing a series of aggressive hissing. Surprised, the smaller pterosaur dropped the wriggling fish on the beach below and the large male dived to claim it.
In response to what they'd witnessed, Jack shrugged and said, "All's fair in the pursuit of love and lunch, I suppose". His eyes turned to the smaller Ornithocheirus, unsuccessful, landed on a ledge by the shore and he turned to his team, "Aaand, he's just standing there. Perfect opportunity. The big guy isn't going anywhere; we have time", he whispered. Adrian said, equally as quiet, "You've got a plan?" Jack smirked deviously, "You bet your life I do."
As they climbed down onto the ledge, carrying a bag of fish to use as bait, the smaller pterosaur did not notice them. Suddenly, it paused and sniffed the air and turned to look at Jack, Alice and Adrian. Suddenly, a loud bellow echoed from the nearby forest and all creatures turned to look at a herd of dinosaurs heading down to the lake. These were much larger than their North American brethren; the biggest in the herd was about thirty-five feet long and must have weighed about seven tonnes. However, they were less bulky around the neck and they had bigger, more powerful forearms, with longer thumb spikes. Their bodies were a tannish green, with a lighter underbelly and brown stripes along the back and tail. Once again, they were accompanied by a pair of Polacanthus. These were nearly identical to their North American brethren, only duller in colouration; a dull black, with off-white patches, especially on the underbelly and legs.
The smaller Ornithocheirus was transfixed for only a moment, before it dived towards the fish in the bag. This gave Jack the time he needed to throw the bag through the portal and the subadult pterosaur, like a pigeon after a breadcrumb, dived through the portal into the present.
With that out of the way, the three adventurers turned to look at the herd drinking at the lake. Whilst the Iguanodon were drinking without compunction, the Polacanthus were more hesitant, interrupting their drinking to nervously sniff the air. Suddenly, the entire herd went on edge and an Iguanodon turned and sniffed the air, and bellowed a loud, trumpeting call. Suddenly, several bipedal, fast-moving shapes moved stealthily through bushes and the herd became more and more agitated. Jack looked, curiously; there were predators in the bushes, waiting for the opportunity to pounce.
Meanwhile, in South America, Drew, Cynthia and Leon were standing by the wounded Argentinosaurus. When Cynthia and Leon had arrived and informed him about the herd, Leon had also told Drew what the giant carnivore he had encountered was, "Giganotosaurus; one of the largest predators to ever walk the Earth. It hunted giant sauropods like Argentinosaurus; you're lucky to be alive". Having contacted the park, the team had been given medical equipment to patch up the Argentinosaurus' wounds, but all the vehicles capable of transporting him were currently occupied.
Scanning the clearing and pondering the options, Drew addressed his team, "Right, he's not going to be leaving this area anytime soon. Right now, he's clearly too weak to move on his own. And we don't yet have any equipment with us to transport him. So, we're going to stay with him; that might not be a sensible decision", the three humans looked at an enormous three-toed footprint, "and it's certainly going to be a dangerous one."
After a few hours, Drew, Leon and Cynthia moved their camp to around the injured male Argentinosaurus and had settled down for the night. Drew had first watch duty, but it wasn't like anyone was going to sleep soundly; everyone knew that other creatures could be drawn by the prospect of an easy meal. Sitting by the injured sauropod, he scanned the clearing nervously, when the sauropod lifted its head and let out a weak, plaintive groan. Drew put his hand on the animal's comparatively massive head and said, "Don't worry, big guy; you're going to be fine. I promise." Saying it like that, he almost believed it. He scanned the clearing again, warily. He knew he was being watched. Giant, deadly predators watched from the forest, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike….
