Author's Note: Hey ya'll! How are you guys doing? It's Darksage here with the next chapter in the story. I just want to say that I feel all of your pain in regards to this pandemic. It's scary out there and none of us are certain what the future will be like. But I believe that things will get better. We'll all make it through this.
A couple of things before I leave you guys for the chapter. First I want to say I am so soooooooooooo sorry for the huge delay. Working from home sounds like a blessing but when you're a writer and are on the radar via Time Tracker, it's not really as it seems (sometimes). It's also annoying on the possibility that your company may be watching what you do in your computer (I'm no IT person but I don't want to risk any secrets coming to light if you know what I mean... I'm talking about writing). The other part is a certain idiot (me) spilled milk on their personal laptop (not the work laptop where I can't do any of my writing because of said tracker). I am still experiencing glitches and am considering getting a new laptop.
Anyway, again I am very sorry for the delay. Marc and I have the next chapter in the works at this moment. Enjoy this recent addition! We don't own any of the series mentioned in this saga and we also don't own the music.
Soundtrack: Start Again by Lucas King
Hazel sprinted through the walkways. Her heart raced and her lungs ached as she rushed to her destination. It had been ages since she was called upon for something urgent.
Normally, text messages from Nigel were trivial like a quick meeting or a discussion on a future rescue. Sometimes they were on discussions relating to issues floating regarding the Residents on a multitude of things.
Not once were his text messages so vague to her. "Office now" was all it said. Hazel tried to ask what it was about, only for her to receive no response. She found that odd. He would give out a sort of hint regarding their meeting. But this? It just felt off.
The other thing was that she was back in Prehistoric Park and it was near empty. Why was she here rather than in prehistoric Alaska? Did everyone already get back or were they in the process of doing so? Maybe they were still going through the move? At least it was sunny outside and she was wearing a purple T-shirt and shorts again. It was a good break from being in the cold for so many months.
Whatever the case, she was glad to be back home. Her time in Temporary Park must have slipped by so quickly. She hoped Nigel had straightened any loose ends out while she was away, like how to explain her mother and sister's disappearance or what to say to any of the new employees that came in, or whether the migration route and the Feeding Grounds for the migratory herds were fully prepped.
Some rushing through the wooden bridges and propped wooden gazebos and she made it to his office. It was just as messy and unkempt as she remembered it, with the papers and books scattered about on the desks and cupboards. How she had missed this sight. It was a lot better than being holed up in her Temporary Park quarters that she compared to a prison cell; the concrete walls, the minuscule drafts that could be felt in the windows from the strong winds (thank goodness for the always operational heater), the dim lighting of the outside as the winter season approached, and having to hunker down for the cold nights. Here, it was open air with the breeze freely passing through, only the roof of the gazebo and the shades of the trees allowed protection from the rain and the sun.
Sitting just behind his desk was Nigel, who was looking over some files before him. Hazel braced herself into a presentable appearance. She thought about whether he asked her to come over because he wanted to congratulate her for a job well done in Alaska or to discuss with any plans moving forward from the temporal separation. She hoped it was the latter.
Her hopes of an uplifting meeting were dashed when she was staring at his furious gaze.
"Oh good," he greeted her in a most chilling way, "You're here."
"Yup," she chuckled, trying to lighten the already tense atmosphere that was developing between them. "So I am. I kind of tripped a couple of times getting here so sorry if I'm a little late."
"Well, any injuries on you will be the least of your worries at the moment. I'm here to discuss your performance back in Temporary Park."
"Crap...this better be good. Maybe he's just joking around with that angry stare? Gotta play this cool," she nervously thought out her plan.
"Oh yeah! Hehe, that. Well, we did run into a few bumps in the road, like the arrival of that herd of Pachyrhinosaurus and the ambush of those Albertosaurus, but we pulled through. We didn't run out of food. We kept any sick Residents away from everyone else. The whole park ran smoothly."
The man slammed the papers on his desk. Hazel winced at the crash. Never had she seen him so angry before. This was starting to creep her out.
"Then explain to me why we have over a hundred Residents dead or missing, several employees either hospitalized or in intense therapy, and reports of unfair treatment going among the staff!"
The woman shuddered. He knew about all that? Of course he did...if she didn't tell him about the reports on the park then someone else did. So much for trying to go through this with a cloak and dagger.
"Nigel, we were ambushed by a huge pack of Albertosaurus and we had that winter to deal with because of Ellis' incompetence with the Time Poles! Neither of those were my fault! I did the best I could with the situation we were in! As for how the staff were going about things, I was only pushing them just to make sure the park was running properly during the winter! It's not my fault they were incompetent! If they're complaining about how they were treated, then that's their problem!"
Nigel scowled at her, disappointment rising in his features. "But you allowed those to happen. A real leader would have nipped the problems in the bud before they allowed them to happen. You should have worked with your teammates on proper solutions, not going about things blindly. I told you to work with your staff. Instead, you went off galavanting with your friends. Your stubborness and need to see things go your way only endangered the lives of everyone in the park."
"I did the best I could, Nigel! You need to see that! If you were in my place, then you would have seen how shitty the whole situation was!" she retorted.
"You caused winter to happen by not checking the Time Pole coordinates," he sneered.
"I DID NOT!"
"You caused the deaths of countless innocents."
"Those weren't my fault!" she screamed again, tears starting to flare up in her eyes. She did not kill those Residents during the ambush. The predators did. And they gave up their lives to protect the others.
"You antagonized those around you. You pushed your own friends away."
"They would not cooperate with me!"
Nigel sighed, shaking his head. "Hazel, your behavior these passed years have proven something to me. I thought I saw something in you. I thought I saw potential. It would seem I was wrong. Because of your age and current mental state, you do not show the capability to lead a whole park. You are not cut out for this."
That stung Hazel. She felt her heart by a thousand knives. She did the best she could. Everyone was in a worst case scenario and only did what she thought was best for everyone. Why was he not seeing that at all?
She knew what he was going to say next. And she tried to stop him.
"Nigel please stop! I can make up for it! I swear!" she pleaded.
"I'm sorry Hazel. You are unfit to take my place as the future leader. I'm going to have to let you go."
"NO NIGEL! DON'T DO THIS!" the woman begged, now sobbing in the middle of gasps.
"You do not belong in the park. You are only a liability to us."
Hazel cried, her eyes now stinging with tears. "PLEASE GIVE ME A SECOND CHANCE!"
Suddenly, the scenery shifted. Nigel's office had melted away like a wet mop on a hard floor. Gone were the trees and the wooden structures around her. Neither paper nor leaf flew as her vision turned into a vast landscape. Tall grasses swept against her knees. The smell of the sun infiltrated her senses. The skies above had darkened with a cloudy gloom. The lake of the Herd Grounds stood several yards away.
"You are the worst human ever!" she heard someone yell.
The jeering of countless others brought her to turn around. She was shocked to see several of the park's Residents standing so armed in front of her. Anger and hate were prevalent in their gazes. Those with horns or spikes or talons were baring them at her. Any with sharp teeth were bared as well, saliva dripping down them like pillars.
"How could you torture us this way!?"
"My children are dead because of you!"
"I lost everything!"
"Why did you do this to us!? I thought we could trust you!"
The jeers that prodded her were more like dagger stabs, sharper than even her own weapon. Had she really hurt the Residents? In what way? All she did was try to protect them!
"No, all I've done was for the safety of the park! I would never hurt any of you!" she protested.
Just then, more shapes had appeared from beneath the roaring behemoths. Humans that were armed with tools marched up until they were just a few feet from her. They gripped rakes, shovels, pocket knives, even those stun guns. Like the ones before them, they were angry.
"You monster! You treated us all like dirt!" jabbed one man to her left.
"You call yourself our leader!? You're a tyrant!" yelled a woman to her right.
"You don't deserve to be one of us! You don't deserve to be a part of this place!" roared another woman somewhere in the back.
Hazel heard enough. She turned tail and ran in the other direction, hoping to get away from the hate-filled mass. Memories of that time when she was exposed to the herd for keeping the secret of her knowledge of the second Fireball flooded back to her. The jeers, the name calling, a familiar ache in the ribs, flying into the water, and the sensation of her brain frying were grim reminders.
Only this time, it was on her performance as park leader rather than keeping dangerous secrets.
The woman found some figures in the distance, just a few yards away. She smiled and let out relieved breaths when she looked upon a towering Brachiosaurus, an elder Styracosaurus, five lemurs, a family of Iguanodons, and a lone female Pteranodon. Her friends were there and she needed them.
She raced up to them before slowing down. Her breaths ached in her lungs. Her muscles started cramping. But that did not matter now. She was now safe.
Her smile faded when they looked upon her with disappointment and disdain.
"Guys?" she called out to them, fearing the worst.
"You were leading everyone to their deaths," Aladar said grimly.
"You hurt everyone. You don't deserve to be part of our family. We were better off without you," Flia remarked coldly.
Hazel sobbed as they all turned their backs from her. First Nigel, then the Residents and the staff, and now her own friends! Her own family had turned her away! She felt her heart breaking even more. Without them, she was alone. They picked her up when she was in her darkest moments. The moment when she needed them most, they forsake her.
As if things could not get any worse, a car horn honked. Her ears rang painfully at how close it sounded. She quickly turned around, only for her to become pale.
How a car had approached her without her noticing was beyond her. How it even made its way into this valley in the first place was just as much a mystery. Her thoughts deviated to tourists finding Prehistoric Park, until the window of the driver's seat rolled down.
"Hazel dear, it's time to go home. You were not meant to be here," proclaimed her mother in a near-emotionless gaze.
No. No not this. She did not want this. This was the last thing she wanted. Her mother was getting what she wanted. With her now banished from Prehistoric Park, nothing was stopping her mother from just taking her back to Florida, where she would be torn from her dream. But how could she live in her dream when all of that was now crumbling?
"No! No I won't!" Hazel shook her head and ran from them.
Just then, she was hit by cold winds that would have frozen her skin off. She was about to cower in shock and cold when she suddenly felt warmer, at least as much as she could in cold weather. She blinked and found herself wearing her winter garb when she was in Temporary Park.
Looking around, it was not just the winds and her change in style that surprised her. Gone were the flowing green fields of Prehistoric Park. Her mother's car, her friends, and the jeering mob further away disappeared...as if they were never there.
She was all alone.
"Harden your heart and rule strictly, or swallow your pride and accept help," a voice boomed in her head, which then echoed.
Hazel screamed. She covered her ears as she tried to block out the voice of Diablo. The woman ran again in a futile attempt to try to escape, except that Diablo's jab from before was all in her mind. And it was not just his nitpicks from earlier that were hurting her now.
"How exactly do you think this whole thing works out, child? 'Good', 'Evil', 'Right', 'Wrong', those are words of someone who has never experienced true hardship in their lives. There will come a time where your 'Sweet words' will mean nothing, and you'll have to weather the storm of that time."
She gasped. She knew that voice. There was no mistaking it. Cold, cruel, feminine, she never thought she would hear her again.
It was Red Sand.
"You filthy scum...we all nearly died out there! And it's all because of you!"
Nero. She remembered him saying that, clear as day. That was when he berated her for keeping the secret of the Fireball from everyone.
"A leader leads, Hazel," continued Nero, which she remembered him saying at the end of his makeshift obstacle course from earlier during their stay, "and right now you are as far from a leader than one can expect. While you forged ahead of your peers, it was Chris who was the one to step into your role to assist his team as best he could."
"Sinclair is a better leader!" she heard one of the keepers from before her fight with Chris say. "He's been with us every step of the way."
"You stupid, idiotic, selfish girl!" yelled her mother, Beth. "How dare you keep secrets from me! Your own mother! I'm not going to let you risk your life for these...these... dumb animals!"
Hazel screamed again. Her grip on her head tightened, up until it felt like she was going to crush it. The argument she had with her mother during their first day in Temporary Park ran fresh in her mind. Thoughts of shunning her mother in her life rushed by like a maelstrom. Hearing that again made her want to push her onto the next plane back to Florida.
Except she could not do that now considering where she was at.
The next voice she heard made her want to bash her head against a rock. That voice of that tyrant from years ago haunted her before. She never thought he would come back again. He was like an insect returning for a second meal; a meal that resulted in driving her mad.
"Last I checked...YOU WERE NOT THE LEADER OF THE HERD!" roared the arrogant, tyrannical Kron. "I MAKE the orders! I TELL them to move along! I DECIDE what is right and what is wrong! Everything is not all perfect and fair. No one gets the things they want and nothing goes their way. The next time you speak out against my leadership or do things without my consent, you will be banished from the herd."
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" she screamed over the howling winds.
As she collapsed on her knees, overcome with agony over the nightmarish voices in her mind, the winds of winter had grown stronger. She could not feel her fingers, her face, not even her limbs. The memories of her past, the bad ones where she was cast out or berated at, repeated in loops. Her screams were turning into whispers as time went on.
Minutes turned into hours. She did not know how much time passed while in her state. The voices would not leave her alone. She banged her head on the ground, hoping to knock herself out. It may kill her, but in her mind, it was better than having to relive those painful memories.
Why was this happening to her? Her friends would NEVER turn her away! They are a part of her family as much as she is part of theirs! And the park, it was her home! Nigel took her in, groomed her to take his place. He had high hopes for her. All she ever did was try to live up to his expectations. He would have made the same hard decisions she made in Temporary Park, at least she thinks so.
Did the staff hate her this much? Did the Residents?
The voices in her head kept at it. They whispered things to her, things that made her cringe. Everyone hated her. She did not deserve to lead, much less live. She led them all to their deaths.
"STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! ENOUGH!"
She slammed her fists on the ground. Her cold fists had started to get warmer. The sound of ice cracking brought her attention up.
Hazel was amazed when she saw the ice break up. Jagged lines cut through the surface. Pieces of the icy shelf that was there split before suddenly melting away, leaving dark blue water. She had been kneeling beside a lake shore. The wind around her stopped. The cold weather ceased...but the sun never shone. All that stayed in the sky were the ominous gray clouds.
The woman had no time to process what had just happened. Gone were the snow and ice. Gone were the voices in her mind. Everything was...quiet.
She crawled closer to the water. Her tired reflection stared back at her. She cupped the cool liquid in her hands before bringing them up to her face. The cold water bit into her skin, which she found both uncomfortable yet accepting as she needed to bring herself to reality.
As the water dripped back into the lake, her black locks now also wet, she stared back into the water. She yelped in surprise at what was now staring back at her.
Instead of a young human woman who had been through so much, who was broken by those around her, her eyes found themselves looking upon a horrifying sight. A 3-ton Iguanodon with purple scales and a single raised nasal ridge was sneering back at her. His steely blue grey eyes made her freeze with terror.
"It would seem we're more alike than you thought."
Hazel screamed and jumped back. Kron had returned from the dead again. She did not know his reasons for haunting her. Was it to point out her mistakes or torture her psychologically? Or was it all in her head? The last time he did something like this, it was before the second Fireball struck, before she and Nigel managed to get the whole herd to Prehistoric Park. He only did that to convince her to go through with the rescue, no matter what consequences came. His only wish was to make sure the herd, and his sister, were safe.
This time, she had no idea why he came at all.
Hazel was about to smack her cheek to wake her up when she found herself unable to. She gasped when she looked at her right hand. Gone were her HUMAN fingers...or her skin for that matter. Her fingers had become thickened, almost attached. Her pinkie was small, like a blade of grass. Her index, middle, and fourth fingers were in a tri-fashion. Her thumb was now a bony spike. Her hands had turned into dinosaurian hooves.
The woman gasped. She looked at her other hand, only to see the same thing. She looked at her back, which now had purple and brown scales and lined all over her body. Her spine now had bony ridges sticking out. Gone were her clothes. Her legs had lengthened and become stockier. Now she had a muscular tail swishing behind her.
Hazel immediately realized what had happened to her. In the blink of an eye, she changed forms. And it was not hard to see what...or in this case who, she turned into.
She had turned into Kron.
"Holy shit!" she exclaimed, thankfully in her own voice rather than her former superior's. "This can't be happening!"
If she thought that was bad, then what came next was much graver. She looked around and found the fields of the Alaskan valley covered. The snow still lay on the ground, but they were all stained red. Red...as in blood red. Mountains of dinosaur corpses littered the wasteland. Their dead eyes looked up and rolled back as they decomposed. Their bodies were filled with gashes or were half eaten. Some had bones sticking out.
All around she looked, there were dead bodies. She found both Alaskan Pachyrhinosaurus, and horrifyingly enough, park Residents. She was grief-stricken when she found herself looking upon several dead humans in the slaughter-field. Their weapons were broken and battered.
Her friends were nowhere to be seen. She deduced they were all dead. The thought killed her on the inside.
"NO!" she sobbed, her head lowering as the tears fell from her eyes.
Stomping brought her attention back. The snarls and roars made her stomach fall. She turned and shuddered. She felt her body grow cold at the beast standing just a few yards away. The unmistakable brown feathers, the tyrannosaur build, and the menacing jaws betrayed a lone Albertosaurus. Its eyes were blood red, filled with anger and malice. The only feature that seemed off about it would be the curved horns behind the eyes and along the back of the head. To her, it was a demonic predator.
Hazel turned and ran in the other direction. The fact that she was able to operate as a quadruped was a small grace. Front legs first, then back legs. That's all there was to it, at least she thought.
The Albertosaurus roared and gave chase. She only had a moment to look back to see that it was gaining on her.
Hazel jumped over corpses, both large and small. She climbed over some too. The smell of death in the air made her want to gag. She also accidentally went over a puddle of blood, a splash of them went into her eyes.
Hazel groaned, now blind. She tried to shake it off. She tried to use her hooves to wipe it, only to realize they were not her normal hands.
A bone-breaking shove brought her onto the ground. She groaned and grunted at the pain her body felt. She opened her eyes to find the demon tyrannosaur looming over her. Its beastly foot on her body, keeping her from getting back up.
The red eyes and its open maw hovered above. Its teeth now had pillars of saliva. The smell of blood and death it released reached her nostrils, making her want to puke. Hunger and satisfaction were prevalent. To it, she was food.
Hazel screamed, even squirmed to try to escape. Only, she could not. It was far stronger than her. She was also in no position to use her thumb spikes.
The creature roared and brought its head down. The last thing she saw before all went black was its teeth coming down upon her open throat.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
*SMACK*
Hazel quieted down. The pain on her left cheek lingered like hot coals. As she was coming to her senses, Hazel then processed what could only be a few choice Greek swears coming off to her side, while what sounded like her sister giving feeble excuses and apologizing. Now that she was fully alert, Hazel's head chose that moment to throb, shooting a fleeting moment of pain coursing through her brain. As she rubbed the top of her head to settle her splitting headache, the young leader noticed that she was no longer pinned down by a tree in the pelting blizzard, but rather a stone ceiling and very noticeably earthen floor; most likely a cave that her "saviors" found. Off to her side, she could feel the heat blazing from the fire that the Crew set up for her, blanketing the group in its comforting warmth and orange glow.
"Ate? Are you awake now?" Hanna tentatively spoke up from her side.
'Christ, even Hanna whispering sounds like shouting.' Hazel thought as she lamented her aching head.
"Ugh… I guess," the injured woman groaned. She tried to sit up from her impromptu bedding, but once again felt the shooting pain at the back of her head. Hazel winced as she cradled the knot on her head. "Ow!"
"Careful! That branch hit you very hard. Don't strain yourself," Daisy chastised.
"Huh… That explains it," Hazel murmured. Now that she could fully assess herself, she could confidently say that she felt like complete crap. She could feel the telltale signs of a cold if the constant shivering and uncomfortable body temperature was any indication. "God, I feel terrible."
"You did catch a fever shortly after we found you." Daisy informed.
"Did I?" Hazel wearily mused. She suddenly perked up as she realized something. "Wait what the—?!"
She looked at her surroundings and saw that her friends Flia and Aladar were across the fire looking at her in concern, with Patchi and Alex giving her relieved looks at her apparent recovery. However, infuriatingly enough, the other Department heads, her so called "team" was gathered around the cave with her. Daisy and Hanna were doting over her ailing form, which Hazel supposed she could respect. Ellis was tinkering with some odd or end in his hands. What really burned her up was the jackass Sinclair, calmly sitting across the fire and tending to the flames.
Hazel practically growled. "What the fuck are you all doing here!?"
"Oh you know," Ellis nonchalantly replied, just glancing up from his little project that he was working on, "we were just doing our thing, getting all the Residents inside, when your friends came to us saying they couldn't find you. We were really bored so we decided to help out of the goodness of our hearts. So we went out in the storm, nearly froze to death, found you knocked out under a tree, and we all camped out in this cave. All in all, we saved you like twice. First time being under the tree and the second from that apparent nightmare you had."
He then lifted his screwdriver up, realizing one last detail. "Actually, make that two and a half because Daisy here was tending to your fever unless you want her to stop. We may have to charge you extra."
She balled her fists. Great...not only was she incapacitated, she was also getting humiliated. Again, she felt like a kid getting scolded at by an adult.
"I didn't need your help! I had things under control!" she protested.
Chris scoffed and started lifting his left fingers one by one, much to her rising anger. "Oh well let's see. Would you call getting caught in that storm and getting stuck under a tree under control? Would you call not thinking about calling anybody for help under control? Because it sure didn't look like it three plus hours ago."
Hazel gritted her teeth. Once again, he was jabbing at her. She was thinking of the number of responses she could use to defend herself, no matter how impossible it was. She just did not want to be one-upped by him. In her mind, she thought of how he must be enjoying this.
A squawk brought her and Chris' attention to an annoyed Alex, who was flapping his wings madly on Patchi's frill. "¡Señorita! Your friends here took it upon themselves to save your life! Well, me and that other guy told them, so I'm counted too, but you get the point! At least show some gratitude!"
Hazel quickly stood up, her anger reaching its boiling point. She gripped her head when she felt a wave of nausea and a headache come at her. Hanna went to her side and tried to support her, only for her to back away when her older sister told her she got it.
Her weary eyes looked over at the bird, giving him a look that immediately silenced him. She then gazed over at everyone that was present. They sacrificed their own safety to upkeep hers. They could be with their friends, their families, yet they decided to go find her. Aladar, Flia, and the other prehistoric creatures present, she was okay with. Everyone else, she began to think they were there to jab at her for her own mistakes.
She made a huff before hitting the rock wall with a fist, mildly hurting her fist in the process. The woman looked away from the group, trying to save face as she stared at the wall. "Except for a few of you, I hardly think you're qualified for that label."
Hazel angrily glanced at the head keeper present. "Specifically that jackass over there."
"Hey, give us a break," he replied calmly. "We just saved your life."
The questioning leader rolled her eyes at him. "Did you now? What for? So you can prod me again with how much of a terrible leader I've been? I bet you just want to feel the satisfaction of hearing how bad I was just for the fun of it. Also, if you're all here, then who's running the park!?"
Hazel sighed and looked away. As much as it was great they saved her life, now the park was left with no leaders to depend on. This was a lost cause. Everyone was probably falling apart back in Temporary Park. Her future team was made up of idiots.
"You all wasted your time. You should have left me back there. I'm not worth it."
A moment of silence passed. The only sound came from the crackling of the fire that burned, along with the wood that was withering in the flames. No one said a word. Hazel hoped she at least knocked some sense into them. If she were Chris, she would have stayed at Temporary Park, making sure everyone was riding out the storm outside. Search and rescue would have waited until things died down.
Then again, she herself would probably make some stupid decision and go out to save anyone that was lost in a blizzard too. Then, she would also instruct some other team leader to keep an eye on the park until she returned.
Regardless of what should have happened, they were all stuck in this cave, waiting out this storm with her in tow. What a mess...
"Veran...I'm sorry."
Hazel could have sworn she felt her heart stop. She made a small gasp as she turned to glance at the man she came to hate these past few months. From him, she could see the unmistakable form of sincerity on his features.
"What did you say?" she inquired, wanting to make sure she heard him right.
"I'm sorry," he repeated, shocking her even more. "I shouldn't have called you out like that. I even went as far as bringing up your dad and...well, I overstepped my boundaries."
Hazel let out a quick breath. She could not be sure he really meant it. For all she knew, he was probably trying to trick her. Did someone goad him to apologize? Was he serious when he meant he was sorry? Perhaps he was starting to show a little bit of respect to his leader.
The next few words, however, made her grimace. Her anger rose again when he brought about more criticisms.
"But I won't deny that you've been leading the whole park with an iron fist. Knowing you, you're too stubborn to admit you're in the wrong."
"Shut it, Sinclair. I'm not in the mood," she jabbed. She shook her head, the vivid memories of her nightmare ripe in her mind...along with the harsh words of those that belittled her in the past. She did her best to ignore their ringing voices in her mind, even though they were mere whispers.
It was at this moment that Flia had stepped in. Her serious gaze softened Hazel, if only slightly. She had nothing against Flia, given that she did point out all of her flaws before. Back then, that was still harsh. "Hazel, he is making a point. I know you. Everything you've been doing points to the fact that you're trying to take control of the situation in the wrong way."
Hazel winced. Those words again stabbed her. If it weren't for the fact that she was awake and sick with a fever, she would think she was still in that nightmare. "Diablo was right. After everything you've been through, if anything doesn't go your way, you act out poorly. You try to make things go your way rather than working with it. Your stubbornness is causing everyone to view you as a tyrant. There is only one other individual who acted out like you and he died because he let his arrogance get the better of him."
The woman growled and smacked the wall again. Her hand hurt, but she did not care. "Don't you dare bring him into this! Sure I may have messed up, but I'm not Kron!"
"You've become him!"
"Everything I did in this park was to protect everyone!"
"Kron said something like that in the past and look what happened to him!" the Pteranodon retorted. Behind that face of protest, she could make out the slightest bit of fear for her safety, and perhaps her sanity. "Did you even think about how you've been approaching everyone? How have you been treating those around you? How have you dealt with the stresses of being a leader? Have you taken into account that everyone is trying their best to live up to your expectations and yet you want more? Your idea of perfection is skewed, Hazel. Your stubbornness is getting in the way of what's more important."
Hazel's eyes widened. She shuddered at her words. Those words she said were so similar to what was in her nightmare. She wanted to disbelieve them, but try as she could, she could not shake the fact that they may in fact be true. She did everything she could to protect everyone in the park and tried to make things run perfectly during their stay. But what if Flia was right? Was she really becoming the one person she vowed to not turn into? Was she really turning into Kron?
That nightmare...now it made sense. At the end, she literally was Kron. Everything she did reflected on how she was turning out. And before she came to this time period, she made a vow to Kron (if he were listening wherever he was at) that she would not be like him, that she would lead the right way.
Humiliation tormented her. She wanted to break down, then and there. She failed everyone...and herself.
"I know you're trying to overcome what criticisms were said to you before," replied Flia, who sensed the torment she was going through. "Kron, Bruton, Nero, Diablo, and even Red Sand; they affected you in more ways you know."
"Flia," Chris called out to her, giving her a serious look, 'I've got this."
The Pteranodon huffed and nodded before taking a few steps back. Hazel wanted to smash her head against the wall. Between her best friend and Sinclair, she would rather get her head yelled off by Flia rather than hear what this idiot has to say. She knew that the worst was about to come from this guy.
"You're probably not going to like the sound of this, but I think this is something you need to hear," he started briskly. "Those guys that yelled at you for being what you are, maybe they do have a point. How you've been acting at how things were, how upset you've been when things don't go your way, I think it all drives to one singular cause. Maybe I'm not viewing it right, but this is how I'm seeing it. Veran, you told us this before. We're not the only ones that need to realize it. You need to grow up."
Something in Hazel's mind snapped. She felt her heart pang again. She never thought she would be hearing those words. She hated those words. As much as she tried to re-word them, or even comprehend what they really meant, they were cut and clear like that of a dagger. Being called out for her size was one thing. Being called out for her mentality...that was a different ball game.
Chris was never present for those times she had been called out in the past. He only heard about them recently. But those explanations were enough to give him a clear picture on what she was really like.
Was Hazel really like that? As much as it was awful to hear, from how she had been acting, does he really have a point?
"Chris!" Hanna got up, giving him a scowl. "That's offensive!"
The elder Veran intervened before things escalated. Her sister calmed down, but still fumed from the outburst. "No sis, I think he's right."
She let out a reluctant sigh. "They've told me off in their own ways, but I failed to see the true meaning of their words. I've been so blind to it. I may be an adult, but I'm still a child to everyone's eyes. I'm not meant to be a leader, and I'm not cut out for life in Prehistoric Park."
"No Hazel, that's not true!" protested an adamant Flia, who tried desperately to save her friend's pride.
"Hazel, they had their own hardships they were going through," Aladar followed with the same attitude. "The reason why they were the way they were was because they were all alone when dealing with the world. You have us, your friends. I know you don't view some of us in that way, but we saved you for a reason. You have help. If you just opened up about your problems instead of keeping it to yourself, maybe we could have avoided all of this. Everyone makes mistakes. You're a part of my herd, my family. We all wouldn't have survived our destruction if it weren't for you. You brought everyone together."
Hazel looked away. Aladar's words had touched her. Him pointing out what could have happened just made her ashamed of herself. Had she just opened up about her stress earlier, maybe this whole mess could have been avoided. She thought she could handle this by herself. The burden of leadership had fallen to her. Yet her friends like Aladar, Plio, Yar, and any other Resident in a herd do so like it's nothing to them. Heck, even Nigel is the solo leader of Prehistoric Park. So why couldn't she do it on her own?
Now facing the wall, away from everyone seeing her, she willed her gasps from sounding off, only to allow tears to silently fall.
"I messed up."
"Doesn't everyone?" said Aladar. If she knew better, he would know the pain she was going through, and understood her efforts in trying to maintain a strong facade.
"Ate, stop feeling this way," her sister called out. The jab she made was just as harsh as the slap that stung her cheek. "We're trying to help you and you're putting yourself down. The sister I grew up with was more upbeat and didn't let a lot of things bring her down. Well, maybe except the occasional groundings. And you even tried to make up with our mom...at least until she found out about all this."
"Then you don't even know me right now," she snapped, taking in a shaky breath.
Hazel quickly wiped away her tears with her arm and turned. The faces of those in the cave silently watched her. She recalled in her nightmare the faces of those who disapproved of her as a person. They shunned her and drove her away. Now, they were waiting for her to speak. These were not the ones in her dream that saw her as someone who caused them problems. Here, they were at least trying to get to the root of the problem. At least they have that respect.
She looked over at Hanna. A headache started to form again. Hazel put a hand on her forehead and swayed a little. She heard someone, most likely her sister as she was the closest one to her, get up to go to her. The eldest Veran raised her hand, silently telling her she had it under control. She shook her head and took a deep breath. She did not want the fever to interrupt what she had to say.
"Sis, I've changed quite a lot since we last saw each other. I've been pretty damn good at hiding it. The death of our dad, our grandparents, and the resentment I have for our mom for trying to make up for things as well as questioning my other life were only sparks compared to how I truly feel. I've been through shit you can't even survive one day through. The boot camp that Nero put you through was minuscule compared to my experiences."
She glanced over at Aladar and Flia, giving a sympathetic look despite her sickly face.
"Sorry if this opens old wounds," she told them, seeing their understanding expressions.
She took another deep breath and said what she needed to say.
"We may have been around each other for several months, but I barely know you, much less you barely know me. You don't know what I've been through. I've experienced things that will leave anybody broken. You all don't know what it's like to have someone tell you that you're a liability because you were raised differently, that you've been raised in a world entirely different than the one you're visiting. You don't know what it's like to see things that conflict your own beliefs and you can't do anything to change it, like seeing someone dying and them telling you off for being soft. You don't know what it's like to do what you believe is right, like questioning someone's beliefs on leading a herd, only to be banished from those you're trying to save. And...you don't know what it's like to have a huge responsibility on your shoulders and you're the only person that was entrusted to that duty, all while the lives of your protectorates are hanging above your head. I've done my best to make sure I did not make the same mistakes that those individuals in my past made, to make myself better than them," Hazel winced, recalling the details of her nightmare once more. "But it seems that I'm no different. You're all right to judge me. I'm a bad leader, and I shouldn't be one. I've made mistakes that put the lives of too many innocents in danger. Nigel made a mistake by choosing me."
She sighed and abruptly set herself down, her dizziness causing her to lose balance. The world around her spun, only for a moment. Despite holding her head and shutting her eyes tightly, she could feel a wing drape over her shoulders, followed by the steady heartbeat and warmth of someone. Flia had come over to comfort her. Passing the fever on was the least of the human's worries, as illnesses from humans were not known to pass on to animals, or dinosaurs for that matter.
"Stop thinking that way."
Hazel looked up, eyes now open. Her gaze fell on a stoic Chris, who had changed little even after her little tirade.
"Nigel didn't make a mistake choosing you," he said, speaking as if he were some adult scolding a troublesome child. "You're just inexperienced, not to mention you're really young to lead a whole park. But there was something you lost sight of. Aladar here is right; nobody is perfect, leaders included. All we can do is just settle for what's 'good enough'."
Hazel eyed him in a dumbfounded manner. Would Nigel really think that? The Nigel in her nightmare was far from what he really is. She is young to take on this role, really young. Normally, someone around Chris' age is better suited for this sort of thing. She figured because she had experienced a lot during her adventures to the past that it would be enough to help her lead the park. Hazel tried to veer away from making the same mistakes that Kron made...only in her efforts to do so, she had literally made the same mistakes he did.
She wanted to break down, right then and there. She shamed Nigel. She was a disgrace as a leader.
Before she could say anything to prove her guilt, an unexpected interference from Patchi had caught everyone off guard.
"I just want to add something in this too," he said, bringing all attention to him. He calmly responded in his leader manner. "I haven't been the leader of my herd for very long, but I did have my share of hardships, especially the trip here. I lost a lot of my herd to carnivores and the changing land. I was about to lose myself when you and your friends helped me out of my funk. Now because of my friends and I guess you guys, I'm better than I was before. The point is, no leader is perfect and it is hard being one. What matters is the livelihoods of your herd, your family. You're going to be making hard decisions, but you've got friends that have your back."
Hazel stared at him in utter bewilderment. She recalled back to when everyone in the valley met Patchi and his herd. They went through a lot of hardships just to get here. She remembered how broken he was when he came here. She told him they would share the valley and help their herd through this trying time. She also told him they would offer him and his herd a place in Prehistoric Park, if they so chose to come back with them.
They helped him, and now it would seem he was returning the favor. Here she was, about to lose herself, when her friends came back to pull her out of the hold she was digging. A flurry of emotions went through her. His words struck true to her heart. Patchi was a leader, and he went through the same thing she was going through right now. She wanted to smack herself on being blind on the irony of the situation.
At the same time, she was grateful he was here. She was happy her friends were here. And...she was reluctantly relieved Chris was here too.
Perhaps Nigel knew something like this would happen. Perhaps, he wanted her to learn by going through something like this. Well, except for the winter bit.
"Hazel, Nigel may have chosen you to succeed him," Daisy said, bringing her eyes to her, "but I don't believe he wanted you to lead alone. I don't think he expected you to hold all the burdens of the park by yourself. Theé mou (My God) if I were the one chosen, I would have collapsed on the first day."
Ellis coughed; whether it was deliberate or to clear his throat was unclear. "They do have a point. The other department heads picked us to take over one day. Heck, you probably neglected to see it, but the other department heads help Nigel out. I may be a lazy bum, but I see things. Bob, Suzanne, even my bro help Nigel out every now and then. They work together as a team. Nigel may have the title as leader, but it's the whole team that leads the park. Call me stupid, but I think that's why we were all chosen; so we can help you and each other with leading the park."
Realization once again struck her like lightning. She actually took what the other department heads did for granted. She thought they were just doing duties that were entirely separate from being a leader of the park. When in reality, they were working alongside Nigel on solutions to problems that required their cooperation. And on Nigel's end, he would not be where he was now if it weren't for his team. Most of his accomplishments were because of teamwork. The Rex Twins would not have escaped that meteor strike if it weren't for Bob's diligence in getting the rescue team ready before and after the rescue. The Saber cubs would not have made it through their first days in life if it weren't for Suzanne's interference. None of the Time Poles or the other equipment would have worked in peak capability without Marcus.
In each and every one of those situations, Nigel was not alone. He was never alone.
Ellis chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "I really deserve a huge pack of Fanta for this. You think you had it hard before? I went through some shit too."
"Yeah right," Hazel scoffed at the engineer.
The young man took on a slightly offended tone. "I'm serious! I've got a shitty relationship with my folks, so don't think you're the only one with parent issues. They wanted me and my bro to attend some fancy business school. Instead, we found our calling in engineering. I can't recount the number of times we had arguments with each other. And don't get me started on how I feel about my bro. Sure I appreciate Marcus and I love the dude to death, but sometimes I feel like he's got a lot more going for him. I mean, he's the frigging head of the engineering department at home! He's made all this cool tech and what did I do? Nothing big as of yet. He's getting all the attention while I don't have squat. Sure we like the same stuff, but I feel like I don't get the recognition I deserve. That's why I occasionally mess up...just so I get some attention."
At that moment, Hazel could not help but feel pity for him. For months, she knew him as a lazy worker that occasionally messed up and got on everybody's nerves. Sure, he still got the jobs done, but she found him to be incompetent. Now, after hearing this story, she felt bad for him. Most of the antics he did were just to get some sort of attention. He had been living in his brother's shadow his whole life. He only wanted to make himself known. And she knew all too well what it's like to be put down just for being herself...or for doing what she believed in only to be looked down upon.
The other thing she could relate to was his part about having controlling parents. Her mother tried to get her to leave Prehistoric Park. Ellis' parents wanted him to go to some prestigious school out of his own will.
Now here he is, trying to shine in his own calling but is always getting called out for his antics.
While she felt pity for Ellis, there was one thing that was still bugging her about his story.
"So this whole mess-up we're in, it being winter rather than summer and our time here being extended, was all that on purpose?" she eyed him suspiciously.
The young man held his hands up and crossed them in an X-fashion. "Oh heck no. That was just me messing up. But yeah, sometimes I just want a chance to prove myself. Just to show that I can be just as good as my brother and not have to live in his shadow. And hopefully get my parents off my back about it."
"But isn't that why you're here?" inquired Daisy. "To prove yourself?"
"Heh, I guess?" he sheepishly replied.
"You've already done much more than you were expected," she continued to elevate his confidence. "You maintained the White Noise Cannons, you helped keep the generators going to provide light and warmth, you've upheld communication, there's so much you did for us. Your brother would be proud of you."
It was at that moment that her demeanor took on a more regretful approach. "I only wish I had that luxury."
"What? You got family problems too?" said Ellis.
She shook her head with a small smile. "No. But I do have expectations that were heaped on me before. You see, my family owns a popular Grecian Fashion Line and...I am its heiress."
Except for all of the prehistoric creatures present, all jaws fell agape, almost as if they hit the stone floor. Even Hazel herself was having a hard time processing Daisy's secret.
"No way!" Hanna exclaimed in surprise.
" Seriously!?" went the engineer, who was almost about to fall backwards had it not been for Espantos who saved him on time with his beak.
"Well, didn't see that coming," said Chris, who did a fairly good job with hiding any excited manner.
"Oh man Daisy!" Ellis blurted out with a laugh. "You're like, knee deep in cash if that's true!"
The young vet chuckled in a most shy manner. "It's true. My father is the sole owner of Lefkó Way."
"But why are you a vet? You actually did not follow in your dad's footsteps?"
Daisy shook her head once again. All fell quiet as she proceeded to explain her story. "No. I felt that it wasn't where I wanted to be. Growing up, I was expected to take over for my father one day, from learning all of the company's policies to how the clothes were made, being with my father to meet his business partners, everything. I did not like any of that. I felt a connection to helping animals, especially after I volunteered for a veterinarian office when I was 11. I pursued becoming a veterinarian, but sometimes I get nervous talking to my family about my career. Every time I do, I get disapproval. My father tries to coax me away from my career nearly every time I talk to him."
Hazel stared at her, realization and shock prominent on her features. Once again, the young woman's story struck her at home. Not only did she have a background that was similar to Ellis', she was also in a way, just like Hazel, with a parent that wanted to mold their child in their image.
"Wow...I'm sorry," Ellis hesitantly replied, only because it was out of shock. "I didn't know. But yeah, I know how that feels. My parents did that to me too." He placed a hand on her shoulder, reassuring her. The vet smiled at him, sharing a short, tender moment.
That moment was cut when Hanna sighed.
"Well, if we're talking about family problems and high expectations," she started, "I guess my story will fit in the mix." She looked over at Hazel in a rather indifferent way, though the elder Veran sensed the amount of emotion that was building up. "When you came over to our house for Christmas, I thought that all the problems our family had would just melt away. Things would take on a sense of normalcy. But then all this happened. Don't get me wrong, I like your friends here and seeing dinosaurs and prehistoric animals and being able to talk to them is a real privilege. It's just...the drama between you and Mom is so stressful. Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night after dreaming about you two fighting again. I hate it when you two fight! I just want us to be a loving family again."
The teenager covered her eyes and sobbed. She bowed her head, wishing to conceal her broken state. Gasps came every other second she breathed.
Hazel, while still remaining silent, could not help but feel terrible. Through her attempt at trying to protect her friends and her home from the rest of the world, she had unwillingly caused her sister more stress and pain. She did not want that. She had nothing against Hanna. Neither of them should have anything negative against each other.
Hanna wiped away her tears and spoke once more, despite having a difficult time talking.
"And then...there was that failure I had when I tried out for the Olympics months ago," she sniffled. "My school, my coach, my state, my country, they were all counting on me to make that shot. And I didn't! I failed! And when we all went through that test Nero made, I felt like I failed all over again! I trained with that guy until my muscles ached, until I almost couldn't breathe anymore. Everything we did was for nothing."
"Sis, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make things hard on you," Hazel apologized, wanting to ease the pain immediately, both her and her sister's.
She sniffled again, this time wiping her face with an arm. "No, it's okay. I...I just want everyone to be happy again. I don't want you and Mom to fight anymore. She misses you, you know. Sometimes she tells me she wishes she could just talk to you and tell you she was sorry, but she's been keeping her distance because she knows you wouldn't want her to get in the way. She's tired of all the fighting."
The woman grimaced a little. So her mother wanted to fix things. Hazel had not been paying too much attention to her as she had her duties as leader to work with. She just assumed that the staff...and by extension the other Residents (if she got used to them) were looking after her. Here she was, trying to avoid her mother out of anger and fear of her losing her place in the park, when in reality, her mother wanted to reconnect...only for her to stay away out of fear. Still, even with the stress of her presence, she sought to protect them and prepare them for any dangers that came their way; Hanna with her training and making sure the living conditions for them both were adequate in this dire time.
Hazel did not know the full details on how such a change came about her mother. The only thing she could interpret was someone got through to her. She may now understand her child's place in Prehistoric Park and how important it was to her.
And yet, Hazel was denying her the chance to make things right. All the more reason she wanted to cry right there again.
"Everything is so confusing," Hanna shuddered after a tearful gasp. "It's just making me feel all horrible inside."
"Hanna, I'm sorry I put all this stress on you. I was doing my best to make everything in the park run smoothly during this stressful time. I did my best to prepare you and Mom for any danger that would come," Hazel explained gently. "I also tried to keep you safe. I guess I did a bad job of doing all that…"
The younger Veran chuckled weakly, a surprising twist considering the sorrow she was feeling. Knowing her sister, she was probably trying to turn the situation around.
"You kind of did, yeah. But, you are trying," she said after another little gasp. "Another thing, if you want me to go through training, I'd rather it's with you than with someone like Nero. Don't misunderstand, I'm kind of grateful we went through that boot camp of his, but next time, I want to be with my sister."
Hazel exhaled quickly, as if to relieve any weight she had on her back. That suggestion was something she intended to take into account...as a top priority. "I'll have to set some time off in my schedule for you then."
The teen eyed her sister with an almost longing expression. "Um, I could hug you, but you're sick at the moment."
The leader-in-training weakly laughed and outstretched her arms. "Air hug?"
Her sister responded in kind, doing a brisk hugging motion in the air for a few seconds. "Air hug."
The tender moment lasted for a good several seconds. Hazel felt a little relieved, knowing that things between her and Hanna were going to get better. She caused too much pain for her family as of late and prolonged it for far too long. It was time to take a step in the right direction. In her mind, she thought about what it would be like to approach her mother, once they got back to the park of course. Was she going to stay away again? Was she going to remain silent? Or was she going to push her away out of fear of another fight? She had no idea how her meeting was going to turn out, but she needed to try to mend the bond.
She recalled the few times her friends had told her to fix things with her mother. She heeded their advice and did that sort of thing. She and her mother became close, until these events happened. Now, she just needed to try again. Hazel assumed her mother was at least on good terms with the Residents. She hoped that would be enough for her to accept things as they are.
"Veran?"
Pulled away from her thoughts, she looked over at a resigned Chris. He still kept his stoic facade despite the heartfelt moments that were being shared with the group.
"What?" said the confused Hazel.
"I meant it when I said I was sorry. I uh...experienced some time in your place earlier. It's not exactly a walk in the park."
One of her brows arched. Her interest was now piqued as to how this man she had a grudge with fared in her absence. "And what do you mean by that?"
Hazel waited in silence as he recanted his tale from earlier that day. As he spoke, she resisted the urge to call him out for everything he did along with any action to insult him. After his apology earlier, he at least earned a moment to explain himself.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Earlier that day...
Chris was having a hard time. On top of this blasted blizzard the park was facing, he was left with having to lead it himself after that fiasco with Hazel earlier. He had grown up in Seattle, so he was experienced with dealing with cold weather. The thing was this was perhaps the coldest winter he had ever faced. He had a huge respect for television icons like Bear Grylls for surviving in places like this.
But it was not the weather that bothered him. His face and limbs freezing off were the least of his worries. He had just finished giving orders to the engineers to do diagnostics on the generators, right after helping to make sure the ATV wheels had enough surface area by poking some holes in them with a screwdriver (and instructing a few other employees to do the same). For the next few minutes, he helped with directing Residents into the shelters...all the while having to deal and resolve any complaints that came towards him.
The rooms were too crowded. More bedding was needed. This person was stealing someone's stuff. Disagreements erupted about sleeping arrangements. A couple of small fights broke out regarding those sleeping arrangements or some other petty reasons. Anxiety was running rampant on how everyone would fare through this storm. Employees that were arranged to sleep with the Residents for the night and had never done so before complained of the constant smell of fecal matter.
Chris had to radio employees on solutions. He had to yell at those who were fighting, threatening to cut their salaries if they did not stop. He had to console those who were anxious. And he had to slap some sense into those who complained about sleeping in the tents.
At least he could focus now on directing Residents to safety. That was better than being the middleman in an argument.
"There's enough space in this one igloo for a few more Residents!" he yelled into his handheld radio. "Anyone that's about the size of a Plateosaurus will do!"
He has some difficulty along the way, specifically when trying to herd some frantic Struthiomimus into an igloo. They were all cowering together and barely moving. Not to mention they were all about his size and were as fidgety as a pack of ostriches. He had to literally scream at them to get to the one nearby.
"Hey! You lot! There's an igloo there!" he told them, pushing against one of their legs to get them moving. "I can't do this on my own! You guys gotta move!"
It did not take him very long to herd the ostrich mimics into the insulated ice fortress. It was quite a miracle they were able to fit into the entrance quickly, especially with how erratic their movements were in this weather. Each of the igloos in the park had a thick piece of tarp in the entrance, which would be used to block out the cold air. Despite the cramped conditions, at least anybody in those icy domes will be safe from the elements.
As soon as he pushed the last one in, the familiar of his beeping went off, along with the voice of Johnny calling for him. There were a few Johnnys in the staff roster, but for Temporary Park, Chris knew this was one of the rookies. He had assisted him in looking for a young Styracosaurus a few days ago after he wandered away from the park. Chris grabbed for it and spoke into the device.
"This is Chris, go ahead."
"It's Johnny. The eastern sector is cleared."
The keeper let out a sigh of relief. Finally, some good news.
"Good! How are the tents there? Any holes?"
"Not that we've seen! We're okay here!"
"Great!" he said before moving onto the next priority on his list, and by far his most important one. "Christa, how are the Proto sisters? Are they safely inside?"
Chris unclicked the radio. The device was silent, building up the tension in his guts. The only sounds were from the howling winds around him. Those Protoceratops were his assignment. He was charged with looking after them. These months with being in this park had let him see another side in looking after the Residents...and as a consequence, he had developed a soft spot for his charges. They grew on him. If anything happened to them, he would never forgive himself.
"Christa here," the knot in his stomach unwound and he relaxed. In the background, he could hear the girls creating a ruckus, along with a few of the larger Residents. "They're okay, although they're fighting over one of the blankets at the moment. Hey! Stop ripping the fabric! I just patched that up!"
He released the side button, bringing the radio to a dead silence. Good, everyone is accounted for. The other employees will herd the last stragglers in and then they just need to wait out the storm.
"Chris!" his radio went off with yet another one of the male employees.
Chris wanted to smack himself. Can't he ever get a break?
"One of the Iguanodons is sneezing horribly and we're already in one of the tents! We're stuck in the middle!"
"Okay stay calm!" the young man told him, and at the same time to himself. "Daisy, get a team of vets to where Robbie is! Make sure none of the other Residents get in contact with it!"
"Okay! I'm on it!" she heard a familiar Grecian woman on the other line.
"Also get me a list of everyone in the sick tent! We don't want anyone left unaccounted for!"
"Chris!"
The man yelped as he lost grip of the radio. The poor device had landed onto the snow with a thud. Hastily, he grabbed for it and wiped off the snow on it. These were military grade radios and were covered in a protective casing that kept it insulated and protected from the outside. Thank goodness for the Park equipment's' security.
"Holy shit!" he looked up and was looking at a slightly older bearded man dressed in a brown Eskimo garb. "What the heck are you trying to do, give me a heart attack!?"
"I'm sorry but we have a problem with the food storage!" he said. Chris had no idea what his name was, much to his embarrassment.
"What, did the food go bad? Are the freezers offline? They should all be working!"
"It's not that, sir! Several food items in the warehouse have gone missing! Primarily the proteins and fruits!"
Chris stared at him, his mind having trouble processing this new information. He hoped what he was saying was just some sort of sick joke. The park does not need that sort of problem right now. A food shortage in the middle of this winter storm? How are they going to ride this out? Or better yet, how are they going to survive the rest of the time in this God-forsaken time?
"What!? That's impossible! We should have enough to last us for a few more months! Did someone just start hoarding from the food storage!?"
"That may be, but there's more!" the man continued, making Chris feel even more dread. "There are other food items scattered on the floors, some of which were half eaten! It's as if someone or a group just came in and ate things in a hurry before making off with what they got! They left a trail that led outside!"
Chris cursed under his breath. "So we've got a few thieves running about...how much food do we have now?"
"By some estimation, just about enough but that's if we practice rationing!" he reported promptly.
Chris nodded, slightly acceptable to that report. It was still a grim note, but at least it was not that big of a dent as expected. "Good, I want you to get as much food as you can to satisfy the Residents in the tents. Whatever you do, do not bring this word out to anybody else. I'll handle bringing the word out."
"But what about any investigations on who was responsible for this raid?"
"We'll worry about that later. Right now, make sure any hungry Resident is fed and prepped for this storm. I've got a feeling it's going to last for a while."
"Got it! Thanks!" the young man then turned and ran off towards the main hub of the park.
Chris watched him for several seconds. As soon as he disappeared through the bullets of snow, he let out an exasperated breath. He then rubbed his temples with his gloved fingers, feeling a pressure building up on his forehead.
"Damn, how does Veran deal with all this stress?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Hazel did not say anything. She was stunned on how Chris was taking this new form of stress. For several months, she knew him as a strict, orderly employee that was very meticulous. Forms of stress he would begrudgingly endure, no matter how strenuous. She did not imagine he would barely cope with what she would go through on a daily basis.
She was also not very pleased with the second part of his story. The food storage being raided was ill news indeed. And everyone panicking was just as bad. Temporary Park needs to survive this winter. Starvation was something that also spelled doom. In her mind, she wanted to find the perpetrators and personally deal with them, no matter how harsh. They endangered the lives of everybody.
Chris threw a stray twig into the flames. "Things were fine for a while. I could take the problems as they came. But then they started to stack, up to the point where it became too much for me," he took one long look at Hazel, his eyes showing regret and submission. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I guess I understand what you go through. My experience was just a small fraction compared to yours. You have to handle all that on a daily basis. For once...I kind of have a deeper respect for you."
The woman scoffed, still astonished by the story. "Yeah thanks for the compliment. So someone's been raiding our food?"
"It looks that way," he gravely nodded.
Hazel sighed and shook her head. "That's a problem...at least everyone is inside for the most part. So…" she made a smug smile at him despite her sickly state, "what are you going to do about it?"
Chris gave her an incredulous look. "The frick are you talking about, Veran?"
"You're the leader of the park now. I'm wondering how you would go about this."
He shook his hands in an X-fashion. "Oh no. No, I'm in the process of saying I've got respect for you for even leading this whole place with that amount of stress on you. You're the leader here. I'm not taking your place."
Hazel wanted to smile. The fact that he admitted he was in the wrong and knew what she went through was satisfying. This was the sort of karma that made him realize how hard her job was. He was like a child after a good scolding. It did not cure her fever, but at least it helped with easing any negativeness she had on him.
"Is that so? Here I thought you had everything under control," she replied in a sarcastic manner.
"No, you're more qualified at the job than I am."
"Well," she flicked her arms to get some blood flowing into them and to figuratively throw some dirt off, "now you know how it is."
The keeper shrugged, now defeated. "I guess when it comes to most things, nothing is ever easy. Still ,this is something you can't do alone. Think about that."
The woman stared at him for a moment and nodded, acknowledging him on that thought. "I guess when we get back, we'll need to conduct an investigation," said a more confident Hazel. "Think you can contact the park from where we are?"
"We tried that while you were out cold," he quickly brought out his radio from his pocket. Chris pressed the side button, which caused static to sound off from the speaker before he closed it again. "The storm's interfering with the signal."
Hazel blew a piece of hair from her eye. "I guess we're stuck here for the time being."
"Ate, I just thought of something."
All eyes fell on Hanna, who did her best to look as professional as she could in front of her mixed audience.
"You said before that you barely knew this group here, save for a few of us. Well, we barely know each other either. Maybe if we each tell each other things we want to talk about, things that have been bothering us, maybe it will make the situation better?"
"Wait, so are we going to go all "Kumbayah" to each other?" Ellis nervously laughed. "Because I'm a bad singer."
The teenager gave him a grumpy look. "No Ellis! I mean why don't we try to get to know each other? Plus, looking past Kerato there, the blizzard doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon. We're going to be here for a while."
Hazel took another look towards the woolly rhino. One quick peek past his matted fur and she could see a nearly solid blanket of white with thick specks outside.
"I can't believe I'm saying this," she said, "but I like that idea."
For the next few hours, they shared stories. Aladar was not shy when he spoke about his childhood on his little island in the past. Hazel smirked and said Lemur Island, which she said was for ease's sake. He even mentioned his little funny incidents, like that time when he made a big enough splash in a pool to soak Yar (Hazel fondly remembered that time he mentioned it). The same was also said for Patchi when he mentioned his childhood and then transitioned to his trials of becoming the leader of his herd. It was a lively story filled with ups and downs. Hazel felt pity for him when he reached the part of his parents and siblings getting slaughtered by Gorgosaurs before his and Scowler's eyes. Aladar had chosen to step in and explained how he had lost his family in the Fireball, showing that he had suffered from a similar event. Flia mentioned she went through loss as well; Hazel remembered she briefly mentioned it some time ago. The Pteranodon did not want to explain more about it as it was too painful.
The other stories that came up were just as interesting. Kerato told them all about his past, especially an early human which he called Flower. The atmosphere got thick with sorrow when he reached the part where she was killed. Daisy had to stroke the top of his muzzle and his head to comfort him. Hazel had never seen him so emotional before. He was still stoic, but she could sense he was trying to put on a brave face.
For Espantos, he explained in his own zany way about his time in the distant past of South America. Hazel recalled Nigel's story of rescuing Espantos and how he was lured into the portal to Prehistoric Park via a piece of meat attached to a jeep. The only thing she was surprised about was him calling himself "the last of his kind". All of his friends either disappeared or died out, or as he called it "really good at Hide and Seek". Either way, he was alone and had to contend with the competition of the local Sabers.
As for Hazel herself, she decided that those present had a right to know everything she went through, regardless of prior knowledge. It was better that they got the full story from her perspective. She did not leave any detail out. She made sure that she expressed how she felt in every hardship she went through.
The hours went on. A change of pace happened when Hanna gave her sister her bag, which contained not only a few survival items, but also an item that was personal to her. It was the ceramic Ocarina of Time that was given to her over Christmas. Hanna requested that her sister play a tune or two to lighten the mood. Daisy was against the idea, but Hazel countered it. After the stress everyone had as of late, some music was well deserving.
Hazel played two tunes; Canticle of the Sun and You Raise Me Up. It was a good thing she memorized the keys as well as the notes. Hours of practice during her spare time were advantageous. It was also a good thing the company that made the ocarina, STL Ocarina, knew what they were doing when they were constructing the video game icon replica. It was in-tune and ceramic.
Everyone enjoyed the melodious sound of the flute. The prehistoric creatures present had never heard of a human device that could create such silken sounds. Aladar, Flia, Kerato, and Espantos had heard of some human music living in Prehistoric Park (especially when they experienced the recent Christmas party), but not like this. It was nothing like the head-banging, swing, or slow and somber music they were exposed to. This was different. This was like hearing a bird with a beautiful call, as Alex had said in an almost trance-like state.
After she finished playing, Daisy requested that Hazel get some rest. She had a fever that would never get better the longer she stayed up. The budding leader did not object to that.
Everyone prepared themselves for the night, with one human and one ancient denizen to alternate together on watch duty every few hours. It was going to be a long stormy night. The only thing that allowed them to sleep easier was that they were a bit more understanding of each other.