Location: 31°35'34.01"N 113°57'7.47"W

Time since asteroid impact: 3 Years 4 months 3 weeks 6 days


"Another me? As in like a doppelganger?" Henry asked, Pelias almost instinctively nodded. A flurry of questions spawned upon the confirmation of there being someone like him. "And he didn't just look like you. He acted like you, he sounded like you he-" Pelias silenced himself, only making the question Henry had in mind run even more sporadically. Negev had started to stir at the small commotion, but hadn't fully woken up. Getting up, Henry and Pelias went over the nearest dune as to not disturb the others.

Sitting back down on the sand, they continued. "So..."

Pelias though riddled with confusion spoke rather swiftly, "Well the first thing he said was how he wasn't you. Second thing he mentioned was that this was his second time seeing us. Something about us telling him that his order of events is out of order from our point of view- I'm not sure what he meant by that but, the third thing he wanted to say was that he saw Ethine."

"Okay slow down Pelias at least allow me the time to let this sink in." Henry protested, and it was indeed a lot to take in. "I think I know about where he came from. Did he mention where he was?"

"Yeah, he said something about him and his friends going up a river to find something." It suddenly clicked for Henry, recalling the other farm he and Negev had been to. The Ida from there had mentioned Henry going on a trip, this must of been what she was talking about.

Pelias, taking note of Henry's deep thinking, spoke up again. "He also said this was his third time 'going somewhere new' as he called it, first being with us... somehow, and the second being an encounter with Ethine- someone that Negev knew about. Apparently they're in the middle of a dust storm-"

"They?" Henry asked, the use of the word was enough to intrigue him. "Y-yes, though he couldn't respond back, Ethine was asking him to tell the others. And we already know she's with Ida and Libby, and possibly with Buck, Russel and some others if the two groups had managed to find each other."

The next question couldn't be more obvious, "Did he say where they were?".

"Henry, they were in a dust storm, though that does narrow things down." Pelias got up and went over the dune for a moment, before coming back with the map. The yellow sauropod studied the map until finding what he wanted. "There, they should be at most two weeks from Clawtooth."

At that, Henry immediately got up. Fast enough to startle even Pelias. "Well then, tomorrow we head straight to Clawtooth!"


Enthusiasm and determination made the journey across the desert seem shorter than it actually was, taking nearly half a week just to get near the more western mountain ranges. The problem swung from the intense heat to the dryness of the air... well, a more accurate description would be the lack of water overall. Sauropods could spend weeks without water, Spot on the other hand couldn't. The issues were starting to pile up, though that didn't mean solutions weren't found. For the water crisis, it had turned out that the underlying water table was so close to the surface that just squeezing the ground had allowed water to come up. While it wasn't exactly the cleanest water, it was still water that Spot had needed. They just hoped such supplies would be of better quality when they got out of the desert.

The terrain had become more rough, but they had already dealt with such experiences, though the next thing to surprise them would be the salt lakes; lakes that had evaporated so many times that the salt built up. It was an eerie sight to behold as while the sand was no longer around, the almost golden grass that had started to grow was heavily contrasted by the flat whites and reds that was the salt lake which had built up to the point where it was flooding into the valley, covering up many of the small bushes that remained from the catastrophe. It was almost too flat, to the point where any remaining water would cause a mirror-like effect. Even looking at the salt was almost too much, as the white was reflecting so much of the light back into the air that made it so blinding.

"This is starting to get too much, even for me." Henry spoke aloud, just enough for the other three to hear.

Negev edged close to the apatosaur as they continued to walk, "It's not that bad Henry, we're almost at the end of the lake and-"

"No it's not that." Henry groaned, "I mean all of this. It was bad enough with being separated and all that, but everything that's happened since then is just... so much. Like, what am I gonna tell my family what I've been through after listening about their experiences. From what I've heard about the others, they've all had a relatively normal journey back home, but me? I've been to places via something I can't even comprehend, let alone them understanding it. And then what, after all that we've been through we're just gonna pay no attention to it like nothing happened? The journey's may be out of this world but the destination couldn't be any more uncertain."

By this point, Negev and Pelias looked at each other, before glancing down to Spot who was doing the same. Negev was the one to talk to Henry, "Henry, you're right about one thing. You have been through a lot, but at the same time you're not alone, I was there with you on some parts, and we've made it mostly clear to Pelias what's going on. Even Spot understands all that's been going on. I'm sure once you've taken into account what your family's been through, you'll be able to convey the events that have unfolded. Besides, if what we know about all this is right, then it may look like that at least Ethine, Ida and Libby will be talking about you somehow being near them. No matter how crazy things have gotten, it's been crazy for all of us."

Pelias was the next to raise his voice, "Yeah, and from what I've heard about Arlo and Verena in Oykot, I imagine their experiences are more than what we currently know." Henry couldn't help but lightly laugh at that.

"I guess so." Henry sighed, for the first time in days things had finally quietened down. The terrain now slightly more familiar, was a reassuring sign that they were getting really close to home, he figured about a week was left needed. The setting sun allowed their shadows to cast towards the east, the exact direction they needed to go. And while they were still on their way out of the steppe, the environment had never felt more comforting.


Audio Message #37: Subject Member 3 - aka Henry - has traveled 673 miles (1,083 Km's). My suspicions have thankfully been more or less confirmed by what has been said recently, though I should elaborate. It appears as if there are two 'parallel universes' where similar events have happened, but not the exact same. The best example being the fact that this world got hit by a meteor, while the parallel world did not. There's also something that is allowing both Henry's to essentially travel to the other universe, like crossing a bridge between two sides of a river. There seems to be some things I cannot yet explain, like how Henry was able to bring some of his friends to the other side or how he was able to venture to the past, but I think those could be explained in time.

For now though, it's going to be fun seeing how everyone reacts to seeing an alternate version of Henry. Other than that, it seems more and more likely that most of everyone is going to make it back home. Finally, Henry's survival rating is now at a 4.5 out of 5.

End of message.


A/N: While the main chapter isn't as long as I hoped, the message certainly makes up for it. If by now you know where this other Henry has come from, then by all means write your guess down. There's still a bit to go when it comes to this Henry, and the stuff he knows.

Next chapter: Conservation of Peace

Fun Facts: N/A