There is something missing from our world. The amazing creatures that time has left behind. But what if we could bring them back?
What if extinction didn't have to be forever?
We are going on a safari with a difference as wildlife adventurer Nigel Marven plunges into pre-history to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction. His plan is to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.
On his very first mission, Nigel plans to rescue one of the last of the dinosaurs from the most dramatic extinction ever.
Welcome to the ultimate wildlife refuge.
Welcome to Prehistoric Park.
Chapter 1: T-Rex Returns
As the sun rose over the crest of the eastern hills of the Pacific island, its human inhabitants were working on finishing the last touches on the exhibits that would soon hold creatures from the smallest dinosaurs to the biggest invertebrates.
Near the center of the island, a balding man with a mustache was ordering people around.
"Get that wall nice and steady, this exhibit will hold a very dangerous monster.".
What he's talking about is the owner's first mission; and the island owner is none other than Nigel Marven.
Nigel's base sits on the south-west side of the island. The island is the largest in a mysterious archipelago that could hold as many creatures as Nigel plans to rescue. If there was any place in the world that Nigel could make extinct creatures feel at home, it was here.
"There's jungle, grassland, lakes, oceans, even a manmade polar ice caps," said Nigel looking at a map of the island.
The man who was in his early 40s wore a safari hat and shirt with khaki shorts. Nigel's base (which is a bungalow) had three stations. His house included a bed, a nightstand, a closet, a desk and lamp, and another map of the island. The second part is his headquarters held another map, a bunch of fossils sitting on a desk, and many photos of dinosaurs and other extinct animals. The last part held all his pets including, a leopard tortoise, an Emerald Tree Boa, his parrot, and a shoal of small Mesopotamian Barbal fry, their parents make up the first residents of the park's aquarium.
Once the fry grows too big for their nursing tank they will be released into the wild.
As the sun reaches its peak at noon, Nigel finally tells everyone what his first mission will be.
"All Nigel has told me was that everyone knows it and that it will be very dangerous and if Nigel says it's dangerous then it's got to be dangerous," said Bob.
In the dining hall, all the employees are eating their lunch (tacos and salad) and talking about what Nigel's first mission will be. The commotion died down when Nigel stepped up on the podium.
"I hope everyone is as excited as I am?".
He was answered by cheers, hoots, and hollers.
"Now I know everyone is itching to see what I will rescue first. Any guesses? Here are a few hints, it's a dinosaur, ate meat, and was huge.".
At first, people guessed dinosaurs like Spinosaurus or Giganotosaurus but finally, someone used their childhood knowledge and said, "A T-Rex?".
"Yes, finally Jim!".
"Wait, no way that's my favorite dinosaur!" Nigel heard a bunch of people say.
"Give us the details Nigel!" Suzanne, the park's head vet, yelled. She was in her late thirties with short black hair and had a stethoscope around her neck.
"Well I'm going to Montana 65 million years ago and just a week before the meteor hits." Nigel heard a few gasps in the audience.
As the chatter died down all the employees split up, some to prepare the portal, like Bob or get ready for any injuries like Suzanne, but some like Nigel and Jim went to get their things backed.
Finally, everyone was packed and ready to go.
"Open the portal!".
Bob typed in the code and a ball of light sparked to life right in front of their eyes. Three jeeps drove through but stopped abruptly.
Nigel's car was halfway in the portal.
Nigel came running back through the portal and told everyone something. He ran back through the portal and drove through.
Everyone had gas masks on, it seemed as if they would have to drive through a gas plain.
As they drove along the plains, they saw many dead animals such as small mammals and dinosaurs, but the most surprising was a fully-grown male T-Rex.
Sadly, it was dead, so it would make no sense bringing it back but something next to the corpse was. Right next to the corpse was a small twitching ball of fur.
Nigel jumped out of the car and ran over to the ball. He grabbed it in its arms and saw that it was a Didelphodon. Nigel grabbed an extra gas mask out of the trunk of his jeep, but it was too late the thing had died. Just as Nigel was about to set it on the ground, he noticed that it was a female and had a pouch.
He reached in and pulled out two small, pink, and alive baby Didelphodon. He put them in the gas mask and told everyone to drive ahead before he set up the portal and ran through with two baby Didelphodon.
After twenty minutes of waiting in the vet clinic, Suzanne came walking out with two squirming pink creatures drinking milk from a bottle in a sack.
"They'll make but it, but I'll have to look after them for a few weeks before they can be put into their own exhibit," she said.
"Good, Prehistoric Park has it's very first extinct creatures." smiled Nigel.
The portal flared to life then closed once again as Nigel drove through.
In Montana Nigel drove through the gas plains but missed a very peculiar difference, the T-Rex corpse wasn't there anymore!
Nigel finally found that camp was being set up on top of a small hill.
Jim had already finished his tent and was now working on setting up the canopies which would form the team's dining hall.
Katrina had also finished hers and was now scooping up some small piles of poop close to her tent while Ted was eating a sandwich next to a half-formed tent.
Once Nigel was finished setting up his tent he drove down to a near field that could hold some herbivores. and where there are herbivores there's bound to be carnivores.
Nigel quietly got out of his car, which he hid next to a fallen tree, and walked over to the field.
Since there wasn't any grass in the Cretaceous except in India there were ferns and cattails. In the middle was a small stream that could hold some extinct amphibians or fish.
The creatures who are currently calling this place home contain, of course, Triceratops and Torosaurus, the ceratopsids, an old, male Ankylosaurus with some small Thescelosaurus running around his feet, and lastly a huge herd of Edmontosaurus.
The Triceratops had green stripes along their sides and the rest of their body was gray except some, probably males had red markings on their crests, they also had small spikes on their tails, same with the Torosaurus except they had darker blue stripes, osteoderms on their backs, and lacked the quills.
The Ankylosaurus was completely gray except he had faint red spots on his back.
The Edmontosaurus had dark green and brown along its back and tail but had a gray underbelly.
The Thescelosaurus had light brown tails, legs, and arms, a small section of its back was a darker brown surrounded by a gray, and the rest of their bodies were white.
As Nigel was about to pet a baby Trike, he noticed a flock of pterosaurs circling overhead and that could only mean one thing.
A loud roar came from the forest.
Thescelosaurus scurried under the now defensive Ankylosaur. The Ceratopsids had formed a protective circle around their young and the Edmontosaurus came closer together to face the predator.
At first, a large female Rex came lumbering out, but she was followed by three males much smaller than her. The coloring was a mix between a chestnut brown and dirty white. Nigel's target has found him before he could find them!
At first, it seemed that the pack was just going to stand there like statues. All that could be heard was the splatter of some prehistoric fish and the cries of the baby Triceratops and Torosaurus. Then suddenly the female roared and charged at the Triceratops.
Obviously, this was the first T-Rex attack that some of them have been through because as soon as the female reached at least 5 yards of them a few of the juveniles broke a hole in the circle and caused everything to become chaos.
The Ceratopsids stampeded towards the forest but not before running into the Edmontosaurus.
After they had run away, all that was left was the Ankylosaurus, the Thescelosaurus, and a male Trike.
Sadly, the Rexes had circled the Triceratops and it was obvious there was nothing that Nigel could do about it. The Female grabbed the poor creature's leg and swung it around before letting go, causing it to slam into a tree.
It wasn't dead, but it wasn't moving.
As all this happened, Nigel had completely forgotten about the Ankylosaur and Thescelosaurus. He looked over to where they first were to see that they were running straight towards him. He quickly opened the portal sending them through to safety.
"Nigel sure did give me a surprise when a bunch of small dinos and a tank of a dino came running through, well the little dinos running the Ankylosaurus trotting.".
Bob was backing up the trailer that held the Thescelosaurus and Ankylosaurus. The paddock had almost no grass and was filled with ferns and bushes full of seeds for the Thescelosaurus.
Bob and an employee opened the door.
At first, nothing came out but then once Bob stamped on the door the Thescelosaurus ran out followed by a lumbering Ankylosaurus.
The employee quickly got in the truck and drove off but Bob stayed behind to watch the dinosaurs explore their new home.
The Ankylosaurus was already eating a holly bush and the seeds were falling off so some Thescelosaurus ate with the tank. The rest of the flock was drinking at the lake.
Back in Montana, Nigel was sick to his stomach.
He had just watched as the Triceratops had been thrown around before the female gave the killing bite.
Almost as soon as the pack had ripped into the carcass some pterosaurs and mammalian scavengers had been waiting for their turn at the scraps.
One Didelphodon got too close and was gobbled up by a young male T-Rex.
Not wanting to end up the same Nigel made his way back to camp.
The sun was already setting when he found the herd of Triceratops and Torosaurus with some stranglers from the Edmontosaurus herd. They were still running but Nigel wasn't worried that some more predators like another pack of T-Rex or Troodon were the cause. Prey items tended to run as far as they could before settling down.
But what worried Nigel was the fact that the herd was stampeding towards the camp.
Nigel drove up to the front of the herd and honked his horn. He hoped that the noise would drive the herd leader the other way but all he got was a head of horns rammed into his car.
The car rolled down a hill but before the car landed in a river Nigel jumped out.
He ran to the back of the herd where a few yearlings were struggling to keep up.
Nigel grabbed a baby Torosaurus with hopes that its squeals would catch the attention of the adults.
Thankfully, it did and to all the ceratopsids stopped, turned around, and charged at Nigel.
Nigel set the baby in his backpack and grabbed the portal.
He placed the first one then the second one then a huge ball of light appeared. Just as the herd reached Nigel they were sent through.
Finally, all the Ceratopsids were sent through and now all that was left was to send the baby through.
He set it down and guided it towards the portal. Finally, it went through and Nigel packed up and headed for the camp.
Just then, he remembered that the Edmontosaurus hadn't stopped and were still heading for the camp!
Nigel ran down the hill, and, with much struggle, pushed his car up, and drove off.
Nigel raced up the hill on which the camp was set. He stopped the car abruptly.
The camp was destroyed.
The canopies were crushed, and the tents were ripped. Almost all the food was either on the ground or in the mouths of some prehistoric scavengers.
The only food left was the chips and sandwiches that Ted had stored in his tent.
Nigel walked into his ripped-up tent to find that his sleeping bag and map were ripped in half and all the pet carriers were scattered around the tent.
Nigel grabbed the pet carriers and walked out with a frown.
He walked over to the meat and jumped on an adult Didelphodon and put it in one of the pet carriers and did this repeatedly until he had five Didelphodon and a small lizard.
"This little guy is called Leptophos's, being a rare lizard fossil-wise not much is known about them, but they seem to be very common," said Nigel.
Nigel had the little lizard in his hands, it was roughly 25 centimeters long with teeth perfect for eating bugs. The lizard had a baby blue coloring on its lower jaw and neck with dark blue on his head. His tail and feet were gray, and the rest was a light green. Perfect for hiding in the ferns and bushes.
Nigel walked the pet carriers back to is camp feeling a little bit better. He set the scavengers in the corner of his rebuilt tent.
"Thanks, Katrina," said Nigel.
"No problem I hate a mess." waved off Katrina.
Then Newt, another adventurer came in the tent and gave some good news, he had caught the Edmontosaurus along with another Leptochamops, or in his words "a very pretty lizard.".
That night everyone had sandwiches and chips for supper.
Above them, a sight to behold. There were flaming balls of rock zooming across the sky. They weren't much of a worry, they would burn up by the time they reached the ground. These were just the precursor of what was to come though.
Nigel went to sleep with a full stomach and a sick feeling in his chest.
The next morning Nigel drove back to the clearing to see if there were any signs of T-Rex.
He came back to the clearing to see the remains of the dead Triceratops. The frill, bones, and a few chunks of meat rotting.
No T-Rex but there was some action.
Along the stream was a pair of prehistoric crocodiles harassing a turtle. Nigel ran over and scared away the crocodiles and grabbed the turtle.
"Those crocodiles were called Brachychampsa. I would have saved them, but I had to save this guy. He's called Adocus, and I think it's a girl because of the tail, it is much smaller than what a male would look like." The turtle had yellow and black markings on his head with a brown shell and the rest was a light gray.
Nigel set the portal up put the Adocus in front of the portal. Once the turtle walked through Nigel carried on.
Nigel followed a game trail up into the mountains to find a possible nest. He thought he had just entered their territory, but really, he was in the middle of it.
Nigel climbed up a hill. Once he reached the top he flopped on his stomach. One of the most dangerous creatures to ever walk was 6 yards in front of him.
It appears that Nigel had found the pack's nest. There were about 6 T-Rexes. The dominant female, her mate, 3 smaller males, and a younger female.
The males were play fighting but even though it's playing one of them could get hurt, or worse, get killed.
The alphas were sleeping in the shade and the other female was searching for scraps.
Nigel had observed the pack for about 10 minutes before he heard a rumble and then a roar. He looked over the crest and saw the alpha female stand up and head off in a direction. The alpha male followed along with the three other males. The young female stayed behind and stood next to a large mound of dirt.
Just then it hit Nigel.
Eggs would be easier to collect than full-grown T-Rexes. Nigel just had to rescue the female and all the eggs would be his.
He ran behind the female and waved his arms. This caught the attention of the female who roared and chased after Nigel.
He grabbed the two portal sticks out of his backpack and set them in place. Just as the tyrant was over him, he opened the portal sending her through.
He raced over to the egg mound and dug into the soft, warm dirt. He didn't know when the rest of the pack would be back, so he had to hurry.
He tore through the dirt like it was air.
He finally found one of the eggs than another one. He grabbed them and put them in his bag.
He ran into the forest towards the camp.
As he stopped to catch his breath, he felt a little shake in his backpack.
One of the eggs was shaking ever so slightly.
The eggs were about to hatch!
He hurried and just as the hill came into view, he heard a squeak from his bag. He opened it up one more time to see a young, reptilian head poke out. He then saw something fly overhead. He looked up to see an asteroid fly across the sky.
He ran as fast as he could up the hill.
"Everything needs to go now," he yelled to everyone.
Jim and Newt were busy taking down the canopies while Katrina was taking down Nigel's tent and Ted was busy carrying some animals through a portal.
Nigel ran into his half-made tent and grabbed the last of the Didelphodon and Leptochamops along with the T-Rex hatchlings and handed them to Ted. Newt and Jim had already gone through and Katrina was just searching for any remains until...
BAAM!
The asteroid had hit the Gulf of Mexico.
It seems that Nigel had come closer to the asteroid then he thought. Katrina ran through the portal, but Nigel stayed back to grab another Leptochamops and then ran through.
Back in the present Nigel is looking at the first residents.
The Thescelosaurus' were running around the feet of Andy the Ankylosaurus.
In an exhibit, almost the same but much bigger was the Ceratopsids and Edmontosaurus. The Edmontosaurus were wading in the small creek while the ceratopsids were rummaging around for leaves or branches.
A few yards away were the female T-Rex and her hatchlings. She was already building a new nest for her two babies who were chasing dragonflies. Nigel decided to name them Terrence and Matilda.
Nigel continued along the path until he came along the Hell Creek House. He walked inside to see a small pond with the Adocus sunbathing on a log. To the left is a small but high terrarium with the three Leptochamops catching flies. Their exhibit was just like a jungle with thick vegetation and a small waterfall. To the right was a woodland exhibit, half indoors half outdoors. Its residents were the adult Didelphodon. One was eating from a carcass while another was sleeping in the corner.
Once he finished his tour Nigel went back to T-Rex Hill. The mother was sleeping in the shade of their mini forest while the babies were searching for scrapes off a carcass. Even though they're cute right now they will grow to be as big as their mother in a matter of a couple of years.
Has Prehistoric Park bitten off more than it can chew?
Next time on prehistoric Park:
Nigel goes back 10,000 years to Siberia to rescue the last of the mammoths.
A mammoth in a pit of spears
And faces off a huge bear
A 20-foot bear tries to climb a tree
And Bob has his hands full with the T-Rex twins.
Water is being sprayed at a wounded Terrence.
All next time on Prehistoric Park
Creatures rescued:
3 T-Rexes: 2 females, one male
26 Triceratops: 18 females, 8 males
16 Torosaurus: 10 females, 6 males
1 Ankylosaurus: male
10 Thescelosaurus: 8 females, 2 males
8 Didelphodon: 4 females, 2 males, babies unknown
3 Leptochamops: 2 male, 1 female
8 Edmontosaurus: 6 females, 2 males
1 Adocus: female
Hey guys, Cowpie here, this is my first post in a while so I may be rusty. Just so you guys know, I may loosely follow a schedule. I will be doing more than just 6 chapters. And lastly, if you have any comments, complains, or ideas, feel free to share them.