Audrey rested her head against the window, looking down to the activity below. Dinosaurs were being herded into mobile cages, people being given first aid. Faren was against the other window, their eye on the bridge. Before finding this quiet corner on the top floor they had checked this end of the bridge to make sure the block was secure. It didn't stop them keeping an eye out just in case the creature that they had left on the second floor didn't find its way across.

"I just can't believe how long it took for the rescue teams to arrive." When Audrey had returned to the building to pick up the doctor and their colleagues, she had been met by a small army of people in dark clothes securing the area.

"The official reason is that it takes time to gather people with the right security clearance and the equipment they need for a rescue."

Audrey turned her head, leaving it still against the glass, to look at them. "And unofficially?"

"I suspect they wait for whoever is going to die to die."

"But everything in this building is designed to save lives during an attack. Over and above security clearances."

"Otherwise they wouldn't be able to open their doors. But once the attack has started, witnesses and injured parties talk."

"They made me sign an NDA before they let me in."

"I'm surprised they let you in at all."

"I was able to convince them there was no where else for me to go. The nearest town from here is about two hours away."

"I hope they don't work out who let you in. They'll be lucky to lose their jobs for that."

Audrey sighed. There were reasons she would never work for a company like this. Sure she signed NDAs all the time with her clients, but she was always the one in charge of security.

"What's the plan for the morning?" Faren asked, switching had already had a quick rundown of what each other had gone through. Dr. Santos had been thrilled to learn that the children had made it out of the compound.

"We gear up and head to the tunnel exit. We track them from there."

"Will it be that easy?"

Audrey barked a single laugh. "Not remotely. They will be a good four hours ahead of us, assuming they stopped with time to set up camp before dark. The trail will be hard to follow having let it sit overnight. And it'll be over rough terrain. Any chance you all stuck trackers in them?"

"Of course. But they have limited range. The kids were always in the building. We'll have to get at least within a kilometre for them to function."

"So it'll be old school?" She never minded a bit of methodical tracking.

"I do have a hoverdrone."

"Bring it." They continued watching out the windows for a while. "What do you think they plan to do with those creatures?" Audrey asked finally. So far there had been no sign of them being brought out to the vehicles.

"Who knows?" Faren frowned. "Is it wrong to hope they exterminate them? I don't think I want to return to working here knowing they are under my feet waiting to escape."

"You plan to return to working here?" Audrey was genuinely curious. "I would have thought that after today it wouldn't be possible."

"I can do good work here." Faren frowned, staring into the night. "But I guess it does depend on how the next few days go. The kids running away on their own leaves me blameless." Faren gently bit their lip. "At least according to the company." They shook their head. "I really hope they're alright."

"I hope so too." Audrey rested a hand on their shoulder. She didn't add how unlikely that would be. The wilds was no place for kids to survive long. "You know, we should rest. We have no idea when the next good night's sleep will be."

Torn between seeing the creatures loaded up and knowing Audrey was correct, Faren finally let her lead him to the sleeping quarters where they turned in for the night.

Faren Santos stalked purposefully down the corridor the following morning, Audrey beside him. The faint glow of false dawn shone subtly through the front windows as they approached. "Let me do the talking."

Audrey shrugged and grabbed the handle to pull the door open. Immediately a figure in black stepped forward, barring their path.

"Off for an early stroll?" she asked. The question was friendly, the tone and the machine gun resting in her arms were not.

"My name is Dr. Santos." They ignored Audrey's wince at them using their real name and hoped the soldier hadn't noticed. "I believe one of my projects escaped the compound. We wanted to go after them."

"No-one in or out," the soldier shook her head. "Don't worry, doctor. We have an inventory of all the creatures to be found. We'll bring them in for you."

"But they're only kids." The soldier's eyebrows hit her fringe in surprise and she drew her phone out and navigated with one hand, the other securing the weapon. They could see her scrolling through.

"I don't see any kids on here." She shrugged. "Sorry."

"They wouldn't be marked down as kids." They had trouble keeping the frustration from their voice. Somehow, they had to explain without breaking their own NDA. It was a secret project too. This place was filled with them. "But they are … juvenile" they selected a word that would make it seem like they was talking about dinosaurs not humans. "They are out there all alone."

"I'm sorry, doctor," she shrugged again. "Someone will find them soon enough." Blood and guts! Maybe they should have impressed on her that they were human kids. But if she told anyone they'd have the security team after them next and they wouldn't be treated any more kindly than the dinosaurs they'd spent the night shoving into cages. "Just sit tight, doctor. Mr. Woo will be arriving mid-morning to speak to you all. You will be able to leave after that."

Faren shook their head. Mid-morning will be too late. They would never catch the kids with that big a lead. They turned on heel to look at Audrey. "Let's go." And together they headed away from the exit.

"Now what?" Audrey asked as the door swung closed behind them. "You know we can't wait that long."

"I do. We're still leaving. Come on." They trotted quickly down the corridor. "This building is almost identical to the other one, and I spent a lot of time learning all the tricks in the other one yesterday. So we're going to take an emergency tunnel out."

Audrey pulled to a stop. Faren paused with her. "I see some problems with this plan." She said. "First of all, the emergency is over, so all the doors are back on standard operating controls. And secondly, even if we do get out, we will need a jeep. If we're going to catch up to them we're going to have to go fast."

"I was thinking about that last night," Faren barely slept with all the thoughts running through their head. "You said they would be going over rough terrain. We're going to need something smaller than a jeep. Something light enough to throw over our shoulders if we have to hike through denser forest. I'm thinking we take bikes."

"Where are we going to get bikes from? I can't imagine many of the people here ride to work across dinosaur infested land."

"True."

"Wait," she cut him off. "Do you mean dirt bikes or mountain bikes? I think speed would be a pretty important factor when racing away from a t-rex. But you can't throw a dirt bike over your shoulder."

"Also true. But we have genius hour here at dINo-Gen. Many of the scientists have passion projects that they work on and one Dr. Satler has been building an electric bike. As fast as a motorcycle, as light as a push bike."

"And this Dr. Satler is just going to give it to us?"

"Well," Faren didn't love this part of the plan. "We're going to have to steal them."

"Them? So there's more than one? That's good. Where are they kept?"

"That's the easy part. Satler keeps them in the emergency tunnel. Apparently it's perfect for test runs."

"The emergency tunnel that was filled with stenonychosauri just a few hours ago?"

"Yeah. That one. But the emergency crew will have cleared them all out by now. You did tell them the gate was open." Audrey had risked the soldiers finding the kid's footprints by revealing that fact, but Faren had to respect that she had told them so they would be aware of all the dangers.

"Are you still able to check that?"

Faren shook their head. "No. The map application removed itself from my phone the second the emergency was declared over."

"Well, let's just hope they got them all. Or if they missed something it was a stenonychosaurus - their bioluminescence makes them real easy to spot." She shivered.

"I'm sure they got all the creatures." Faren assured her, guessing what had made her shiver. "And none of them even reached the outer tunnels."

"Yeah, yeah." She ran her fingers through her short hair. "I had hoped to pack the jeep full of equipment. I guess we're going to have to manage with what we have in our packs." She started walking in the direction they had been heading. "You coming?" she asked over her shoulder. Faren hurried after her.