Getting into the outer emergency tunnel had required a bolt-key, which fortunately Faren still had in their pocket. Other than that they had managed to get out to the tunnel entrance without any trouble. The bikes were where Faren had remembered and started without trouble. They had been on charge which they took to be a good sign - the batteries would be full.

At the entrance to the tunnel, Audrey climbed off her bike and did her thing. In a crouched position looking at the mud.

"No luck. The soldiers have completely churned the earth here. I can't see a thing." She rested back on her haunches and looked in the direction directly away from the tunnel. "I say we start looking that way." Standing to her feet, she made her way behind the door and pushed on the palm control. The door swung shut behind them. "Ready?"

Faren confirmed they were and followed behind wheeling their bike. Audrey was walking quite slowly, studying the ground below.

"Got 'em." She stood up with a frown, and turned to face Faren. "Very strange footprints here."

"Yeah?" Although they knew she would find out the truth soon enough, they couldn't bring themself to tell her. Fortunately, she didn't push the point.

"They went this way. Looks like they have a theropod on their tail though."

Dr. Santos felt a chill. They felt responsible for everything that happened to those kids. They couldn't bear it if they were hurt. Or worse.

Audrey followed along in the direction she had indicated. Shortly after, she started laughing softly to herself.

"What?" Santos asked.

"I think they're trying to throw us off the trail. They go through puddles and over bushes… but always in a fairly straight line. "One has quite a stride." She let the comment hang in the air. "Oh! The theropod caught them here. Looks like it leapt right over the top of them - but then stumbled away from them. I wonder what could have made a five foot theropod stumble."

Faren ignored the comment, flicking a hair tie from their wrist and tying their long, black hair into a ponytail. That was better. "Did the theropod catch them up?"

"Not yet. Let's keep going."

Faren followed along behind Audrey, trusting her implicitly. They had first met when she was in charge of a field expedition he had been on. Actually, he had been studying theropods at the time. They became friends after she had saved their life when a pride of coelophysis had become aware of them watching them and had swarmed over their position. Since then, Audrey had been a source of information about every dinosaur they would bring to her attention as well as a good friend.

"Looks like they passed through a herd of maiasaurs here." She had propped her bike against a tree and now crouched and crab walked and turned about. "Here, the theropod landed heavily. Maybe knocked back by the herd?" Dr. Santos held in a sigh. "Maybe somehow the kids kicked it away." She wasn't going to let it go. But she wouldn't directly ask either. She knew how NDAs worked. They wouldn't reveal the secret unless they had too.

Audrey had continued searching the clearing. It really was interesting to watch her work. Until finally she turned on them. "Can these kids climb trees?"

"Yes. They're actually excellent climbers."

"With the foot structure I am seeing, I wonder how."

Finally, Faren released the sigh. It was time. "The toes are remarkably flexible, the claw retractable. Though she was very good at using it when climbing."

Audrey just stared at them.

"I told you they needed rescuing," Faren shrugged. They walked a fine ethical line. Helping such a company progress while planning to sabotage them if need be. Faren wasn't the final word on such decisions, but then Faren only told them what they needed to know.

"They're still kids," Audrey spoke firmly with a nod. "Let's save some kids then, shall we?" She stroked the tree she was standing next to. "They went up here."

"We have to climb through the trees?" The kids were excellent climbers. The scientists who worked with them, not so much.

"I doubt it. There should be some evidence of their passing below." She returned for her bike, then headed into the trees. "Huh. Persistent guy."

"What's that?"

"The theropod continued following them. I would have thought two failed attempts would send him after easier prey. Makes following them easier though. He's done all the hard work. We just need to follow his trail." She jumped back onto her bike.

"Wait!" Audrey put a foot down and turned to them, eyebrows raised expectantly. "It's their dino-mo-gen." She didn't ask them to continue, but they knew she would need more than that. "Dr. Tolmachev was working on a pet for them. One that would be super loyal to them, that would protect them." Faren cocked their head. "I didn't realise the kids had been introduced to it."

Audrey laughed. "By the tracks, I'd say they weren't. The kids were scared of it."

Faren nodded thoughtfully.

"At least there's a chance they're alive. If you're right. I was starting to lose hope. An animal that persistent is always a problem. But if he's their protector, they may last a day longer, yet. Come on." She settled back onto the bike seat and peddled away. Peddling wasn't strictly necessary, but it slowed battery discharge and many people found it helped them balance. Faren swung their leg over their bike and followed behind.

By late afternoon, the duo were carrying the bikes over the rocky shore of a river. The trail had left quite a story for them. The kids had bundled up the night in an old building, been rescued by their dino-mo-gen, and from then on, were accompanied by it. It pleased Faren to think that something at least was looking after them.

"Judging by the spread of these rocks a sauropod came charging through here. It's hard to see any evidence of the kids in amongst it." Faren had gotten used to Audrey knowing exactly what the kids had been up to and for how long. "Keep an eye out. I'm guessing it was a territory charge. She may still be around. Gashes, this is going to take a while." She rested her bike against a rock and dropped her pack next to it.

"Can I help?" Faren knew she would recheck any area they said was clear, but maybe they could save some time.

"Would the kids have had access to a raft?"

"If they grabbed the emergency packs at the tunnel exit. They would have been accessible because of the safety protocols."

"Great. So that means they could be floating away from us right now, but we have to check here first. Head to the tree line - where there are less rocks. Look for anything that could be footprints, broken branches. If we're lucky the sauropod will have chased them and leave a wide trail for us to follow."

The two separated, though Faren made sure Audrey was always in sight. She had said that it would be unlikely for them to encounter a dinosaur that wanted to eat them. Apparently dinosaurs living in the wild tended to hunt dinosaur prey over humans. There were always exceptions, like with the coelophyses, but she acted like she wasn't too concerned. That being said, she spent a lot of time going back over their trail and using sprays and incense to cover their passing. There had also been times when they had had to move in absolute silence - step where I step, breath when I say - moments that scared them in a different but no less intense way than running at the stenonychosaurus yesterday.

So keeping an eye on Audrey just seemed wise. They wanted her to hear if they had to yell. This came in handy. It took a while of looking at grass trying to tell if it was flattened or a muddy semicircle trying to see if it were a footprint before they found some clear evidence. Trees down was pretty obvious. "Audrey!" They called standing up to look towards her. She bent and moved a rock, before making her way over to him.

"Great. This is where the sauropod left." She searched the area. "It looks like it's following the theropod. But I can't see any evidence of the kids. Maybe the theropod is leading the sauropod away from them. Let's follow it. He should lead us back to them." Faren followed her back to the rocky beach to collect their packs and bikes before returning to follow the trail.

Following a sauropod was significantly easier than kids. They were able to ride along at a decent pace. Until Audrey pulled up. She jumped off her bike and scanned the area. "I think this is the edge of her territory. Look," she pointed to the right. "She's heading back away from the river, but see there." This time she pointed to a bush with several broken branches. "Our theropod went that way." She scratched her fingers through her hair. "He's not heading back to the beach and I still haven't seen any sign of the kids." She paused in thought. "So if he's going to stay with them, he's taking a parallel course. Either the river or the land." She thought a moment longer. "If it were the land, he'll swing out to meet them now he's away from the sauropod. I'd put money on them being on the river." She frowned. "But not their lives. Let's follow this path a little longer." This time she wheeled her bike, still hunting for clues.

Five minutes later, she called a stop again. "Still following the river. Do you have a map?"

"Real or digital?"

Audrey shook her head and Faren pulled up a map on their phone and displayed it for her. "Okay, so if we follow the theropod, we're going to have to move quite a way from the river. And then if they make it to this lake," she zoomed out so they could see the whole expanse. "We'll have to go a long way to get around it." She glanced at the watch on her wrist. "We have maybe three hours of daylight left and we'll need time to make camp… okay, so let's backtrack to here," she pointed to a spot on the river. "Where we can inflate our raft and move more swiftly. I suspect they're not racing so we should be able to gain some ground with a little effort.

"Unless they stopped along the way, we're not going to catch them today. There are a few places they'll be able to stop along the way overnight - and most sheltered by cliffs so they shouldn't have to worry about dinosaurs… I think we should be able to catch them tomorrow!" she looked up, eyes shining. "I feel good about this!" She returned to her bike and raced away. Faren had no choice. They followed.

Faren had hoped that once they were on the river, Audrey would slow the pace a little. There was no such luck. In fact, she pushed even harder. "This is our best chance to make ground on them!" Sighing, Faren grabbed their paddle and followed the instructions Audrey called out. She appeared to know what she was doing on a raft, so they dropped down when she said, and paddled how she said. After the first set of rapids which she had navigated them though nicely, they were convinced. Until she pulled up to the riverbank. "Any chance you have a rafting add-on on your map?" She asked, swigging water from her bottle.

Faren shook their head. "Sorry." Rafting wasn't exactly something Faren thought they would ever find themself doing.

"I figured. Can you get a satellite image?"

That Faren could do and moments later they were zooming in to their position on the river.

"So there's a bunch of white water ahead of us." She checked her watch. "I can't see what level it is." She rested back on the edge of the raft, her elbows on her knees. "We could risk the rapids in failing light. And to be honest, I don't know how much help my eyesight gives me. It's been a while since I rafted anything harder than a three and then I was never the most experienced." She shook her head. "We just can't risk it. There's a suitable beach near here to camp the night, we'll take the rapids in the morning."

"I trust your instinct." Faren was being genuine. They knew full well that Audrey was far more experienced than them in anything outdoors. She didn't seem to take it that way.

"If one of us falls out we could be dealing with a broken leg," she rationalised. "Or worse, we could lose the boat entirely."

As much as Faren trusted her, this caused doubt to well up in their mind. "Could that have happened to the kids?"

"I would say it is very likely," she sighed. "Did they have any training?"

"Not in rafting."

"We just have to keep moving as if they are okay. There is no point in us injuring ourselves. We won't be any use to them if that happens, right."

"You're right," Faren calmed her. They had never seen her in need of calming before. "We'll get to them as soon as we can do it safely. And I can send the drone up. Maybe we can spot them."

"That's a good idea. Okay," she shook herself bodily. "Let's find us a place to camp for the night."