Audrey, being the guide, had insisted on setting up their camp, locating a good site. It was against a cliff wall. It had a wide rocky beach which become a decent expanse of grass before meeting a cliff wall. With dense forest on either end of the beach, they should be safe here for the night.

The water here was wide and deep with no rapids in sight. The rapids worried her. In fact everything worried her, but her primary concern at this moment, was the kids on the water. If they'd fallen out of the boat on the rapids they'd just passed, they would probably be fine, assuming they didn't hit a head on the way out. She groaned inwardly. Even without the threat of dinosaurs there were just so many things that could kill a kid out here. Even enhanced… her thoughts stepped to her background, gnawing worry - what could they possibly do with them when they arrived in the city? They would be discovered and returned instantly. For a moment, she wondered if perhaps that would be a good thing. Then she remembered the creatures. No child should be kept in that building, no matter the circumstances. She scouted upriver a way to see how accessible their sanctuary was - it would be very difficult for a person to move through the tangle, let alone a sizeable dinosaur. She'd use some of their compi sticks to keep the smaller ones away. Not yet though. She could wait until just before they opened their food. Little buggers could smell food a mile off.

Downstream was a little clearer. If they had to run that way with the raft they could. They probably wouldn't get very far… She heard a buzz behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Faren manoeuvring their device and their circular drone lifting off. She knew they would have to get really lucky to catch sight of the kids with trees this thick. But sometimes luck paid off. And it kept Faren busy.

Audrey had plenty to do herself. She used fishing wire with warning bells strung periodically along it. She made sure this surrounded the entire campsite, stringing them at a distance great enough that being forewarned would make a difference. She continued securing the site.

"Do you always go to such extremes?" Faren asked her as she was sharpening several sticks. They were mostly watching their display, but clearly had noticed some of the things she'd been doing.

"You say extremes, I say precautions."

"I'm not complaining…" They coughed softly. "I guess I'm just wondering how likely it is that we might be attacked in the night. I mean, we've barely seen a dinosaur all day."

"That's what I like about you Faren. You do exactly what I say as soon as I ask. No questions asked. Which is why we haven't had any problems. I would like to keep it that way."

"Right." Tilting their head to the side, Faren caught a lock of their hair from their ponytail and rubbed it gently against their cheek. Audrey had never seen Faren play with their hair before. She would need to give them more reassurance.

"I like to plan for the worst eventualities. It helps me sleep to know that I have multiple escape routes. Otherwise I would spend all night thinking about - what if something came from…- this way I sleep better. Worth the couple of hours it takes to set everything up. And since we stopped earlier than I had planned, we may as well use the time well."

Three more strokes of hair against the cheek, then Faren flicked it away. Audrey hoped that meant she had assuaged their fears at least a little bit. She continued working.

After a while, as she was putting the finishing touches on her bolt hole, she was the one to break the silence. "Any sign of them?"

"Faren shook their head. "Just a whole lot of tree tops." Audrey came to look over their shoulder. "There's a couple of beaches - a rocky one, and a sandy one, but they're both empty." Faren looked up at her. "At least there's no sign of dinosaurs either."

Audrey almost teased them for being scared of dinosaurs when they made their living from them before remembering the creatures. Maybe her security measures this evening were a little more extreme than normal. And she hadn't been stuck inside a building with them hunting her. She shivered noticeably.

"Memories or the cold?" Faren asked. She hadn't noticed but it had started getting a little cooler. The sun was probably below the horizon by now - she never noticed the drop in light when she was working with her hands.

"How about we prepare some dinner?" She ignored the question. It was possible that Faren wanted to talk about it, but she needed them to wait for daylight for that kind of a conversation.

"No worries. What can I do?"

"Fill these with water." She held out their two boil bottles. They grabbed them and headed to the water line a good hundred metres from them. She returned to her pack to get out the compi sticks.

Having had a decent meal of soup, Audrey sent Faren to get more water to wash up with. She had moved down the beach to check on the lower border of their camp - the easier one to penetrate.

Satisfied, she turned to head back to their tent when she heard: "Sail in the water!" She swung back to view the river. Even in the low light, she could see Faren clearly bolting up the beach, but it was just that little bit dark to see past the water's edge. "Run!" Faren yelled. The edge of the water slooshed upwards followed by the elongated head of a spinosaurus.

"Gash it!" Audrey cried. "This way!" Good old Faren. Always followed her instructions immediately and this was no different. But this instruction happened to make them change direction suddenly, passing back in front of the sailed beast. It lunged at them, then paused, looking down. The bells jangled loudly before the line snapped. But it had brought Faren the extra two seconds they needed. They bolted up the beach towards Audrey, scrambling on the rocks. The spinosaurus on four legs didn't have quite the same difficulty, but the rocks slowed it down too. As Faren neared her by the forest edge, she yelled, "Watch the rope!" She had explained to them all of her traps over dinner. She just hoped they remembered.

Faren looked where she was pointing, eyes widening, head nodding. Barely missing a beat, they ran high-kneed on tiptoes through the maze of ropes strung backwards and forwards across the path. Even once they were clear, Faren kept running as fast as their legs could move them. "Wait," Audrey hissed. "Here." She dragged them into the fig she had prepared earlier and watched. The spinosaurus was only steps behind, but as it raised its foot, it got caught in the tangle of ropes. Settling that one down awkwardly, it raised the next, it also tangling. The beast fell with a crash.

"Now what?" Faren's eyes were filled with fear, their breath coming rapidly.

"How are you at climbing?" Audrey asked with a shrug. Then seeing Faren's dismay, continued. "I scouted out a ledge on the cliff earlier. Higher than a t-rex. It's going to be uncomfortable, but it beats that." She pointed to where the spinosaurus was writhing and slashing. "Come on, we don't have long."

Running from the bushes, Audrey grabbed a pack of supplies, and extinguished two of the three compi sticks before reaching the cliff face. She was frustrated the third was just too far away.

Before starting the climb herself, Audrey waited until Faren was a few metres up, then climbed up next to them. She had chosen this point as it was an easy climb. Even so, she moved slowly and steadily, as close to Faren as she dared. The whole way she chattered to them gently. "You're doing great Faren… that looks like a great hand hold, I might have to steal it… like climbing a ladder, right? … Bet the kids are much more comfortable than we're going to be, lucky tigers." For their part, Faren moved in fits and starts. Every time there was a new noise from the spinosaurus, they'd falter then rush. She would follow it with platitudes to help calm them. "Look up," she directed, meanwhile looking down herself.

The spinosaurus had finally freed itself and was now on the beach. "We're almost there." She forced herself not to scramble. They were a good four metres above the ground. It was pretty damn big. She just prayed it wasn't quite that big.

"Just keep climbing, climbing, climbing," she sang. The high pitch of the singing should hide any concern she felt from her voice. "Getting closer." Glancing back down, she realised they had been spotted. "Climbing higher." She upped her speed so that she was alongside, then slightly above Faren. "One foot moving, then the other." She paused, face directly on Faren, but really watching the spinosaurus below them, her fingers working the clip at her hip. "Keep your grip now. Hang on tight, yo." She saw Faren's fingers tighten just as a roar sounded below them. "Eyes on me, Far." She stared them directly in the eye and held them. "Out of reach yeah." She continued the song. "We can do it. Look above me."

The dinosaur jumped up, resting its webbed feet against the wall, but giving it that little bit extra height. Too bloody close. Pointing the flare gun she had released from its harness, she fired downwards. Considering the beast took up all the space below them, it was an easy target. If it flinched when she fired, it jerked when the flare hit. It dropped back down to all fours, roaring again.

"Almost there now." She returned her attention to Faren. "Beasty's gone now." She continued staring at them, willing them not to look down again." She moved a little higher, taking her eyes from Faren so they could pay attention to the rocks. "And now I'm at the top." She scrambled over the ledge.

Laying flat on her stomach, she looked back over. "Keep on coming." As much as she wanted to shift her gaze to the dinosaur below, she couldn't afford for Faren to follow it. She kept her eyes on them. "Try that rock here." She continued the rhythm and tone of her song. Faren was so close. "Now this one right there." They were almost up. Grabbing them by their pants, she hauled to help them over the edge. Faren lay exactly where they landed, panting. Audrey couldn't help herself. She looked over the edge. And exhaled. "It's gone." She used her normal voice. "It decided we weren't worth the trouble." She could make out the dark shadow heading back towards the water.

It took a long while before Faren sat up. By then, Audrey had laid out the emergency blanket for them to sleep under. "You think the kids managed to get past that monster?" Their voice almost sounded resigned.

"I'm sure they're still alive, Faren." Audrey sat down next to them and rubbed their back. "It only came after us because our compi sticks use t-rex urine." She showed them an unlit one she still carried with its wrapper on. "I didn't even know they still made those."

"You think?"

"I'm certain." She wasn't really, but she wasn't ready to give up yet. Sleep, on the rocky ledge under a light plasticy blanket, did not come easily to either of them that night.