Jack, Leon, Adrian, Alice and Cynthia were following a trail that they had found near camp. On the ground laid a multitude of dinosaur footprints. Jack sighed; the team were looking for big herbivores. They already had Edmontosaurus, Ornithomimus and Parksosaurus; combined with all the other animals they had caught, that only left Torosaurus, Triceratops and Ankylosaurus. Soon, they might tick one off their list… "These are definitely Torosaurus tracks, right?" Leon nodded, "Torosaurus or Triceratops." Jack sighed, "Good. How close are we?"
Cynthia looked at the trail and said, "We're getting close. I'd say we turn left and we'll find them." Her statement was confirmed by a loud, honking bellow from a nearby clearing. Following the call, they saw a herd of Torosaurus, of all ages and sizes, browsing from the trees. Jack looked at the herd and turned to the rest of the team, "They look like they aren't going to be going anywhere anytime soon. We can get the Jeeps and begin herding them…" Suddenly, another bellow echoed through the air. The lead male Torosaurus turned in the direction of the sound and sniffed the air. A few minutes later, a herd of Triceratops, of all ages and sizes, entered the forest and began browsing from the undergrowth. Jack said, "Well, we now have two species for the price of one."
A few minutes later, the two ceratopsian herds were on the move. They were accompanied by four Jeeps, corralling the herd; Jack and Leon were in the one in front, Cynthia was in back. Adrian drove the Jeep on the left, whilst Keehar sat in the passenger seat, whilst Alice drove the Jeep on the right; it was Jack who had suggested using the Jeeps to herd them back to camp. Jack noticed a Triceratops youngster breaking off from the herd, in Alice's direction "Alice, that one's breaking off." Alice nodded and moved the Jeep in the animal's direction, herding it back to its companions.
The Triceratops and Torosaurus had been a bit more difficult to herd than the Edmontosaurus, Ornithomimus and Parksosaurus; they were far more ill-tempered and stubborn than the other herbivores. However, they eventually got them all herded into the corrals at camp. They barely had time to stop before they headed back off again, to find some Ankylosaurus.
They didn't have far to go to find the last herbivore on the list. A short distance from the lake, they found a small group of Ankylosaurus, of all ages and sizes, browsing from the scrub at the edge of the forest. Repeating the system they'd used for all the other herbivores, the ankylosaurs were herded back to camp using the Jeeps.
After all the animals had been herded into the temporary corrals. Jack turned to a nearby team member and said, "Any word from Drew?" The team member shook her head and said, "Nope. Nothing." Hoping against hope, Jack looked at his communicator, to see if Drew had sent him a message at that moment. However, no such message had come. Jack sighed in both exasperation and concern; he looked around and muttered under his breath, "C'mon, Drew, where are you?"
Meanwhile, at the tyrannosaur nest, Drew sat, part awestruck and part terrified, as the three adult tyrannosaurs all roared at each other. This was going to escalate into a fight, and he was stuck right in the middle of it. The noise war was interrupted when the female tyrannosaur charged towards the giant male, head lowered. The giant male let out a single hiss of outrage as the female impacted in his side, knocking the wind out of him. He quickly recovered, however, and swung his massive head so it impacted into her flank. The female snapped at his tail, missing merely by inches, to which the giant male replied by delivering a bite to her flank.
The female, meanwhile, whipped round and lunged for the giant male's neck. However, she miscalculated; he dodged the blow and, with a speed that belied his massive bulk, the giant male whipped round and clamped his teeth around her left leg. Drew winced as a resounding crack echoed through the air. The giant tyrannosaur turned his attention to the male, who narrowed his eyes at the competitor.
The two males charged each other head-on and began a violent shoving match, occasionally breaking off to snap at each other. The smaller male, whilst outsized by his larger opponent, dodged an attempted bite and prepared to lunge for his opponent's leg. However, the large male lowered his head and charged forward, headbutting his smaller opponent in his centre of gravity, sending him tumbling towards the cliff edge. As he was about to fall off, Drew lifted the portal remote and pressed the button. The portal whirred into life, sending him back to the park and to safety.
The giant male tyrannosaur stopped in his tracks and stared, confused, at the glowing orb. This was something he'd never seen before; he regarded it with a mix of curiosity and uncertainty. The two juveniles, taking advantage of the giant's confusion, ran through the portal their father had gone through, into the present. The giant tyrannosaur took a few tentative steps towards the portal, regarding it with a mixture of both fear and curiosity…
Suddenly, a light appeared on the horizon, to the south. It grew swiftly in intensity and all creatures looked at it, confused. Drew's eyes widened with horror as he realised what this was. Meanwhile, back at camp, the animals were all beginning to twitch nervously as the light grew in intensity. Jack was looking at the light through his binoculars. His eyes widened in shock and he muttered, "Bollocks." Leon walked up to him and asked, "What is it?" Jack turned to Leon and said, in shattered tones, "The meteor's only gone and turned up early." Leon's eyes widened in horror and Jack ran into camp and said, "We have an emergency; the meteor's turned up early! We need to get everything through the portal now!"
Meanwhile on the hill, Drew and the two tyrannosaurs watched the light in the distance, with both fear and confusion. Suddenly, the light dissipated. For a few minutes, everything was calm. Then, suddenly, the land began to shake. As this was happening, a deafening roar echoed through the atmosphere; as if the Earth itself was screaming in pain. The roar segued into the wails of an oncoming hurricane-force wind. Massive araucaria creaked and cracked in the gale, as the giant tyrannosaur, choosing to take approaching the portal over certain death, sprinted through the portal as fast as his legs could carry him, into the present. Drew looked at the portal; now he needed to get the female T-rex and himself through. Easier said than done…
Suddenly, the winds began to intensify; it was all Drew could do to keep himself rooted to the ground. As he tried to hold on to something, a flying branch hit him in the middle of his back, knocking him over and causing him to let go of the portal remote. Drew fell to the ground and only barely managed to keep himself from going over the cliff. However, the portal remote was picked up by the winds and plummeted down a gully. The instant the remote landed, an audible crunch was heard and the portal suddenly flitted out of existence.
Drew's eyes widened in horror; the portal had been destroyed and he was stranded. However, he could think about that when he'd gotten to someplace safe before the winds blew him away. His eyes scanned the area to find a small cave; a perfect place to shelter himself. Drew, fighting the force of the wind, began to move towards the cave. The female Tyrannosaurus, managing to stand, followed Drew towards the cave, using all of her energy to drag herself there; her injured leg was slowing her down.
As they moved towards the cave, the winds intensified; eventually, the blast front practically sucked them into the cave. Shortly after they entered, a landslide happened on the cliff above, blocking the entrance of the cave and plunging them into darkness. Turning on his torch for a light source, Drew, exhausted, sat down beneath a rock to recover from the shock of what had just happened. The female T-rex lay on her belly, making to place none of her weight on her injured leg. She panted, both from exhaustion and from the pain of her injury. Drew looked around the cave and recapped his situation; his portal had been destroyed. He looked through his bag and picked up his communicator. It had been damaged when the stick had hit him in the middle of his back, but it could send one last message. Lifting the damaged device, he found the person he wanted to contact and inputted a message…
Meanwhile, back at camp, Jack was supervising the transportation of everything through the portal. The crates containing the Didelphodon and Dinilysia had been placed onto one of the Jeeps, whilst the trucks containing the pterosaurs, dromaeosaurs, Deinosuchus and the young female tyrannosaur, being driven by Adrian, Alice, Cynthia and Leon respectively were heading through the portal. The rest of the team had followed them in the Jeeps. Jack had stayed behind to open the gates and get the herbivores through the portal. Walking towards the gates of the herbivore pens, he opened every one of them. Walking towards the portal, Jack lifted the horn and pressed the button, and the sound began blaring out. The already panicked herbivores charged towards Jack and through the portal, moving as if a single entity.
When he got through the portal, to the park, Jack dived out of the way of the stampede, to avoid getting trampled by the oncoming herd. Once the last one had gotten through, he closed the portal. He looked up to see Kyle, Nikolai and Collete watching him from the walkway, with expressions of both surprise and concern. He climbed the steps to meet them and barely had time to speak before Collete grabbed him in a clumsy hug, much to Kyle and Nikolai's shock. Collete's eyes widened and she parted from Jack awkwardly. Sheepishly, she said, "I was worried about you, that's all…" Jack rolled his eyes and turned to Kyle and Nikolai, asking "Where's Drew?" Kyle, Nikolai and Collete's eyes suddenly widened and they looked, sadly, at the ground. Jack stared at them, confused, "What's happened?" The rest of the team had joined him on the walkway by this point.
Kyle sighed, and said, "We've lost contact with Drew. After he sent some Tyrannosaurus through the portal, it closed suddenly before he could get back through. We think the remote was suddenly destroyed. At best he's stranded, at worst… he's dead." Leon, his voice scarcely lower than a whisper, said, "What?"
Jack stared in wordless shock; Drew was, at best, stranded in the past. At worst, he could be dead. Jack scanned the team, who were all wearing looks of sadness and guilt. Cynthia was looking forlorn, dabbing her eyes with a tissue at her loss. And Leon… Leon looked almost shell-shocked, his body quaking in anguish, rendered practically mute with shock. Jack gave him a pained look of sympathy; of course, Leon would be hit hardest by this. With the exception of Adrian, Leon had known Drew longer than anyone else currently there. Leon said, his voice barely above a pained croak, "We never even got to say goodbye." Suddenly, Jack's communicator blinked and, as he picked it up, Jack's eyes widened at the message. "Or say hello…", he muttered. Leon turned to Jack and said, "What?" Jack turned to Leon and said, "I have an idea; a way to save Drew." Leon gave Jack a confused look, "What is it?" However, Jack was already rushing to the portal site, "I'll tell you when we get there. Allons-y, Leon; Drew's counting on us!"
