The earth tremor was as powerful as it was brief. Eventually, the forest returned to normal. Silenced by this display of nature at its most unpredictable and dangerous, the team looked at each other and decided to head away from the lake shore. As they moved up the hill, back to camp, they noticed that the forest was strangely quiet; as if everything had just suddenly gone silent. As they moved further, they noticed animals running hastily uphill, as if fleeing from something. After a few minutes, they reached the Leptictidium family's strangler fig. Suddenly, they heard a quiet, high-pitched, wheezing sound, as if some animals were in there, gasping for breath. Approaching the nest, they looked inside.

As they did, they noticed a strange, acidic smell hanging in the air. What they saw was horrifying. The mother Leptictidium was slumped in the corner of the nest, unmoving or breathing. It was quite obvious that she was dead. Her young were huddled by her body, wheezing for breath and quaking in terror. Alice, turning to Jack, said, "What happened here?" Suddenly, the carbon dioxide counter began beeping uncontrollably. Jack looked at his teammates, his voice trembling with horror, "Carbon dioxide. The earthquake did something to the lakebed. It shook it up, releasing some carbon-dioxide at the bottom; that's what's been going on." Alice gestured to the baby Leptictidium, now struggling to breathe, "If we don't get them back to the park, they're going to die." "You're right", Cynthia said, "We'll take them with us.". Alice gently picked up the little mammals and put them in one of the animal carriers. Once in the carrier, the little mammals began to move around and breathe more deeply, having just escaped the gas cloud. The carriers were airtight, so no CO2 could get in. They sprinted up the hill, back to their camp with the gas cloud following them.

After about twenty minutes of running, they reached their camp. Various animals were gathered around the camp; a small group of Propaleotherium, several Leptictidium and even a few Godinotia. There was something odd about all their behaviours; they were all twitchy and sniffing the air frequently, as if they were on constant alert for the arrival of the gas cloud. Cynthia turned to Jack and Alice and muttered, "Set up the portal." Jack and Alice did so, Cynthia pushed the button and the portal whirred into life. The animals around the camp didn't need much convincing to go through the portal and they sprinted through it, moving as if a unified entity, away from the dark force that was going to kill them. After the last animal had gone through, Jack turned to his teammates and said, "Right, well, that's done…"

Suddenly, they heard a loud chuffing. All three humans turned to see the male Ambulocetus dragging himself along the land, gasping for breath. Suddenly, Alice turned to her teammates and said, "You get everything packed up; I'll bring him back." Advancing towards the wheezing Ambulocetus, Alice wrapped her arms around his chest and lifted him up, holding his head above the gas cloud; as soon as his head rose, he began breathing as deeply as he could. For the next hundred metres or so, Alice carried the struggling, snapping primitive cetacean as best as she could, through the time portal, into the present. As Alice looked round, she saw Drew, Kyle, Nikolai and her teammates looking at him/her from the walkway. Still holding the Ambulocetus, who was now breathing rapidly, in an attempt to breathe in as much oxygen-rich air as he could, Alice yelled "Tell Linda that I've got an animal that needs treatment for carbon dioxide poisoning." Kyle lifted his walkie-talkie and said, "Linda; the team have a little surprise for you…"

With all that done, it was time for all the animals to be transferred to their new homes. The Leptictidium, Propaleotherium and Godinotia had been transferred to a new enclosure themed after an Eocene forest. They were all roaming their new home, looking for food. The Gastornis and the female Ambulocetus were being kept in enclosures nearby; the Gastornis were staking out new territories, whilst the Ambulocetus was swimming around its new pool, waiting for food. The giant ants were being kept in a large terrarium. The male Ambulocetus and the three baby Leptictidium, after having been treated for carbon dioxide poisoning, were all transferred to the recovery room. And everything was returning to normal at Prehistoric Earth.

Next time on Prehistoric Earth

The team go back to the Late Eocene

(An Andrewsarchus snaps at another)

To see the descendants of the Ambulocetus get big

(A Basilosaurus snaps at Drew)

Meanwhile, what's got Sharptooth in a mood?

(Sharptooth roars angrily)

All next time on Prehistoric Earth: Serpents of the Nile!

Rescue tally:

Leptictidium tobieni: 14 (6 males, 8 females)

Gastornis geiselensis: 3 (2 male, 1 female)

Ambulocetus natans: 2 (1 male, 1 female)

Propalaeotherium hassiacum: 26 (14 males, 12 females)

Godinotia neglecta: 17 (7 males, 10 females)

Titanomyrma gigantea

Meanwhile…

In a secluded part of the park, Cynthia lifted her communicator to her ear and said, "I'm here, boss." The person on the other end of the line said something, to which she responded, "Status update; no-one's found me out yet. I've been busy helping clean up after the breakout." She sighed, "Remember when I said that Leon was training the allosaurs? They were imperative in helping us contain the breakout." There was a pause, and Cynthia nodded, as the person on the other end said something. She responded with, "Well, I'm glad it was a success; having them on our side could be really beneficial in the future. If the people who're behind this try anything like that again…."

Cynthia sighed, before continuing, "I think this is bigger than we realise; I think this is being orchestrated by someone at the top. The very top; someone on the Novum board's behind this. Don't say anything to Theodore yet; I don't have the evidence to figure out who it is." At this statement, Cynthia paused, to allow the person on the other end to speak, before speaking again, "Yes, I know. Continue my infiltration until further orders and make sure I don't get compromised in that period. And, tell Theodore not to worry; if these people do anything like this again, we'll find them and we'll stop them."