A/N I posted chapters 1-3 all together, so if you posted any reviews I may have not read them… Heheh, yeah…. I LOVE YOU ALL THOUGH! DON'T FORGET THAT.

Gods it was hot out. At least a hundred degrees, probably more.

Zoe sat outside base six. Apparently "checking it out" meant staying there and guarding it for two hours while the scientists got prepared to leave. She had already taken her camouflage shirt off and tied it around her waist, as well as striping off her forearm guards. There was no way they would be attacked by Phoenix's, they were way off their territory; so she didn't have to worry so much about armor protection. It was getting dusk, but Zoe knew they could be back before the dino's came out to hunt.

"Lieutenant Shannon," Miles said. He got permission to join Zoe on her base nine OTG from Taylor. Even though they were friends, they were required to call each other by their titles when on duty. How he managed to convince Taylor to let him join her? She shall never know.

"Yes Delilah?" That was his last name, and she could barely hold back a snicker.

"We've got a bit of a problem…" He stammered. His face had gone a ghostly pale, along with his eyes being about the size of dinner plates. He fumbled with his rifle, trying to hold it up but his arms seemed like they weren't responding to the rest of his body as he could barely hold it straight. What could have Miles so scared? He wasn't scared of anything but…

"SLASHERS!"

Zoe took off running. That was their best chance. The scientists had the sanctuary of the lab and would not be harmed; it was only the other four soldiers she had to worry about. She took a quick glace behind her. O'Bryan was dead, being torn apart by a group of maybe eight slashers. A Hunt. Jones was running West, towards the badlands. Good choice, but she didn't have time to run with him. Miles was running East. She would have to go save him later for he was running closely towards the gulley. Ankylosaur territory. Sure Ankylo's weren't that dangerous, but if anyone got too close to their nests, they could become viscous creatures. The last of the soldiers, Beckham, was nowhere to be seen, but he was a fast runner and most likely already made it to the trees.

Stumbling, he arms got torn and scratched by many ferns and brambles. Oh she wished she had kept her forearm armor and jacket on now; the slashers would smell the blood from two klicks away, practically sentencing her to death. Zoe didn't have time to check what direction she was going, all she needed was a tree, around a five foot diameter and a little more than twelve feet tall preferably. Luckily she got her answer. The tree was much taller than her original plan, and a bit wider, but the bigger the better. Quickly, she scurried up the tree, griping trunk until she was almost at the top. She quickly checked for Malcomus, the new nickname for the vulture-like creatures. Luckily, they were all gone to an island for maturity.

Zoe knew there was only a matter of minutes before two or more slashers would catch up with her. She checked her pulse rifle. Only forty-two shots left on the pulse, but she had two more packs of a hundred tied to her belt. Good, ammo was good. She had her water bottle with her, though it was only half full as well as about twelve feet of rope. No flint, no lighters, no matches. That was bad. No fire meant death. As soon as the slashers were gone, she would go down and look for some Hell Plant, a small flower that she learned made great tea and the roots were highly flammable, turning the entire thing into a flare. Food. That was another issue, she checked her pockets. She had a quarter of a pack of mint gum, but that would lead herbivores over to her. Tea wouldn't sustain her for long; she would have to go hunting for some Nemies, small flying creatures that tasted a lot like chicken in Zoe's point of view.

She heard thudding on the ground, obviously a slasher based on the two prance steps. She strained her ear to see if she could hear how many, but she couldn't tell if it was only one or an entire army. The tree's rustled. Just a small Micro, officially called a Microceretops. It clashed something between a very tiny slasher and a triceratops, only being about the size of a small dog. Herbivore.

She sighed, just a false alarm. Zoe checked the sky. There was no chance of her making her way back to Terra Nova without being caught by any sort of carnivorous creature. She didn't even know which way camp was. The forest around her was pretty much dry, and all the moss had fallen off the trees and the stars were covered by foliage and a few clouds. Anyways, for all she knew if she went any which way direction, it could lead her farther away from camp or right into Phoenix territory.

Making camp. That was the newest priority. If she couldn't have fire, she might as well have some sort of barrier. Looking up, she saw the branches above were thinner and more bendable. Reaching up, she pulled a group of them down and tied them with a bit of rope below her, making the outline of a dome just big enough for her. She then climbed up higher, snapping off a few more branches and bringing them down to weave in between the frame. Sooner or later, she had made a fully functional hut, strong enough to keep out wind and cold and high enough that non-flying creatures couldn't get to her.

Zoe leaned back, taking her uniform shirt and laying it on top of her. Not because it would keep her warmer, but it was more comfortable. "Thank you Wash," She whispered. "If it wasn't for you, I would be dead right now." She made a quick hope that Beckham and Jones made it back, and the Miles hadn't been trampled by a couple of Anyklos.

Slowly, she drifted into a very uncomfortable sleep.

A/N Sooooo…. How am I doing? Good? Kinda Good? Could be Better? Horrible I should stop writing forever? This chapter kinda felt short and choppy, but then again, I've had some writers' block and some… difficulties with school. R&R please! I EVEN ACCEPT FLAMES AND/OR BASHING.