They could not go home.

That was the bare fact that was clear to the three children. Gray, Zach and Jan had all reunited with one another after the great attack on California City. They still had bruises and cuts on their bodies. Jan had tried to hide it, but the boys could still tell that she was still shaken. Shaken by what had happened. And what was happening now.

Their homes, where they had spent their whole lives, was no longer their homes. They knew that with Biosyn in control of the Government now, the cruel organization would not allow them to show their faces without a few guns pointed at them. The public now knew them as dead. And as long as Biosyn had them wrapped around their crooked finger, no one could say that they were wrong.

It was a scary thought for all of them. One that chilled them to the very bone. But none of them wanted to face up to it. No. And neither did they wish to mention that they had a bunch of drug-induced Dinosaurs under their control. That was a fact that they were particularly scared of. Dinosaurs and humans were both dangerous on their own. But if they were both the threat, you would wish you were never born.

Gray had decided to read the silence. He led the way for his brother and girlfriend as they trudged through the woods. "Ok, the best thing we can do is to find a safe place to camp out. Somewhere where nothing on ground can attack us while we're sleeping."

"Like where? In a tree?" Zach questioned.

"It might be uncomfortable, but we could get used to it." Gray nodded. He turned his attention to Jan.

"I'm fine, Gray. Really." She said. Somehow, she had a funny feeling. As if something was following them. "So, about the trees?"

"Yeah," Gray looked around at the branches above them. "The best thing that we could do is probably find a tree to spend a few nights in, and find somewhere safe to live."

"Like where, Gray?" Zach sounded urgent. "Biosyn is in control of everything from here to pretty much India."

"Guys?"

"I dunno, Zach," Gray challenged his older brother. "I don't know what I'm even doing. Do you? You got any idea? Why don't you use that older brother brain of yours and find us a plan? I can't think of everything. I can't do everything. Pretty much like I did on the Island!"

"Guys?"

"Oh, is that how it is?" Zach pushed Gray a little bit. "Why don't you lay off man?"

Pretty soon, the little argument turned into a full out tussle. Jan had tried to raise her voice so that her boyfriend and his brother could hear her, but they were too busy grunting and yelling as Gray threw a punch at Zach. The oldest Mitchell flipped him onto the ground. The two then began to roll around as they fought.

But only the hissing made them stop.

They stopped dead in their rolling tracks as the noise echoed through the clearing they were in. They looked around to see where it was coming from, climbing back to their feet and forgetting their anger.

Gray turned back to Jan. He knew that she was the most scared out of all of them. He had to make sure that his little disagreement with Zach didn't disturb her too much. But when he looked at her, he saw that she was, indeed, frozen in fear. But not of their fighting.

But the Troodon snarling at them.

Green as grass with a red stripe along the backside, standing a meter tall, the Dinosaur stood with its head hunched down as it growled fiercely. They saw that it had begun to drool. The slobber was a strange color of green. But this was all Gray had to see to know that this meant one thing.

Venom.

"Zach, Jan," Gray said quietly and slowly, not taking his eyes off of the creature. "Run."

But Zach was facing the other way. And he shook his head. For as Gray looked to see what they were seeing, two more Troodons had made themselves known. They were surrounded. One Troodon for each of them.

Without thinking, Gray grabbed a nearby stick from the ground and threw it at the nearest one. It knocked back with a mild daze as it snarled and hissed. The trio then took this opportunity to run.

They heard the bat-like screech of one of the other two as they and their third companion ran after them, hoping to taste their flesh. They barked louder than a dog as they raced after the humans. Jan could hear them, closer than before. The Mitchell Brothers pulled her along, not letting her lag behind thanks to her trauma.

The three of them leapt over a long and raced forward. They heard the thumping of the Troodon claws as they, too, jumped over the fallen tree. The sounds of their snarling were something that could only be described as a mixture between crocodiles and hawks. The mere sound of it hurt their ears. But they fought the urge to look back. The three of them had to keep looking forward if they had any hope to get away.

But none of them counted on the large rock in their way.

They gasped in fear as they stopped dead in their tracks. They quickly turned around when they saw not just three Troodons, but now there were seven. They had nowhere to go now. Their skin ran as cold as ice. They backed up slowly as the dinosaurs advanced closer their way. Their fangs dripped with saliva and venom. Things did not seem to look so bright now.

And just when they were getting closer, they stopped. They began to shift their heads around, as if they had just sensed something new to the situation. Something that threw them off track. It was clear to the children that the Troodons were afraid of something now. They began to back up as their eyes widened. They saw something that made them immediately turn away, disappearing into the brush almost instantly.

Now this clearly confused the three of them. It was weird to see such determined predators just give up a hunt that easily. Not even Gray had seen anything like that. Suddenly, a noise reached their ears. It was some sort of low moan. It came from directly behind them. They all turned to see the rock that had blocked them.

Only that it wasn't a rock.

It was indeed a dinosaur that had been laying down. But now, it was standing up. It looked similar in appearance to an Ankylosaur, but had some notable differences. The spikes on its sides were longer and broader. The hard armor on its body was much thicker, and it lacked the club on the end of its tail. The animal shook its head like a dog, having narrowed its wide eyes at where the Troodons fled. It looked at the three humans and gave a grunt, blowing some smelly air into their faces.

Zach cringed at this and gave a groan. Gray watched the dinosaur with mild amusement and awe. "That's a Polacanthus. It's one of my favorite underrated dinosaurs!"

Jan blinked with excitement as the animal approached them. It looked at them with a simple expression. Its beak looked as if it had eaten some leafy greens before it fell asleep. Strange how no predators had gone after it in its slumber. A big thing like that would be hard to miss. But it sure scared those Troodons. They may have been venomous, but not even they seemed eager to attack something that much bigger than them.

The Polacanthus gave a snort and turned around. It heard something that the children heard as well. A loud, moaning sound in the distance, like a steer bellowing. The large quadruped then began to walk away in the direction of the sound. The children glanced at one another, each expression asking the other if they should follow or not. Well, perhaps it would be the best decision. They trudged after the dinosaur, hoping to find a safe place away from the predators of the woods. And, after what seemed like ages, they found where it was the Polacanthus was going. And being the author of this story, I can honestly say that what they found was pretty much what they expected. More or less.

The Polacanthus lumbered into a wide, open field that ran for miles. And he was not alone. Not only were there other Polacanthuses, but many other kinds of herbivores were standing all around. Many were grazing peacefully, while others were tending to the young ones under their wing. Gray and Jan blinked as they watched every animal go about their lives. Many of them they had recognized having taken place in the big stampede.

What hurt the most was that in some of the broods of hatchlings were smaller than they had been before. Gray and Jan had seen the stampede, and had noticed several broods of herbivores caught in the middle of it. Somehow, they had kept count of each one. And now, once the stampede was all but a memory, they noticed something rather sad. There were much fewer hatchlings among the herds. It only meant to them that there were several mothers who had lost a few of their children.

What hurt Gray the most about this was that this was probably how his mother felt. He knew that their home was standing back in the city, a destroyed and torn mess. The public knew them as dead now. And most likely, so did their mother. And their father, wherever he was living right now. He could not imagine how much that was hurting them right now.

Seeing as how the woods were not safe for them, there was no need for a debate on what their only option was. They stepped out from the tree line and entered the herds of Dinosaurs, only staying near the smaller species. They watched as some Ornithomimus strutted past them, looking at them with their large, bird-like eyes. A loud snort from behind scattered the long-legged runners.

Gray and the others turned to see a green-striped Dracorex standing there in a defensive stance. It shook its head like an ox, letting a cloud of dust escape its head. It let out a bellow as it flashed its frill forward. The children watched in fright as the animal continued to seemingly challenge them. But at the sound of another bellow, they turned their heads again. Another Dracorex had made its presence known from the other side of the spot in the field, causing a few Microceratops to scatter. This one was silver Grey and looked bigger than the other one.

The silver challenger let out a bellow to the green one, who returned the call. It pounded the ground with its foot like a bull, scraping it across the grass and tossing small pieces of dirt. The two dome-headed animals then charged towards one another. They ran as fast as locomotives. Gray and the others quickly dove out of the way as a loud THUMP could be heard.

Gray watched as the two Dinosaurs had rammed their heads into one another. The other Dinosaurs seemed to want to stay away from this brawl. No blood could be seen at how much brutality was being seen between the two herbivores. They rammed their heads into one another, pushing and showing. They seemed to be trying to knock the other down, like a boxing ring.

The children got to their feet and walked away from the fight cautiously. They found where a few Gallimimus had ceased their galloping and began to graze. Jan hid behind a rock and watched them. She pulled out the notepad she saved and began to sketch the closest creature.

Zach leaned back against a rock and tried to use his phone. He let out a groan and rolled his eyes as he found no bars waiting for him. Lucky he had his battery brick saved from the wreckage. A glance between the two was enough to clear the air from their little scuffle earlier.

Gray got up and brought his camera with him as he approached a clutch of bushes. He had heard something from the other side, and wanted to see what it was that was making the noise. He crawled close to the ground and pushed some of the limbs back. Once the limbs were good enough away, he could see to the other side.

The large hole in the ground was more than just that. It was filled with moss and leaves, enough to hold what was sitting in it. There were at least seven gray, speckled eggs all poking out.

Gray was looking at a nest.

And the large shadow being cast upon it gave him a clue as to what the mother was. He looked up to see a large shape lumbering around. He looked up to see an animal that looked like a Stegosaurus, but with spikes rather than plates. If Gray could talk right now, he would classify this animal as Kentrosaurus. But he knew that he had to be quiet.

Slowly but surely, he pulled out his camera. He quietly turned off the flash, not taking his eyes off of the animal. So many people these days spent their time at the zoo. But why spend money to see animals when a child's wildest imagination was right in their backyard? That was a question Gray asked himself ever since the Lockwood incident. Of course, this world-changing event was how he met Jan Pfeiffer in the first place. The two bonded over their fascination for John Hammond's creations. And they were sore to the fact that they were receiving so much prejudice from the public.

He clicked the button and took his picture. The noise it made caused the mother to loft her head from its nest. It blinked in confusion as it began to slowly look around. Gray crawled backwards and hid himself as he heard the Kentrosaur grunt, warding off who it thought were attackers.

He felt the ground shake underneath him. The animal was so large, it could crush him with one footstep. But wait. Why would the Kentrosaur be heading towards him? There was no room between him and the nest. To come close to him, it would risk the safety of its unmatched children. He took another peek at the nest. None of the eggs were harmed, and the mother hadn't moved an inch.

So what was shaking the ground so much.

A loud moan echoed through the valley. Most Dinosaurs ignored it as they continued to graze. There was a loud smashing and cracking in the woods. Gray walked back to where Jan and Zach were, who were equally confused as to what this noise was. Part of them were expecting to see one of the Pack, coming to ambush them and start another stampede. While the other half were just open minded. Suddenly, they felt the ground shake even more. And then a shape started to come from the woods. Now, as the writer of this story, I want to make clear that all dinosaurs are seen as either menaces to society or as beautiful creatures.

But for the Mamenchisaurus, there is always the possibility of indecisive reputation.

Dwarfing even the Brachiosaurus in height, the Mamenchisaurus was known as the biggest animal ever created by InGen. A neck taller than a water tower, there was barely any head or body at all. If the mere size of this sauropod did not scare you, then the long whip swaying from its end that would be called a tail would definitely do the trick. Gray aimed his camera up at the small head of the majestic beast and took a picture. He smiled broadly as one of his biggest aspirations since 2018 was finally coming true. Sauropods had always been one of his favorite species of dinosaurs. Yes sir, right now, I think that all three of the children were in agreement.

This would be where they were staying.

Welp, here's our favorite trio of survivors. Just like Zia, they are lost and left behind in the rubble that was once their home. Unable to return to civilization, they must adapt to a place where they do not belong. Yeah, seem familiar? Well don't worry, this isn't ripping off Camp Cretaceous. The children are doing the only logical thing at the moment and staying with the large plant-eaters. The bigger they are, the safer YOU are.

As you can already tell, things are not looking too well for our heroes at the moment. Biosyn have completed their objective of taking over the Government. Next chapter, we will see just what will come of their tyrannical rule. Courtesy of our Central antagonist, Henry Wu. So everybody please stay safe. Stay tuned, and Spare no Expense.