The sun had yet to begin its climb through the sky, nor would it for a few more hours, but Nigel was already up and active – it appeared that the camp had visitors.

Feathery, clawed visitors.

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise," noted the naturalist, watching as the raptors skittered across the camp, chasing after lizards and mammals. "These are Bambiraptor, the smallest raptor species known from the Americas. Theses creatures are tiny, but they're still vicious hunters. Of course, being so small, they're in constant danger of being eaten by larger predators, so it's likely they only come out at night, or when there is a prize worth fighting over."

Speaking of hunters, something else in moving into the camp – an oviraptorid. Its appearance causes the raptors to search for the nearest available shelter…which happens to be the tent that Tristan, Michelle, and some of the camera crew are sleeping in. A muffled shriek soon follows, followed by dinosaurian hissing and distinctly human growls. The oviraptorid, now joined by more of its kind, watches this for a moment, allowing Nigel to sneak behind them and set up the portal.

The minute the time machine activates, the oviraptorids let out a shriek in surprise, which is soon followed by a sonorous bellow – a groggy Terence's way of telling them to shut up. Surprised by the roar, the maniraptorids turn tail and run into the portal, deciding to take their chances rather than face the hungry tyrannosaur. A moment later, Tristan and Michelle emerge from their tent, each holding a large slap of meat. The tiny raptors soon follow, and it isn't long before they are in the safety of the present.

The disturbance now handled, the team returns to their tents to try and get some extra sleep.

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Some time later in the present, the sun is beginning to ascend through the sky. While the herd that the team was following had begun to awaken, at the park, an older resident was already searching for food.

Hidden away in a tide pool, the reptile clamped its jaws down on the shellfish and pulled, eventually succeeding in dislodging its prey from its anchor point. Greedily, the reptile crushed the shells, savoring the delicious flesh within, before turning its attention to the next one.

The reptile was a Thalattosaurus, namesake genus of the thalattosaurs. Alongside its relative Nectosaurus, it was the only representative of its kind at the park, at least in terms of diversity. They were completely outclassed in that regard by their contemporaries, the ichthyosaurs, of which five genera called the park home. Still, they manage well enough.

As the sun makes its way up the sky, though, the reptiles will abandon the beach and the tide pools – there is better fodder in the deeper parts of the shallows.

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Back in the past, the hadrosaurs were on the march – the search for food was endless.

As a foraging species, Maiasaura are outstanding in their field.

This was exactly how Daspletosaurus like to find them – out standing in a field.

With noses greater than any bloodhound, it had taken the pack elders no time at all to find the herd. Now, they were once again looking for an opening to strike. Most eager to attack was the youngest member, a juvenile male named Das. It had been Das who had ruined the previous day's hunt, and now was his chance for redemption. Still, he needed to be cautious – the herd would be much more alert this time around.

A change in the wind, however, alerted das to the smell of another herbivore – this one also a hadrosaur, but one he wasn't too familiar with. The creature was Prosaurolophus, a herd of which was cresting a nearby hill. Their path would inevitably put them on a collision course with the Maiasaura, and the increase in herd size and sentry numbers would make hunting either one more difficult.

Hearing a grunt from his mother, Das turned and saw his sisters beginning to move away. Unwilling to be left behind, Das followed, though making sure to stay out of biting range.

The forest ahead of him was thick, however, and despite his best efforts, Das soon became lost. Now forced to rely upon his sense of smell, Das attempted to find his family, but now their scent was diluted with that of three other tyrannosaur species – two of which he was entirely unfamiliar with, other than that they smelled like tyrannosaurs. The last one belonged to a Gorgosaurus, and it was strong enough that Das was starting to get very worried.

Fumbling his way through the forest, Das eventually found an opening. There, as he stepped out of the tree line, he saw several scaly faces.

Scaly, horned faces.

Before him was a herd of ceratopsians with downward curving nose horns – Einiosaurus, as humans would eventually call them. The herbivores had been browsing when Das had suddenly made his appearance. Now, two of them were staring at a juvenile tyrannosaur, one that was likely a scout for a larger pack.

For a moment, no one moved.

Then, a rasping growl filled the air as a blue shape darted out of the trees and charged toward the herd – the Gorgosaurus was on the offensive. With the herd distracted by the straggling Daspletosaurus, now was the time to strike.

Immediately, any animosity between Das and the hornheads was abandoned, as both began to run. Das especially was nervous – albertosaurs would gladly kill their stockier cousins to avoid competition in the future, and he was certainly an easier target than the hornhead. Speed and stamina were on Das' side, though, and if he could keep away from the larger tyrant dinosaur, he might just make it through the day.

As the herd charged downward, they eventually collided with the Maiasaura. Said hadrosaurs were already on the run, having seen the ceratopsians headed their way. Das, meanwhile, stumbled upon his family, who had just been getting ready to attack the herd.

His mother briefly watched the albertosaur chase the herbivores, before turning her attention back to her son. Without missing a beat, she grabbed onto his head with her jaws and pressed just hard enough to cause pain, before releasing her son and proceeding to nuzzle him. The albertosaur may have been the cause, but the herd escaping was still partially Das' fault.

With their hunt once again ruined, the pack began its march once more, hoping to find a better angle of attack.

They had no idea that the herds would link up with others in a matter of minutes, nor that a herd of Hypacrosaurus was also on a collision course with their prey, or that the pack this albertosaur belonged to was following that herd, or that everyone was being watched by a group of humans and two tyrannosaurs.

And few, if any, of the creatures living in this area knew that, in a few hours' time, the mountain that had been spewing ash out for the last few days would explode, burying everything in the area in volcanic ash.

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AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!