The Great Survivors

The park's opening was now only a single week away. And this was proving a source of equal parts excitement and nerves for the staff as they all did their usual business while also double checking to make certain that all the required preparations were indeed successfully set up and ready for when the all-important date finally arrived. Fortunately, much to the relief of all the staff currently involved, everything currently appeared to be in working order and likewise as requested and desired for opening day.

Kyle nodded his head, an approving smile on his face as he took note of the current state of the park's main entrance zone. "I'll admit," he said. "I was not fully expecting everything to look so well and in order this close to opening day."

Nikolai, who just so happened to be standing nearby, let out a low snort and nodded his head. "Well fret no more comrade," he stated before taking another glance at the Main Street path behind him, all in perfect working order and ready for when guests would come to visit and be capable of dining and shopping there. "So far, everything's looking exactly as desired."

"And good thing to."

At this, the head keeper and chief of security turned their heads to see none other than Linda come to a stop not too far away from them as she to observed the main street entrance zone. "I'll say it again, Kevin and his men certainly did a number on this place once they got their heads out of their asses and started taking all this seriously."

"No kidding."

Kyle, Nikolai, and Linda turned their heads to see Khatin strolling down Main Street and in their direction, nodding his head in approval as he observed the environment around him. "With how utterly piss poor of a job they were doing at being even remotely helpful in getting this all set up for opening day during their earliest days of work here, the fact that they were able to get the park in its current condition at all, let alone with only a week left till opening day, is quite frankly a miracle in and of itself." He turned his head to look in the direction of the main staff office building. "And considering just how reluctant Drew's been to accept the presence of his two new co-mangers, the fact that the park's reached this point without any major setbacks is even more miraculous than it was already shaping up to be."

At this, the other chiefs of staff couldn't help but nod their heads in agreement. It hadn't been very long since the day that Matthew and Jenny had arrived and begun their work as Drew's co-managers, but Drew had so far still proven himself very slow indeed to accept their presence at the park. "Quite frankly, I'm just glad that so far Matthew and Jenny have so far proven competent at their new jobs despite Drew's current behaviour towards them," Kyle eventually stated. Linda nodded her head in agreement, "Thank God for small mercies I suppose."

Nikolai also nodded in agreement, "Da, we'd indeed best be thankful for small mercies." He looked in the general direction of the holding pens. "Especially considering how, thanks to Theodore's rather interesting sense of timing, today could yet be one of the most likely times for Murphy's Law to strike."

Kyle sighed at the memory of just what event going on today Nikolai was currently referring to. "Too true," he muttered before shaking his head side to side. "Of all the times Theodore could decide for the rescue team to go on a brand-new mission, he just had to pick a time so close to opening day."

"Well on the bright side," Linda grumbled. "At least this time we didn't have to construct a completely brand new exhibit zone."

"Aye," Khatin agreed, nodding his head at the memory of how that day's mission had only required some renovations to the Hell Creek and Flaming Cliffs exhibit zones. "As you said before, we can certainly be grateful for the small mercies that have come our way." He then let a small smile come on his face. "And now that I think about it, we should probably also be glad that the promised new staff have all arrived in the time leading up to today. Certainly, wouldn't want to have to deal with both new staff arrivals on top of a new mission today when there's so much riding on things going somewhat smoothly today."

"You're not wrong there," Nikolai muttered, his eyes narrowing into a glare as he directed his gaze in the general direction of where the security headquarters was located. At that very moment, he couldn't help but remember how he still had a lot of work to do in making sure that all the newly hired security guards would be able to work together properly alongside the ones who'd already been at the park beforehand, with one newly hired guard in particular being one he'd noticed to have already started forming an unpleasant enmity with Bristow and Farnsworth.

"Well regardless of what small mercies we can be thankful for right now," said Kyle, "we'd still best be on our toes today. After all, at Prehistoric Park, the chances of something crazy happening always tend to be worrisomely high, especially on days like today." He then glared in the direction of the main staff office building. "And for God's sake, Drew had so better know what he's doing today."

. . . . .

Meanwhile, in Drew's office, the entire rescue team was gathered to be briefed. And in that instant, all five of Drew's 'underlings' amongst the rescue team had varying degrees of amusement and concern on their faces.

"I still think it's kinda risky," Cynthia stated, "going on a mission so close to opening day. And right when everything seems to be largely going smoothly to."

Jack couldn't help but let out a slight nervous chuckle. "Pretty sure we heard you the last time you said that," he stated, hoping to lighten the mood a little. Alice, Leon, and Adrian all directed a brief glare on their faces as if to indicate now really wasn't a good time to make a joke like that. Then the entire team looked to Drew once more.

Drew sighed, "I'll freely admit, the timing's definitely cutting things close." He nodded his head. "But at the end of the day, Theodore's the boss. And if he thinks now's a good time for a mission, I'm certainly not gonna argue with him." At this, the entire team looked meaningfully at each other in concern, well aware of how Drew likely hadn't yet fully forgiven Theodore for his involvement in the recent hiring of Matthew and Jenny as the park's new co managers if his current unexcited sounding words about the founder and CEO of Novum were any indication, especially after he'd previously always tended to talk pretty highly of both Theodore and of any and all missions the team got assigned from him. "And at any rate," Drew continued, "in light of just what sort of work turned out to be required to prepare the park for today's mission compared to all the other missions we've done before now, the mission we've been assigned for today is considerably less inconvenient than it could have otherwise been. After all, the animals we can expect to find and rescue today are ones that can be easily placed within the Hell Creek and Flaming Cliffs zones of the park, both of which are currently still making good progress in undergoing the renovations Theodore recommended them to undergo."

Adrian raised his eyebrow. "And just what animals are we being asked to collect for today's mission?"

Drew nodded his head as if to say 'fair question. "Simple," he responded before clasping his hands together. "Today we're bringing back some of the last dinosaurs to ever live. Specifically, we're going to after the meteorite impact – about a year, to be precise, and get what we can find. Now before any of you ask, we'll only be going to two locations this mission. Specifically, considering the formations we're currently getting renovated for the sake of today's mission, we'll be going to the Javelina Formation in Texas first and then we'll be returning to where we previously visited in Mongolia for the velociraptor mission. And while I've been informed that the Maevarano formation would have likely been a good place to travel for an 'Aftermath of KT Day' mission, I do believe we've pretty already gotten every creature we could conceivably find there the last time we visited that formation. And all the best formations we could travel to in this mission's time period for the remaining four continents would require construction of entirely brand new exhibit zones, which would be far too inconvenient for us to start constructing at this current time." At this, Jack gave Drew a confused look, "Will there even be anything left to save at the point in time we're traveling to, regardless of where we go?"

"Actually, there will be a lot more to rescue than you think."

Jack looked to Leon, who nodded his head. "Contrary to what most media would have us believe," Leon explained, "mass extinctions don't kill everything off overnight. They're cataclysmic yes, but they take many thousands of years to fully achieve the expected affect. The dinosaurs took 33,000 years to die off, so if we travel to only a single year after the meteor's impact, most of the local dinosaur species will almost certainly still be around, even if struggling to survive."

Alice sighed, "I'd imagine the environment would be quite hazardous – at this point, the acid rain and fires are probably going to be gone, but in Texas, there'd be quicksand and poisoned waterways and, in Mongolia, giant sandstorms."

"Yes, Alice", Drew said, "Make this less appealing than it already sounds." He paused, "Y'all still up for it?" The team all nodded, to which Drew smiled, "To the portal, D-bags."

At this, his five teammates couldn't help but let out a brief chuckle in unison. This was more like the Drew they usually knew.

. . . . .

Fifteen minutes later, the rescue team had made it to the main portal site. Naturally, Kyle and Nikolai were already there alongside all the other keepers and security guards who'd been selected for the holding pens team that day. Also present, much to Drew's chagrin, were Matthew and Jenny . And at that moment, both of Drew's unwanted 'partners' in Prehistoric Park's management nodded their heads, a determined look on their faces.

"Here's wishing you all the best of luck today," Matthew said as he stared firmly, but not unkindly, at the assembled rescue team.

"We'll be depending on you all making it back safe and sound," said Jenny . "And everything all around going smoothly without causing any major setbacks."

Drew nodded his head, a pokerfaced look on his face that successfully hid just how irked he felt underneath to have his two 'partners' at the park at all. Jack, however, flashed Jenny and Matthew a thumbs up with a confident smile on his face. "Your concern is appreciated," he said. Leon nodded in agreement. "We'll do our best," he added. Drew directed a surreptitious glare towards his teammates from out the corner of his eye, but otherwise didn't react.

Matthew nodded, "Well here's hoping your best will yield favorable results." Jenny nodded as well, "Agreed."

The two co-managers stepped back, at which point Drew rammed his right fist against his left palm. "Right then," he stated. "Time's a wasting."

And so, at a glance from Drew, a nearby technician entered the necessary coordinates for the mission into the portal technology before then summoning the portal in all its glory. And once the distinctive blue vortex had materialized, Drew looked to his team. "Shall we?"

The rest of the team nodded, and with heads held high and confident smiles on their faces, they all went eagerly through the portal.

. . . . .

Mere seconds after they stepped through the portal, the team stepped out to find a depressing scene waiting for them. The sky was a deep grey and almost completely covered with dark clouds, and a dead forest full of charred tree trunks lay as far as the eye could see. The ground was covered in grey mist and a river, now clogged and concealed by ash, mud, dirt, and dead plants, sat at the foot of the nearest hill.

At the bleak enormity of the landscape, the team went silent. For what felt like an eternity they all stared wordlessly at the bleak landscape around them, somehow unable to process the scale of the disaster that had recently transpired. "Well, enough gawking, D-bags," Drew eventually said unenthusiastically. "These animals aren't going to save themselves." Alice sighed, "Our best chance will be in the hills – animals could hide from both predators and prey, seek shelter, and find food." Leon nodded in agreement, "Sounds about right."

Drew sighed grimly and said, "Yeah, let's do it" before they started to hike towards the hills. They walked through the desolate landscape, looking around at the destruction. It had the feeling of a mausoleum. Forests had been charged and flattened. They passed a dead Tyrannosaurus pair lying next to a nest of broken eggs, as a dead embryo seeped out of the nearest. An entire herd of Edmontosaurus lay next to the river, their heads turned towards the water, as a small herd of ceratopsians lay dead in the forest, the adults surrounding their young in a vain attempt at protection. Adrian winced as they came upon a Quetzalcoatlus, once a mighty ruler of the skies, lying battered and broken. Cynthia, seeing this, nodded her head with a clear look of sympathy on her face. "Just goes to show just how lucky the animals you were able to save the first time round were, doesn't it?" Adrian sighed, "Yup."

For several more minutes, the team looked at each other in quiet sadness at the bleakness around them, surrounded by the bodies of the long gone, none of them entirely sure what to say. Suddenly, a rumbling sound came from within the hills… a rumbling that sounded awfully familiar. At this, the entire team looked to each other. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, fearless leader?" Jack asked. "One way to find out," Drew responded. And at that, the team went running into the hills. Within minutes, the team arrived directly at the center of the area surrounded by the hills, where they found six large Alamosaurus, of varying size and age, surrounding a small, fresh spring. As the giant titanosaurs mildly jostled past each other to get to the small spring, Jack looked at them curiously, "I thought alamosaurs were solitary?" Leon nodded his head in acknowledgement. "This must be because of the spring," he then stated, whilst Alice winced. "They're certainly desperate." Adrian nodded his head. "What they'd give for a little extra water," he muttered.

That gave Drew an idea. "Well lucky for them, we brought some," he stated as he placed the backup water tank on the ground, before tuning to Adrian, "Can you pass me the shovel, Adrian?" he asked. "I've got an idea." Adrian handed him the shovel, at which point Drew dug a hole and filled it with cool water from the backup portable water tank. The sound of digging attracted the attention of the alamosaurus and the titanosaurs turned to see Drew filling. For a few minutes, the sauropods all stared uncertainly at the new mini-spring. "Come on, come on, follow the water", Drew muttered under his breath.

Eventually, with a low bellow, one of the alamosaurus began to slowly lumber its way towards the makeshift spring, with the other five following suit seconds later. As they reached the waterhole, all six of the titanosaurs began eagerly drinking. And as the sauropods drank, Drew looked to Leon and Jack. "You know what to do," he said. Leon and Jack nodded, with the former drawing out his broadcasting device as well as some leaves from the park's Hell Creek exhibit zone that he knew Custer liked to eat while the latter drew out his portal remote in preparation for summoning the portal. All they needed to do now was patiently wait for the sauropods to finish drinking their fill.

Their patience soon proved well rewarded when the six alamosaurus at last finished drinking a mere five minutes later. And in that instant, right as the six sauropods were seemingly about to turn around and depart, Leon played a recording of one of Custer's bellows to attract their attention while Jack pressed the button on his portal remote to summon the portal. And while the sauropods briefly recoiled in surprise at the vortex of light suddenly materializing into view, the allure of the food outweighed any fear at the strange glowing vortex. Drew nodded his head a smile on his face, "Good job, guys."

After the last of the six sauropods had gone through, with Jack closing the portal immediately afterward, Drew turned to his team and was about to say something when, suddenly, a low bellow alerted the team to something striding out of the gloom… a large, female Edmontosaurus, accompanied by four juveniles. At the new arrival, Drew nodded his head. "Uncontaminated water's a rare thing in this landscape," he admitted, a proud grin forming on his face, realising the usefulness of this homemade spring. "This could attract animals from miles around." Alice quietly said, "That's what I'm worried about."

A confused Drew was about to ask her why, when a squawk sounded through the hillsides, and a pectinodon came out from around the nearby corner directly behind the edmontosaurus family. And the team immediately noticed that there was something wrong with it – its eyes were bloodshot and its pupils had contracted to slits. It walked with a slight limp and had an almost maniacal gleam in its eyes, as its mouth foamed with saliva; in fact, it looked almost rabid. Looking at the mother edmontosaurus, it charged at her with a shriek, its claws stretched and its mouth open…. before the mother edmontosaurus crushed it with a single stamp.

The rescue team winced at the brutality of the pectinodon's demise, except for Leon, who was looking thoughtfully at the scene. The pectinodon had been behaving rather oddly- even for a desperately hungry predator, its behaviour had been borderline suicidal. And then there was the foaming at the mouth and the bloodshot eyes... Before he could muse on this any further, a low, barking caw split the air. The hadrosaurs, having just reached the makeshift small water hole, turned their heads in alarm while the rescue team likewise looked in the direction the unwelcome noise had come from... just in time to see another, larger raptor come walking out. It was large, roughly fifteen feet long, and almost as tall as Adrian. Its ribs were jutting out; it clearly hadn't eaten for quite a long time. It had a mangy coat of brown and white feathers, with a feathery fan at the end of its tail and it had piercing orange eyes. With these features alone, it would have been unsettling.

The raptor scanned the area, a maniacal light in its eyes. The two orange orbs watched the humans before it saw the baby Edmontosaurus with the adult. Eyes mad with hunger, the raptor charged at the hadrosaur with a great shriek, its claws stretched and mouth agape. The adult Edmontosaurus saw the raptor charging at the juveniles before it turned to the animal and charged it, moving to kick the attacker with one massive front foot. The raptor ducked from the blow and hissed at the larger animal.

"I think I know what it is" Leon observed. "That's a Dakotaraptor. They were amongst the largest of dromaeosaurs; they served as an intermediary between Dromaeosaurus and T. rex." Looking at the raptor, Jack said under his breath, "This one doesn't look like he's eaten for quite some time." He then looked meaningfully at all five of his team mates, "And a hungry predator is a desperate predator."

The female Edmontosaurus was now on high alert. The cries of other Dakotaraptor came from all around, worrying the mother and her juveniles. None of the team had anything on them to lure the hadrosaurs towards the time portal… and on top of that, the Dakotaraptor pack were preparing to attack. Drew bit his lip before two more Dakotaraptor jumped onto the mother from the top of a nearby hill before one got shaken off, landing on its feet like a gymnast. The other used its foot claws to hang onto her, like a demented rodeo rider, trying to find an opening to bite the hadrosaur protecting her young.

This went on for several minutes before the raptor astride the mother edmontosaurus's back got a lucky bite. He bit the scar of an old wound on the female hadrosaur's shoulder, where the skin was less thick, puncturing it before jumping off and landing, nimbly on the ground. The mother hadrosaur was in pain, but continued to fight the Dakotaraptor, determined to protect her young. But while they would have normally retreated under other circumstances, hunger had literally driven them insane and they now were trying to climb up her back and to her head.

"Drew!" Leon yelled. "Have you got a plan? We need to help her!" As if to emphasize the seriousness of the situation, the mother hadrosaur bellowed and the Dakotaraptor hissed indignantly. Suddenly, the rest of the pack emerged from the bushes and began circling the mother hadrosaur, snapping and snarling hungrily. The mother could not fight off all of them; when she charged at one, another two would take an opportunity to sneak around her and get at her young. "Alice!" Drew yelled to his teammate closest to the juveniles, which at this point had gone to ground underneath a nearby shriveled up bush. "Save the juveniles!" Almost reflexively, Alice wordlessly activated the time portal, with Cynthia hurriedly drawing out some fresh Hell Creek leaves from her backpack to help provide additional incentive while Leon likewise drew out his broadcasting device and selected an edmontosaurus recording. And from there, Alice, Leon, and Cynthia were able to swiftly usher the baby hadrosaurs into the twenty-first century.

The mother hadrosaur saw her four offspring disappear, but showed no sign of alarm, almost as if understanding that they were going to a place where they would be safe. Turning around in one swift movement, she started running away from the Dakotaraptor pack. The raptors, unwilling to let their prey get away, chased after the fleeing herbivore.

The chase continued for several minutes, the mother hadrosaur occasionally swiping her great tail at the raptors before eventually rushing right between two large cliff walls. The dakotaraptors swiftly followed the hadrosaur inside, not giving her a chance to rest. The team followed the dakotaraptor pack into the canyon… just in time to find that the hadrosaur and raptors had seemingly vanished into thin air. "Where are they?" Drew muttered before a dirt cloud rolled down the canyon wall and stopped at his feet. At this, the entire rescue team raised their eyebrows. "What the?" Leon had just enough time to say before the sound of the mother hadrosaur bellowing and the dakotaraptors snarling and cawing split the air from towards the top of the apparent cliff wall ahead of the team.

Eyes widened, the team looked up to see the marks in what turned out to be a very steep, but still climbable, cliff wall. And from there, they looked higher to see that the raptors had cornered the hadrosaur at the edge of the cliff at the top, circling her, snarling and cawing as they waited for her to tire. From between the clouds, several golden rays of light trying to pierce through flickered before becoming obscured once more by the clouds. It was almost as if something big was watching from above, waiting for whatever happened next.

The mother hadrosaur seemed to look down at the six humans before pawing the ground with one of her front feet. She turned her gaze back to the raptors before making a false charge at the carnivores. The raptors jumped back, startled… before the ground cracked under the hadrosaur's feet. The expressions of surprise were clear on the raptors' faces as they noticed this development; they were clearly not expecting this…. but then they looked back up towards the mother hadrosaur and stared with a sense of expectancy, as if waiting for their prey to fall. This was all the rescue team needed to see to know that they had to move.

"Go!" Drew yelled as the team hurriedly ran away from the walls, managing to make it to a safer distance as the ground directly underneath the mother hadrosaur's feet finally crumbled. The raptors, staying where they were, patiently watched the crumbling cliff edge before the hadrosaur at last fell into a cloud of dust and dirt. The hadrosaur let out agonized bellows, gradually becoming weaker.

The dust cloud that ensued from the collapse of the cliff blocked everyone's vision, making it impossible to see what had happened. Regardless, the team, without thinking, ran into the dust to look for the hadrosaur…. when they found it, the sight they saw sickened them. The raptors had inflicted deep wounds on the hadrosaur's neck and flanks… however that wasn't what immediately grabbed the team's attention. One of the hadrosaur's back legs was twisted at an angle, presumably broken by the fall. From her labored breathing and glassy eyes, all the team made one, heart-breaking conclusion… she was too far gone.

The team turned to Drew, wearing wounded looks, as Leon said in a heartbroken voice, "You know what we've got to do." Drew nodded, trying to fight back the tears welling up in his eyes as he walked calmly up to the edmontosaurus, Jack and Leon resolutely walking on over alongside him to assist however they could. Upon reaching the dying hadrosaur, Jack began calmly stroking the top of her head to try to soothe her while Leon similarly began stroking her on her back. And as his two companions worked to calm her down, Drew lifted a gun to the back of the hadrosaur's head, quietly saying, "Don't worry… you won't even feel it." The hadrosaur exhaled or the last time and closed her eyes, holding her head with an almost dignified acceptance. The shot rang through the valley and the team, silent, held their head like mourners. The hadrosaur was dead. Drew looked at the dead edmontosaurus, a tear running down his face. Whilst he regretted not being able to save her, the realist in him said that they couldn't save every creature – and, anyway, her pain was over and they had saved her young.

Suddenly, a loud squawk echoed through the canyon. The raptor pack emerged from out of dust and, in a flash, the six humans moved away from the dead hadrosaur and hid behind a nearby rock - there was no bigger faux pas than getting between a carnivore and its meal. However, the hadrosaur's death, and the smell of meat, had attracted many other scavengers. Two adolescent dromaeosaurus and a pack of red faced and black and white feathered dromaeosaurs – Dineobellator, according to Leon – emerged from the forest, to steal meat from the larger dromaeosaurs. The Dakotaraptors hissed at the intruders, who backed off, but remained close to the kill, occasionally darting in to steal smaller pieces of meat while the Dakotaraptor were looking away.

However, these weren't the only scavengers attracted by the meat. The team moved further out of the way as six dark shapes came out from the clouds and descended towards the hadrosaur carcass. When the dust cleared, they were revealed as a small flock of Quetzalcoatlus, almost twice the size of Cirrus back at the park, flying down to look for carcasses. Watching the giant pterosaurs, Leon said, under his breath, "Quetzalcoatlus northropi."

Looking at them in a closer light, they could see several differences between them and the quetzos back at the park – size aside, they had dark brown pycnofibers, as opposed to black, and red skin, rather than grey and dark blue crests rather than red. The pterosaurs all looked ragged, exhausted – the team looked at each other… these could be among the last of their kind on Earth.

The Dakotaraptors snarled at the pterosaurs, not particularly willing to give up their kill. However, the nearest pterosaur advanced and gave a loud screech…. to which the Dakotaraptors backed off very quickly. Their first proper meal in months was not worth challenging these enormous pterosaurs. The smaller dromaeosaurs also decided likewise. This gave the team time to open the portal and send them all through after enticing them over with offerings of fresh pork from the park kitchens as well as dromaeosaur recordings from Leon's broadcasting device.

The sound of additional pterosaur screeching splitting the air immediately after the departure of the dromaeosaurs caused the team to look quickly back towards where the quetzalcoatlus were now feasting with a frenzied hunger upon the edmontosaurus carcass... just in time to see they were no longer alone. "Looks like we have some newcomers," Drew then said, his eyebrow raised as the Quetzalcoatlus were joined by a flock of creamy yellow pterosaurs with shorter snouts and rounded orange crests with sky blue stripes – wellnhopterus, according to the info-packs. "This must be the first meal they've had in days," Adrian stated as he watched the pterosaurs ravenously feasting upon the carcass they'd effectively stolen from the dromaeosaurs… before he realised Leon was deep in thought – turning to his friend, he said, "Penny for your thoughts?"

Sighing, Leon said, "Remember the pectinodon we saw before the Dakotaraptor showed up? Attacking an animal so much bigger than it… that wasn't normal behaviour even for a desperately hungry predator. There was something wrong with it. It had a disease." Jack shrugged, "Maybe that's what happened – the meteor brought their numbers down… and a plague finished them off. I mean, it's a good a theory as any, right, Drew… Drew?"

At this point, the team noticed that Drew was walking, as stealthily as he could towards the pterosaurs. Sighing, Jack said, "Tell me he isn't…", to which Leon said, "Oh yes, he is." And indeed, Drew was standing and blaring the horn at the pterosaurs, who hissed and squawked at him - it wasn't long before both flocks of pterosaurs dove through the portal, moving as if a single entity. No sooner had the quetzalcoatlus and wellnhopterus all disappeared through to the park when Drew closed the portal and turned to his team with a triumphant smirk on his face. "Let's keep searching," he purred.

. . . . .

For the next half hour that followed, the team hiked further through the desolate landscape, hoping to find more animals. As they walked, they came upon more of the dead – dead hadrosaurs, ceratopsians and ankylosaurs… before they came upon the corpse of a dusty brown scaled ceratopsian they didn't recognize, with a longer, wider frill than the triceratops and torosaurus back at the park. However, that wasn't what ultimately draw the team's attention.

A juvenile, its horns scarcely nubs, was nudging the carcass of its dead mother, whimpering piteously. The rest of the baby's herd were nowhere to be seen – it didn't take a genius to work out what had happened to them. Leon said, quietly, "Bravoceratops – I didn't know they lived this late. Interesting." Jack gave Leon a dirty look, "Uh, Leon – place and time? How about we ponder the surprising temporal persistence later and get this poor guy through the portal?" At this, Leon chuckled nervously, with a sheepish expression on his face, "Sorry.", to which Drew rolled his eyes and, using a pile of leaves, managed to coax the orphan through the portal and back to the park.

Once they had sent the orphaned ceratopsian through the portal, the team gave each other a pained look… before a chittering caused them to turn to the nearby bleached skull of a Triceratops. Looking down, they saw a small group of mammals – a mother with a small litter of babies. They were roughly rat-sized, brown-furred and looked rather like tree shrews. Leon looked at the small mammals and said, "I think these are purgatorius – among the first primates. Our earliest known ancestors." The mother purgatorius hissed at these new, large creatures, making herself look as large as possible. Cynthia whistled silently, a slight grimace forming on her face. "Weird, isn't it? We evolved from things that looked like tree rats." "Well, tree shrews are actually more closely related to primates than they are to rodents," Alice stated. "But… yeah, you have to start somewhere don't you?" Drew nodded his head, trademark grin on his face, "And that in mind, let's get to work D-bags."

Leaving a trail of insects, the rescue team managed to lead the mother purgatorius and her offspring through the portal. Looking around further, they found the area to be rich in life. To start, there were two species of lizards – some chamops and sandy-scaled tuatara-like lizards that Leon identified as obamadon – and multiple small mammals (including a male Purgatorius, a small group of meniscoessus, alongside a sizable number of additional multituberculates, ten black and white furred sengi-like mammals that Leon identified as gypsonictops, and a group of small, tannish gold furred and white bellied ratty-looking mammals that Leon identified as Nanocuris), all of which were easily brought through the portal. At one point, they passed an axestemys, alongside a small bale of orange brown scaled and green bellied turtles that Leon identified as hutchemys in a state of hibernation, and even a few didelphodon, who easily sent through the portal, alongide a small flock of enantiornithines covered in dark brown feathers (and swiftly identified by Leon as avisaurus).

A brachychampsa lay in a hibernating state in a small pond, occasionally bobbing out of the water to take a breath of fresh air - using fish, it was woken up and subsequently lured through the portal. In the pond, a small flock of reddish-brown-and-white-feathered hesperornithids, like the brodavis back at the park, only slightly smaller (potamornis, according to Leon), were searching the pond for food – using fish, they to were led through the portal, as were a flock of black and gray feathered long legged goose-like birds that Leon identified as styginetta and black and white feathered birds with pelican-like bodies and miniature heron-like heads that Leon identified as torotix. Once the birds and crocodilian were gone, Leon said, quietly, "These guys are the survivors – the groups that made it past the extinction. These are the meek that inherited the Earth." Drew rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, yeah, real poetic, Leon – let's get moving."

As they headed further, they saw a small group of caegnathids, resembling the anzu back at the park, only lighter in colour and only half the size, dejectedly looking at clutches of dead eggs. As they looked, one of the eggs broke and a dead hatchling oozed out. Looking sad at the sight, Leon said "Ojoraptorsaurus – a type of caegnathid. The females mustn't have had enough nutrients to produce healthy eggs." Alice nodded, a pained look on her face, "The poor things." Jack, meanwhile, was looking at the sight with a determined glare, "Well good thing we're gonna give them a second chance. Ain't that right, fearless leader?" Drew chuckled, "Hell yeah." A dejected warbling split the air to the left of the ojoraptorsaurus, causing the rescue team to turn to see a herd of thescelosaurus, lighter-coloured than the ones back at the park, chewing half-heartedly upon visibly withered leaves. "Thescelosaurus," Leon whispered, pointing cautiously at the ornithopods as he did so. "Specifically, the garbanii species." Cynthia nodded her head, "Two for the price of one." And so, using leaves as bait, the hungry oviraptorids and ornithopods were lured through the portal, back to the park. Drew closed the portal, a grin on his face "We should probably go back to where we found the alamosaurus. See if any more animals have been attracted."

And so, returning to the spring in question, the team soon saw that the uncontaminated water they'd left had attracted animals from miles around - a herd of bravoceratops, resembling the juvenile they'd seen earlier, two herds total of triceratops and torosaurus (slightly different to the ones at the park), a group of orange and blue scaled nodosaurs with flat osteoderms, two groups of pachycephalosaur (one of which possessed ruby red domes and were covered in dull tannish scales with darker stripes and the other of which possessed midnight blue domes and were covered in tannish gold scales with grayish black spots), and a small herd of tannish-brown and black striped striped lambeosaurines that looked vaguely similar to hypacrosaurus. All of the herbivores looked rather thin and some of them also looking visibly sick, with three of the adult triceratops had even taken position directly within the entrance of a nearby cave, rooting around on the floor.

The sight of this last detail was enough to make Alice shudder. "Yikes," she muttered. "Wonder what's gotten into those three?" Adrian shook his head glumly. "I know that parrots eat clay when they're sick," he stated. "Perhaps those three triceratops are doing the same thing?" Jack, meanwhile, looked at the lambeosaurines in confusion, "I thought Hypacrosaurus had gone extinct by now?" Leon looked at them quietly, "Indeterminate lambeosaurines have been found by this area. Presumably it must be these guys." Immediately after he said this, one of the juveniles amongst the hadrosaurs, currently lying on its side and seemingly too weak to get up, lifted its head and bellowed loudly at the sky as if in agony; at which point Leon visibly winced. "Regardless, these animals definitely don't appear to be in good condition."

"Well don't just stand there then," Drew muttered, clapping his hands together as if to say 'chop chop'. "Let's get to work!" And so, using leaves, offerings of water, and even some appropriate recordings from Leon's broadcasting device, the team managed to lure all the starving herbivores through the portal – dropping a line to the vets in the process that there were animals that needed treatment, some of them rather desperately so. And once all the herbivores had vanished through the portal, Drew once again closed the portal. Leon nodded his head. "And just like that, we've got a bunch of new herbivores." Drew nodded his head as if in acknowledgement. "Right then," he stated before turning to face his teammates. "Think now's a good time to move on to Mongolia? Or should we stick around bit longer?" The rest of the rescue team had just started considering how best to respond when the silence was suddenly broken by the distinctive warbling sound of young tyrannosaurs coming from the left of the spring's location.

Eyes widened, the rescue team turned their heads in time to see three emaciated-looking adolescent t. rex, two roughly the same size and age as Terence and Matilda and one slightly smaller and younger, walked up to the almost exhausted spring. But then, just as they reached the spring, the two adolescents slumped over, before they glumly turned around and started walking off. The smaller juvenile came to a stop, staring in confusion, before he looked at the spring and a flicker of realisation came on his face. For a few seconds, he stared at the nearly-dry spring almost sadly, before chuffing dejectedly, shaking his head and walking off after its siblings. Turning to his teammates, Drew said quietly, "Want to see where they're going?", to which they all nodded. "Well, we've already rescued a pair of potential mates for Robert and Bindi," Jack stated, "Why not play matchmaker for Terence and Matilda while we're at it?". "My thoughts exactly," said Drew before he nodded his head and beckoned. "Come on, D-bags! Time's a wasting."

Following the tyrannosaurs, the team eventually caught up to them in time to find two, half-eaten adult tyrannosaurs; presumably their parents; lying dead in the center of a ruined clearing. Drew looked at his teammates, grimly, "They will eat their own." As if to emphasize this point, the three began to morosely bite into the flesh of the two dead adults and start ripping off chunks of meat to glumly chow down upon, with the smallest of the three dispiritedly nibbling on their scraps. Looking curiously, at the tyrannosaurs, Jack saidm "They don't look like they've had anything to drink for a while…", to which Drew smirked, "Read my mind." And so, with Drew and Cynthia creating a fresh trail of water by first digging a small trench and then filling it with more water from the backup portable water tank, Jack and Adrian each drawing out a serving of fresh beef from the park kitchens to provide extra incentive, and Leon and Alice both using their respective audio playing devices to play recordings of Rexy and Tyrannor's bellows to attract their attention, the three adolescent tyrannosaurs were led through the portal, back to the park, dragging their feet exhaustedly.

Drew nodded his head once the trio of orphaned t. rex had vanished through the portal. "Well done team," he said as he flashed his team a thumbs up. "I'd say that's probably enough animals from this location. Don't you think?" Leon, Adrian, and the Denhams all nodded. "I certainly do," said Leon. "We could probably make a quick pitstop before we head off to Mongolia," said Jack. Cynthia, however, was looking to the left of where the partially eaten adult t. rex carcasses were positioned. "Please excuse me for a moment," she said before hurrying over to where she'd been looking. Curious as to what she was up to, the rest of the team looked towards where she was heading just in time to see her get on her knees, draw out a medium sized flowerpot she'd been carrying in her backpack, and dig up a small sapling. "I think these might be javelinoxylon," Cynthia explained as she placed the sapling she'd dug up into the flower pot. "Figured they might be worth bringing back to the park. At the very least, I'm sure that paleobotanist would like to have the opportunity to study these."

Nothing wrong with that," Jack said, whilst Drew sighed and said, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt. No species left behind after all." And so, working together, the team managed to gather all the javelinoxylon saplings, one by one, and take them through the portal to the present. And just like that, the rescue team's time in post KT-Event Texas was over.

. . . . .

"They've certainly brought back a lot."

Matthew nodded his head in agreement with what Edgar had just said, "That they have."

At this point, it had been about half an hour since the rescue team had returned from post-KT Texas to both restock and aid in moving the newly rescued animals to the holding pens. And, whilst the rescue team had headed off to post-KT Mongolia, the rest of the park staff had been hard at work in getting the newly rescued animals transferred and the javelinoxylon saplings to the greenhouse. And right now, Edgar and Marisa had chosen to take a break and spend time with Matthew and Jenny in the office they shared directly next to Drew's.

"It was certainly nice of Cynthia," Marisa stated, an approving smile on her face as she nodded her head and rubbed a finger through her honey blonde hair. "Bringing those javelinoxylon saplings back for me to study." She then looked to Edgar, who'd personally helped transfer the new arrivals. "Though I get the feeling you've had a more… exciting day."

Edgar let out a low whistle, "You could say that." He turned his head to look out the window, in the general direction of Hell Creek. "I transferred the new alamosaurus over to the herbivore paddock in Hell Creek after Linda gave them all a clean bill of health," he stated. "You should have seen Custer – he was giving the two new males the evil eye." At this, Marisa's eyes widened, "Really now?"

"Yep," Matthew said. "We're gonna need to keep an eye on them. Whilst they're in no condition to challenge Custer now, something'll go down soon. And two animals that weigh forty tons each fighting each other…" At this thought, Edgar winced, "On a related note, I do hope that all the sick herbivores make it." Marisa nodded her head in clear sympathy, "Me too, Edgar," she said. "Me too."

Matthew nodded his head in agreement. "Similarly," he said before looking in the same direction that Edgar was looking. "It should be interesting to see how things go when we integrate the new dromas and rexes." Jenny nodded her head, a stoic look now on her face. "We've certainly got a lot to do," she admitted.

At this, Edgar and Marisa couldn't help but direct looks on concern towards Jenny and Matthew, only now remembering how, ever since they'd all first arrived at the park, the tension between the two was so thick you could cut it with a knife – even during the awkward attempts to change the subject. "Anyway, we should probably be going," Edgar then said as he got up. "Agreed," said Marisa as she got up to depart from the office alongside Edgar. "Good luck," she then said as she and Edgar left the office room to get back to work.

Matthew and Jenny nodded their heads in acknowledgement. "Right back at ya," said Matthew. Once Edgar and Marisa had gone, the two co-managers looked awkwardly at each other as a silence fell over the room before. Jenny looked away from Matthew and picked up a small folder. "We should probably get back to work now," she said calmly, a pokerfaced glare on her face as she nosed through the paperwork. Matthew nodded. "Sounds like a plan," he agreed in a deadpan tone of voice as he opened a similar folder that had already been lying atop his desk.

. . . . .

Not too long after stepping through the portal and into post KT-Event Mongolia, the rescue team found themselves in yet another bleak environment. Much like in Javelina, the sky was a dreary grey and almost completely obscured with dark clouds, with mist hanging in the air.

Alice sighed and shook her head, a grim look on her face. "Honestly, I'm glad this is the last stop," she grumbled. "Because honestly? Seeing all this really takes it out of you." "Yeah," said Adrian, nodding his head morosely as he did so, "Somehow you'd rather see acid rain and forest fires than… this bleakness." "Anyway", Drew sighed, "Time to get to work." Pointing forward, a determined glare on his face, he said, "Let's get moving, D-bags." And at that, onward the team went into the ruined desert.

Within fifteen minutes of trekking through the desolate landscape, the rescue team came upon their first animals. Arriving at a small pool of water, the remnants of a lake, they came upon a large herd of herbivores gathered around it. Whilst one herd was instantly recognisable as barsboldia, only slightly darker coloured, the other resembled parasaurolophus, only slightly larger and with tannish-brown bodies and minty green faces with darker olive-green crests, some longer than the others, whilst the third species had dark charcoal grey scales with olive green stripes along their backs and tails, and with small, straight, dark red crests. The titanosaurs, meanwhile, were equally distinctive, with the smaller species having dark reddish-brown scales with tannish white stripes across their backs, necks, and tails, whilst the second kind had grey and gold scales… and were enormous, roughly the size of the alamosaurus back at the park.

Leon, naturally, was quick to start identifying them all. "I'm sure we all recognise these guys" he stated as he pointed at the barlsbodia, "As for the rest? The green headed hadrosaurs are charonosaurus, the ones with the short straight crests are saurolophus and the smaller sauropods are nemegtosaurus, and the gigantic ones… believe it or not, I think I've heard of something like them. A few years ago, a giant titanosaur footprint was found in Mongolia… They call it the 'Mongol Titan'."

A commotion from the lake caused the team to turn to see that the Mongol Titan had used their incredibly long necks to "jump the queue", as the other herbivores grumbled angrily. The sight of this made Cynthia wince, "One of the benefits of having the longest neck on Earth," she muttered. Drew chuckled, "Well on the bright side, at least we know how we're gonna get them through the portal." And sure enough, after digging up a large 'pit' in the sandy ground, filling it up with water from one of the three backup portable water tanks they'd brought along, and attracting the attention of the herbivores with recordings from Leon and Alice's audio recording devices, they were able to lead all the herbivores through the portal.

Alice nodded her head as Drew closed the portal, "Certainly off to a good start." Jack chuckled, "Bet Kyle will get a real kick out of seeing THAT lot." Leon snorted, "That's one way to put it." Then he looked to Drew. "Let me guess; time to move on?" Drew nodded, "You betcha. Onward D-Bags!"

And at that, onward the team went. And five minutes later, they came to a stop once more at a large puddle, the remnants of a creek. A small flock of brodavis, but with some dusty sandy gold feathers on their underbellies and tops of their heads, were perched dejectedly upon a withered and charred up log. Inside the puddle, meanwhile, a group of small brown scaled and golden yellow striped amphibians were jostling for space with a small shoal of fish, with blueish grey scales.

"The brodavis I'm sure we all recognize," Leon said, "The amphibians, meanwhile, are altanulia and the fish are harenaichthys." Drew nodded his head, "And at that, time to get a move on." He looked to Adrian, "Adrian, so I'll leave it to you to take care of the brodavis, Jack, see if you can the amphibians and fish to a freshwater holding tank - the quicker the better." Jack chuckled and drew out a portal grenade, "No problem", whilst Adrian began making his way over to the Mongolian brodavis flock, "Consider it done."

Within seconds, Jack had his portal grenade primed for a freshwater holding tank back at the park and subsequently thrown it over to the amphibians and fish in time to send them all to the park while Adrian proceeded to spend several minutes working to get the brodavis through the portal in his own way. Once the brodavis, altanulia, and harenaichthys had all been sent through to the park, the entire team looked to Drew, who nodded. "Time to keep moving," he said simply before they all started trekking onward.

Before long, they'd come to their third stop, a ruined desert 'clearing' where a small group of multituberculates were desperately trying to dig through the charred and hardened ground to make burrows for themselves, a flock of small white and tannish gold feathered birds were perching upon the wreckage of a ruined tree, and two flocks of oviraptorid were futilely digging up the ground in what the team guessed to be an effort at preparing a nesting ground. Upon further examination of said oviraptorids, one group were covered in tannish white feathers with dark blackish brown stripes across various portions of their bodies, whilst the other were covered in greyish white feathers on their heads, necks, and upper bodies while their arms, legs, tails, and underbellies were covered in coal black feathers. "The mammals are buginbaatar," Leon stated, "The birds are gurilynia. And as for the oviraptorids, the brown striped ones are gobiraptor and the black bellied ones are elmisaurus."

Drew nodded his head, "You know the drill." And from there, using the appropriate tricks, this next batch of animals were sent through the portal to the safety of the park. "I must admit, this half of today's mission is starting to look pretty easy," Cynthia said once all the animals from the ruined clearing had been sent away to the park. Drew chuckled, "Well, the day's still young…" As if to emphasize his point, a cacophony of squawks, grunts, snorts and bellows emanating from just over a nearby hill split the air. Drew grinned, "And that's where we're heading next."

Five minutes later, the team arrived at a ruined valley, where a herd of herbivores turned out to be gathered, all of them digging furiously at the ruined ground to find water. And exactly as the noises they'd heard had led them to believe, this entire herd consisted of a species of ornithomimid, hadrosaur, pachycephalosaur, and ankylosaur. The ornithomimids looked like smaller versions of the deinocheirus back at the park, with maroon feathers on their bodies and gold crests on their heads, with tannish gold skin on their legs, feet, and hands and jet black beaks with yellow spots. The hadrosaurs had amber yellow faces and heads with sunset orange colored scales covering the rest of their bodies with bright sky blue stripes across their backs, with one of them an elderly looking female with an ugly looking scar on her right hindleg. The pachycephalosaurs were small enough that the adults only came up to the rescue team's waists, and were covered in chocolate brown scales with tiny white spots while also having bright golden yellow domes on their heads. And finally, the ankylosaurs had chartreuse colored bodies with darker greenish brown armor plating across their backs and tails as well as the tops of their heads and also tannish gold colored underbellies.

Upon observing the animals present, Alice looked to Leon. "Alright Leon," she said. "What's the 411 on these guys?" Leon, after a brief look of confusion, took a close look at each of the four herbivore species present. "The ornithomimids are anserimimus," he stated as he pointed at the dinosaurs in question. "The hadrosaurs are wulagasaurus, the pachycephalosaurs are homalocephale, and the ankylosaurs are tarchia." Drew nodded his head, "Well, let's get these guys through."

And so, the team got to work, making use of plant offerings from the park kitchens as well as recordings from Leon's broadcasting device to attract the herbivores' attention and subsequently entice them through the portal. In this fashion, they managed to successfully get the homalocephale and tarchia through the portal and were just about to do the same for the wulagasaurus before one suddenly bellowed an alarm… and the herd cleared the lakeside. Drew gritted his teeth and clenched his right fist. "Damn," he hissed under his breath. But then the sound of alarmed squawking from the anserimimus, plus the sound of their running feet heading their way caused the rescue team to look to see the anserimimus frantically rushing towards them while a pack of alioramus, slightly larger and darker-coloured than the ones at the park, pursued. Drew, eager to salvage something, turned his head to Cynthia. "Keep the portal open," he said. Cynthia nodded, a determined look on her face as she kept her portal remote in position for the currently active portal.

Seconds later, as the rescue team's luck would ultimately have it, the anserimimus flock successfully stampeded through the portal, the pack of alioramus following close behind. The instant the last of the theropods had vanished through to the park, Drew flashed a thumbs up to Cynthia, who swiftly closed the portal afterwards. Drew turned to face the direction the wulagasaurus had fled, "Let's get going. Those hadrosaurs can't have gotten far." And so the team continued onward in search of the wulagasaurus.

Their first delay would come in the form of the team arriving at a ruined desert valley in time to find a large flock of multiple oviraptorids gathered glumly about what appeared to be the ruins of a nesting ground. One species had grey and white feathers, another had black-feathered, blue-faced males and brown-feathered and greyish-faced females, a third had grassy greenish-brown feathers with downy white feathers on their undersides and heads, blue scales around their eyes, and greenish gold crests and the last species having males with coal black feathers, cancerous red faces, and large dusty gold crests and females with tannish white feathers, blue faces, and smaller black crests.

"I've read about all these in the guidebooks," Alice said as she started pointing at the oviraptorids to identify them. "The ones with ostrich-like feathers are nemegtomaia, the kakapo feathered ones are oksoko avarsan, the ones with the red and blue faces are rinchenia, and the ones colored like crested cranes are avimimus - the slender ones are the nemegtensis species while the slightly fatter ones are the portentosus species." Leon nodded his head, an approving smile on his face, "Well done." Adrian nodded and looked to Drew, "I trust we can pause the hadrosaur hunt for this?" Drew nodded his head, "Let's get to work."

With a combined mixture of food offerings and recordings from the audio recording devices, the entire flock of oviraptorids was successfully coaxed away from their unsalvageable nesting ground and through the portal to the park. "Now what Fearless Leader?" Jack asked. Drew was about to answer when a weakened bellow split the air. Smiling, Drew pointed in that direction, "We check out what made that noise."

The answer, as it turned out, was a young female tarbosaurus. The entire rescue team stared in horror at the sight of the creature when they finally reached the desolate sandy ground where she lay. The only difference between her and the ones at the park was that she was slightly lighter in colouration and, rather oddly, bright blue eyes. But most importantly, they noticed that she was so weakened and exhausted that she could barely move. "Tarbosaurus bataar," Leon stated. "Formerly, the top predator in these lands." He looked to Drew, "Want me to get help?" Drew nodded his head, "Hop right to it bud."

Leon, naturally, was quick to oblige and before long, the young female tarbosaurus had been successfully loaded into the back of a transport truck. "You made the right call," said Linda. Yolanda nodded in agreement, "We'll take extra good care of her." Leon nodded his head, "I know you will." Drew flashed a thumbs up to the ream who'd come to assist, "See you at the park once we're finished."

And so, the young female tarbosaurus had been returned to the park, the rescue team continued onward. And within fifteen minutes, the sound of chirping and warbling caused the team to pause and look to their right in time to see a small 'den' in the charred and ash covered sandy ground. And within this den were a small flock of alvarezsaurs, covered in light brown feathers, grading to white on the underbelly, with the tips of their beaks, their eyes, their feet and lower portions of their legs. "I'm guessing these guys are mononykus," Jack whispered as he cautiously pointed his finger towards the onlooking alvarezsaurs. Cynthia nodded her head and looked to Drew. "What's the plan?"

Drew let his usual trademark grin come on his face. "Quite simple Cynth," he said. "You, Jack, and I will lay a trail of bugs for them to eat – and, if extra encouragement is necessary, we'll have Alice and Leon play alvarezsaur recordings." And thus the team successfully got the entire small colony of alvarezsaurs out of their den' and through the portal to the park.

About half an hour after that, they came upon a small flock of vaguely roadrunner-like alvarezsaurs and a colony of dusty brown furred and tannish white underbellied mammals with numbat-shaped heads, examining a dead log. "The alvarezsaurs are nemegtonykus," Leon stated. "And the mammals are zalambdalestes." Drew nodded, "Let's hope we've still got some bugs left. 'Cuz I think those would probably be useful." Fortunately, they did still have bugs – which they used to coax the group through the portal.

After this, Alice looked to Drew, "What next?" Drew looked up towards the sky and was about to speak, before a cacophony of hisses and snarls came from a nearby hill. Smiling, Drew said, "We work out who made that sound."

. . . . .

Following the sound, they came upon a large pack of troodonts surrounding what was left of a hadrosaur carcass. At closer look, the aggregation consisted of three separate species – one species with steely blueish grey feathers, with the males having orange stripes along their necks backs an tails, with another species covered in sandy chartreuse feathers and black and white feathered crests atop their heads, with six of them having rooster-like waddles under their chins. The third, meanwhile, were covered almost entirely from head to toe in jet black feathers, with four of them having resplendent red feathered crests atop their heads.

"The big black ones are zanabazar," Leon stated as he went into full scholar mode. "The shorter chartreuse ones are tochisaurus. And the similarly smaller sized gray ones are borogovia." "Acknowledged," Jack hissed, as the troodonts caught attention of the rescue team and hissed threateningly, "What are we gonna do?!"

"Try not to panic everyone," Drew said, even now remaining calm, before turning to Cynthia, who was closest to the bait bags. "Cynth," he stated. "See if you can find one of the bait bags with meat in it and get ready to throw the contents through the portal. Everyone else, try your best to keep the troodonts at bay." Cynthia nodded her head, and then silently got to work.

For what felt like an eternity, the team did as requested, none of them daring to even to breathe as the troodonts tensely stared at them – it was a miracle they hadn't been attacked already. Eventually Cynthia finally found a bait bag full of meat, opened it up, and then nodded her head at Drew to indicate she was ready. This was all Drew needed to see; and he pressed the button on his portal remote to summon the portal – once it had materialised, Cynthia hurriedly emptied the bait bag before she and the rest of the team hurriedly jumped aside as the troodonts went bolting straight towards the portal. Once the last one had gone through, and the portal had closed, the rescue team breathed out.

"Thank God that's over," said Jack, before turning to Drew and asking, "What now?" Drew took a deep breath, "Let's take a breather," he said. "We need it."

. . . . .

After about half an hour, the team felt energised enough to continue trekking through the landscape. Turning to his team, Drew asked, "Are you ready?" "We're super," said Cynthia, a cheeky grin on her face. "Then let's get moving, D-bags," said Drew. In that instant, a cacophony of sounds suddenly split the air. Grin widening and eyes bright from sheer excitement, Drew pointed his finger in the direction the noise had just come from. "And follow that noise!"

Ten minutes later, the rescue team came to the top of a sandy hill just in time to see a truly awe-inspiring sight. A large herd of herbivorous dinosaurs were exhaustedly lumbering across the charred landscape at the base of the hill in a dogged search for water. All of them were of genera that the team immediately recognized from previous encounters – gallimimus, prenocephale and a very familiar herd of wulagasaurus. The sound of a bellowing caused the team to notice that two tarbosaurus, slightly older and taller than the female they'd rescued previously were travelling alongside the herbivores

Drew noticed something about the wulagasaurus herd. Pointing at an elderly female with a scar on her right hindleg, Drew said, "I definitely recognise her. This is the same wulagasaurus herd from before." Leon nodded, "The other herbivores are different from the previous species we've rescued – these are the type species," he stated. And there were some slight differences - the gallimimus were slightly larger than the species back at the park and lighter in colour, whilst the prenocephale had black stripes and white spots on their necks, bodies, and tails instead of the darker tannish brown patches and stripes that the ones back at the park had.

For another five minutes, the team continued to observe the gathering, equal parts awe and sadness. Eventually, they managed to take notice of how one of the youngsters amongst the wulagasaurus had briefly paused to dig at the sand as if looking for water, before piteously wailing, and the elderly wulagasaurus matriarch bellowed in anguished exhaustion as she pawed through the ground.

This was enough to spur Jack to action. "Enough standing around being useless," he growled. "We've got dinosaurs to save!" Drew nodded in agreement. "You heard him everyone. Let's get to work!" And get to work they did, hurrying down into an ideal position, digging a trench that they filled with water from one of their two remaining backup portable water tanks, and attracting their attention with both recorded vocals AND the summoning of the portal. And over the course of an hour, the team worked to get the all the dinosaurs though the portal.

"Holy moly that was a lot of work," Leon gasped, visibly bent over with his hands on his knees as he panted from the effort. "Really?" Alice muttered, "What gave it away?"

The rest of the team were likewise exhausted… including Drew. "Take a breather everyone," he said as he sat down on a nearby flat rock, panting in relief and exhaustion as he did so. "You've all earned it." The rest of the team obliged, all of them sitting down to rest – after half an hour, Drew said, "Alright guys. This is an important decision I'm about to give you… this has been arduous, but if you want to opt out… now's your chance."

As one, the rest of the team looked at each other, and then back at Drew. Already they knew exactly what they were going to say. "You ain't getting rid of me that easily Drew," said Cynthia, standing up to full height with a confident smile on her face. "Not this time."

"I'm with you, Drew," Adrian stated, likewise standing up with rare warm smile. "You can always count on me to be there when you really need me. And this time's no different."

"You may have been a real dick when we started," Alice said, an amused smirk on her face as she stood up from where she'd been sitting. "Not to mention still be a less than perfect park manager. But you're still the leader of this team. I'm seeing this through."

"I'm no quitter, fearless leader," said Jack, a cheeky grin on his face as he popped up to his feet. "I'm staying too."

"You know me Drew," Leon growled, a determined look on his face as he joined the rest of his teammates in standing up to full height. "I'm with you to the end. Always."

At this, Drew nodded his head, a warm smile on his face as he thought of how, for now at least, his friends and teammates on the rescue team were still willing to stay by his side. "Thanks guys," he stated. "For still being there for me."

"You've said it yourself Drew," said Leon.

"We're a team," said Jack.

"We don't leave each other behind", said Adrian

"And watching each other's backs is what we do," said Alice.

Cynthia nodded her head and extended her hand to Drew. "Come on Drew," she said confidently, "We've got animals to save." And with that, a low bellowing suddenly split the air, causing Cynthia to let a wide grin of excitement come on her face, "And I think I know where we can start."

Drew chuckled, and eagerly grabbed onto Cynthia's hand to let her help him up. "You heard Cynthia everyone," he stated determinedly as he got back to his feet. "We've got animals to save." And at that, the team determinedly resumed their trek through the post-apocalyptic deserts, eager to see this mission through to the end.

Fifteen minutes later, they came to the edge of a vast expanse of muddy wasteland. And trapped in the quagmire were a herd of light maroon scaled and greenish grey striped sauropods that Leon was quick to identify as opisthocoelicaudia. At the sight, the rescue team felt their hearts sink. "It's like Arlo and the La Brea Tar Pits all over again," said Alice. "Too true," Leon agreed. But in that instant, Drew already was starting to think up an idea. "Now that you mention Arlo..."

A few minutes later, with Drew having managed to get Linda to have Arlo at the ready and the necessary equipment prepared, as well as ensuring that three large park trucks were at the ready too, the task of extracting the opisthocoelicaudia from the mire began. And, whilst it was somewhat laborious, each of the trapped sauropods managed, one by one, to be safely extracted from the mud and subsequently enticed through the portal with offerings of water and food. Once the last of the sauropods had vanished through the portal, Drew allowed the portal to once again be closed. "Let's see if we can find a way to get around this area," he stated. "If we're to find any more animals to rescue, it'll be better to take the long way."

As the team trekked their way around the former swamp, they eventually reached a similarly muddy expanse… with animals trapped in the mire. The first animals the team noticed were a flock of vaguely goose-like birds with dark reddish brown feathered bodies and wings and greyish white feathered heads and necks that Adrian was swift to recognize as teviornis and a flock of brown, white, and orange feathered cormorant-like birds that were just as swiftly recognized by Leon as judinornis. And finally, a small float of minty green scaled, golden underbellied, and black striped crocodilians that Jack swiftly identified as paralligator. Drew sighed and shook his head side to side in bemusement. "Boy, the park staff is getting a lot of work today," he muttered.

And for the next half hour, the rescue team worked alongside several keepers and guards from the holding pens team to extract the animals from the former estuary, wih the paralligator, in particular, proving especially difficult. But little by little, the animals all got successfully extracted from the mud and sent to the safety of the park. And once that round of rescuing was over...

"Let's head the other way around the swamp," said Drew. "See if that gives us a better chance at reaching the other side." Thankfully, this suggestion enable the team to get round the vast expanse of mud and reach the dry land on the other side. And as it would soon turn out, this had been quite opportune.

Lying on the ground ahead of the team was a large sauropod carcass. And positioned around it were a small group of jet black feathered, yellow spotted, and tan faced dromaeosaurs and a small flock of large azhdarchid pterosaurs with black pycnofibers covering their bodies and rings of white fuzzy pycnofibers surrounding the bases of their fleshy necks, all staring tensely at each other. "The dromaeosaurs are adasaurus," Leon stated as he pointed at the theropods. "And as for the pterosaurs, my guess is that they're the species informally known as the 'Mongol Giant'."

Adrian snorted, "That stand-off's going to end soon – somebody's going to have to end up waiting their turn." Drew couldn't help but agree, "My money's on the dromaeosaurs backing off. Once that happens, we'd best be ready."

And sure enough, the adasaurus soon found themselves turning away with a bitter hiss of defeat. And from there, the entire group went rushing right towards where the rescue team was currently hiding to watch...

... at which point they ended up sent through the portal for their trouble, moving too fast to stop themselves. "And that's that," Jack stated as he closed the portal. "And now for the pterosaurs," said Adrian.

The sound of a loud squawk caused the team to look back at the pterosaurs in time to see that they were hissing and squabbling with each other as they fed on the carcass. Alice shook her head in bemusement at the sight of this, "You can't be serious." Cynthia sighed, "Carcasses are at a premium in this place - ."

The team looked to Drew. "The old carcass towing trick?" Leon asked. Drew chuckled, "Yup."

And so the rescue team once again got a park truck ready before subsequently attaching a towing cable to the carcass to be towed while the azhdarchids were occupied. And once everything was prepared, Drew gave the signal, at which point the truck went driving forward and dragged the sauropod carcass over towards the portal. One of the giant pterosaurs, noticing the carcass starting to move away, let out a loud squawk that alerted the rest of the flock. And from there, the whole flock of pterosaurs hurriedly chased after the carcass, desperate to avoid losing this all-important meal, even following the carcass through the portal, moving as if a single entity.

"Two unofficially named giants in one mission," Leon stated once all six of the 'Mongol Giants' had vanished through the portal. With an amused smirk and a shake of his head, Jack said, "Kyle's certainly gonna have a lot of fun today." Drew shrugged, "Not like we haven't given him worse." He clasped his hands together. "Anyway, I'd like to find a mate for that young female tarbosaurus we rescued yesterday."

The rest of the team nodded their heads. "Sounds reasonable enough to me," said Alice. "Just give me a second," Cynthia then said before running over towards what turned out to be a large batch of plants, "I have a pretty good feeling these might be monilitheca," she stated as she got to work on digging up a sample. "Might be worth saving for a green house." Adrian chuckled and started making his way over to help. "Well don't hog all the fun to yourself," he said. "We'll help you." Alice nodded in agreement, "Damn right." And so, working diligently, the rescue team worked together to dig up all the monilitheca plants and send them through the portal for preservation at the park. Once the entire large batch had been thus rescued, the team travelled onward.

For half an hour the team continued trekking on through the ruined landscape. Eventually, their patience was rewarded as they caught sight of a young male tarbosaurus wandering laboriously across the ruined landscape - noticeably, he had black speckles on his body. The team followed him as he trudged morosely towards a small pack of velociraptor feasting ravenously upon a hadrosaur carcass. A closer look revealed that these raptors were subtly different to the pack already at the park, having feathers covering their faces, with the females having snowy white feathers covering their heads and necks as well as dotting the tips of their tails while the males had dark blue feathers in the same areas. "Must be an undiscovered separate species," Leon whispered as he watched alongside the rest of the team.

As the team continued to watch, the young male tarbosaurus continued shambling laboriously towards the carcass, his eyes brightening with desperation. Eventually, the tarbosaurus walked towards the pack and roared weakly. The rescue team couldn't help but wince, whilst the velociraptors, almost disinterestedly, turned their heads and glared blankly at the tarbosaurus, who snarled, weakly but defiantly. This was enough to provoke the velociraptors into calling the larger predator's bluff, hissing at him. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn't dream of challenging an adult Tarbosaurus. But now, with the tyrannosaur weakened, the tarbosaurus was forced to back down, walking dejectedly back the way he'd come. And to add insult to injury, the velociraptors barely paid the Tarbosaurus any attention, before resuming feeding .

Cynthia shook her head, a look of sadnedd on her face as she found herself imagining Mahazatra in the same situation. "This is just sad," she spat. "Couldn't agree more," said Alice, before looking to Drew. "You got a plan?" Drew was just about to answer when Jack stepped forward with a portal grenade already primed and at the ready. "I know a good way to get things rolling," the younger Denham stated confidently before tossing the portal grenade at the feasting velociraptors. No sooner had the portal grenade landed on the hadrosaur carcass, it abruptly went off, swallowing both the carcass and the velociraptors in a flash of blue light.

The sound of the portal grenade going off seemed to alert the tarbosaurus, which paused and turned his head to look behind him in confusion. Drew raised his eyebrow. "OK… not my first choice of action, but it certainly got the raptors taken care of." Cynthia turned her head to Drew, "Do we still have any bait meat we could use to get the tarbo through?" Drew had just started hurriedly thinking Cynthia's question over when Leon reached into his backpack and drew out what turned out to be several bags full of beef jerky. "I packed extras for all of us," he explained. "Just in case." Drew smiled, "Start with those. I'll see if I can identify which of the bait bags contain leftover bait meat."

Obeying Drew's request, the rest of the team got to work, Moving as cautiously as possible, they carefully headed towards the tarbosaurus while drawing out several strips of beef jerky. The smell of the meat soon caught the young adult tyrannosaur's attention, and he lowered his head in the rescue team's direction, a low grunt exiting his jaws as he directed a curious glance at the five humans. And once the team came to a stop, the tarbosaurus eventually began to cautiously make his way towards them directly, grumbling.

Drew smiled as he observed this even while still looking through the bait bags. "That's right, just keep on heading their way," he whispered under his breath. By the time Drew at last identified a bait bag filled with meat, the tyrannosaur had reached their position gingerly accepted the food.

"There's a good tarbo," Leon muttered as he, Alice, Jack, Adrian, and Cynthia each proceeded to cautiously feed the weakened tyrannosaur. "Just don't bite off our hands now," Jack chuckled, "You'll be getting your main course soon." And, true to Jack's word, Drew had begun laying a trail of the meat available in the bait bag he'd selected. "Good job everyone," he said as he started setting the all-important trail. "Now you just make sure to help guide him along while I handle the rest."

Acting accordingly, complete with Leon using tyrannosaur recordings from his broadcasting device for good measure, the rescue team worked together to carefully lead the young male tarbosaurus down the trail. And eventually, once Drew felt that the young tyrannosaur's trust and attention was thoroughly focused upon them, he pointed his portal remote directly behind him and summoned the portal.

The sight of the portal abruptly materializing into view caused the young tarbosaurus to briefly halt, recoiling in alarm. Drew's teammates all glared at him, with even Leon looking somewhat aggrieved. "Dude," Leon hissed in a low whisper. "We were right there next to him. What if he'd attacked us?" Drew let a nervous smile come on his face. "Sorry," he whispered. A minute or two later, the tarbosaurus at last calmed down, staring curiously at the unfamiliar vortex of light. Seeing this, Drew looked to his teammates once more. "Feel free to move aside to a somewhat safer distance," he whispered. "I should hopefully be able to handle things from here."

"If you say so," said Cynthia as she and the rest of the team moved aside. "We'll be holding you to that," said Leon as he moved alongside the rest of the team. Drew nodded, and then looked back at the tarbosaurus, a determined look on his face as he held his bait bag open, enabling the tyrannosaur to get a look at the food inside. And while the sight of the tyrannosaur staring at him briefly brought Drew pause, he allowed no sign of any fear to show. "Easy now," he whispered under his breath as he cautiously stepped aside while keeping the meat bag within the tarbo's line of sight, making sure to be as quiet and careful in his movements as possible to avoid triggering the beast's chase instincts. "Almost, almost..." And then, when he was finally in what he felt to be a good position, he thrusted the bait bag in the direction of the portal and sent all the remaining meat flying through. "NOW!"

Snarling hungrily, the young adult male tarbosaurus ran laboriously, eager to claim the meat, barreling right through the portal and into the safety of the present. And no sooner had the tarbosaurus vanished through the portal when Drew's teammates walked calmly over to his position, nodding in approval as they did so.

"Good job," said Adrian. "Suppose I should have guessed you'd have it in you," said Alice.

Drew chuckled, "Your faith in me is appreciated." He then looked to the portal, "What do you say we head home?" The team exhaustedly nodded.

"Well then let's hop to it then," Drew said before he then went confidently walking straight through the portal, the rest of the team following close behind. And as they went through the portal to return home, all of them felt proud of their success. Already they could tell that, regardless of how things changed in the days to come, their skill as a team in performing rescue missions would never change.

. . . . .

Five days later, once all the dust had settled and all necessary veterinary care had been applied, the brand new animals had all been transferred to their new homes within appropriate locations within either the Flaming Cliffs zone or Hell Creek Zone, the latter of which had now been rebranded as the Last Dynasty.

The smaller animals from the Javelina formation were now firmly settled into their new homes within the forest building. The obamadon had been given a terrarium directly next door to the chamops lived, and were currently basking in the center of their new home under the light of the provided heating lamp. The avisaurus, potamornis, styginetta, and torotix flocks, plus the hutchemys bale, lived in a much-enlarged aviary with the basilemys, axestemys, and brodavis, with all the turtles and birds either flying, swimming, or resting as they saw fit. The gypsonictops, nanocuris, and the various multituberculate species had all been given their own paddocks positioned alongside the other four small mammal species in the building, and were all currently sniffing about aboveground or resting in their burrows while the purgatorius clambered through the trees of their own brand new paddock home next door to the acheroraptor paddock. The ojoraptorsaurus flock now lived in a paddock directly next door to the anzu paddock, and had begun to set up a nesting ground. The thescelosaurus garbanii, much like the leptoceratops, trierarchuncus, and thescelosaurus neglectus, had all been given their own nominal 'home paddock' with minimal barriers to allow them to have relatively free roaming rights throughout the building's interior and the ability to easily interact with human visitors. And finally, the additionals had all been successfully integrated with the others of their kind already in the building (though the brachychampsa was still largely sticking to her own chosen site within the crocodile pool segment she shared with the larger float of her kind).

In the main herbivore paddock, the newly rescued Javelina formation herbivores had managed, after a few days of 'working things out', to integrate and, all the herbivores were either browsing, drinking or roaming about their new home. After some examination,Khatin had eagerly dubbed the newly discovered lambeosaurines skonisaurus javelinensis. The four orphaned edmontosaurus, who were still in the vet station, as were the three sick adult triceratops prorsus, remaining there until they could be re-integrated into the paddock

A large aviary directly behind the quetzalcoatlus lawsoni aviary now served as home for the six quetzalcoatlus northropi, with the 'dominant pair', Sahaquiel and Arael, proudly observing their surroundings before them while the other four fed on a freshly provided cow carcass. Meanwhile, a comparatively smaller aviary to the right of the quetzalcoatlus aviaries now served as home for the wellnhopterus flock, which were currently resting in the center of their new home living space while waiting for their next feeding time.

The newly rescued carnivores, meanwhile, had themselves been sorted accordingly into their own new homes. The dineobellator lived in a paddock to the right of the dromaeosaurus paddock, and were currently feasting upon a freshly provided pig carcass, whilst the dakotaraptor lived in a paddock to the left of the pectinodon paddock, currently heartily chowing down on a freshly provided cow carcass. The young dromaeosaurus and t. rex siblings, meanwhile, had been placed in separate areas of the droma and tyrannosaur paddocks until they could be introduced to the main packs. And at that moment, the orphaned dromaeosaurus siblings, Chandler and Emmy, were happily feasting upon a freshly provided sheep carcass in their isolated segment of the dromaeosaurus paddock while the orphaned t. rex siblings, Zane, Tinkerbell, and Chomper were taking a nap in the centre of their own isolated segment of the t. rex paddock.

And for a finishing touch, the rescued samples of javelinoxylon had all been long since safely planted in a greenhouse directly behind the predator paddocks.

Meanwhile, in the Flaming Cliffs zone, the new arrivals from that side of the world had themselves been successfully integrated into their new homes at the park.

To start, the desert building had received a decent number of new residents. The altanulia lived in an appropriately designed paddock directly next to the one that contained the gobekko, and were now calmly swimming about in the waters within. The harenaichthys had been placed in a tank not too far away from the two terrariums, and were currently swimming lazily about as they relaxed in their new home. The borogovia and tochisaurus were now feasting upon freshly provided pig carcasses within their new paddocks positioned alongside the five paddocks that contained the other five troodonts on display within the building. The newly rescued species of bird had all been placed inside the same aviary where the apsaravis, elsornis, and gobipteryx lived, with all of them so far largely sticking to their respective species as they explored their new surroundings in search of food. The zalambdalestes and buginbaatar had each been given their own separate paddocks positioned directly in front of the one where the deltatheridium lived, and were currently either scampering aboveground in search of food, scouting for threats, or napping inside their burrows. The shamosuchus pit had been extended with a neighbouring home for the paralligator float. The mononykus and nemegtonykus had each been given a small paddock with minimal barriers that served as their nominal home but were largely free to roam through the building's interior as they pleased. Finally, the newly rescued oviraptorids had all been placed inside the same paddock as all the Cretaceous Mongolian ceratopsians and oviraptorids.

The central herbivore paddock had similarly come to accommodate the brand new herbivores that had been rescued - and after several days of 'growing pains', all the new residents had integrated well. A giddy Khatin had named the "Mongolian Titans" nemegtotitan maximus, discerning from genetic tests that they were that they were opisthocoelicaudiine saltosaurids

The brand-new tyrannosaurs and dromaeosaurs, plus one of the troodonts, had all been placed in newly constructed paddocks in the Flaming Cliffs section. The adasaurus currently lived inside a paddock directly behind the tsaagan paddock, and were heartily feasting upon a freshly provided goat carcass. A paddock to the right of the adasaurus and tsaagan paddocks now served as home for the zanabazar, which were currently sleeping in their dens. The two brand new paddocks directly behind the ones containing the alioramus obscurus and tarbosaurus daichi were the ones that now contained the newly rescued alioramus remotus and tarbosaurus bataar, the latter of which had been divided in two to properly accommodate the current needs of the two tarbosaurus pairs. The alioramus remotus pack were currently feasting upon a freshly provided cow carcass, whilst the older tarbosaur pair Eragon and Arya were sleeping in their side of the paddock while the younger pair Speckles and Blue Eyes were patrolling their new territory. Finally, the velociraptor paddock had been expanded so a second half could be made for the newly discovered velociraptor species. And at that moment, while Nezbit and Zenobia feasted upon a sheep carcass alongside the rest of their pack, the leaders of the new velociraptor pack, named Whitetip and Bluebrow, were currently scouting their new territory.

Finally, a massive aviary paddock had been installed inside the Flaming Cliffs aviary building, which now served as the home for the temujinornis and genghisopteryx flocks' new neighbours, the 'Mongol Giants' (or tengridraco giganticus, as Khatin had named them). And at that moment, the giant azhdarchids were currently feasting upon a cow carcass while their comparatively smaller neighbors all napped within their own separate aviary for a final bow on the package, the acquired monilitheca samples had been successfully planted within a newly installed greenhouse building to the left of the central herbivore paddock.

While all this was going on, the entire rescue team were all carrying out their activities. Cynthia was currently at Maevarano to visit Mahazatra. Adrian was helping Kaisumi engage in observations on the tengridraco, Alice was engaging in a caretaking session for Baloo alongside Will. Jack was working out how to best integrate Emmy and Chandler in the pack while Colette watched. Leon was in the midst of observing Simba and Nala the cave lion duo alongside Yolanda. And of course, Drew himself was in his office engaging in a Zoom call with Theodore.

"I take it everything's gone well?" Theodore asked, an equal parts proud and concerned look on his face. Drew nodded his head, a stoic look on his face as if this were merely business to him. "So far so good," he stated calmly. "All the new animals have settled in and the park is still looking as if it will be opening on schedule."

"Excellent." Theodore nodded his head, "That's very good news to hear. And I trust things are going well with the new staff?"

It took all of Drew's willpower not to let his calm façade slip and reveal the lingering anger and disappointment he felt underneath. But he managed to calmly nod his head. He needed to keep things professional. He definitely wasn't about to give grief to the rest of the new staff, all of whom had so far been doing respectably well, just for being hired alongside his two 'partners' in park management. And at the end of they day, as much as he hated to admit it, said 'partners' had so far been doing quite well. "So far they've all been doing well," he stated. "Granted, there's been the usual growing pains, but nothing that couldn't be handled."

"Well, that's good enough for me," Theodore stated. He nodded his head once more. "Especially so long as everyone can be on their best behavior during my incoming visit." Drew raised his eyebrow, "Incoming visit?" Theodore raised his own eyebrow in response, "Yes. I'm coming tomorrow to give a final look, and hopefully final approval. And I'll be staying long enough to open the park to the public alongside you, Matthew, and Jenny . Didn't you get my email?"

At this, Drew couldn't help but awkwardly glance to his left, trying to remember if he did. "I guess I must have just forgotten," he eventually said diplomatically. "Well then I'm happy to have reminded you," Theodore responded, chuckling in a grandfatherly tone immediately afterward. "At any rate, it will be good to see you again in person, not to mention to see how things have been going at the park since I visited with Bryce, Percival, and Henry."

Despite himself, Drew couldn't help but let a small smile come on his face. At the very least, Theodore's dedication to the park was always something to admire. And besides, as unhappy as he currently was with Theodore over the man's involvement in the hiring of Matthew and Jenny , part of him still understood that Theodore had given him this opportunity. "It will be nice to have you around as well."

And indeed it would be nice to have Theodore. That was certainly what Drew was now thinking as he finished the call and exited Zoom. After all, having the owner of the park and man who'd helped make the opportunity to create this park even be possible in the first place certainly did wonders for morale. And the fact that he was apparently going to be sticking around long enough to personally take part in the official opening ceremony to occur on the grand opening day was enough to make him even happier still. After all, considering how he and Theodore could both be considered the technical creators of the park by virtue of Theodore having come up with the idea and he himself having acted as a direct leader in the efforts to bring said idea to life, it only made sense for the two of them to be the ones to personally introduce their creation to the world alongside...

His smile abruptly faded as he at last remembered one other detail that Theodore had mentioned about the upcoming opening day; or more specifically, who else would be personally involved in the opening day ceremony alongside them. 'Why's he letting Matthew and Jenny directly take part in the opening day ceremony?' he thought bitterly to himself. 'What's given them the right to be allowed such an honor? They've only been here for at least three or four days! They don't have the history with this park that Theodore and I have! We've been here with the park since the very beginning!' Shaking his head, he left his office to see if there was anything else he could do to keep himself distracted. But even as he walked through the hallway outside his office space and thought furiously to himself to figure out what he could do to clear his head, he still couldn't help but bitterly think about the still all too real fact that he'd been saddled with partners in park management that he'd never wanted and quite frankly still didn't believe he'd ever needed. And now that he wasn't actively involved in a mission, focusing on this detail would be all the harder to avoid. And considering how Matthew and Jenny had so far still not yet shown any proper reason for him to justify getting rid of them, not to mention how he himself so far still appeared to be the only person amongst the park staff who seemed to have any problem with his two 'partners' whatsoever, he could already tell that the time to unfold in between missions nowadays would feel very unpleasant indeed. 'It's just not fair,' he thought to himself as he continued walking angrily away from his office. 'Not. Fair. At all.'

Rescue Tally:

Javelina Formation:

* Alamosaurus sanjuanensis (6; all adults; 2 male, 4 female)

* Avisaurus archibaldi (12; all adults; 6 male, 6 female)

* Axestemys splendida (1; all adults; 1 female)

* Brachychampsa montana (1; 1 adult; 1 female)

* Bravoceratops polyphemus (13; 6 adults, 7 youngsters; 5 male, 8 female)

* Chamops segnis (5; all adults; 2 male, 3 female)

* Cimexomys minor (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)

* Cimolodon nitidus (10; all adults; 5 male, 5 female)

* Cimolomys clarki (12; 6 adults, 6 youngsters; ; 6 male, 6 female)

* Dakotaraptor steini (6; all adults; 3 male, 3 female) (*)

* Didelphodon vorax (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)

* Dineobellator notohesperus (9; 4 adults, 5 youngsters; 4 male, 5 female)

* Dromaeosaurus albertensis (2; all youngsters; 1 male, 1 female)

* Edmontosaurus annectens (4: all juveniles; 2 male, 2 female)

* Essonodon browni (13; 7 adults, 6 youngsters; 6 male, 7 female)

* Glyptodontopelta mimus (9; all adults; 3 male, 6 female)

* Gypsonictops petersoni (10; 6 adults, 4 youngsters; 5 male, 5 female)

* Hutchemys walkerorum (9; all adults; 4 male, 5 female)

* Meniscoessus robustus (9; all adults; 5 male, 4 female)

* Mesodma formosa (12; 6 adults, 6 youngsters; 6 male, 6 female)

* Mesodma hensleighi (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)

* Mesodma thompsoni (10; 4 adults, 6 youngsters; 5 male, 5 female)

* Nanocuris improvida (12; 4 adults, 8 youngsters; 6 male, 6 female)

* Obamadon gracilis (10; all adults; 5 male, 5 female)

* Ojoraptorsaurus boerei (14; all adults; 7 male, 7 female)

* Paracimexomys priscus (10; 4 adults; 6 youngsters; 5 male, 5 female)

* Paressonodon nelsoni (18; 10 adults, 8 youngsters; 8 male, 10 female)

* Platytholus clemensi (13; 7 adults, 6 youngsters; 6 male, 7 female)

* Potamornis skutchi (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)

* Purgatorius unio (8; 2 adults, 6 youngsters; 2 male, 4 female)

* Quetzalcoatlus northropi (6; all adults; 3 male, 3 female)

* Skonisaurus javelinensis (13; 7 adults, 6 youngsters; 6 male, 7 female)

* Sphaerotholus buchholtzae (17; 10 adults, 7 youngsters; 8 male, 9 female)

* Stygimys kuszmauli (14; 6 adults, 8 youngsters; 7 male, 7 female)

* Styginetta lofgreni (14; all adults; 7 male, 7 female)

* Thescelosaurus garbanii (18; 10 adults, 8 youngsters; 9 male, 9 female)

* Torosaurus utahensis (18; 10 adults, 8 youngsters; 8 male, 10 female)

* Torotix clemensi (10; all adults; 5 male, 5 female)

* Triceratops prorsus (18; 10 adults, 8 youngsters; 8 male, 10 female)

* Tyrannosaurus rex (3; all adolescents; 2 male, 1 female)

* Wellnhopterus brevirostris (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)

* Javelinoxylon (27)

Mongolia:

* Adasaurus mongoliensis (9; 6 adults, 3 youngsters; 4 male, 5 female)

* Alioramus remotus (7; 4 adults, 3 youngsters; 3 male, 4 female)

* Altanulia alifanovi (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)

* Anserimimus planinychus (17; 10 adults, 7 youngsters; 8 male, 9 female)

* Avimimus nemegtensis (13; all adults; 6 male, 7 female)

* Avimimus portentosus (13; all adults; 6 male, 7 female)

* Bagaraatan ostromi (6; all adults; 3 male, 3 female)

* Barsboldia sicinskii (18; 10 adults, 8 youngsters; 9 male, 9 female)

* Borogovia gracilicrus (7; all adults; 4 male, 3 female)

* Brodavis mongoliensis (12; all adults; 6 male, 6 female)

* Buginbaatar clarki (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)

* Charonosaurus jaiyinensis (13; 8 adults, 5 youngsters; 6 male, 7 female)

* Elmisaurus rarus (9; all adults; 4 male, 5 female)

* Gallimimus bullatus (12; all adults; 6 male, 6 female)

* Gobiraptor minutus (18; all adults; 9 male, 9 female)

* Gurilynia nessovi (26; all adults; 13 male, 13 female)

* Harenaichthys lui (20; all adults; 10 male, 10 female)

* Homalocephale calathocercos (19; 10 adults, 9 youngsters; 9 male, 10 female)

* Judinornis nogontsavensis (14; all adults; 7 male, 7 female)

* Mononkyus olecranus (13; 9 adults, 4 youngsters; 6 male, 7 female)

* Nemegtomaia barsboldi (10; all adults; 5 male, 5 female)

* Nemegtonykus citus (16; 10 adults, 6 youngsters; 8 male, 8 female)

* Nemegtosaurus nowinski (13; 9 adults, 4 youngsters; 7 male, 6 female)

* Nemegtotitan maximus/'Mongol Titan' (9; 6 adults, 3 youngsters; 4 male, 5 female)

* Oksoko avarsan (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)

* Opisthocoelicaudia skarzynskii (9; 6 adults, 3 youngsters; 4 male, 5 female)

* Paralligator gradilifrons (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)

* Prenocephale prenes (13; 7 adults, 6 youngsters; 6 male, 7 female)

* Rinchenia mongoliensis (19; all adults; 9 male, 10 female)

* Saurolophus angustirostris (17; 10 adults, 7 youngsters; 9 male, 7 female)

* Tarbosaurus bataar (4; all adults; 2 male, 2 female)

* Tarchia teresae (7; 4 adults, 3 youngsters; 3 male, 4 female)

* Tarchia tumanovae (9; 6 adults, 3 youngsters; 4 male, 5 female)

* Tengridraco giganticus/'Mongol Giant' (6; all adults; 3 male, 3 female)

* Teviornis gobiensis (10; all adults; 5 male, 5 female)

* Tochisaurus nemegtensis (12; all adults; 6 male, 6 female)

* Velociraptor nemegtensis (6; 2 adults; 4 youngsters; 3 male, 3 female)

* Wulagasaurus dongi (13; 7 adults, 6 youngsters; 6 male, 7 female)

* Zalambdalestes lechei (18; 10 adults; 8 youngsters; 9 male, 9 female)

* Zanabazar junior (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)

* Monilitheca (39)

Next time on Prehistoric Park Reimagined:

The park is finally open!

(Various guests walk down the Main Street Entrance zone in awe.)

And the rescue team has now been assigned to travel down under!

(A large group of massive kangaroo-like beasts graze on a dry grassy field.)

To rescue some truly magnificent animals!

(A large komodo dragon-like lizard snarls and hisses at Drew, Jack, and Alice.)

But could some unexpected surprises...

(A strange furry animal dives underwater beneath the surface of a river.)

...bring everything down in flames?

(The rescue team stares in fright as a massive wildfire burns around them.)

Find out next time, on Prehistoric Park Reimagined: Beasts of the Dreamtime!