After a day of much needed rest the. new goes back to work with renewed vigor. Apollo immediately goes to check on their supplies. After all, it isn't as easy for them to get supplies here. He is suddenly concerned when he realizes they need more water. 

He immediately goes to the main room to break the news. When he gets there he sees both of the adults he was looking for, much to his relief. "We have a problem." 

Artemis and Alex stop what they're doing and look at him. Confident he now has their attention, he continues. "We're almost out of drinking water. Someone is going to have to g on a collection run. Outside the fence." 

There's the elephant in the room everyone has been working on. No one has dared mention going outside the fence since they put it up. They all felt more secure now that they had a physical barrier between them and everything out there. But if they wanted to continue to eat and drink, they had to journey past the fence to get it. 

After a long tense silence Alex finally acknowledges his words. "Okay. I'll go with you. Maybe we can catch some fish too." 

Apollo is perplexed for a moment. "That's it? I was expecting an argument or something." 

Alex shakes his head. "No argument. We knew this was coming sooner or later." He steps away from his wife. "I'll go get my things and meet you outside." 

Apollo watches a little stunned as his brother-in-law leaves the room. When his sister snaps her fingers in front of his face he snaps out of his daze. Without being told he leaves the room as well. He already had a bag packed in the infirmary for when he would have to go outside the fence. he grabs his bag and goes to meet Alex outside. He is feeling more relaxed now that he isn't taking this trip alone. It could be like old times with Alex. Like when they used to go hiking together in college. 

Alex is waiting for him when he gets outside. They share a friendly nod before striking out on their journey. They spend the trek making light conversation. Reminiscing on old times. It is a pleasant distraction from the knowledge of how dangerous the environment around them is. Almost miraculously, they make it to the watering hole without any incident. The two men know bette than to take that for granted. So they don't relax, not entirely. 

They don't waste a moment. Both of them getting right to work to fill the canteens with fresh water. By the time they are finished with that there are very few animals in the area. They think it is safe to attempt to fish, but they decide to move down the connecting river a little to do so. 

Alex ties one of his knives to a fallen branch. Apollo keeps an eye on the few animals in sight while Alex gets to work spear fishing. he manages to get two fish, which he was storming in a bag tied to his gear, when a loud rustling comes from the nearest trees. Alex is unbothered by the sudden noise. if there is an issue he is confident Apollo will let him know. 

Apollo on the other hand grows very concerned. he knows that it would have to be a creature of great size to be making such a disturbance. Along with that, he knows that even large and bulky animals can move in a way that virtually unnoticeable. So if this animal is making such a racket, it doesn't care what could possibly be around to hear it. And that could be bad. This creature is clearly very comfortable in this area. It is unafraid of predators and is confident enough in it's hunting ability that it doesn't mind scaring away the nearby prey. 

The medic's fears are confirmed moments after Alex lands his third catch. A large bulky animal barrels from the nearby trees. it has brownish scaly skin that is peppered with healed and healing scars. It's beady eyes sit in its large head taking in everything about its surrounding. Its back legs are large and muscular, obviously very powerful. Its forelimbs are tiny, especially compared to the rest of its body. Its strong, thick tail stretches out behind it like a counter balance to its bulky body. This can only be one animal. Probably the most famous of all the dinosaurs. Tyrannosaurus rex. 

Apollo's first reaction is to panic. But then he remembers something. Large predators usually don't see smaller animals as a threat. And, when not hunting, they ignore prey. He relaxes a little knowing this. maybe they aren't in as much danger as he thought. Then he sees something that makes his heart rate pick up again. 

Four smaller versions of the large adult emerge from the trees. They don't even come up to the large one's knees. They are a deep forest green in color and have feathers along their back and tail that are golden in color. It brought its children with it. And Apollo suspects that its motherly instincts wouldn't be too far off from large predators of their time. Everyone knows not to mess with a bear's cubs. He suspects a predator this large and powerful would be even worse. 

The medic inches closer to Alex who is distracted with putting his latest catch in the bag. He taps on Alex's arm urgently. The survivalist turns to him. Apollo points to the approaching animals. Alex doesn't take his eyes off the animals growing ever nearer. "Are we in trouble?" 

Apollo weighs their options in his head. "No. Not at this exact moment. But maybe be a little more careful." 

Alex nods and returns to work. Apollo struggles to keep all five animals in his direct line of sight. An achievement that is proving more difficult as the young wander around, getting farther and farther away from their parent. He resorts to keeping his head on a swivel. 

He is looking almost directly opposite where Alex is when he hears a noise that makes his heart sink. There is a splash, a yelp, another splash and a curse. he spins around to see one of the young not even three feet from Alex. Alex has his spear raised, pointed at the young animals. He takes a sharp inhale at the scene. Slowly he moves his attention to the parent. 

As he dreaded, the commotion gained the adults attention. The large animal has turned its complete attention to them. "Alex," Apollo hisses. He is ignored on this first attempt to gain his companion's attention. "Alex!" He hisses even louder. 

"What?!" Alex snaps. 

Apollo draws his attention to the large adult creature currently stalking towards them. "Time to go." 

Alex nods in agreement. He readjusts his grip on his makeshift spear and they both start to back away as calmly but quickly as possible. The animal matches their pace. 

Then another one of the young grows bold and lunges towards them. before Apollo can stop him, Alex jabs towards the young animal. A chilling rattling groan like noise comes from the adult. Both men freeze, their eyes wide and their blood running cold. "What now?" Alex asks. 

"Now we run." 

They don't need any further encouragement. The two men turn tail and run. Straight back  towards the camp. The stupidity of this does not occur to the two men. Their focus is solely on getting away from the large animal thundering after them. They slow once they hit the trees. Partly from a need to because their poor judgement assumes that is won't be able to follow them through the trees. 

They forgot this is their territory. The animal's pounding footsteps, surprisingly quieter than they anticipated, can still be heard behind them. Not in the impact with the ground. No, the only indication of the large footsteps following them is the crunching of the underbrush beneath the large feet. This little detail somehow seems to make the whole thing even more terrifying. 

The camp isn't far. At first they think that is a blessing. But when the fence comes into view and the sounds of the pursuit are still strong they realize how bad that is. They tumble back behind the fence. Immediately they start calling for the others. 

Artemis and Will exit the ship, confusion and concern written on their faces. "Pack up the solar panels!" Apollo instructs. 

"What? Why?" Artemis questions her brother. 

The roar of the large predator echoes through the air, sending a chill down their spines. 

"It's following us. It's angry. And, if it's anything like the large predators of our time, it's extremely territorial. We need to leave. Now." 

They no longer question him. While Apollo runs inside to inform the remaining crew of their imminent departure, the others get to work dismantling their solar panels. Val steps out into the hall. "Why am I losing power?" 

"We're leaving." Apollo states plainly. 

Meg materializes into the hall as well. "We're leaving?" 

Apollo nods. He turns to his niece. "Do we have enough power to fly?" 

Val shrugs. "Sure. It won't be the smoothest ride. And everything will either be manual or automatic. But there's enough to keep us airborne for maybe five hours before we crash." 

Apollo pauses, that last word catching his attention. "Whatever you have to do to get us airborne, do in now." 

The two women nod and rush off. moments later the other three come back inside the ship. Each of them carrying a stack of solar panels. "Is that all of them?" They nod. They drop the equipment in the nearest room. Then all of them dash for the Flight Deck. Val and Meg join them not even a minute later. 

"We're good to go," Meg informs the pilot. 

Everyone straps into their seats and prepares for take off. They don't just fly the ship often. Actually all os the crew can count on one hand the number of times they've done it. But none of those previous times had this sense of urgency. 

The whole ship shakes as something large and strong hits it. 

"Now would be nice Missy." 

"Settle down Sunny." Artemis flips a last few switches and grabs the piloting controls. "Everyone hold on. Here we go." 

With a shudder the ship comes to life. The doors shut. The shield lowers over the windows. And they lift off the ground. "Why can't I see anything?" Artemis asks. 

"It's all automated." 

"Just take is slow Missy." Apollo suggests. 

Artemis shakes her head. "If we want distance we have to move." She speeds the ship up and the take off towards the unknown. 

"What about the fences?" Val asks. 

"We used all natural materials. So, hopefully the large dinosaurs will knock it down and it will just decompose on its own." Alex explains. 

Apollo smiles at his friend. "It's almost like you planned it that way." 

Alex shrugs. "I know what I'm doing." 

They fall into silence for a while. Each one thinking about what happened to lead to this and what is to come. 

"Why was that thing after you anyway? What did you do?" 

Alex and Apollo share a look. "It didn't like something we did." 

Meg snorts. "Leave it to Apollo. Only you could annoy a dinosaur enough to want to kill you." 

"It wasn't him," Alex corrects. 

Meg looks at her friend in shock. "You did this?" The only answer she gets is silence. "Wow. I would not have guessed that." 

Alex rolls his eyes. "Yeah. Any way, where are we going?" 

"Uh. West." Artemis doesn't take her eyes from the window infant of her. Not that she can really see much anyway. 

"West?" Apollo questions. "That's it? That's all we get?' 

"That's all I have. I don't have anything to help me narrow it down." Artemis takes a deep breath before she continues. "So we go west. And it would help if I could see. Val, do you think you can override the window shield?" 

Val nods and gets to work. "I'll see what I can do." 

The others fall silent, letting the two women focus on their tasks. With little to do as their monitors are blank and the windows are covered, they are left to stare at nothing in particular. 

Eventually Val breaks the silence. "That should do it." 

A moment later the shields onto windows raise. The teen lets out a triumphant shout. Artemis expresses her gratitude with a small nod and thanks. Then everyone takes a good look outside the windows. 

As far as they can see there is nothing but ocean on the horizon. No one wants to voice the dread that fills them at this knowledge. "Uh Val, remind me again how long we'll have power for?" 

"Five hours. Give or take." 

"Give or take?" He questions. "Give or take how much?" 

Val glances at her uncle. "Thirty minutes. Maybe an hour." 

her words ring around the room. "So we need to find land." Meg concludes. 

"The sooner the better," Val confirms. 

Artemis pushes the engine faster, taking their words to heart. Everyone's heart pound, an anxious energy filling the room. They all keep their eyes trained not he horizon. Each one hoping to provide the information they are all searching for. 

"There!" 

Everyone jumps. All but Artemis looking at Meg. The mechanic is pointing urgently out the window. They follow where she is pointing. Barely visible on the horizon is a growing shadow that slowly becomes clear is land. Artemis adjusts her direction. 

They all wait with bated breath as Artemis pilots them over closer to their new destination. When they are over land again a lot of the tension leaves the room. But Artemis doesn't stop. She continues to take them further and further inland. The ticking clock is ever present for the crew the longer they are in the air. 

To everyone's relief, Artemis starts to take them down for a landing in a small clearing nearby. And with plenty of time left on the clock. This landing is a lot smoother than the last. only a small bump when they rough down.