Anne’s eyes open wide. She’s looking at something big.

Two of them.


“I can’t believe it. Wait.” She stops, frozen. “Oh no. Oh God. This is Site B. This is John Hammond’s Lost World. “

She stares at the dinosaurs once more, and asks herself, “His name was Hammond, right? Yes.”

She closes her eyes, trying to remember what these dinosaurs were. Then it hit her. “Brachiosaurus. It was only, what? The only true Jurassic native on the island?”

There were only two Brachiosaurs in front of her, one being quite larger than they other. She whispers, “They’re gigantic!”

The larger one was closer, and it started to draw closer. Every time it’s foot hit the ground, Anne felt like she was going to fall. It was close.

The Brachiosaur’s tail moved from side to side as it walked, and its belly seemed to jiggle at every step. It seemed to not pay any attention at all to Anne, but instead just lazily walked past, heading for the pond.

Anne gazed up as it passed by, trying to guess how tall it was. After several moments in awe, the adult had almost completely passed by; its tail swinging slowly over Anne’s head as it turned for the water.

She turned her watch to the juvenile, watching as it grazed in a low-hanging tree several dozen yards away. It too, seemed calm.


The adult Brachiosaur was graceful; its long neck twisting down towards the pond. It stopped for a moment, looking out across the grass to the baby as the baby gave a small honk. Anne watched as the adult resumed drinking, and the baby begun to walk over.

Anne backed into the shade of some nearby trees, still staring as the baby joined its parent at the pond. “This can’t be Site B. Not at all. Maybe some of the dinosaurs were accidentaly placed on one of the other islands. That’s what happened. Nothing to worry about.”

Come on Anne. Accidentaly placed? Get real.

“Misplaced. That’s all that happened.”

From her left there came a crashing sound, and she spun, backing away. The baby Brachiosaur stopped drinking, looking around. The adult halted, craning its neck to see.

Anne let go a sigh of relief when another Brachiosaur—another adult—slipped out from the trees, moving towards the pond where the other adult and baby were.

She watched as the baby seemed to greet the new adult, and Anne said, “Those are its parents.”

The new adult positioned itself next to the first, and, like the other two, lowered its neck to drink. Anne started jogging in an arc around them, moving to the road. As she neared, she stopped to watch a new view of the graceful creatures drinking.

She was much closer now, and the baby had noticed her. It had backed off slightly, watching, making a soft snorting noise. The adults stared back at Anne, and took a final drink, before their necks began to glide up.

They turned away, the baby moving in front. The first adult moved to the baby’s right, while the second moved to its left, and together they walked this way, leaving the pond.

“Wow,” Anne said. She couldn’t believe it.

Actual dinosaurs!

She ran to the pond’s edge, and dipped a hand in. The water was cool, and she took off her shoes and socks. She set them next to a rock, the socks partially sticking out of either shoe. Without removing anything else, she waded in, finding it was only three or four feet deep. In the center, the surface was just a few inches short of her shoulders.

The bottom was covered in smooth, small rocks, that didn’t cut into her bare feet. She took a breath, and put her entire head under, putting her hands through her hair. It strung out behind her, reaching for the surface.

The water felt good, and she rubbed her legs and arms under the water. She exhaled and pushed up, her head slowly coming up. She closed her eyes, making her hair straight. Her clothes were now tight, weighed down by the water.

She looked up, hearing the baby Brachiosaur call in the distance. She could see that it was agitated, even from her distance. The two adults had also began pushing the baby away, occasionally glancing towards the forest.

Something had irked them.

But what?

She dunked her face underwater, wiping away the dried blood from her forehead. She wondered what would happen if she didn’t get it treated soon. She pulled away, once again pushing back her hair, and spit out some inhaled water.

She began to get out, glancing back at the departing Brachiosaurs. They were gone now.

Water began dripping off her clothes as she got out, and she turned, plopping down on the ground. She reached for her shoes, pulling them over. She put on her socks, which became damp soon after being put on.

She pulled on her first shoe, then the second, and got up. She returned to the road, a few feet away, and started walking towards the hillside road slope up ahead.

There were several boulders along either side of the slope, and some trees waiting at the top of the hill. Anne began walking up the slope, turning around once to look at the pond.

“Well, he did it. He actually did it.”

She began to resume climbing when a blood-curdling shriek filled the air, followed by a series of long, wailing honks.


Anne watched as something appeared from the forest where the Brachiosaurs had left. It was running on two legs, honking. It was fast, and as it began closing ground between itself and the pond, Anne could see it looked odd.

It was a tall, light-brown animal, with thick legs. It carried two small, curled arms. Anne first noticed an odd protrusion on its head, like a horn or something. It honked again: it’s small, bill-like mouth opening. It twisted its head, gazing off to its right at the forest.

Anne thought, That’s where the Brachiosaurs were watching.

She watched as the creature quickly turned, moving towards the hillside. Anne instinctively backed away, as the creature neared an area on the hill around two dozen yards away from her own spot. It started to climb up, when something darted out of the forest.

Anne backed away, hiding behind a boulder, and peered around to look. The creature was amazingly fast, and had closed the gap between itself and the horned creature amazingly fast. The horned creature stopped, partway up the hillside, and honked.

The second, smaller creature glided past it, and the horned creature turned away. As it did, two more of the smaller creatures appeared from the forest and ran to the base of the hillside.

Three against one.

The creatures were about two meters tall. They too were brown, but darker than the horned dinosaur. They all had red streaks on their side, and kept snarling, snapping at the horned creature.

The larger dinosaur gazed down at the two smaller ones as they began to come up, and, after letting out a single honk, it pushed its way over the hill. It disappeared above the slope, lost from view.

Anne saw the first small creature hiss, and leap away. She heard snarls and honks mixed together, as the other two creatures darted from view over the slope. After several more seconds of the mixed sounds, the honking ceased, and Anne only heard faint snarls, hisses, and growls.


She thought she remembered them, and the name was on the tip of her tongue. She couldn’t believe she had forgot! She had talked to Jill two nights before about them.

I can’t believe it’s already been two days.

She pushed away from the boulder, staying alongside the road as she made her way up the slope. She hid behind each boulder she could, until she reached the top.

The road curved away at a slight angle, partway hidden behind more boulders. Alongside the right of the road were more trees, all tucked into their spots between the mountainside and the road. To the left was an odd crop of boulders, all spread out over sand.

She moved behind a smaller boulder alongside the road, and watched, standing slightly over the boulder. Near the edge of the odd boulder crop—facing the downward slope of the hill—she saw the creatures ripping at the carcass of the dead creature.

She saw blood running over the sand, drying in. The creatures snarled and hissed, snapping at each other often.

One turned its head, jerking on something in its mouth. A piece of stringy flesh.

She could see blood lining each of the dinosaurs’ mouths, and she watched in awe and horror as they ripped at the carcass.

One of them leaped up onto the carcass, facing her. It hissed, looking down at another crouched dinosaur. It looked back up at the one on the carcass, and snarled.

In a flash, the lower dinosaur had jumped, clashing with the dinosaur on the carcass. They disappeared behind the chest of the dead dinosaur, but Anne could hear them hissing and snarling. She could easily tell there were two of them.

She occasionally saw the tip of one’s tail, whipping above the carcass, until finally there was only one, low series of hissing.

This dinosaur had won the battle.

It remained on the other side, and Anne gazed at the carcass. It had been torn up, blood caked over the skin. Flesh was lying on the ground, and strings of fat and muscle dangled from the holes in the skin.


That’s when she realized the third dinosaur was missing. She scanned the carcass, looking for any sign of it. But she only heard the low growls of the dinosaur that had won the battle feeding on the carcass of the loser.

Where’s the other one?

Anne cringed as a lone shriek ripped through the air.


She watched as the dinosaur on the opposite side of the carcass looked up. It too gazed around, but it was staring off to the right. Anne followed its gaze, and saw that the other dinosaur had spotted her.

It snarled, disappearing behind a boulder, and she looked in horror to see that the second dinosaur had also spotted her. Anne got up, realizing she could never make it back down the slope. It was too late. One of the two dinosaurs had begun moving around to the left, ready to block off her path.

Anne stared down the road for a moment, watching the curve, and began to run.

Behind her she heard one of the dinosaurs shriek, and she could hear soft thumping as it followed her. She caught a glimpse of the second dinosaur jumping over the carcass to join in the pursuit, but continued to run.

She began following the curve, and heard something hit the ground behind her, following by a hiss.

That was too close.

She breaks out in a sweat, passing by another boulder, and she thinks of stopping for a moment as she sees a wooden ramp up ahead, angling up onto the hill. It’s supported by several wooden posts underneath.

Anne ran harder, closing in on the ramp, and wondered if it would support her weight. Behind her the dinosaurs snarled, leaping for her but missing. They were closing in.

She jumped, flying several feet at her speed, and landed just short of the ramp. She ran up, not looking back, and felt it creak and crack underneath her weight.

Hold, hold!

Anne reaches the end of the ramp, stepping onto the grass. She turns around, slowing down as she sees the lead dinosaur jump up onto the ramp. It looked at her, snarling, and began nearing the peak.

A crack ripped through the air. The dinosaur stopped, looking around. The second one backed off the ramp, snarling. The first began to move, when the ramp cracked again. The dinosaur shrieked, falling through the wood.

There was thud as it hit the ground under the ramp, and a dust cloud erupted from the ramp. As it cleared, Anne could see a hole in the center of the ramp. The second dinosaur looked between her and the ramp, frustrated.

Anne laughed. “How you going to get up now?”

She began to turn around, to continue down the road which reappeared up ahead.


She looked back, watching as the dinosaur warily took a step onto the ramp. It snarled, hearing a faint crack, and peered up at her.

She squinted, trying to think whether it was going to risk the climb, or leave.

It wasn’t giving up.

The dinosaur hissed, moving up the ramp towards the hole, and then stopped. The wood cracked again, and it began to back up.

“Go away,” Anne whispered. “You’re not getting up. Go away.”

The dinosaur seemed to be moving off the ramp, when it slowly raised its head to look at her. It snarled: its teeth baring. In what seemed like an unbelievable event, the dinosaur jumped off the ramp, passing by the hole onto a spot on the ledge which the top of the ramp rested on.

It crouched low, as it landed, and its arms raised up menacingly, as it once more bared its teeth. Anne cursed, and ran.

She heard the dinosaur growl, as she stepped onto the road. It led up towards some sort of building, next to a fence. Something was leading off the top of the building over the fence. The road passed near the building, towards the fence.

Another door. Maybe I can get through and close it on this thing.

Almost there.

She runs past the building, concrete passing her face. Anne stops short of the fence, jogging over. She doesn’t look back, but pushes on the fence where the road ends. She scans for gaps, anything.


“Oh my God,” she whispers.

There’s no way through.

She spins around, watching as the dinosaur passes by the building. It’s only several yards away, and it keeps running towards her.

“You want me? Too bad.”

It hisses, and leaps. She watches as its curved claws extend into the air, threatening to slice her open. She spins away, the dinosaur snarling in mid-air, trying to stop.

It crashes into the fence. Some of the wood splinters, and she sees that one of its legs had gotten stuck in the fence.

Anne looks up, seeing the underside of the odd concrete structure leading out of the building and over the fence. The dinosaur snarls, and she jogs away, hearing cracks. She knows it’ll get out soon.

She needs to get over the fence.

Anne moves around the building, finding a set of stairs on the opposite side. They’re rusted over, and they clang lightly as she walks up.

When she reaches the top, she finds the entire area shaded by a metal roof. On each side there is about three feet of space from the wall’s peak to the roof. In all four corners there is a thick metal post supporting the roof.

Lining each wall of the room but one is a long, concrete bench. In the center there are several hollow drums, resting alongside a pile of support bars. On the opposite side of the room from her is an opening, where she can step out onto the concrete structure.

I wonder what that is.

Set on the wall next to the opening she sees a covered box set up on the wall, with a pipe running down to the floor. The pipe follows the floor in the corner, disappearing into the wall. She walks over, pulling on the little metal handle of the cover.

It opens, and the hinges squeal. “Looks like they’ve been closed forever.”

Inside she finds several buttons, all marked with a small image. Each one is different, and several buttons are blank. There is a small, grated vent at the top. She opens up the cover a bit more, and looks on the inside. There is something stuck to the inside: a paper, but it’s too dirty and rotted away to make out anything.

She looks at the faded sticker images on the buttons. One is shaped like a phone, and she presses it.


She tries another.


“No, no.” She presses each button several times, but nothing works. “Great.”

She slams the lid in frustration. She continues facing the box, with one hand on her forehead and another on her hip.

Anne hears a low series of hissing behind her.

She spins around, hearing the loud clang of something jumping onto the stairs. She reaches for one of the metal support bars lying on the ground nearby, and grips it tight, holding it like a baseball bat.

The dinosaur’s entire body comes into view as it jumps from a spot on the staircase, landing on the platform leading into the covered room. It turns left, looking at her.

It snarls, and steps into the room. Anne moves right, behind the drums. Behind her is the opening out onto the concrete structure. The dinosaur shuffles over slightly, trying to move around the drums. Anne swings the bar, missing the dinosaur by a foot. It passes over the drums, and she lowers it as she pulls back.

It hits the top of one of the drums, making a loud banging sound. The dinosaur hisses, and begins moving around the drums. She too moves in the opposite direction around the drums, and swings once more. It misses.

The dinosaur pushes forward, tired of the never-ending clockwise chase. It pushes into the drums, which part, clanging off the ground. They roll, pushing into the pile of bars, which begin to spread out over the ground.

Anne backs off, moving towards the opening to the metal structure. She swings the bar, feeling it collide with the dinosaur’s snout. It snarls, backing away through the drums, shaking its head.

Now’s her chance.

Anne jumps through the opening, over the gap between the building and the structure. Her legs slightly buckle, but she begins to regain herself. Still gripping the bar, she starts to run down the concrete.

Behind her, the dinosaur realizes its prey had escaped, and jumps onto the structure to follow.