Primeval - A Grave New World

6. Resuscitation

Danny woke from his slumber to view the dimly-lit room. His mind was awake, but his body remained still. He tracked his gaze up to the rusty clock on the wall. The fact that he was in a room rather than in a tree or cave still hadn't fully sunk in. Though slightly uncomfortable, the change of scenery, this bed, technology, and comfort all seemed so alien to him still. Not twenty-four hours before he was asleep on a rock. What an upgrade.

As his vision grew less fuzzy, he concentrated on the clock again. 1:30? He glanced out the hotel window. Beyond it, the world was a thick and inky black. Had he really slept for that long? Lazily, righted himself and stretched his arms out. Pops and crackles sounded from inside his aching body. Surely a visit to the chiropractor was in order. Despite getting a good night's sleep on a real mattress, the pains and aches from his journey into the past still remained. He plopped himself back down on the bed and pulled the sheets over himself. Perhaps he would turn on the TV. He reached for the bedside drawer and dug for the remote. That's when he heard the noise coming from the hallway.

He instinctively reached to his side for Molly only to find her not there. He began to panic. Where is she, and what the hell was that? The sound of doors thudding took him out of his confusion. It was just the sound of a car.

"Get it inside!" he narrowed his eyes. That voice sounded familiar.

"Mac, shut up! You're gonna wake everyone in the hotel!"

"Oh please, they've probably already called security on us," he replied.

"Both of you, be quiet!" Said Toby.

The sound of footsteps steadily approached until they were just outside. Suddenly, the room door burst open. Danny shot up and threw his sheets to the side. Mac and Toby entered, followed by Leeds hauling a large and bound brown sack into the darkened room. Carefully they manoeuvred it onto the second bed beside the dumb-founded Danny.

"I'm pretty sure this hotel doesn't allow animals," started Leeds.

"I mean with you two advertising it to the public, I'm sure security's already on us."

Leeds ambled over to the door and slipped the do not disturb sign onto the knob before shutting the door quietly.

Toby rolled her eyes. She untied the top of the sac and ripped away the covering. A small dinosaur unfurled itself from beneath the sheets and lay on the bed. The smell it gave off made everyone's eyes water. Danny just stared down at it in confusion before looking up at Mac, Toby and Leeds.

"Long story," said Toby.

"Oh, you've brought back a pet, I'm sure Lester will be pleased."

He got up and stood over the animal. It looked to be small, maybe less than the height of a man with angry-looking eye ridges and a presumably sharp beak. He was sure Connor had gone over this one during one of their many briefings but he couldn't seem to recall the name. Whatever it was, was in bad shape, only occasionally twitching and gasping for breath.

"So, what do we do with this thing?" asked Leeds, folding his arms.

"Can't you just send it back?" answered Danny, rubbing his eyes wearily trying to make sense of the situation.

"If we could, we would've done it already. We're not idiots" said Mac in reply, glaring down at Danny.

"You know, I can do without the attitude," Danny muttered.

Toby gave a soft punch into Mac's arm.

"Jesus Christ! It's like babysitting children!"

Danny smirked at Mac who just stared blankly back at him, trying not to lose his temper. Quinn just avoided eye contact. He looked at the dinosaur and tried to remember the crash course on dinosaurs Connor had given when he joined the ARC but couldn't think of a name for it. It was a strange creature indeed with a beaked face and a covering of fuzz. In fact, Danny wasn't even sure if it was a mammalian or saurian.