Sixth Extinction

Chapter 4

Silver pulled his rifle closer. He felt the handgun heavy against this right leg and hope he didn’t have to use either of them. He was glad William had a weapon too if they came across something out there. Nicole reassured them the era should not produce anything bigger than a fish. I hope she’s right.

The cooler outside air gushed through the crack, the hairs on his arms stood up at the temperature change. It wasn’t unpleasant. Just not something he never felt before. Each time during his training, he stepped out of the facility covered in protective clothing to shield himself from the harmful radiation and toxic fumes. He could feel his heart beating faster as he felt naked against the elements. What happens if William is wrong? No, we would already be dead.

The drills base glowed as the light from the sun peeked through the doors. Nicole, who stood the closest, looked down at her legs as they were bathed in sunlight.

"It's warm and so bright!" she said then looked to the world outside and gasped.

Silver was speechless. They appeared in the world at an elevated position, overlooking the high country surrounding them. The green landscape was full of life. The whole scene seemed to move with the wind. The trees with long fuzzy leaves swayed at the same time as the wild grass as an invisible force blew past. Little round balls sat upon the long grass shoots, their many different colours broke the green dominance.

“That’s a butterfly!” Nicole shouted then stepped out of the drill.

“Nicole!” Silver said then followed. “I need to secure the area.” He stepped out and gazed at the similar type surroundings from all views. The only creatures in sight were the strange large winged insects floating around the colourful grasses.

“Secure?” William asked.

Silver tore his eyes from the landscape and found William already standing out of the drill and staring at him with narrowed eyes. I’m going to have big problems with him. “Yes,” he turned to the others still all huddled in the doorway with slack jaws. “You can come out.”

Kim stepped down from the floor to the chunks of limestone and soil pushed up by the drill’s point while Blake jumped clear of the soil disturbance. They both proceeded to scan the unfamiliar landscape.

"What’s that noise," William asked placing his hands over his ears.

"Birds!" Kim shouted then walked into the grass until her knees disappeared.

"Hey, back here. We don’t know what’s out there. Stick together,” Silver ordered. Not one person reacted to his orders as they kept wading through the plant life.

"This is way before the main predicted evolutionary period, I don’t think anything will harm us. We should be the larger more complex species at the moment," Nicole informed him.

“It has birds. It’s already ahead,” Kim said. Silver could sense an argument coming on between the two women.

"Yes well I rather not take the chance, thank you!" Damn scientists. Give me techs any day.

William headed off in one direction as if he knew where he wanted to go. Silver threw his hands in the air and closed his eyes. No use.

 The others stayed a bit closer as they wandered around with their jaws wide open. "Hey, you lot better watch it or those butterfly thingies might fly down your throats," he teased then turned around so see where William went.

The tall man disappeared down the hillside. Silver pushed his way through the long grass to follow him. So much for sticking together. This guy is going to be a pain in my- He stopped at the hill's peak and gazed at the landscape below. The view snatched his breath away. He never imagined anything like it. He could hardly believe it was the same surface he walked upon millions of years ago. The barren red, dusty, windblown land had gone and replaced by the lush green surface with ever changing contours with a huge blue catchment lake between the high hills. How in the ever changing Earth did the facility manage to survive the mountain growth around it? A question for William.