Caught between predatorial dinosaurs and a group of armed men, Kat worries more about the dinosaurs.
Kat, an out Kat, an outdoor video star, tries to make amends with her mother on her home world, an alternate Earth where dinosaurs never went extin...
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Kat peered up at the treetops around them. "I don't think anyone will be able to see the copter unless they fly right over the top of this and look straight down."
"I still don't get it. Why the heck were they shooting at us?" James still stared at the hole in the fuel tank.
"Whoever those people are, we saw something up at their camp they didn't want us to see."
"Like what?"
"No clue. But there had to be something for them to have shot at us and then send a copter after us? Believe me, they will come looking for us and not to hand out medals."
"Yeah, get that. But there's a lot of territory for them to cover down here. How much time will they really spend looking for us?"
"We downed their copter. Not to mention I shot one ..." Kat just realized what she had done. She had shot the pilot. In the heat of the battle and getting down to the ground, she had not had time to think about it. But now it suddenly hit her.
"Hey, you okay?" James turned away from the fuel tank to face her.
"Yeah ... I guess." Kat stared down at the pistol in her hand. A numbness came over her. It wasn't exactly her body; it was more like her soul had gone cold. "I'd never shot anyone before. Animals, yes. I killed plenty of animals. But ... never shot a person before."
"Don't forget, they were shooting at us too."
"Yeah, I know. And don't worry. I won't hesitate if I have to do it again. But ..."
"Yeah?"
"It just feels ... weird. I don't know. It just feels like I'm not me right now somehow." Kat glanced up at James.
He stared with soft eyes that held no judgement. He just listened.
Kat felt like she just woke up. "They're not gonna give up anytime soon. We gotta get out of here."
"Hey, even if they find my copter, we'll long gone by then."
"If they find it, they'll know we survived, and it will make it a hell of lot easier for them to find us. They'll know what side of the river we're on. Narrows their search by half. And it will tell them where we started from, so they can better guess where we might be at."
"We could skirt wide of them. They wouldn't go that deep out into the prairie."
"Yeah, but the rexes are more dangerous out there," Kat said. Hiding places were harder to come by out on the grasslands. "Besides, it would double our time getting back, and it's going to be a long hike as it is."
"Alright. You convinced me. Lucky I performed such a skilled landing." James turned toward the storage bin as Kat rolled her eyes. He had shown piloting skill, but she wasn't about to admit it to his face. He pulled out his backpack. Her parents already had their packs on their backs, having carried theirs inside the copter.
