Bradley's Marsh
Camp

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AMELIA BEAMED while Bradley frowned at the small, pathetically weak baby Tanycolagreus. Compared to its terrifying older relatives that had nearly killed her - multiple times - she was shocked by the fragility of it.

The Tanycolagreus was no bigger than a large chicken, with pale browny-grey skin and slight downy feathers lining the back of its head. Its feet were almost comically large in comparison to its body. Large eyes were screwed up tight while its mouth was open, revealing tiny white pinpricks of fangs.

"Well, what do we do with it?" Bradley questioned, mimicking Lale's pose by crossing his arms. Amelia looked up at him from her position leaning against the beam holding up the hut, her face now creased with her own frown.

"Well, obviously we'll keep it. Try and tame it - see if it's possible. It'd be good to have a dinosaur on our side." Amelia pulled the Tanycolagreus closer on its space blanket, and it squirmed a little, offering a plaintive cry. She used this as an excuse to dodge Bradley's question; even though she had originally wanted to keep the egg to test on it, now that it had hatched, priorities had to be shifted.

Everything she had said was true, she knew, but Bradley seemed to have different opinions that made her blood boil. "So you can name it Fido?" He muttered scornfully. "Put it on a leash? Let it eventually eat us?"

"Amelia's right." Shaunia, the last person she had expected to her come to her defense, piped up. She was leaning against the beam across from her, eyes widened expectantly. "Dinosaurs could be especially useful. Think about it - we don't have horses or chickens which would provide us with transport or eggs and meat. We could also use them to prevent any Jurassic diseases that could get into us. Y'know. Like test subjects."

"And we could raise it on a non-human diet," Amelia added, locking eyes with Shaunia gratefully. Those were all great reasons to want to keep dinosaurs handy, and Bradley seemed to realize it too, as he relented.

Truthfully, Amelia hadn't realized the egg would hatch, and she once again felt a fist of doubt tighten in her stomach. They wouldn't have proper shelter, or proper supplies, until everyone piled to the container to take everything out. If they couldn't provide for themselves, how could they do so for a young dinosaur that would eventually grow?

Everyone was silent as they gazed down on the creature. Even though she was a little worried, Amelia couldn't deny her happiness. She was looking down at a living specimen of the very animal that had been extinct for most of her life!

This is why I'm here, she reminded herself, and she felt more content than she had in a long while.

Finally, someone broke the silence. Lale rolled his shoulders and looked to Bradley. "Well, Brad, even though marveling at a cute baby dinosaur has been fascinating, is there anywhere we could get cleaned up? Like a five-star lake with soap?"

That sprung some murmurs of agreement; everyone was tired, and dirty. The smell of vegetation, Amelia guessed, overwhelmed the scent of sweat. She knew she looked no better (and maybe even worse, with the blood smeared across her leg), and she too would've appreciated a bath at that moment.

Clever Lale, Amelia grinned internally as Bradley brightened. Nice way to change the subject.

"This way. The marsh gets deeper and leads to a lake further on." Like a tour guide for some safari resort, Bradley gestured westwards and led those who were anxious to be less caveman-like towards outside to that five-star lake.

Amelia was surprised to see that Lale hadn't moved. With her ankle in the state it was - something inside of the muscle crackling every time she put some weight on it - she knew she wasn't going anywhere.

"You gonna be okay here?" Lale asked. In the shadows that the leaf covering over the hut made, she couldn't read his gaze. Amelia smiled at him reassuringly, a little awkward by his sudden concern over her. The dinosaur in front of her lap snuffled a little.

"Oh yeah. I'll be putting that electric fencing up while you guys are gone." Amelia's smile widened, and her heart lightened a little at the small smile Lale returned.

"You do that." With a last glance at the Tanycolagreus hatchling, Lale turned and opened the leafy shield, and a shaft of late morning sunlight warmed Amelia's foot before he closed it and left.

Amelia released a small sigh, then looked at the hatchling herself. She hadn't touched it much, and wasn't about to start - despite what Bradley had said, she had no ulterior motives for the small creature either than that of purely scientific. (Okay, and maybe marveling at it a little.) Amelia wrapped it gently in the blanket, which crackled and glimmered like it was made of tinfoil, originally made for treating victims of shock.

Now the comfortable nest for the youngest ERAA member of all.

"You need a name," Amelia murmured like a crazy person, chatting to the Tanycolagreus as its head poked out of the blanket, wrapped tight like a burrito. Amelia grinned at the sight, her suppressed amusement warming her from her chest outwards. Chatting to an animal was acceptable; laughing to oneself was not.

"Hey, Amelia." Dr. Royson had crept up behind her, sliding open the leaf covering like a curtain. Amelia twisted, a little surprised, but already felt her face warming in pleasure. She turned away to try and cover up her flush, looking down at the Tanycolagreus though all Amelia could see in her mind's eye was Zoey kissing her. She felt her face heat again.

"Hi, Zoey. What's up?"

The doctor moved to the opposite side of Amelia, closest to her ankle. It was swaddled in bandages like its own baby Jesus and there was a splint down either side of her calf - not exactly uncomfortable, just extremely restrictive.

It was obvious Zoey was there to check on her wound rather than Amelia herself, and she couldn't help but a feel a small flash of disappointment surge through her chest, dampening her good mood a little.

"Ah," Zoey waved her hand, like she was patting the air. "It's all good. As good as running away from a dank-ton of dinosaurs can be." They shared a smile, Amelia's hopes yanking up again.

They sat in companionable silence for a little longer while Zoey changed her ankle's bandages. There wasn't as much blood as Amelia had expected (something she was very relieved about) and it took less than ten minutes to re-bandage and replace the sticks.

"Thanks." Amelia grinned when Zoey had finished, the other woman sitting down beside and rubbing her hands together.

"It's my job," the doctor said simply, but Amelia sensed an underlying sadness. That guy that had been attacked by the Tanycolagreuses when she, Lale, Bradley and the EEGs had opened the Pods - he hadn't made it. Even in the shadows, Zoey's eyes had always seemed bright. Then, with the failure of death, they were dull, and Amelia felt a jolt of shock that she had failed to notice that before.

What kind of friend was she to not spot another's sadness?

"It wasn't your fault, you know." The words popped out, but Amelia didn't feel embarrassed by it. It was what she knew she had to say.

She put her hand on Zoey's shoulder. Zoey turned to face her, then looked down at the Tanycolagreus, which was brushing its front claws over its muzzle. Her eyes were a little less blank than before, but Amelia noted a wariness in her gaze, directed at the young dinosaur.

"It doesn't make it hurt any less," Zoey murmured quietly. For some reason, the show of vulnerability, which threatened to destroy Amelia's good mood once and for all, reminded her of Daryl.

She hadn't had much time to think of him between surviving - but at that moment Amelia missed him like never before.

"One day it'll hurt less." Amelia squeezed her shoulder to block the deluge of memories that threatened to swamp her. "Trust me."

Zoey looked up from the earth and met her dark gaze. She smiled a little, and that spurred on Amelia's own burst of congratulatory relief. Finally, I did something right. Maybe Bradley would even agree.

"I do," Zoey replied confidently. She shrugged Amelia's hand down so that she was holding it instead, and Amelia wondered if her palm was sweaty as her nerves began to shake. She felt like an iceberg, slowly tilting until she could meet Zoey's pleasures. Make Zoey happy.

Amelia felt steady at that moment, however. She didn't need to kiss Zoey to tell her how she felt - she reckoned it was written all over her face. They held hands, and it felt like enough.

Until another shadowed figure came in, a volt-gun clutched in their hands. The person had barged past the leaves, and they flurried behind and over him - Amelia was sure it was a him a few moments later - and dappled him in shadows and light.

Amelia tightened her grip on Zoey's hand with a sudden irrational panic (where could she go, with her foot the way it was?), before she recognized the dark skin and chiseled jawline. The quickened thumping of her heart didn't slow down even as her thoughts did.

"Ichabod?" She called out, the sunlight glaring into her eyes. Amelia lifted her hand to block the sun's rays as the humidity of the outside rushed into the small shelter and threatened to choke her. "What's wrong?"

Something has to be wrong, Amelia reasoned, her stomach tightening. The silence of the man did little to ease her, and she felt the worry flow over her again rather than recede.

Her eyes flitted down to the black of the glinting volt-gun.

She knew she had anticipated the move in her subconscious when Amelia wasn't surprised at Ichabod suddenly pulling the charger. Electricity thrummed at the nozzle, and Amelia threw her hands up even knowing it would do no good.

White-hot blasted her and Zoey, and the last thought she had before the white faded to black was; I daggin' knew it.

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