A heavy mist hung upon the land, the ghostly remnants of water gleaming with the blooming light of the early morning sunrise. The receding shadows of the night inched and shied away from the land, hiding away from deep beneath the leaves of the trees. Amy's eyes twitched and fluttered as the sun creeped upon her eyelids, slowly bringing her to awake. The young woman squinted and blinked, her mouth opening into a large yawn. She arched her spine slowly, careful not to wake Tim as she popped her back, relieving the stress of sleeping while propped up against a tree with an eight year old laying against her chest. Amy blinked wearily and she rubbed away her bleary morning tiredness. To her right, Alan still slept soundly. With every shallow inhale and deep exhale, the man snored softly, his cheek resting against the soft blonde tufts of Lex's spiraled bangs. The image displayed was very sweet and Amy wished she had a camera. Then, she got an idea, a mischievous look appearing across her face.

Amy gently wiggled her hand into her front right pocket, squirming her fingertips around the little notebook she always kept secured on her. When she finally retrieved it, Amy removed the pen attached to the spine and began to flip through the pages. Some of the pages were still damp and splattered with mud, the inked writings splotched and bleeding, but they thankfully were salvageable. She turned to a blank and relatively dry page towards the back and began to draw, sketching quick and short lines. Her brown eyes flicked up and back down to the page, blocking out the silhouettes of Alan and Lex against the trees. Once she had their basic shapes, Amy started in on the details. She brought the page up close to her face, focusing on the shape of Alan's tranquil smile and the way his messy hair splayed against his tanned forehead and closed eyes.

When Amy got to the image of Lex, she saw a sudden movement from the corner of her left eye. She froze. Whatever was moving was headed their way, and it was big. Amy turned her head ever so slightly, just enough to allow her to see the object. Her body suddenly felt like it was melting through the tree bark she rested against, her soul fluttering up and into her throat. Her hands began to falter and she had to rest them against Tim's back, her muscles straining to move as slowly as she possibly could.

Emerging from the misty canopy before her was a Brachiosaurus, the lone creature departing from its herd and slowly treading towards her. She forced herself not to move, her eyes locked on to nothing else but the dinosaur as it edged closer and closer to her perch. Alan suddenly let out a rather loud snore and her heart stopped, fearing the sound would scare the creature. Luckily, it hadn't seemed to have heard Alan and it continued forward.

Amy shuffled her leg, her eyes bouncing back and forth between her foot and the Brachiosaur until finally, she reached Alan's own foot. She nudged him. Nothing. She nudged him again. "Alan," she whispered. He didn't stir. Amy kicked him, this time putting a bit of force behind the action. Alan startled awake, the tired man jumping and mumbling incoherent words as he blearily looked around himself. Amy instantly shushed him, her foot tapping desperately against his own to try and quiet the man. "Alan, look."

Alan's brow furrowed as he squinted against the light, eyeing the woman as his tired mind tried to catch up to his surroundings. Then, finally, he looked to the canopy. By this point, the Brachiosaurus had gotten near feet away from them and it continued its slow trek even closer. When the creature was close enough, it reached its head down with open jaws, clamping them down onto a branch bristling with bright leaves and ripping it free from the trunk. "Oh, wow," the words whisked softly from the baffled woman as her face broke out into a genuine, bewildered smile. Almost as if in response, the Brachiosaurus let out a low, grumbling rumble as it's teeth crunched and grinded the branch. With it being so close to them, Amy could feel the sound vibrating through the tree trunk and it caused her to shiver.

Suddenly, there was a loud gasp. Lex had woken and the girl went into instant panic. She jumped from Alan's arms and scrambled up a branch. "Go away!" she screeched as the dinosaur tore another branch from the tree.

"It's okay, it's okay," Alan eased. "It's a Brachiosaur."

"It's a Veggie-saurus, Lex! Veggie-saurus!" Tim exclaimed, his large eyes round and thrilled as he pushed away from Amy and crawled closer to the edge of the nature-made platform. Lex's breathing was rapid and short as she clutched to the tree. She repeated the word to herself, slowly processing the fact that the monster would not attack them. Tim on the other hand was utterly enthralled by the animal. He mimicked Alan's actions from the night before and he cupped his hands around his mouth, moaning and urging the dinosaur closer.

Alan stood to his feet and he reached up to a dangling branch. With one good yank, he ripped the branch from the tree. He then outstretched his arms towards the animal, waving the branch and tempting the dinosaur. "Come on, baby." The Brachiosaur let out a short bellow and dived forward, taking the branch within its powerful jaws. It tried pulling back but Alan fought against it. "I'm not letting go!" He leaned his body back, using his weight against the creature. Amy jumped from her spot on the tree and she latched herself onto the branch as well, helping Alan to pull. With the strength of both adults, the dinosaur's head lowered closer and closer to the group. The Brachiosaur struggled for only a few seconds longer before finally giving up, deciding to relax and eat without backing away again.

With the dinosaur now relaxed, the four humans could study it closely. It's gorgeous grey skin was pebbled and rough, its eyes large, oil-dropped and shining. Tim reached out to touch it, but it flinched away from his reaching hands. "It looks like it has a cold."

"Yeah, maybe," Alan said.

Lex cautiously inched forward, her previous fear changing to curiosity. "Can I touch it?"

"Sure. Just think of it as kind of a big cow." Amy and Tim both chuckled at the man's description.

"I like cows..."

Tim began to reach out again, and once Amy cautioned him to approach more slowly, he finally was able to pet the creature. Amy placed her own hands on it. She ran her palms against the wrinkled, grey-tinted skin, reveling in the radiating warmth. Alan placed his hands on the dinosaur as well, brushing against its nose and jaw as he leaned his head down, trying to analyze the teeth. When Lex tried to pet it herself, though, it pulled away again.

Lex scooted closer and closer to the edge and she stretched out her arm, still trying to make some sort of contact before it got too far out of reach. "Come on," she cooed. "Come on up here, girl, come on!" Suddenly, a shiver rattled up through the dinosaur and it sneezed, spraying Lex with a downpour of snot. Then, it turned and walked away, sauntering slowly through the trees and back to its herd.

"I guess she does have a cold," Amy said, then she had to cover her mouth to hide her onslaught of giggles.

Tim crawled up to his sister, leaned over her shoulder, and shouted out after the dinosaur, "God bless you!" Although Tim, Amy, and Alan all thought it comical, Lex had obviously had enough of the entire situation. With an irritated huff, the girl pushed her brother out of her way and she began climbing down the tree, grumbling hotly to herself as she went. "Aw, come on, Lex. It wasn't her fault she's sick!" Tim called out, following her down the tree.

Amy continued to chuckle at the two kids, watching them as they argued back and forth during their descent. "Poor girl's gonna be scared of cows now." Alan chortled lightly, shaking his head. Then, he turned his attention to Amy.

"Are you sure you can make it down?"

Amy leaned her head over the edge, eyeing the dangerous drop. Her smile faltered and she felt a new lump forming in her throat. Still, she managed a nod. "Yeah, yeah I can make it down. Just... you go first."

Surprisingly, the climb down was rather simple. Because the tangled trees were sloped at an angle, Amy was able to almost scoot down the side. Her fingers clutched dangerously tight around the wrapping vines and with shaky arms, she lowered herself down until her feet were able to touch a knot and she could shift her grip. Alan was slowing his own pace for her sake, she knew, and she was very appreciative of the small gesture. When they were finally out of the tree, the four returned to their journey for the visitors center. By this time, the sun had reached over the horizon and the fog dissipated with the growing heat. The humid air must have been causing the dinosaur snot to dry, for Lex continued to rub and paw at her arms and face uncomfortably, moaning and groaning in disgust. "Yuck..."

"Great," Tim rolled his eyes, "now she'll never try anything new. She'll just sit in her room, never come out, and play on her computer."

"I'm a hacker!"

"That's what I said, you're a nerd."

"I am not a computer nerd! I prefer to be called a hacker."

"My mother's a computer nerd," Amy interrupted the two's bickering. "She's a software engineer in Germany."

Lex peered up at her curiously. "What does she do?"

"She designs computer systems for large scale companies."

"What about your dad?" Tim chirped. "Does he like dinosaurs?"

"No, my father's a doctor."

"So, why do you like dinosaurs?"

Amy hummed. "Well, I'm not really sure. I've just always loved them, I guess. I was a lot like you, sport," she ruffled his hair and he giggled.

"Do they like you digging for dinosaurs?" Lex asked. Amy wavered with her answer. These kids were absolutely drilling her, and she was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable.

"Well, not exactly. I actually haven't spoken to them in... a long while."

"Then call them!" was Tim's innocent remark, to which she couldn't help but smile at. Before she could think of how to respond, Alan suddenly called out her name. Amy stood and spun on her foot, looking down the path for the man. She hadn't realized it, but Alan had stopped a few feet behind them and he was now crouched between the roots of a tree.

"Alan?" she called back, her brow scrunching in confusion. Amy stood and cautiously trailed back down the path with the kids in close tow. As Amy got closer, she noticed something odd between Alan's feet. There were about a dozen white, oval shaped objects, all cracked and scattered in little bits along the dirt floor. It was a nest of freshly hatched eggs. "Jesus," Amy murmured and squatted down across from Alan, her mouth dropping open in pure shock. She picked up one of the eggs, twisting and turning the little object in her hands as she gawked.

"Do you know what this is?" Alan asked as he, too, picked up an egg. His blue eyes were huge and a crazy smile appeared upon his face as he said something even crazier. "It's a dinosaur egg. The dinosaurs are breeding."

"Holy Scheisse..."

The two children peaked from around the tree root, watching curiously. "But... My grandpa said the dinosaurs were all girls..?" Tim said, taking the broken shell from Alan. Alan turned his gaze to Amy and she could practically see the gears turning in his head.

"Amphibian DNA."

Lex quirked a brow. "What's that?"

"It's the genetic makeup of frogs," Amy answered, though she still wasn't sure what Alan was getting at.

The man picked up another shell, twisting and turning the fragile object as he worked out his thoughts aloud. "Well, on the tour, the film said they used frog DNA to fill in the gene-sequence gaps. They mutated the dinosaur's genetic code and blended it with that of frogs..."

"And some frogs can..." Amy started, finally beginning to catch on to Alan's conclusion, but the words refused to be spoken by her. It was too miraculous a thing to truly happen, and yet...

"Yes, some West African frogs have been known to spontaneously change sex from male to female in a single sex environment." A strange, disbelieving laugh escaped from his chest and Alan shook his head incredulously. "Malcolm was right. Look," he pointed. What had once been tiny indents in the sand, something easily overlooked and unimportant, became very unexpected shapes; the footprints of infant dinosaurs. "Life found a way." Amy laughed. Who would have guessed that the cynical Dr. Malcolm, the very man that Hammond despised for his critical and argumentative views, would turn out to be right about everything? It was ironic, and in some twisted, astonishing way, hilarious.

The group returned to their walking, the kids both chattering in their excitement of possibly seeing a baby dinosaur. It actually took a bit of convincing to keep Tim from following after the small footprints, but once the idea of the five course meal that awaited them at the visitors center was planted in his mind, it was easy to continue on. The group walked for what must have been hours. The sun creeped higher and higher into the sky, shining down with so much intensity that even the shade of the trees could not keep them cool. It was around what must have been ten in the morning when the kids quieted down their antics and solely focused on their walking. It was around noon when they started up again, only this time in a more crestfallen way. Amy had remembered the butterfingers Nedry had given her the previous day, and she split the candy bar between the two kids. Still, their stomachs grumbled uncomfortably and they were growing weak with the lack of food and water.

The four left the trees and now trudged through an open, grassy field. The kids were struggling under the heat and exertion. Even Amy was having to force herself forward. The damage done from the night before was becoming increasingly apparent. Every step she took caused her muscles to quiver and ache and her head swam with dehydration. Even Alan's reassurance did little to motivate Amy and the kids as they battled with themselves to get up a hill.

"The visitors center is just a mile over that rise there," Alan said, to which Amy moaned in annoyance.

"You said that just a mile ago."

"Just keep," he came to a sudden stop, causing Amy to bump hard into his back. Amy stumbled a few steps and Alan had to steady her with a quick hand on her shoulder.

"Why the Hell are we stopping in the middle of a field?" Amy snapped, but a new sensation caused her to swallow her words. The ground beneath their feet buzzed, the vibrations steadily growing in intensity. From on top of their hill, the group saw a herd of dinosaurs appear, all running on two legs in a giant formation.

"What is that? Tim, can you tell me what they are?" Alan asked, though Amy was sure Alan already knew. It was almost fatherly, and Amy made a mental note to tease him about it when they weren't in desperate need of sleep and a good meal.

Tim studied the creatures, scratching his head in thought. "They're... gal-uh... ah, gala, um... Gallimimus!"

"Good job, champ," Amy gave the kid a pat on his shoulder, to which he beamed brightly with his two large front teeth. Although, Lex was backing away, readying herself to bolt.

"A-are those meat-eating, um... Meat-asauruses?"

"Yes," Amy told her, "but just small things like lizards."

The herd sprinted over a hill, taking large strides across the green plain, galloping like wild horses. The front group shifted course and the rest followed in almost perfect unison. "Look at the wheeling," Alan muttered while taking a few steps closer. "Uniform direction changes, just like a flock of birds evading a predator!"

"They're so in sync! It's amazing," Amy said, feeding off of Alan's own scientific curiosity. She felt a tug on the end of her pant leg and she looked down to see Tim, his brow raised in clear worry.

"They're, uh... They're flocking this way." Just as he said it, the herd began to emerge upon their hill, rising upon the small group of humans at an alarming rate. Amy turned and ran, following Alan and the kids as they raced back down the hillside. The herd of Gallimimus squealed and squawked from behind them, the stomping of their feet thundering in Amy's head as they began to surround them. With every passing Gallimimus, their giant bodies got closer and closer to the four humans. One sped past Amy and it nudged her out of the way roughly, causing her to stumble. Alan took hold of her hand as well as Tim's and he began leading them to a large tree that had fallen against the treeline of the field. Amy forced herself forward, following Alan's lead as he jumped over the dead tree. The woman barreled over the branches and when she hit the ground she rolled herself against the tree, huddling her body as close to the branches as she could while the dinosaurs continued to pour over above her head.

She felt a heavy hand on her side and she instantly crawled closer, curling herself against the bodies of Alan, Tim, and Lex, waiting for the herd to finally pass by. The Gallimimus flock thinned as more and more jumped over the tree, luckily paying no mind to the four cowering humans. Amy felt a nudge on her back. Alan was pushing her and the children forward, urging them through a hole between the trunk of the tree and the ground. Amy followed Lex and Tim through, crawling to the opposite side of the tree. Once safely on the other side, the small group peeked over the branches, watching the dinosaur flock in amazement. However, the moment was very suddenly ruined as the Tyrannosaur suddenly broke through the trees, lunging at the smaller dinosaurs. Amy nearly screamed and she had to stifle the sound with the palm of her hand. The Tyrannosaur pinned down a Gallimimus. The terrible creature clamped its jaws around its prey and shook it with a great aggression, like a dog with its chew toy. Then, it slammed the dead body of the Gallimimus to the ground, stomped its powerful foot on its head, and ripped out a large chunk from its back.

"I want to go now," Lex whimpered, her trembling hands clutching at Amy's arm. Amy placed her own hand against Lex's, though she could not manage to take her eyes off of the awful, gory scene before her.

Alan leaned over the tree, his eyes wide and intrigued. "Look at how it eats," he mumbled.

"Please," Lex begged, though Alan couldn't hear her.

"I bet you'll never look at birds the same way again," he said, to which Amy gaped at. She could appreciate his scientific fascination, but at the same time, this was all too much for her to bear. She could still hear the horrid screeches and snapping bones of the dying dinosaur, sounding similar to the shattering and dragging metal of a car. The sound is all too familiar, and it made Amy's stomach churn. She reached over and placed a hand on Alan's upper arm, her fingers unconsciously tightening and clutching at his clothes.

"Alan, don't..." When the man turned to look at her, his intrigued gaze instantly fell as the realization of the situation finally settled over him.

He pursed his lips and nodded. "Okay. Keep low and follow me." Amy and Lex began to follow him, though Timmy stayed. He stood up on unsteady legs, staring at the Rex as it devoured its meal.

"Look at how much blood..."

Alan jumped up and threw his arms around Tim, dragging him away from the scene.