In one of the enclousures of Cartago the humans were eating their dinner calmly. Malcolm and his family were holed up in a corner near a large fountain. Alexander seemed to have little appreciation for raw meat, also because the dinosaurs had not provided them with the means to cut it, thus forcing the boy to tear it to pieces with fingernails or teeth. "I hate this stuff" he grumbled."Don't complain. Compared to the conditions in which hostages are normally held, this is a luxury” Ellie scolded him. She too was having a hard time eating meat, but she showed it much less.Malcolm snorted. He knew that Ellie was right, and that normally people held hostage by terrorists or criminals were held in far worse conditions than theirs, with poor meals and poor sanitation and sanitation, but even he was fed up with that raw, tough meat. His teeth were starting to ache from tearing at the stringy flesh. "It may be a luxury, but I hate it too" he said. "They could at least
Malcolm and Dreyfus rushed to where people were gathering. The wisest ones had stayed behind, knowing that if they approached they might attract unwanted attention, but most people wanted to see what was happening.When the two men arrived they witnessed an almost pitiful scene. What everyone had pointed out as a 'crazy' was a woman who must have been at least forty years old, who was trying to get out through one of the streets leading to the enclousure, obviously being stopped by the dinosaurs present there. The animals weren't hurting her, they were just bringing her back, but the woman didn't stop and kept running towards her exit every time.The dinosaurs looked rather bewildered. They seemed unable to understand the situation and from their looks it was clear that they were wondering if it wasn't the case to stun or immobilize the woman. For how many times they brought the woman back from the enclousure, in fact, she returned to the attack."Lady, please c
Al stood motionless in front of Sobek, for the first time in fear. He had seen his pack leader angry many times, but that anger had never been directed at him. "Do you want to explain yourself? Please?" Sobek asked with a serious voice.The news of Al's 'stunt' didn't take long to reach him: Al himself hadn't done anything to hide it and had confessed almost immediately. When he learned that someone had disobeyed his orders, Sobek was furious: even if it was a trivial matter, as the pack leader he couldn't tolerate it.Al couldn't hold that fiery gaze. He lowered his head and tried to motivate his actions: “Pack leader, I know I am wrong and I will accept any punishment you wish for me. I just wanted to reassure that woman... when humans are desperate they seem so fragile and I... ""AL, YOU DISAPPOINTED ME!" Sobek's roar made the poor allosaurus jump, as well as all the other dinosaurs present; the poor Old Li, who stood directly alongside the sp
Playing in advance was a good move. As Sobek had predicted, some of the dinosaurs on guard had overheard many humans arguing among themselves about whether or not to make requests, and it hadn't even been an hour since Al's 'disobedience'.Dreyfus and Malcolm, like many more shrewd ones, had begun to fear the worst. Like Sobek, they too imagined that things would quickly degenerate.Fortunately, Old Li's public announcement calmed everyone's mind. Knowing that governments around the world wanted to negotiate had rekindled hope in the hearts of humans who were now more likely to wait a little longer. In a flash, every source of revolt was extinguished; even the most belligerent agreed that it was appropriate to observe how the situation would develop.The other announcement, namely the one in which Old Li passed off Sobek's promise to bring families together as a gift, was received even better: the parents who had been separated from their children almost cried a
"Jocelyne!" Jersey was quite angry. “Go back to your room! This is not your business!"The girl didn't move. "Is this a case of national security that could put the entire population of Odaria at risk?"Jersey was amazed by her daughter's behavior. It was the first time he'd felt her tongue so sharp. "Yes, it is…""And am I part of the Odaria population?""Of course…"“Then I'm really afraid that this is a business that concerns me all right. It concerns everyone, actually”Jocelyne said as she entered the room completely. "And given the way the conversation is going, I would say it is my duty to point out that you are all wrong"Jersey was pissed off at her daughter's temper, but the other heads of the household were shocked. For a backward-minded nation like Odaria it was already absurd to think that a son would talk to his father like that in public, let alone a daughter. "You should discipline your daughter
“Will you go to negotiate? Are they crazy?" Jackson exclaimed.Jocelyne expected that reaction from her guard, but still she couldn't help but sigh in exhaustion. She had really had enough of screaming and scolding for that day.When the meeting was over, her father took her to his study and gave her a really bad time. Markus Jersey had never been so proud of her daughter before, but that hadn't stopped him from unloading on her an endless series of reproaches at the speed of 8 per second until the girl was almost deaf.Her mother had reacted even worse. As soon as she discovered that her daughter had dared to intervene without permission at the meeting, speak so brazenly to the heads of the families and even agreed to be the ambassador who would go to confer with a monstrous group of talking dinosaurs, she had raging like a bull. Jocelyne had very noticeable slap marks on her face and she was pretty sure that her mother would keep beating her until she pa
Finally, after almost two weeks, everything was ready.The Odaria government had proposed to lend the delegation some luxury cars, but Jocelyne had categorically refused: given the desert environment they were going to, it was more convenient to move around with jeeps. In reality, that was just an excuse: Jocelyne suspected that someone would try to sabotage the delegation, so he preferred to move with vehicles from his garage, where he knew for sure that no one had planted bombs.Jackson immediately agreed with this choice, and so did Chloe: they both agreed that moving within their own means was safer. So they had prepared a couple of jeeps to transport them and their escort inside the territory of the dinosaurs.The auction had ended a few days earlier and Jocelyne had earned five million from it, which he had transferred to a secret bank account of his. Such a sum could not hold a candle to the Jersey family's immense fortune, but Jocelyne had learned that i
Of course, one of the dumbest things a person could do when he went to a zoo was to walk into an enclosure and try to ride an animal. And if the aforementioned animal was carnivorous, then in all likelihood that person wouldn't have come out of the cage alive.And now, Jocelyne wasn't just about to climb on the back of an allosaurus, one of the most dangerous predators that ever existed, but the aforementioned allosaurus was also wild, unrestricted and speaking at the same time. Although he had offered himself spontaneously, Jocelyne felt a lump forming in her throat as the animal bent to lift her up, bringing his head a few centimeters from the ground and thus making his teeth as big as a human finger very visible.Trying to not think that what she was touching was a carnivorous dinosaur three times her height, Jocelyne pulled herself up and sat on Al's shoulders. back grew thick plumage which made the animal's skin rather soft. When Al stood up to her full height, Jo