"You come prepared," Veronica observed, stepping out of the Compound with a faint smile. She'd brought a small pack herself, wanting to keep it light in this heat but knowing all too well they'd need plenty of water. After what Mathias had told her, she hadn't thought he'd be ready so soon. It was an unlikely story, sure, but so were most of the tales people told when they arrived here. So was arriving here, for that matter.

Besides, who am I to deny anyone the chance to see a dinosaur? Better I take him than him ending up lunch to some raptor in the middle of nowhere.

"Still ready to do this?"