Chapter 1
Marcus raised his binoculars and looked toward the horizon and the quickly fading sunlight. He had been sitting there for over an hour now. The rock ledge on which he was perched was an outcropping located at the northeastern most point of the mountain. From his vantage point, he could survey the valley between the mountains and see for over twenty-five miles north and at least fifty miles east on a clear day, which it was today. The valley that laid out several thousand feet below had basically reverted back to its natural state. You could still see the interstate that ran through it but vegetation was gradually taking it back. His current location was in one of the small mountains at the end of the Appalachian Mountain Range where his great, great grandparents had originally lived. Overlooking the Tennessee Valley River Gorge, he slowly scanned the valley from horizon to horizon. He wasn’t looking for anything in particular just whatever might be of concern to him. Incredulously, he watched as a pair of brachiosaurs made their way through the dense forest a couple of miles from the base of the mountain. As he sat there watching, the first thought that came to his mind…what were they thinking?
Marcus understood trying to preserve life and trying to save species that were on the brink of extinction but why would you go back and resurrect the dinosaurs? These weren’t little playthings that you could buy at the pet store. Some of them were the most dangerous predators that ever walked the earth. After the technology became available, scientists resurrected several recently extinct animals. Although they resisted at first, the United States was one of the few to resist the urge to resurrect the dinosaurs. Rumors of other countries doing this were rampant. Finally, Canada set up a national preserve of thousands of acres and used the newly developed Solar Force Canopies to house these ferocious animals to see how they would survive in our environment. Although the canopies could be easily climate controlled, the engineers also genetically altered the DNA of the animals to make them more resistant to colder climates. Did they survive? They didn’t just survive, they thrived and their populations exploded to the point of full capacity of the preserve. Scientists flocked to study them. People traveled from great distances to catch a glimpse of them. Then the virus hit. Billions of people dead within a two week span. Scientists of the day had mocked and said that it was impossible for a pandemic to sweep the globe in that short amount of time. They were wrong. It happened so quickly that an answer to how it spread was never discovered. The planet was back to its lowest population since the time of Noah, and in all the chaos, instead of terminating the dinosaurs’ lives, the Canadian government set them free….and in the past 5 years they had thrived in all of North America. As Marcus watched the pair slowly meander through the forest below, he thought about how the surviving population now not only had to worry about basic survival, they had to worry about not being lunch for some hungry tyrannosaurus.
Marcus usually came out to this point at least once a week to double check for possible problems or concerns that might arise. Today everything seemed in order other than the fact that seeing dinosaurs was becoming a common occurrence. He stood up, folded his binoculars; put them in a pouch attached to his belt, turned, and walked over to his solar powered ATV. His dad always called it an all terrain vehicle but Marcus always called it an ATV or four-wheeler. He guessed it didn’t matter what you called it. It got the job done. Solar power and batteries had made great leaps in advancements since 2020 when the Rednik solar power inductor was invented by Solar Force Corporation. It had revolutionized almost every industry. The fossil fuels of the
Marcus raised his binoculars and looked toward the horizon and the quickly fading sunlight. He had been sitting there for over an hour now. The rock ledge on which he was perched was an outcropping located at the northeastern most point of the mountain. From his vantage point, he could survey the valley between the mountains and see for over twenty-five miles north and at least fifty miles east on a clear day, which it was today. The valley that laid out several thousand feet below had basically reverted back to its natural state. You could still see the interstate that ran through it but vegetation was gradually taking it back. His current location was in one of the small mountains at the end of the Appalachian Mountain Range where his great, great grandparents had originally lived. Overlooking the Tennessee Valley River Gorge, he slowly scanned the valley from horizon to horizon. He wasn’t looking for anything in particular just whatever might be of concern to him. Incredulously, he watched as a pair of brachiosaurs made their way through the dense forest a couple of miles from the base of the mountain. As he sat there watching, the first thought that came to his mind…what were they thinking?
Marcus understood trying to preserve life and trying to save species that were on the brink of extinction but why would you go back and resurrect the dinosaurs? These weren’t little playthings that you could buy at the pet store. Some of them were the most dangerous predators that ever walked the earth. After the technology became available, scientists resurrected several recently extinct animals. Although they resisted at first, the United States was one of the few to resist the urge to resurrect the dinosaurs. Rumors of other countries doing this were rampant. Finally, Canada set up a national preserve of thousands of acres and used the newly developed Solar Force Canopies to house these ferocious animals to see how they would survive in our environment. Although the canopies could be easily climate controlled, the engineers also genetically altered the DNA of the animals to make them more resistant to colder climates. Did they survive? They didn’t just survive, they thrived and their populations exploded to the point of full capacity of the preserve. Scientists flocked to study them. People traveled from great distances to catch a glimpse of them. Then the virus hit. Billions of people dead within a two week span. Scientists of the day had mocked and said that it was impossible for a pandemic to sweep the globe in that short amount of time. They were wrong. It happened so quickly that an answer to how it spread was never discovered. The planet was back to its lowest population since the time of Noah, and in all the chaos, instead of terminating the dinosaurs’ lives, the Canadian government set them free….and in the past 5 years they had thrived in all of North America. As Marcus watched the pair slowly meander through the forest below, he thought about how the surviving population now not only had to worry about basic survival, they had to worry about not being lunch for some hungry tyrannosaurus.
Marcus usually came out to this point at least once a week to double check for possible problems or concerns that might arise. Today everything seemed in order other than the fact that seeing dinosaurs was becoming a common occurrence. He stood up, folded his binoculars; put them in a pouch attached to his belt, turned, and walked over to his solar powered ATV. His dad always called it an all terrain vehicle but Marcus always called it an ATV or four-wheeler. He guessed it didn’t matter what you called it. It got the job done. Solar power and batteries had made great leaps in advancements since 2020 when the Rednik solar power inductor was invented by Solar Force Corporation. It had revolutionized almost every industry. The fossil fuels of the
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