The dinosaur stopped at a small area with short fuzzy grass, soft sand, and some fresh-looking water in the middle of it all.

“So, is this water safe to drink?” Maggie asked. The dinosaur nodded again. She took out a pink berry from her backpack and fed it to the Thescelotitan, which munched it with glee. “Good Dinosaur.”

“Uh, what are you doing?” Tommy asked, blinking.

“Look, we have plenty of food in the bag. And besides, I wanted to reward it for helping us out here. Is that too much to ask?”

“No, not really...”

“Hey, why don’t we get off and relax here?” Antonio suggested, pointing at the surrounding area.

“That’s not a bad idea...” Tommy and Maggie nodded in agreement.

The three got off the dinosaur, set their stuff aside from the water, and sat down. Tommy and Antonio got some orange and pink berries out of their backpacks and snacked on them, while Maggie took out a container and filled it with some water. The dinosaur moved next to her and lowered its head to drink.

“Oh gosh, this is sour!” Tommy exclaimed after taking some bites out of the orange berry.

“Is it bitter?” Antonio glanced over, about to take a bite out of the pink berry. “If it tastes bad, then you should hurry and spit it out!”

“No way, I love it.”

“...Then quit complaining.”

Beeping noise rang loud and startled the group. Antonio found it came from his laptop and went to investigate briefly. Mandy covered the whole screen, getting apprehensive and examining the area all around her.

“Antonio, are you and your friends all right?!”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Oh, well, yeah, we are.”

“Mandy quit hugging the screen; I can’t see anything!” Sam complained. Mandy backed up so he could also see in front of him.

“Sorry,” Mandy said, lowering her head.

“It’s all right.” Sam cleared his throat and continued talking. “We were anxious about you and didn’t know if anything bad happened to you guys or not. We lost some signal at some point and—”

“Nah, it’s all good.” Antonio waved it off. “Thanks for the concern, though.”

“You’re welcome—”

“Phew, boy, is it getting hot here or what?” Maggie interrupted and yelled so the others could hear, almost as if she did it on purpose. “I think I’ll go take a swim!” Taking no article of clothing off, she ran to the water and swam away from everyone else.

Tommy scratched his head. Why did she do that?

Antonio leaned over to mutter something to Sam. “Hey, uncle, is the water safe for drinking and swimming into?”

“Well, that’s a question that—”

“Hey, check how long I can hold my breath underwater for!” Maggie interrupted again. She inhaled loudly before dunking herself into the water.

Tommy seemed impressed, but Antonio got curious about something. Now that she couldn’t hear them now, it appeared to be the perfect opportunity to pop out a particular question to the scientists.

“Hey, do you know why she—?”

“It’s about Marshall,” Sam replied, knowing what he’d ask. “She blames us for the condition he is in now.”

“Aren’t her family members worried about her, though?” Tommy asked. The scientists stayed silent and hung their heads low. “Oh, no… I-I’m so sorry about that...” He twiddled his fingers, having gotten the picture.

“No, it’s all right.” Mandy tried to reassure him with a fake smile. She then frowned and realized something. “Hey, where is Maggie?”

“Oh, she’s in the water...” Tommy replied casually.

“Dang, she’s been in there for quite a long time,” Antonio added. His eyebrows creased as he examined the waters.

“Wait, do you think something bad happened to her?” Tommy asked. He bit his thumb as he waited for an answer.

“Oh no, Sam, check the water!” Mandy ordered. “What did you say its condition was?”

“I’m trying to analyze it now!” Sam exclaimed. “Shoot, I can’t find any data surrounding this water at all!”

“I’ll go see if I can find her!” Tommy told them.

He rushed over to the water and looked around. It didn’t seem to be that deep, so it should be easy to find Maggie, but where could she have gone?

“Hang on; I’ll go check underwater!” He held his breath and dived into the water to search for Maggie.

Antonio and the purple dinosaur stood beside the water, not sure what to do besides wait for them.

“I hope they’re both ok.” He sighed sadly, pressing his knees close to his chest.

“Yeah, same here.” The scientists added.