The Cretaceous

[itsananomaly]

It was the next morning, Cutter hadn't slept very well the previous night, he had been so nervous about going to the anomaly site and whether or not that it was there that he had ended up waking early and not being able to go back to sleep. He looked around the camp where he and Connor had found a spot to sleep for the night, Connor was still asleep and he didn't want to wake him so he was trying to sit as still as possible until it was early enough for everyone else to wake. [preplayed with the amazing anomaly_research_nerd. NFB for distance but OOC welcome!]

Becker(thearcfamily)	Becker hadn’t had much better rest after his turn keeping watch, the conversation he and Danny had shared still heavy on his mind. As the sun was just starting to light up the sky he saw Danny on his rounds, passing by the area on the far side of the camp where Stephen was propped up against one of the large trees asleep. With a small groan, Becker stood and stretched giving a small nod as he met Cutter's gaze then headed off to talk with Danny.
Danny(thearcfamily)	Danny had come back his latest patrol of the camp and saw Becker heading towards him, "everything is secure," he told him, "its been pretty uneventful these last few hours,"
Becker(thearcfamily)	Becker gave an almost noticeable sigh of relief at that. Now, if only their luck would hold out. "I'll go do some foraging now that the sun is coming up. Give it another hour or two then we can head out once it's light enough to move around safely. Cutter is up but seems Connor and Stephen are still asleep."
Danny(thearcfamily)	Danny nodded, "that would be great thanks," he said and he glanced back in Cutter's direction, "I did notice that I don't think he got much sleep in the night," he said softly, "I'll start getting the camp organised so that we can get out in a few hours,"
Becker(thearcfamily)	"I think Connor's finally hit the point where the exhaustion is outweighing the mental stress at this point. And Im sure Stephen is much more used to this than we are" Becker searched around his pack for the bag they used for foraging and then grabbed all but the one full canteen as well. "I'll be back in a couple of hours with water and hopefully some food!"
Danny(thearcfamily)	Danny nodded, "hopefully by the end of the day we'll be back home and we can put this behind us," he said, "but having the extra supplies will be good if you're able to get to them," he looked back at the campfire, "I'll start getting breakfast organised and putting everything away,"
Becker(thearcfamily)	Becker and headed off into the woods, taking the more meandering way to the river and back to do a little foraging as he went. He was ready to get back home and would have been happy to hear Lester giving them a boring lecture at this point.
Danny(thearcfamily)	While Becker was off foraging, Danny rationed out the berries. Once they were ready, he looked over to see if Connor and Stephen were awake.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	Sleep had finally let Connor go as the sun got high enough to shine through the trees and into his eyes. With a small groan and then a stretch he turned to look at Cutter and smiled softly. "Good morning Nick" he said softly as he leaned over and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek.
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter gave a small smile at that as Connor kissed him on the cheek, "morning Connor," he said as he leaned in closer to him, "were you able to get much sleep?"
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	'I got some... you didnt get much did you?" Connor asked with a small frown as he looked up at Cutter, noting how tired he looked. He leaned over and nuzzled against his shoulder and gave him a gentle hug.
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter shook his head, "Not really, no," he said softly as he returned the gentle hug, "I think I'm too nervous about today to get much sleep, I really hope the anomaly is there," he said quietly, trying to not think about the alternatives if they got there and there was no anomaly.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	"I know... I kept having dreams about it... sometimes it was there... other times it wasn't.... " Connor sighed as he let go of Cutter and then slowly stood. "It looks like Becker and Danny are just about ready for breakfast then I think we are heading out."
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter fidgeted slightly as he looked over where Danny and Becker were, "I don't know how hungry I am," he admitted softly as he stood up as well, "at least this could be our last meal of berries right?" he said hopefully.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	"Exactly," Connor said with a small smile. "But try and eat at least a little something. I think there are some of the roots and tubers still so something other than berries might go down a little easier?"
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter nodded, "alright I'll try and have something," he said softly, "I'll try some of the roots and tubers instead of the berries this time I think,"
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	Connor gave him a small smile and then held out his hand to help Cutter up. Giving his hand a squeeze he led them over to where Danny was. "Morning Danny. Everything ok last night?" he asked.
Danny(thearcfamily)	Cutter smiled gratefully for the help as he stood up and followed Connor over. Danny nodded as he organised the rest of the berries and plants for breakfast, "morning Connor, Nick," he smiled at them as he handed over their plates, "everything was all good last night, we should be good to continue on to the anomaly site once we're done with breakfast," he told them.
Connor(itsananomaly)	"Well that is a bit of good news at least" Connor said with a weak smile as he took the plate and started to eat. "Hopefully the trek wont be too bad and we can get there easily enough... then... we can put all this behind us." Over at the far side of the campsite, Stephen was cleaning up the shelter since they were out of it and about to head out. He gave a small nod to them as they looked over his way and then went back to work. He knew Becker or Danny would tell him when they were ready to head out.
Danny(thearcfamily)	Cutter returned that small nod and he returned his focus back to his plate, he wasn't really hungry but he knew he had to eat so he tried to eat some of the plants and a few of the berries. "It seems the weather has held out for us so we should hopefully make good time to the anomaly site," Danny told them, "we should be able to make it today and it will hopefully be there for us," he didn't want to get their hopes up that the anomaly would be there but at the same time even he was looking forward to heading back home and moving on with their lives.
Stephen(anomaly_research_nerd)	Becker nodded as he finished backing up their supplies and reached into the plate Danny had for the two of them and grabbed some of the berries and popped them into his mouth. "Everything is packed and ready. Stephen is putting the shelter in order and making sure we have everything fixed and aren’t leaving anything behind that could cause problems later" he said as he looked at Cutter and Connor, glad that they both seemed in decent enough spirits and were eating a little something at least. A moment later Stephen walked over, obviously looking a bit timid and unsure as he did. "Ummm.. everything is put away and good to go. We can head out whenever you all are ready."
Danny(thearcfamily)	Danny nodded, "thank you Stephen, Becker," he said as he finished off his breakfast, "I think we should leave as soon as everyone has eaten, that way we can take advantage of the sunlight and if we time this right, we'll make it to the anomaly site in a few hours," he looked at Becker to see what he wanted to do.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	"Sounds good to me, give us plenty of daylight to work with and some time to wait around if we need for the anomaly to open before it gets dark" Becker said with a nod. "We are going home today" Connor said softly, knowing it was not a good idea to get his hopes up too much. He knew how the anomalies could be at times. But he had to keep hoping it would be there. It had to be there.
Danny(thearcfamily)	Danny nodded, "I'll do everything in my power to get us home today," he said softly, he knew he couldn't promise anything more than that but at the same time he knew how much having a bit of hope really helped Cutter and Connor, "but we've got good provisions for the journey and the canteens are filled so we shouldn't have too much trouble making it to the anomaly site," Cutter nodded, "thank you Danny, it will be so good to be able to get home after everything," he said softly as he leaned against Connor, trying to not think about the possibility that they could get to the anomaly site and there would be no anomaly.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	Connor slipped his arm around Cutter and gave him a quite hug as they finished eating their simple breakfast. He glanced over at Stephen without a word and watched as he glanced at them then headed back to the shelter without saying anything else. He gave a small sigh. He knew he wasn't being fully fair to Stephen but it still hurt too much, there was too much that had happened, and he wasn't sure what else he could do. Just being around Stephen was more than he had ever wanted and more than he had thought he would have ever been able to manage. "I'm ready to go" he said at last. "Let's go see what is at the anomaly site waiting for us."
Danny(thearcfamily)	Cutter returned that hug as he followed Connor's gaze over to Stephen, wanting Connor to know that he was there for him. "Alright then," Danny nodded, "we'll pack away the last of the breakfast supplies and then we'll head out," he told them as he began to gather up the empty trays and put them away in their packs.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	It didn’t take long to gather up the supplies and check the camp one final time. Soon enough they were on their way, heading back into the woods, following the path Stephen walked ahead for them as the last bits of morning fog started to burn away. Connor walked along with Cutter, his hand in his as he followed after Danny, glancing back now and then at Becker who was bringing up the rear.
Cutter(itsananomaly)	"I can't believe how close we are now to the anomaly site," Cutter said softly as he held Connor's hand, "that we could potentially be back at the house tonight," he was trying to not get his hopes up but they were so close, he wanted to keep clinging to that feeling for as long as he could if it turned out there was no anomaly.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	Connor gave his hand a squeeze as they walked on, in and out of trees and small clearings and little hills. The walk wasn't too hard and as they had hoped it didn't take more than a few more hours for them to be in a clearing where Stephen stopped. "Is this it?" Connor asked anxiously as he looked around. "Is this where the anomaly is?" Stephen nodded slowly as he looked around as well, the look on his face speaking to the disappointment that was soon washing over all of them. There was no anomaly there.
Cutter(itsananomaly)	For a moment Cutter stared blankly at the empty spot where the anomaly was supposed to be, "No, no, maybe ... maybe the anomaly moved?" he said desperately, "it could still be here, we just have to find it," he said, as he tried to scan the nearby area in hopes of seeing that familiar light of the anomaly.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	Connor stood frozen in the spot where he was. This couldn't be happening.... this had to be a mistake. Stephen had to be messing with them again. "Maybe we.... we are just in the wrong place" he said as he looked over at Stephen. "This might not even be where the anomaly is." "Connor I promise... this is where the anomaly was" Stephen said softly. He knew how frustrated Connor was and he wasn't going to fight to prove his innocence on this one- he just wanted to help them get back home. 'It might just be a little bit... you know they come and go sometimes, especially if they are a more unstable one."
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter shook his head, he couldn't believe that after all this, they had come all this way and now they were stuck, "I don't want to wait anymore," he said, a lot more sharply than he had intended, "we've waited long enough, this anomaly was supposed to get us back home," he let out a sob.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	Connor looked at Stephen, eyes a bit colder than he realized as he stepped closer and wrapped his arms around Cutter and pulled him close. "I know Nick... I know.." he said, his own eyes starting to sting with tears of frustration and anger. "I don't want to wait any longer either."
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter started blinking back furious tears as he wrapped his arms around Connor, "its not fair," he sobbed, "I just want to go back home, I want our lives back," he trembled.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	From over Cutter's shoulder, Connor glanced at Becker and Danny and then closed his eyes as he burrowed his head into Cutter's shoulder. Becker gave a worried look to Danny as he walked over towards them and put a hand on Cutter's shoulder, trying to calm him down some while fighting back his own disappointment. "It'll show back up Nick.... I know it will."
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter took several deep breaths as he tried to calm down, "what if it doesn't?" he trembled as he clung tightly to Connor, "what if ... what if we don't make it back home?"
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	Connor still didn't want to think about that possibility as he clung to Cutter. But he took a slow, shaky breath and tightened his hold on his fiance and held him close. "It'll come back. We'll wait until it does. Together."
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter sobbed as he held tightly onto Connor, "I ..." he started to say and then stopped, "I ... together," he finally managed to get out when he realised he didn't quite know what to say. All of his emotions were jumbled and he was having a hard time trying to process anything just then other than the anomaly wasn't there.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	Connor kept his arms around Cutter as he felt him tremble and slowly sat down on a rock that was near them, pulling Cutter down beside him, not letting go. This had to be a dream. It had to be....
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter kept clinging to Connor and sobbing, he had really hoped that they would be back, that this would all be over, that they could move on with their lives and now it seemed that they were stuck. He didn't want to do anything just then other than sit with Connor and hope that this was all a terrible dream.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	"I'm going to go check out the area," Becker said softly as he looked at Danny with a knowing nod. He didn't want to say anything out loud but they needed to make sure the area was safe and there weren't any predators around or other threats they needed to know about. "Stephen, come with me"he said as he headed off a little ways. Connor watched them but didn't say anything as he held onto Cutter, rubbing his back gently as he tried to stop his own tears from falling.
Danny(thearcfamily)	Danny nodded in understanding as he watched Becker and Stephen leave, he stayed close to Cutter and Connor, watching them sadly. He wished there was something that he could do that would help but he knew short of getting that anomaly open, there wasn't much he could do other than reassure them that they weren't going to go through this alone.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	Connor felt numb, his head spinning and his entire body trembling as he tried to process everything. The anomaly wasn't there... it might never reopen... they could be stuck there... he could be stuck in the past... again. And though he would never say it to Nick or the others, that thought absolutely terrified him.
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter leaned against Connor, sobbing quietly as he tried to not focus on the idea that they were going to be stuck in the past for who knew how long. He was tired and he wanted nothing more than to be home with Connor but now that didn't seem likely, he had counted on that anomaly being open to get them home for these last few days to keep him going and now that anomaly wasn't there and he didn't see how they were going to get out of this. It just didn't seem real.