Chapter 8: Reopening

Chapter 8: Reopening is the eighth chapter of Dinosaur Creek Part one and the overall eighth chapter of the series. It was released on July 18th, 2021.

## Synopsis

After taking a bus back to Hell Creek and the Hell Creek Police Department, Emily is approached by a hysterical Owen. Although Emily is surprised and jokes about Owen’s worry for her, he takes a step back and claims he’s just glad that she’s ok. The two are then called into a meeting with the commissioner. Owen does question Emily's tactic for approaching him regarding her request, but she remains confident since she claims the commissioner loves her.

In the commissioner’s office, Commissioner Bryce Brach begins to question what happened to Emily and her reason for wanting to reopen the Hero case. Without mentioning the dinosaurs, she explains how when she and Owen were searching for the crook at the abandoned house, she got kidnapped by a man working for a company called Terrarium. She says she was brought before the CEO, who is Hero, and says he wanted her to work for him in his private headquarters. But when she questioned his motives, they were unknown and that’s when she turned him down. She says she was able to escape to the Formation National Park and escape Terrarium’s troops just so she could deliver this report.

Though semi oblivious to this report, Bryce agrees to help reopen the case, but on the condition that she’d bring in physical proof to him within the next ten days or the case will be closed again and she will be suspended from outside work for a brief period. Though unsettled with this plan personally, she agrees before Bryce releases her. Before Owen leaves, he expresses disbelief and concern for Emily putting herself into another risky case. But Bryce reassures him that he knows she is making the right call and will succeed. He even explains how he trusts Emily’s word and knows she never lies. Owen claims he wants to trust her, but he doesn’t want her going down a risky and dangerous road that could endanger herself or him. After they leave, Bryce confides to himself about how he may finally expose Leonard for his crimes before he looks over at a photo frame on his desk. The frame shows him in his youth carrying a young Emily as a child. This gives off the hint that Bryce may be Emily’s father.

Emily heads back to her apartment to shower and clean herself of the dirt she gathered from the forest. On the TV, she sees a news report of another viscous murder victim discovered around in an alley of the city. The police explain how they’ve never seen attacks like this as the gory flesh and teeth marks show these victims were preyed upon by what is assumed to be a cannibalistic murderer or a wild dangerous animal. Emily quickly suspects this is Kireina’s work and declares she will bring her down. However, she reminds herself how Tex claimed Kireina forced him to commit vicious hunts. This makes her question what was really going on in their relationship.

At the house that night, visions of a grey metal room would be seen from a predator’s perspective. The predator's eyesight is fuzzy and becomes clouded by the sight of black liquid forming. Releasing one final roar of pain, Tex wakes up, having dreamt it. He sits up in his sleeping bag pressing his hand to his eyes and questions what that was all about.

Later, after gathering old furniture and tech from her home and store, Emily drives back to the park to deliver the stuff to the dinosaurs. At the house, the dinosaurs have already cleaned up the house by rebuilding the broken walls/floors, cleaning up the furniture, rewiring the tech, and more. After setting up the furniture, Blaster, Morgan, and Rover explore the forest nearby and discover the water tower and a wide lake with a great view of the forest and mountains. Caren and Tex finish setting up the living room and kitchen while Shane sets up the electric system to allow the house’s lights and outlets to work. Emily presents the group to an assortment of home remedies, including a flat-screen tv, computer, kitchen appliances, bedding, and more. Though Shane is glad about the tech, Caren is unfazed by the tech since she is happier about the books she is given. She instead finds an abandoned cemetery at the edge of the park and awkwardly asks Revit if she can convert the shed near it into a private hang out spot.

Tex then notices Emily is a bit down and when he questions why, she explains her case in uncovering Hero’s crimes and the time limit she is given. After briefly explaining to him the reopening the case and evidence, she says that she has to figure out how to without exposing his crimes with the dinosaurs. Although worried about her getting too involved with a case that may seem too big for her, Tex agrees to help her in her case. Though he doesn’t know how, the rest of the dinosaurs agree that they can help too. Emily appreciates the help and then tries to help the rest of the team how to work the tech. As Tex reassures her things are fine, he places his hands on her shoulders in comfort. But he awkwardly backs up when he notices this is the same technique he did to comfort Kireina. Overhearing this from outside, Caren becomes shocked and intrigued by Tex and Emily’s sudden bonding.

At Hero’s office in Terrarium, he has a meeting with Kireina. She explains how she wants to bring justice to Tex for his betrayal. Though Hero is questionable about how she is going to do that, she explains how she knows her ex better than anyone. So with his new ability to want to protect others, Kireina proposes an idea that involves setting a trap for Tex and his friends to come in on and Terrarium will be able to ambush them so they can recapture them once and for all. Hero agrees to the plan and then releases Kireina so she can help set it up.

## Characters

* Tex
* Emily Tops
* Caren
* Shane
* Blaster
* Morgan (Mentioned)
* Revit
* Owen Spencers
* Bryce Bach (Debut)
* Leonard Hero
* Dreda
* Grey
* Kai
* Kireina

## Trivia

* This chapter debuts commissioner Bryce Brach
* Tex's hand motion to Emily is the same motion he did to Kireina in Chapter 1: Today