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his cuts, which had dried in thin dark lines. “I’m Morgan Baker.”
    “Looks like an improvement to me,” said Beth. Morgan cackled.
    “So now we know we’re in the past,” William said. “Why did this happen to us? Did you all hear that ticking sound?” Heads nodded in the dim light. “Does anybody know where it came from?” This question was met with silence.
    Callie felt her bladder swelling at the base of her belly.
    Beth asked the group, “Do you think this happened anywhere else? Maybe it wasn’t just us. Maybe it happened all over the world.”
    “I’ve been wondering that myself,” William said. “I have two teenage boys in school. At least I hope they are in school, and not someplace like this.”
    “ I don’t care if there’s anyone else here,” said Morgan. “I just want to know how we get home.”
    “Maybe we could leave a message for the future,” Beth suggested. “We could carve a note on stone. Millions of years from now, they’ll find it and know what happened to us.”
    Morgan shoo k his head. “No way. That could wreck things. That could screw up the timeline. All of us might never be born. We can’t leave any trace.”
    Hank huffed. That was stupid , Callie translated mentally. Hank had shamed more than one defendant on the witness stand with that sound.
    Hank stared at Morgan. “Don’t you think this two-story building is a bit of a trace?”
    “Well I don’t hear you coming up with any fantastic ideas,” Morgan said.
    “As long as those animals are out there,” Hank gestured with his thumb, “We don’t have any choice but to sit here and hide.”
    Callie shook her head. “I gotta pee,” she announced. “I drank a lot of water during my run this morning.” She felt the need to explain herself. “And then after that, I had a large latte.”
    “I already checked,” Lisa said. “My bathroom didn’t make it. That part of the building collapsed.” She leaned over and indicated the back corner, where the ceiling had caved in. Thin hints of sunlight broke through in a few places.
    Morgan reached up on the counter and grabbed a paper coffee cup. He extended it in Callie’s direction. “ Here. We can all turn around.”
    Callie put her hand on Hank’s arm befo re he could respond. “Sorry, but I don’t think so, Morgan. I can barely go when someone is in the stall next to me. I’m not peeing in here.”
    Morgan shrugged and tossed the cup over his shoulder.
    “Well you can’t go outside,” Al said. “Those things are still out there. Most of them are probably on this side of the river now.”
    Hank puffed up. “Hey buddy, she’ll go wherever she wants to go.”
    Callie felt her face grow warm. Her freckles were probably flaring, but at least in the dim light no one would see. She hated being told what she could and could not do almost as much as she hated Hank defending her. “They have ignored us ever since we got out of sight.” She stood and snatched a handful of napkins from the counter.
    “ Cal, are you sure?” Hank asked.
    “I’m just gonna go on the sidewalk. The part overhanging the river. I’ll be fine.” She gave him a half-serious look. “Can you make sure no one peeks?” She crept out from behind the counter and into the seating area.
    The open wall on her left showed the far bank across the river. The closest hadrosaur had dropped to the ground and lay with its belly in the mud. Its mottled, grey-green backside faced the building and its long, muscular tail wagged back and forth, making a fan-shaped pattern in the mud. Another hadrosaur nibbled at a clump of ferns near the woods.
    Callie crept forward and stepped through the window by the front door. She looked to the right and saw Patricia’s empty boot stuck in the mud at the edge of the river. For a moment, the need to pee disappeared and she felt dizzy again. She made herself take deep breaths. Beyond the boot, four dinosaurs grazed on more ferns. Callie turned left and went out