Elizabeth Cutter | Primeval

★ S6 E1 - Play By The Rules

"Lizzie, how far?" Matt asks.

I don't dare lose concentration, I just focus on running without tripping up. I can hear the twigs snapping behind me so I assume the Dilophosaurus is chasing after me. This was probably a bad idea, but it's all we have.

"Ur, close I think."

Matt said the only way to get it back through without it killing anyone else along the way was for one of us to be bait so it could chase us. I'm the bait seeing as I'm the fastest, even if Becker disagrees.

"You think?"

"Not now Matt!" Becker says.

At that moment, I spot them in the distance at the edge of the trees. Connor is knelt down, ready to lock the anomaly while Abby, Emily, Becker and Matt all have their EMD's raised just in case.

I take a deep breath, sprinting the home stretch. I was never great at sprint races in school but it's surprising how much can change when you're doing it for your life and not satisfaction.

A metre from the anomaly, I turn to see the Dilophosaurus about to pounce at me. I let it. And then I duck. As it jumps over me, I roll out of the way and it goes through.

"Lock it!" Matt shouts to Connor and in an instant, the anomaly's in a tight ball.

I laugh out a breath of relief and push myself off the ground.

"You good?" Becker asks, offering me a hand up which I accept.

"Yeah..." I breathe. "Just an average morning run, right?"

* * *

"Stupid. Reckless. Irresponsible. Do you know how many safety violations this breaks?" Lester asks, looking at me.

I simply turn to Matt. "It was his idea."

"Of course it was," Lester mutters.

Matt smirks at me. "You agreed to it."

Lester gives me a questionable look and I smile. "I did."

"Do you know how much paperwork I would've had to have filled out if you'd been eaten?" Lester asks.

"Um, you know what? No, but at least it would've been dramatic."

"You're walking on thin ice Elizabeth, and you-" He turns to Matt. "-you need to take control of your team. Dismissed, now go, and try not to get into any more trouble."

As we leave, Matt's face looks vacant, like his body's here but his mind is elsewhere. I nudge him with my shoulder and his head snaps in my direction.

"You okay?" I ask, worry creeping it's way through me. Matt never used to be like this - it all happened after the events of New Dawn - every now and then he just zones out. I thought maybe whatever it was would get better but it hasn't.

"Fine," he mutters before walking off.

Something's definitely wrong, I just can't work it out.