MANDIE + MARCUS
She hadn't needed to see what was causing the herd to stampede. There hadn't been time to stop and wait it out. Everywhere, there were screams. Both human and animal. If that hadn't gotten her to put a little more spring in her step, than nothing would. As it was, the trees around here were not as easy to climb as the ones back home. She struggled to find footing, to even reach a branch low enough to haul herself up. There was no one around to help give her a boost, like her father used to. They were all too busy trying to take care of themselves.
Which was fair. It wasn't like she was going out of her way to help someone. She didn't want to lean on anyone for help anyway. This was just a tree. And if she couldn't climb it, she was going to have to keep running. Find a hole or something else to hide in. The extra suitcase wasn't making it easy either but she wasn't about to let that go so she shrugged off her jacket and tied it through the handle and then wrapped the sleeves around her waist so she could have both hands free. She ignored the fact that her hands were shaking, kept breathing and went back to trying to climb the tree.
The sound of a roar, followed by an unearthly scream echoed out across the water. Mandie stopped, turned and backed up against the tree. Did she even have time? What if the suitcase weighted her down? Whatever had chased the dinosaurs, would it come this way? Then, she saw something toward her. For a split second, she was sure it was another dinosaur because why the hell not? But no, it was a person. That one big guy from the plane. Was that a gun? Oh, he was yelling at her.
Climbing. Right.
The guy shouting shook her back to normal and she flipped around and managed to hoist herself up the tree but just barely. She wasn't a moose, tall enough to reach anything. Once she got a safe ten feet (and she wasn't looking to stop until she was as high as this tree went), she looked down and yelled back at the guy. "You better get up here!"