MANDIE + MARCUS
This was supposed to be a trip to reconnect with her grandparents. Yes, they had pretty much written their son and apparently their 'redneck' grandchild off but with the death of her father and so many years since, Mandie had high hopes that she could find some sort of family bond with them. They were supposed to meet her tomorrow on another flight. Was it wrong to hope that they would somehow be able to come here? Or would they even try to find her at all, writing her off as lost. They hadn't exactly been the most heart-warming people to meet.
They wouldn't have had anything to do with this, did they?
Mandie clutched tightly to her suitcase, even though it was already tied to her waist. With her backpack and the suitcase, she wasn't going to get anywhere super fast, which was why she had headed up the tree. Everyone else was running in every direction. So much for sticking together. Maybe staying close to the plane wasn't a good idea, especially with certain dinosaurs having a good time introducing human to their diet.
Her stomach dropped at the thought. She swallowed hard and then breathed in and out slowly, like her father taught her. When Marcus, as he introduced himself as, told her about the dinosaurs he had seen, she snapped back to attention. Of course she wanted to know. As horrifying as the scene was below, her curiosity was growing. She nodded, urging him to tell her. When he did, she closed her eyes for a moment to think. "Fins. Shorter necks." Opening her eyes again, she sat up and tried peering through the branches of the tree to get a better look. There were three of them, that much she could see. There was one smaller than the other two. A baby? "I think they are spinosaurus. Theropods. They can grow big. Up to twenty-three tons. Even bigger than the Tyrannosaurus. They're supposed to eat fish ..."
She had known they were real but the chances of her ever seeing one had been slim. Her father had never had that kind of money and her mother? Well her mother could barely keep track of condoms, much less dollar bills. Whatever extra money Mandie had been able to save with work had either gone into her late father's business or college. Which, she was happy to say, was coming handy.
After a moment of staring at the Spinosaurs, Mandie realized she hadn't introduced herself. Settling back, she gave him a short wave. "I'm Mandie. I ... I'm a mechanic at my father's shop." Did he say he was an Air Marshall? "Were you escorting someone on the plane?" Wouldn't it just be there luck that there was a criminal among them? Fingers crossed that they got taken care of by either the trample or got eaten.