Or Die Trying

by WildPraise

Welcome to Jurassic World, a place where your safety is our number one concern. However, safety isn't what concerns Marianne Randal anymore on an island filled with ancient, misunderstood titans. Survival does. For the twenty thousand occupants of Jurassic World, it's survival of the fittest. And, as stated some twenty years previous, life will find a way. Or it will die trying.

1. Introduction

Introduction

"You're sure about this, Simon?"

Simon Masrani turned to give his ear to the man in glasses, whose raincoat was slick with rain and pooling water in his dress shoes. Muddy up to his knees, Simon studied the man's hands which were shaking as he quickly marked off a few checkboxes on his paper. The paper ripped under the point of the pen, thoroughly soaked with water. Thunder roared across the air, lightning cracked the sky, and the wind whipped the trees around them and scattered foliage debris around their feet.

Simon steadied the umbrella over his head, which failed to dispel water, thoroughly soaking him anyway. "Yes, yes, of course! Proceed as usual, Mr. Hendricks!" He waved the man off as if to shoo him away, "Continue as scheduled!"

"Don't you think this is a bit rushed?" The man called after him, sloshing through a collection of water on the cobble-stone walkway as they past the construction of an enormous concrete fountain. The whipping wind and pounding rain made it hard to hear and hard to fight off the chill settling through his wet clothes, but he didn't care. "Don't you think this is all a bit rushed?"

Simon stopped and turned to the man, narrowing his gaze at him. Lewis Hendricks, the head of the construction contractors that had been here almost two years overseeing this project pushed up his rain streaked glasses at him. They were three weeks away from opening, and only half the enclosures had animals settled and ready for viewing. The resort was less than completed, and he was four days late on a shipment of lumber coming from the mainland.

"Everything is under control, Mr. Hendricks!" Simon said with a laugh, clapping a hand on the man's soggy shoulder. "Continue on, as discussed! Ever better, ever better, you know! Jurassic World will be up and running in three weeks time and I will have you to thank."

Hendricks looked at him as if he'd sprouted another limb, clipboard lowering to his side. Water cascaded off the ends of his raincoat, and he swiped at the water on his glasses. Simon's smile evaporated as the man just shook his head and turned from him, "I hope you know what you're doing, Simon!" He called above the thunder and lightning, pointing up to a man working on scaffolding and shouting orders to a forklift raising a load of steel. Simon watched his fade into the crowds of working men and floodlights, rain pelting his body and soaking his Armani suit.

Everything was under control.