Once more, Gloriosa, with the feels.

[ErisianDialects]

The sun rose, as it did every day before for a couple of million years, or a couple of millenia, depending on which school of thought you subscribed to. The birds were singing, and dodging the cars that barely gave a damn about anything rather than getting people to find a good parking spot in the hopes of not going through the modern day Dante's circles of the tube. Late risers, or those used to public transport would rise and start to make moves for their day. Denizens of the night would close their eyes and pull the blankets over their heads, in the cause of wishing the damn birds would shut up and let them sleep before their hangovers kicked in, one could postulate.


Of course, there had been one slight hiccup in the day. For a given value of hiccup.


One man had been active all night, and it's he who we focus upon, for now. He had spent the night moving a long term female out of her residence for reasons of his employer. Those reason being scrutiny by police or Interpol, maybe one of the spook factories. It was rare of not being informed of exactly which branch of the octopoidal law and security firms were after them at any given time. But he had asked her the best way to clean, and she had told him. At length. With profanities and her traditional lack of patience.


The lawyer had gone across the street after he had confirmed, reconfirmed and triple confirmed before the good doctor left, having himself some sushi as he waited until it would cause the most problems for the observers. And thus it was, at precisely seven minutes past six, There was an explosion. It was not your normal, every day explosion. For one, the task force had just entered the building, so at least there had been police on site. It started with the entire city of London experiencing a power surge, shorting out circuits across the city. This gave the usual gridlock a whole new meaning. The Tube went down, trapping it's denizens in purgatory, traffic lights knocked out, and a sudden upheaval in emergency phone calls.


This was followed by the building seeming to collapse itself into the ground at fourteen minutes past six, and an explosion which rocked the foundations of the building around it. The debris kept shifting downwards, until half past, when it stopped, and there was another series of explosions.


Little was known that the damage was already done, however, as because of fear of structural damage, not to mention tectonic, within minutes a four square block area was cordoned off, not letting anyone out until they had been checked over by doctors for what appeared to be anything from minor cuts and bruises, to checking for radiation. No one had an exact clue of what was causing the pit to continue exploding and flaring in every color of the rainbow, let alone every spectrum, it seemed, from what little the government discovered quickly. It seemed they were going to have to spin the situation hard and fast, which required answers.


And in this cordoned off region of the city, that was almost under martial law, something strange started to happen. People started to experience new things. Not everyone, but just enough to make people worry.

 

[Haley]

Emilyn blinked. She breathed and then blinked, forgetting that she breathed a second ago and quickly drew in breath to breathe again.


"Damn dude, this shit is good." She sucked in another breath to hold in the cannabis smoke. Not as if she wasn't already feeling it, she just wanted to make sure she could keep her high for longer. "It all makes sense." She mumbled as she sat back on her futon couch and looked down at puddin' who was staring at the tv, which was turned off.


"Whoa, check this out." Piper, her dealer, exhaled from his usual smoke spot next to the window. He stood up straight and was staring down at the street.


Emilyn raised her eyebrows and stared at him for a total minute before even thinking about replying. "What..?" She finally answered. She slowly stood up and smiled as she walked over to the window. When she arrived she looked down and saw a ton of people crowding around the block.


"So there's a parade...?" She said scratching the back of her head.


"No, there ain't no damn parade." Piper gave her a look that told her just how high she was. "This is bloody London, we barely celebrate shit, come on. Let's go have a look." He sighed and walked out the apartment ahead of her. Emilyn sighed and quickly, as her baked mind would let her, put a leash on puddin' and walked out after him with mismatched slippers and a big jacket that she couldn't remember how she even got it on and zipped up.


Within a few moments they were out of the apartment and outside in the streets. As soon as the sun hit Emilyn she scrunched her face and slipped in a nearby puddle. "Oh, rank!" She cursed as she stood up and backed away from the nasty green puddle before puddin' could try and lap it up.


"Ew gurl, watch out." Piper said over his shoulder as he walked ahead of her towards the crowd. "What's going on here?" Piper asked an elderly woman who was pissed about whatever ordeal was happening.


"The police arn't letting anyone out of the nearest four blocks! They're quarantining us and forcing tests on us!" She yelled and threw her hands in the air.


Emilyn walked up and sighed as she looked at the crowd of people yelling and arguing, trying to get more information than what was being let up.

 

[Chaotic]

She sat silently against one of the makeshift offices which was hosting a steady flow of people suffering from various degrees of trauma. Her mind was currently several million miles away as it tried to wrestle with the events that had just unfurled. The hand that she had managed to tangle in her mess of brown hair tightened slightly in annoyance as she mused over what had happened and inflicted farther damage to what had once been a very no-nonsense ponytail. Currently her hair more closely resembled a bird’s next than a hairstyle, however.


Alani cursed lightly under her breath as some woman’s voice carried over the general crowd about how they were trapped by the police. She wasn’t exactly frightened anymore but couldn’t deny that the current feel of the area was one nearing a riotous blend of terror. In the aftermath of the explosion the only emotions which seemed capable of reaching her were those of inadequacy and guilt which she had discovered could be neatly packaged away into a mind bogglingly persistent case of annoyance.


She felt so helpless.


When the initial blast had rattled the buildings of this area, she had been outside and trying to find out where needed help in what had felt like an instant. The only thought in her head had been that she had to get people help before the events of four years ago repeated themselves. Fortunately – and even now her teeth gritted in irritation at this admonition of ‘fortunate’ – the authorities had been present and were managing things. Her efforts to help were just met with a curt demand that she stay out of the way.


The girl scanned the crowd of people in this particular medic’s area with an odd sort of despondence clouding her blue eyes. She couldn’t help these people. In spite of the promise that she had made herself all of those years ago she was still fucking helpless. According to the doctor in the lab coat, the best thing that she could offer them was a calm exterior and an exemplary case of cooperation. He had gone on to explain that even something so simple as a stoic expression of rationality could do much to help this rather rattled crowd.


Her eyes softened somewhat at the thought. If that was indeed all that she could do, she mused, then she would damned well be the very picture of serenity! As she fought to hide the last of her emotion from her young face, Alani Felcia Mirose stood and made her way to a young man in the tent who was coddling a small child in his arms. “Can I get you anything?” she asked as she draped her light jacket over the little girl and offered as genuine of a smile as she could muster. “A bit of water and someone to talk with can do wonders for a situation like this… so … what do you say?”

 

[Vive]

Sebastianne Leflar, in bed, 6:07am.





At seven minutes past six in the bloody morning, Sebastianne Leflar was startled awake by a sound so loud and terrifying that she never wanted to hear it again. It sounded like a hundred fireworks all going off at once, and her first thought was-- this wasn't some morons celebrating Guy Fawkes day a few months early, was it?


Clad only in pair of underwear and a black t-shirt depicting a rather funereal-looking snowman with the words Divine Winter inscribed underneath, Sebby stumbled barefoot out of her room and into the kitchen, and nearly tripped over the cat in the dim light of sunrise. She padded over the cold tiled floor to look out of the window unto the scene below, where those living in ground-level accommodations were already starting to trickle onto the street. Sebby's fuzzy brain tried to grasp the situation as she watched people dressed in law force attire speaking briefly with the civilians on the streets before rushing into the nearest flats. Clearly, something bad had happened.


Sebastianne blearily looked around to see if her flatmate Chloe was awake. On seeing no sight of her flatmate, Sebby knocked on Chloe's door. After a few knocks and no response, Sebby yelled out in a groggy voice, "Chlo, if you're in there, I'm coming in!"





After waiting a few seconds and still getting no response, Sebby turned the doorknob and let the door swing open. Chloe wasn't home-- hopefully that meant that her flatmate was somewhere safe. Running back to her room, she picked up her mobile and sent Chlo a text reading. "Hey babe, I think a bomb just went off close to our flat. Text me back ASAP so I know you're safe." Proper spelling, grammar, all that jazz. Because users of short-hand can sod off.


And then the flat started to shake, as if it was about to crumble. In that moment, Sebby felt a surge of adrenaline and fully woke up.


In the space of two minutes minutes, Sebastianne pulled on a pair of jeans and a jumper, stuffed her keys, her wallet, her laptop, camera case, and all of her important documents and identification cards into her rucksack, grabbed a few granola bars and tins of cat food from the cupboard, attached a rather long piece of string to her cat's leash and wrapped it around her wrist, and ran out the door while holding her cat, Isis, in both arms.


As she ran out into the hallway, the first thing she noted was the burning smell of a familiar plant. It quickly dissipated as she fled down the stairs with the rest of the tenants, and was gone by the time a rush of cold air hit her face upon exiting the building. Just as she stepped onto the pavement, she heard someone shout, "They're quarantining and forcing tests on us!"


Quarantine? What the hell? Was it some kind of chemical explosion? She looked around to ask someone, but most passerby were giving her a wide berth, apparently intimidated by her appearance. Oh, right. The piercings. She'd left them in last night when she had arrived home at 3am and collapsed on her bed. Suddenly, she wondered how her makeup and hair were faring-- she hadn't washed her face or brushed her hair since before work yesterday. Sebby tried to rub away the raccoon eyes she was undoubtedly sporting, but holding a wriggling cat with one arm was too difficult.


The things people think about in a crisis.





Just then, her mobile phone vibrated. Sebby unwound the string a bit and allowed the cat to spring from her arms before pulling the mobile out of her pocket. Chloe had texted, "omg! r u alright? im at steves, so safe!" Sebastianne grimaced at the shorthand while simultaneously meditating on why Chloe had been awake at 6am at Steve's place. Sebby replied with, "I think so-- although I think I'm in a quarantine zone."


Sebby looked around, trying to figure out what to do. Shrugging, she pulled at Isis' makeshift leash and followed the masses of people who were presumably heading towards somewhere she ought to go.


End, 6:22am

 

[ninbinz]

Yurev Evgeny:


A Russian Waylaid:


He stood at the edge of the Cordon Area (CA), his eyebrows were furrowed and a grim a frown had settled upon his face, he had tried to call his parents and work but the authorities had put a stop to that. The moment that people had the presence of mind to contact their loved ones and anyone else important enough to warrant a call the authorities swooped in and uplifted their phones. To say the least, Yurev was rather put out with them and eventually he managed to calm down long enough to wait for whatever processing system they would put the 'survivors' through before allowing them freedom into the world.


Unfortunately for Yurev he could not stave off his growing anxiety and proceeded to shuffle about nervously and eying the few officer who patrolled the perimeter of ground zero and it's inhabitants. Not too far away he could see people gathering together in a group, in the center of the scuffle was a reporter and a pair of policeman. It didn't take great deductive prowess to understand what was happening there, the police were keeping reporters away. There were more than few conclusions Yurev could deduce from such an encounter but they were far from his mind, he was too worried about Jacob who needed a pick up from school and to his employer who would be very angry, today was an important day in Prince William's household.


Yurev could see other people milling about, some were being tended to by medical personnel, others were being placed into black body bags and carried into a black van not too far away. The scene was surreal and none of it computed to anything remotely like logic to him. There were several buildings still standing, Yurev thought he might be able to convince one of them to lend him the use of their phone, hopefully the authorities hadn't as yet thought that far ahead.


After knocking on several doors, most of them unresponsive and others opened and filled with a disgruntled person who's only reaction being a guttural growl and the thumping of their doors followed by the clinking of chains. Finally he found a worried single mother who was more than happy to allow him the use of her 'telecommunication device' as she put it. At first he was worried they might have cut the lines but luckily they had not.


Hello.


Yurev?


Yes, is Yurev M-


-WHERE ARE YOU!? You should be here to pick up Vana. QUICKLY!! She is getting on my nerves!!


Mother!! Listen!! Turn on the television, turn channel to news.


..........There is accident downtown, oh my. They are not letting people out but what has this to do with you?


Mother -sigh- I am there-


What are you doing there!? You should be here, you should be here picking up Vana before I send her back to Old country for proper learning of manners!!


Mother! I was in accident, I cannot come pickup Vana this morning or Jacobi this afternoon, you or father must do this for me.


What!? You were in accident? Chyort voz'mi!


-end of call-


Hello, Sir. It is Yurev, I have been waylaid. There was an accident and there are police officers cordoning us from leaving. I cannot make it to work today.


That's fine, we'll take it from your annual leave.


-end of call-


Chyort voz'mi!

 

[Jazzylegs]

“What Happened?” Zahra asked one of her neighbors, Miss rose, as she entered the crowded ground floor of the apartment block. She had been ready to go to work when she heard (and felt) the “BAM” in her apartment. Her stereo, television, lava lamp and hall mirror where broken, for a moment she’d fear for an earthquake. She and many others had hurried themselves from the 8th floor to the ground. There was an anxious atmosphere, caused by the worries of the inhabits and the policemen.


The elderly lady wrung nervously in her hands. “An explosion, not far from here. Oh, It must be something chemical…oh, they’re already checking on people.” She muttered.


Zahra’s eyes widened. “What? Do they think it’s something fatal?” she asked, in fear of already having it. It would be so typical if she got it and died...


Miss Rose shook her head. ”Oh...oh...I don’t know dear, Oh, we'll have to wait.”


Zahra fell a pull on the raincoat she was wearing. She looked down at a little girl, who opened her mouth as if she was about to say something. She looked troubled.


“What’s wrong?” Zahra leaned in so she was at eyelevel. The girl was then pulled away by her mother. “Stay away from her!” The woman shrieked pulling the little girl closer to her. Zahra defensively held up her hands. “Sorry..”

 

[The Empress of Ice]

His eyes were a soft ocean of blue with dusts of green, his lips a sweet pink and his words guiding yet Lizzie felt weird. He was to far away, to distant. She wanted to scream, tell him to get closer; she wanted him near yet it was as if he did not hear nor see her, he simply went past her and Lizzie could not grab unto him. She was stuck in the darkness as he walked towards the light. He left her. But just as he turned, to smile at her like he had done a million times before, a sudden weight came upon her and words that just did not fit into the scenario was whispered... No... It was yelled right next to her ear.


"-Om... M-o-om, mom, mom, mom.... MOM!" A sweet angel´s voice entered Lizzie´s ear and a beautiful sight of black locks and deep chocolate brown eyes came upon Lizzie´s sight as she opened her eyes. She smiled before jumping up, grabbing Amber and tickling her till she couldn´t take no more. "How many times will I have to remind you to not scream in my ears in the morning! You lit-"


A chuckle was heard from the door and there stood Ann in all her glory just laughing at the scene in front of her until a sudden 'BAM' was heard making Lizzie grab onto Amber with all her might, protecting her with her own body. The whole house shaked causing her small lamp and wardrobe to fall. Amber´s tears stained Lizzie t-shirt while Ann had come to join them; also protecting Amber with her own body.


Lizzie counted the seconds until what she thought was a mix between an earthquake and a bomb was over. Exactly seven minutes before the shaking calmed down making Lizzie sigh of relief. "Amber! Amber, hun! Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Lizzie checked her small daughter all over before she hugged the undamaged precious diamond as much as she could. "Thank god... Thank god..."


Silent tears of relief and the sudden overcome of fear left Lizzie at the thought of Amber getting hurt at all, her mind running a dozen dangers that could have come to damage her precious daughter in any way. One of those thoughts alarmed the young mother to stare at her friend with worry. "Check the outside from the window, hold onto Amber while I go and pack some things! This house can collapse!"


Running half-naked with nothing but a white t-shirt which had a print of a bunny with a pirate eye-patch and panties on, Lizzie grabbed some energy bars, canned soup, plastic utensils and drinks into a small bag before taking her handbag, throwing all the contents out of it and tossing in different clothes for her, Ann and Amber. "What do you see, Ann!?"


A few creaks on the stairs alerted Liz that they were coming downstairs as Ann carried Amber on her back. "Seems like we are stuck, they cordoned off the whole place. Most people are heading out but are sent in again..." Lizzie wanted to swear but smiled nonetheless at her frightened angel. "We can´t stay here with the possibility of the building collapsing, Ann. Come on, let´s go!"


The sudden rush of adrenaline disappeared as quickly as it came but as Lizzie did not care to wonder over it nor suspect it, she continued to leave the house to later on sit on the asphalt with Ann and her daughter by her side, refusing to go into her home. A female doctor had smiled at the young teenager and asked Ann if she could calm her 'friend and child', making Lizzie laugh out loud. She told her to look closely at Amber, because she certainly only shares the black hair with Ann.

 

[Ozmic]

It was just after 6 in the morning, and Gerry Allen Edwards was tossing and turning in the full-size bed of his small flat. Awaking quickly in a cold sweat, he swore under his breath and rubbed his face with the sheet, muttering something about alcohol abuse and the dreams it created. Raking a hand through his black and peppered-with-grey beard, he had only a moment to collect his thoughts and rub his bloodshot eyes when an earth shattering sound split the silence and shook everything. "Fuggin' hell!" he rasped, nearly gagging at the excessive use of his vocal chords and stifling it with a cough.


Around the flat, things began to clatter around, but stayed mostly in place, save a couple of dishes shattering. Jolting up, Gerry began to dart around this way and that, finding clothes, his phone (no new messages, save for drunken texts from the band) and his camera. Quickly he dressed and tugged his long dreadlocks into a haphazard ponytail, rushing toward the door with camera in hand to snap some shots of just what was happening. His mind swam with ideas, muddled by the lack of sleep and still quite-inebriated state he found himself in. Was it an attack? Terrorism? Some kinda' natural disaster? "Shit..." he moaned, belching under his breath as he leaned to tug on his shoes.


Bursting forth from the door, he slammed it behind him and tore across the wooden walkway, making it very near the end when he put his foot down through one of the rotted boards and toppled forward, catching a bit of air down the steps. He landed hard against the dirt, managing to hoist his camera above him and at least save that. Laying flat for a moment, he groaned and let the world spin around him as a beat passed. "Just brilliant," he groaned sheepishly. Thankfully, not a soul stopped or seemed to witness the folly. Footfalls rushed by him as he got to his own feet again and began trudging forward, bringing up the camera with one hand to snap a few shots of the chaos.


Ignoring the gurgling of his stomach and the soon-to-be-worsening soreness in his shoulder, he began to jog lightly to keep up with the crowd, stopping for a minute to catch his breath. When he looked up, half-lidded eyes happened upon a woman that split the crowd. Piercings, makeup smeared under sleep-deprived eyes, and holding a leashed cat. She looked familiar as hell, but he couldn't place from where. Shrugging, he made his way over gingerly, left side a bit sore, just as she started off with the crowd.


"Ey!" he called after her, voice thick with sleep and a nasty hangover. He'd spotted the shirt and couldn't help but give a half-assed grin towards her. "Nice shirt!" This was followed with a bout of what could almost be considered laughter if the man felt anywhere right in the head. He groaned a little, realizing how that must've sounded, and rubbed his head with an almost embarrassed look. Fighting to quickly change the subject, he spoke again. "Got any idea just what inna' hell is going on here?"

 

[Mitheral]

Duncan had woke up early. He liked getting in a daily morning workout. Afternoons were reserved for more strenuous workouts or swimming. But he at least liked to stretch out and do some warm up activities before heading to work. His apartment was a small part of an aging warehouse he had bought. The place had been a real dump on the verge of needing to be demolished when he had got it. There hadn’t even been an apartment. He had had to gut the place and re-install wiring and plumbing just to bring it to code. Most of the place was still pretty much gutted.


His apartment occupied only a few rooms and looked pretty spartan. Bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and what passed for a living room. There was no TV, just his computer desk and some bookshelves made of blocks and planks of wood. He had a cheap sofa with some missing springs. He’d had to cut them out when they started poking through. He’d have tossed it out if he didn’t have the occasional friends over.


The kitchen was bigger than his bedroom. He had plans to put in one of those large islands with a grill in the center as well as places to chop and prepare food. He wondered if he’d ever actually use it. For now his kitchen accessories consisted of a couple microwaves, two crock pots, a blender, and a fold up conference table, with some stools he had picked up at yard sales.


He often got teased about putting more work into his exercise equipment. His prize was a benchpress frame he had built himself. It had been designed for disassembly and moving and had its own adjustable safety bars to keep him from getting crushed if he didn’t have a spotter. He had another station for pullups and another for sit ups - while hanging.


He had been on this last station on his 32nd sit up when the first explosion went off. While the explosion didn’t shake him loose, he found himself in sudden darkness. It became utterly silent indoors save for the shower of dirt and minor debris that had accumulated over the ages in the warehouse sprinkling down.


“That didn’t sound good!” he thought. He grabbed the handholds to the side and slipped his feet out of the restraints and reverted back to being right side up. cautiously he allowed a moment for the blood to rush from his head before moving. As his eyes began to adjust to the dim light he made his way across the room to where he kept flashlights.


He made his way over to the ladder that went up to the roof and climbed up. Once atop the roof he headed over the side of the building and surveyed the scene. He stood there watching for the longest time - right through what he hoped was the last of the explosions. He took time to call into work, letting them know that he might be detained as he saw the traffic problems begin - only to find out the job had cancelled and there was no work this day anyways. That didn’t bother him too much. Even as he watched the growing movement to cordon off the area he made tentative plans to work on the apartment. He sincerely hoped none of his friends would start flooding him with calls. With a smile he decided he’d just tell them he was working on the apartment if they wanted to help. That usually worked to scare them off.

 

[sharlene79]

Spoiler

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Lori awoke with a start to she sense of being shaken. Her eyes flew open as she realized she was standing in the middle of the street outside her apartment.


Standing?


The realization she was standing startled her so much all she did was look down. It was then she realized that she was also in her birthday suit - and there were people standing on the street starting to look her way in alarm. She panicked and began to do the best she could to cover her personal areas looking left and right for the nearest cover. That was when she saw the small delivery van bearing down on her.


The driver neither tried to hit his brakes, nor swerve. Lori barely had time to scream before the van drove right through her. She stood there trembling as she realized that by some miracle she hadn’t been hit. Then she looked in the direction of a many hued glow where a building across the street had begun to sink into the ground.


More vehicles bearing down on her prompted her to move out of the way. Still trying to cover herself she walked to the sidewalk and began to notice noone was looking at her. They were mostly looking in the direction of the glows. She looked down at her feet. This was impossible. With a painful ache she realized she had to be dreaming. She closed her eyes wanting to deny all this...


...And awoke in bed - back in her room - with legs still paralyzed from injuries sustained when she lost her parents. She gave a sad pained smile. It had been a weird but taunting dream. She had been up late last night playing WoW and her wanted to get a new character up to level 85. The EXP grind had taken longer than she had planned. Sleep fog rapidly receded as she realized her computer network had suddenly switched to backup power and were starting to shut down. Her array of police and military band radios were lit up and recording, having switched to marine grade batteries. She had had the volume off so she could sleep.


As much as she was curious about what was happening, she decided to let her systems shut down. They would take care of the radios as well. She had more pressing concerns. The explosion had sounded very close. She reached over and slapped a small lamp - battery powered. Then she rolled the other way to grab the clothes she had carefully folded up and placed in a regular chair next to her bed.


The second explosion rocked her apartment about the time she finished getting dressed. She would have preferred taking time to grab a shower. But the second explosion just confirmed her decision had been the right one. She spun her wheel chair to face her bed and backed up to it and pulled herself in with practiced ease.


Now dressed she wheel past her computers removing flash drives. For the first time since the first blast she felt a pang of panic. She had lived in this place a long time. She really didn’t want to abandon it if she could help it. She grabbed a briefcase with a biometric lock, her notebook, and purse. Then, forcing herself not to look back she headed out.


She had to replace the fuse on the wheelchair stair lift. But she always carried fuses for the thing - just in case. At the bottom she calmly wheeled herself out. She had decided to blend in with the rest of the anxious crowd. But she found she simply couldn’t force herself to get any closer than the outskirts.

 

[Haley]

Emilyn , who was standing a few feet from piper, with Puddin still trying to lap the rank liquid from her jacket. "Puddin' dawg, chill out." She groaned down at her pug who only gave her big rolling derp eyes in response. "I love you." Emilyn said softly with a matter-of-fact tone as she patted her dog who was just as stoned as her on the head.


Emilyn was about to say something to Piper about the whole quarantine thing but forgot what she was going to say before she could even open her mouth so instead she whipped her head slowly to the side and raised her eyebrows with slittled eyes at a man with dreads who was walking towards a pierced chick with a cat on a leash. She caught him ask her about what's going on after he complimented her shirt.


For some reason, in Emilyn's high mind she felt it would be the best idea to go talk to these strangers. "Yes, you have that shirt." She started as she approached the two. She knew she didn't make any sense as soon as the statement/icebreaker left her mouth but couldn't think of a saving line so she just kind of flowed with it. "Anyway, this old person said that they're doing tests on people and all kinds of freaky shit. I don't know though, I'm not sure if I trust the ole' bat, she looks a bit off her rocker..." She mumbled as she looked over her shoulder and watched the old lady calmly take a peppermint from her purse and slip it into her mouth.


"Ew, old people." She shivered and turned back to the two.


Then, just as if he was waiting on a cue, Jimmy her 70-something year old grumpy neighbor hobbled out of the apartment complex wearing only a red plaid flannel button-up shirt, Whitey tighteys and tube socks. He pointed a finger right at Emilyn and started his old man angry walk towards her.


"Dammit, woman! How am I supposed to watch my Springer with you and your friends making all that damned racket! I've had it with you and your retarded dog, shaking the building now, eh? You wanna see this old man bite the dust early eh? Well you can't take my ticker!" He raised a shakey old fist in the air and stared at Emilyn waiting for her reaction.


She sighed and looked at the two people with lazy eyes for a moment before she turned to old man Jimmy. "Bro, you are at like, a 10 right now and I need you at like a solid 4 because you are freaking me out. Secondly, these cool cats are not my friends, I just met them and they havent even talked to me yet. Thirdly, I don't remember shaking the building but if I did, I apologize and I will try to be more still." She said and looked down at Puddin who was trying to sniff the pierced chick's cat's butt. "Also, Puddin' is not tarded, she is too smart for her own like, brain oh, and fourthly dude, someone already took your ticker or something right, you have a pacemaker, so don't even play." She said and pulled her black billed beanie further onto her head before turning her body away from the old cranky man.

 

[Esme]

The soothing shake of the earth brought naught fear or panic, but rather, a panging sorry. Lost work and designs, countless hours and wasted materials. So close had she been, so very close to what she had been looking for the most, and per every time she had before, the plug had been pulled on the current location, and a cleaning agent was sent in. Every single time. But then again, the longer she was forced to work on the one project, the more presice and foolproof it would become. After all, even genius's made design flaws.


As the tea in her cup stilled once more, she turned her chair away from the window, and back to the computer screen. Several blue print designs were up, cycling through with every tap of the right or left arrow key. She'd been looking at them for about an hour, unsure of which she was going to rebuild first. All were tedious and full of technical flaws that needed to be reworked out.


And then there was the idea of supplies. Sure, her relocated area had a hardware store down the block, but too much frequent use and buying in bulk raised eyebrows pretty quick. And the good Doc was far from a fan of radius deduction in use of finding where someone lived. Rather buy outside of the zone and bring it back in. Much safer for everyone.


As she settled on one design that had been the highlight of her former location, she took a sip of tea. Ice cold and bitter, much like her disposition.

 

[Carl]

'Brooms always sweep the best when they're new...'


Eamonn had no idea why this thought crossed his mind just now, he was in the middle of his most cherished and oh-so-condemned hobby...Smoking. Crossing his arms over the balcony railing of his place, he blew out the inhaled smoke through his nose. He still remembers those less than rare occassions where teachers would openly speak up about their 'premonitions' regarding Eamonn's future.


'You'd better quit now, you're only wasting time here!'


'I can tell you're already schoolsick!'


'Better take some easier courses'


Etc. etc.


None of them really had an impact on him though, what would a bit of sour old people know about him afterall? Not to mention that he doubted it was every teacher's dreamjob to actually become a teacher.


"Hypocrites."


He mumbled as he stared over and inbetween the urban jungle of rooftops and chimneys. Suddenly he felt a light tremor, causing him to instictively back away from the balcony's railing and closer to the safety of his appartment's interior. It didn't take long for whatever caused that tremor, to follow up on it with heavy shocks and eardeafening crashing thunder along with a duststorm smothering his lungs for a moment. He backed away and fell over the border of his appartment's balcony doorway and collapsed on his back as he shielded his face with his lowerarm. Coughing and tearing up because of the dust in his mouth and eyes.


Once the dustfog settled and the tremors calmed down, he peered over his lowerarm, outside his appartment. As he cautiously and anxiously picked himself up and moved towards the balcony once again, he gripped the cylindershaped railing tightly and gave it a quick jerk to see if everything was stil as solid and safe as before. As he looked around for the cause of it all, he saw to his right a wide pit where once stood a large building. That wasn't the weirdest thing he noticed though, he saw glimmering specks all over the pit, just moments before they each seemed to unleash their force held within, causing large explosions and gifting Eamonn a colorful sight to behold. After he got over the shock and came out of hiding, of course...


That's when one of the explosions' beam of light.....Homed in on him, every time he will share that story afterwards, he will say the same thing. It was as if an invisible eye suddenly turned to him and made him feel oggled at. Not more than a fraction of a second later, he got hit by a sapphire ray right in the face...


Nothing would ever be the same after that...

 

[Vive]

Sebastianne Leflar, outside her flat complex. 6:25am


Just as she noticed a police officer confiscating a cell phone from a young girl a few feet ahead, Sebastianne heard a ragged, male voice call to her from nearby, "Hey, nice shirt!"


She looked down at the band t-shirt she was was wearing and then back up at the bearded, dread head of a bloke who was staggering towards her. If he recognized the shirt, it meant he was probably part of the metal scene, where beards were a dime a dozen. However he did look sortof familiar...And then she noticed the camera.


"Watch it!" She hissed as the bearded man approached her, stepping towards him so they were both perhaps a little closer than was comfortable for either of them. He reeked of liquor and Sebby was about to say something, before remembering she probably didn't smell much better after last night's shift. She glanced furtively over her shoulder at the law enforcement officer just a few feet away, adjusting her position to hide the camera from the officer's view. In a low voice, Sebby added, "The officers are taking away any mobiles and the like if they see people using them, so put the camera away!"


Just as the man asked her if she had any idea what was going on, a second pair of bloodshot eyes stumbled towards them, belonging to a woman with an oversized coat and mismatching slippers. And a pug. Isis stood stock still, the fur on her back beginning to raise at the appearance of the unwelcome dog. "Yes, you have that shirt," the woman said, as she approached them.


"Great pick-up line," Sebby replied wryly, picking up her cat to prevent it from scratching Puddin', who looked just about at high as its owner. However, maybe it was from the adrenaline, or maybe it was from the fumes wafting off the girl, but Sebby couldn't help but grin as the girl carefully turned around and told off the old prat.


"I don't think any amount of grass could bring him down to a four. Or shake a building, for that matter," Sebastianne smirked.


Just then, as the clock struck 6:30am, the third wave of explosions hit.


Sebastianne dropped to the trembling ground, feeling the cold pavement against her cheek as she huddled her body around Isis, trying to protect the cat from any debris. When the tremors stopped, Sebastianne opened her eyes--she hadn't even realized they'd been snapped shut-- and looked around to see if her new companions were around. "Hey, Divine Winter bloke and Grass girl! Are you guys still alive? I think we should probably try to get out of the quarantine area now!"





End: 6:34am

 

[Chaotic]

The metallic taste of adrenaline was back in her mouth as a new wave of tremors sat her firmly on her ass in the makeshift medical tent. Her eyes told her that around her people were panicking – the emotion running through them as something contagious. This panic had its effects amplified seven fold by the dull ringing in the ears of those present which muted the terrified screams of their fellow quarantined. Finally it seemed the riotous emotions of the enclosed population may have reached its breaking point.


Alani rolled hard to the side to avoid the first runner as he threw himself forward and out of the tent with a reckless and instinctual abandon that bordered on animalistic. Forcing her terrified body to listen to her, the girl threw herself forward to press the man and the screaming child firmly against the side of the tent. People, even now while the explosions were still ringing loud in the area, were fleeing the room through the small doorway in what could only be described as a stampede. As luck would hold, the piece of equipment that she stood beside kept them mostly shielded from the bulk of the traffic and stayed standing in spite of the multitude of hits it took from the others.


The man she had pressed into wanted to bolt as well. She could tell from the fact that his grip on her arm had drawn blood, but even so something about this moment and the fact that the innocent creature in his arms could quite easily be injured in the cascade kept him rooted with her. “We’ll be fine,” she murmured, repeating the mantra as if she thought saying the words often enough would make them true. Her voice echoed eerily in her head as it failed to permeate the silence imposed on her ringing ears by the latest blast, but that hardly mattered now. Face buried against the child’s auburn hair, the girl just waited with baited breath for the time to come when she could move them out of this rather hazardously constructed medic’s ward.


It took perhaps all of 30 seconds, the duration of which seemed to span several lifetimes, before she finally grabbed his hand and pulled him free of the building. The second they made it out into the mayhem he took the opportunity to make a break for the edge of the quarantine zone with the others who had already left the tent. Alani watched him go with mixed emotions. Joining a mob was never a wise course of action in her honest opinion, but if the area was as volatile as it seemed to be then perhaps the mob had the right idea …


Through the muffled numbness left by the aftermath of the explosion and her own shock, she picked up a shout from somewhere off to her side. Glancing momentarily away from the crowd and the people flocking the barricades, she saw a woman who was curled on the ground as the stranger started to look around. Forcing her shaking body to move in spite of the fear which was freezing her blood in her veins, she stumbled forward towards the fallen woman to check if she was injured.


“A-are you alright?” choked out the girl when finally she stood near enough to offer a quivering hand in assistance. The ‘woman’ she had approached looked mildly imposing due to the sheer number of piercings and dark makeup she chose to wear. Then again, the way she was curled defensively around the cat that she clung to in spite of the various scratches that this endeavor had earned her said otherwise. A punk with a heart of gold, perhaps? The thought brought a slight smirk to her lips as she bolstered her courage as best she could.


“We need to move, sunshine … away from the blast zone and the zombie stampede,” she snipped as she grabbed the punk’s arm without waiting for a response and started to pull her up as her eyes scanned the others nearby. “Would hate to see you or kitten be road pizza’d by the likes of them. You lot know of somewhere more secure? Morning coffee didn’t do a whole fucking lot for my mental maps of this area …” A glance over her shoulder told her that the line the authorities had set up was doing the best it could to maintain the quarantined zone, a task made dangerous by the nerves of everyone involved. “And I’m getting the feel that we damned well don’t wanna be in this fucked up spot too much longer...”

 

[Snek]

"This is taking waaay longer than it should," grumbled Jevel under his breath. The team had been forced to travel all the way back to London because they had stumbled upon a new section of the temple, one that had not been explored before, and evidently protocol stated that they consult with higher-ups before taking further action. This was, in Jevel's opinion, nothing short of a ridiculous waste of time, and to add insult to injury, the supposed three-day trip to the university in London and back was turning out to be a five-day round trip.


Given his relatively low level of experience, he was not allowed to engage in the discussion. Apparently placing in the top quarter of your class in college as well as partaking in countless career training courses, PLUS two years in the field, did not qualify as "substantial experience". So instead he was forced to sit on a bench in the University, watching students shuffle back and forth to their classes while Jevel's colleague spoke with the professor. There was nothing, Jevel thought, that could possibly be more torturous than this.


Just when he thought he might pass out from sheer boredom, the foundations of the great building trembled slightly. It didn't seem to intense to the random person, but Jevel knew that the kinetic force was mostly absorbed by the sheer mass of the building itself. The tremors were very likely at least a 5 or a 5.5 on the Richter scale.


"Uh, excuse me, Richard? Those tremors were pretty intense...you think perhaps we should move somewhere safer?" Jevel spoke up. Instead of an intellectual answer, what he received in return were two stern looks and a "shush up" motion from Richard, his colleague. The idiot. Jevel grumbled and crossed his arms. Fine. If they wanted to perish in an avalanche of stone and architecture, then fine. At least they'd go out with a bang.


Then the explosions started.


These were no tremors. The thunderous sound echoed throughout the great hall, as if Thor himself was taking a visit, and the building's structure shuddered and groaned menacingly. Jevel shot to his feet as people screamed and ran for the exits in a mad frenzy.


"I believe we should probably continue this intelligent discussion another time, gentlemen," he said, beckoning to the two men to follow him to the nearest exit.


Then something purely odd began to happen. It was something extraordinary, a phenomena the likes of which Jevel had never seen. The building's structure began to slowly collapse and sink into the ground, but as it did so, glowing lights of every color of the rainbow shone through the cracks of the crumbling floor and foundation of the architecture. The chaos of people screaming and climbing over each other to escape the collapsing building was illuminated by the floor's multicolored glow, like the Northern Lights bleeding through into what was left of the university.


They managed to scramble and shove their way out just in time. As Jevel, Richard, and the professor stumbled out onto the campus lawn, they turned around to watch as the building crumpled inwards and sank into the earth, rainbow lights shining up from the pit around the sinking rubble like dramatic stage lights at a concert.


"Well, you don't see that every day, do you?" Jevel managed to breathe, half-falling down from the sheer amazement terror of the otherwordly rainbow light that cascaded nonchalantly over the tragic scene of the shattering university building. The lights were pretty, yes, but not everyone had gotten out in time. Lots of people had just died, Jevel realized. But what had caused the collapse? And what did those odd rainbow beams of light have to do with it?


Looks like we've got a big-ass problem on our hands. 
A few moments later, several police cars pulled out onto what remained of the campus, surrounding the group of people who had escaped the collapse. Policemen stepped solemnly out of the car, accompanied by men in lab coats, obviously scientists of some kind. The scientists stepped up on stepladders provided by the policemen and began to speak into megaphones, addressing the survivors.


"Attention, everyone! Please remain calm! The authorities are ascertaining the origins of this catastrophe as we speak! Until further notice, everyone within the campus, as well as the surrounding suburbs and city blocks, are being quarantined. Again, please remain calm, authorities are working to get down to the bottom of this and to make sure everyone is safe. Thank you for your cooperation."


Cries of irritation, panic, and rage rose up from the crowd of survivors at the mention of a quarantine.


"A quarantine? Preposterous! What if another quake happens? We'll be trapped!" exclaimed the professor in frustration. "I'm sure we'll be okay. They've probably got the best minds in London figuring this out. Everything will be all right."


Jevel sighed.


"I wish I believed you, Rich. I really do."

 

[Mitheral]

(Joint post Mitheral and Sharlene)


Character Images: Duncan and Lori

Spoiler

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Spoiler

<p><a href="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2013_09/Lori.jpg.1e940fe983b66e1dd1161a2caa7e40c8.jpg" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="6152" src="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2013_09/Lori.jpg.1e940fe983b66e1dd1161a2caa7e40c8.jpg" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p>

Duncan had grown bored with watching people milling about like lemmings charging to their death. He also wasn’t buying the whole hazmat squad needing to check people. If it had been radiation there would have been people dropping like flies nearer the pit. A little further away they would have been bleeding and puking up their guts while being cooked from the inside. Besides, if that had been radiation it would have been a pale blue - not multicolored. And he saw no washes set up to scrub people down.


“Every wino knows that,” he thought amused at a private joke. He had had a physics instructor that loved to say winos new every damned theory of physics. And those theories were usually written on the bathroom stalls. Funny, Duncan had never found those equations there, though he had been tempted to write a few.


He turned away from the scene and slid down his ladder, made his way out and onto the street. He glanced up and down the sidewalk and simply started walking. He knew a dozen ways out of the area that he doubted the police could cover. This was when he spotted the blonde in a wheelchair moving along close to the buildings, trying not to get crowded. He gave a forced smile and nod. Calmly he spoke. “It’s a mess out there. I’ve seen several small groups of people trying to make their way toward the edge of the cordon. They aren’t going to make it - not unless they know how to get around the blockades.”


“Which you do?” Lori eyed the man suspiciously. Her suspicion was allayed a little by the fact that the guy A) was … athletic in a distracting sort of way; B) wasn’t doing a good job of looking her in the eyes, but about a foot lower - which she found a little flattering. She didn’t exactly get out much and in her current state of dress anyone willing to excuse her disarray got two thumbs up. “Just what is going on out there? It’s a little hard to see over the crowd.”


Duncan stepped around behind her to push her wheelchair. Her body language suggested she did not want to answer questions - his or anyone else’s. She had barely glanced at him. But she wouldn’t meet his eyes and kept her face turned away. He couldn’t blame her. He was a complete stranger. It seemed the best thing to do was to satisfy her curiosity.


“Well, the police have cordoned off about four blocks here - with the initial blast pit the epicenter. I spotted several groups making their way toward the blockades - probably trying to get away from the explosions. I can’t say as I blame them. I just hope this doesn’t spread. I’m insured, but that will never replace my place - not really.” He paused as he considered that possibility. “They are setting up hazmat and medical teams.”


Lori paled at that thought. “Look, if you can get us out of here without getting us caught, I’ll make it worth your while.” She immediately regretted her words. She had mapped out her own ways to evade a cordon. But then again, it was already too late to implement those plans. However, he was right about other people putting pressure on the cordon. If she could only figure out a way to force a panic to surge against the blockades…


+++++++++++++


Duncan’s idea of an evacuation plan scared the hell out of his new companion. He had done some work on the Thames Tideway. And he had gone of the tours. But he had also gone on tours of sections not open to the public and knew a little about this area. The problem was going to be the woman’s wheelchair. At least it wasn’t a motorized one. He eyed the wheels carefully sizing them up. He was fairly certain they would fit through a manhole. If not, then he was going to half to think of something else.


He moved calmly and at a normal pace until they arrived at a manhole cover about a block from the edge of the cordon. This would have to do. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a small coil of wire, and a pen. He folded a 4 foot length of the wire into one foot sections and wrapped an end around his pen. Then he dropped the pen through the hole in the manhole cover and pulled up. The manhole cover lifted with what he thought was ease. Then he recovered his tools and put them away.


The idea of being carried by a strange man didn’t sit so well with Lori. But she wanted that badly to avoid police that she didn’t argue. The longer she could avoid the authorities the better for everyone. She just hoped the guy really knew where he was going. What started to really impress her was the ease with which he lifted her. She couldn’t resist poking a bicep as he descended. He didn’t LOOK beefy, but … This was almost worth putting up with being moved about helplessly.


Duncan didn’t even notice Lori’s exam. His mind was too focused on her safety and getting back up to fold up her chair to lower it through the manhole. He was a little surprised at how compact it folded up. It was a TiLite 2GX Titanium Folding Wheelchair, a tight fit, but he managed. He was a little surprise at how light it was.

 

[sharlene79]

Lori had been so nervous about being manhandled by Duncan and evading detection that she almost forgot one small security precaution. Carefully she retrieved the remote detonator. It wasn’t a detonator in the usual sense, but a radio transmitter. It had been pre programmed to send an encoded signal to its counterpart - which was hardwired into her intranet. She entered a 10 digit alphanumeric code that showed up as asterisks, but held off pressing the enter.


“Hold up. Before you close the manhole cover. I need you to go back up and press Enter, then wait for the green light to come on.” For the first time she actually looked Duncan in the eyes.


Duncan stared at her for a long moment. “And what will it do?”


Lori had expected that. She clamped her mouth shut for a moment and squirmed not wanting to explain. Finally she responded, “It won’t hurt anyone. It isn’t a bomb detonator. It … it will wipe a digital footprint. I have my data backed up at a remote location. But the less anyone knows about me the better. There are some very nice people that work in the building I live in.”


Duncan studied her face for signs of deception. Then he made up his mind. “I’ll let you do it.” Her bent down and lifted her. “You’re pretty light.” He carried her to the top of the ladder so she could press the button for herself.


Lori watched as the green light confirmed execution of her program. Back in the apartment her hard drives began to format themselves. She sighed. That had not been an easy thing to do. Odds were that the authorities would never even find her place. It was listed as nothing but storage space for the restaurant. She paid cash for anonymity. But it was a chance she couldn’t take.


Duncan returned Lori to her wheelchair, then moved back up to replace the manhole cover. Who the hell was this girl? She was starting to sound paranoid. Of course, with what was going on outside, that didn’t seem quite so crazy at the moment. He started to wonder if she had any idea what was really going on.

 

[Snek]

As Richard and the professor discussed possible scenarios and dangers of being quarantined so close to the site of a collapse, and the rest of the survivors talked in frightened whispers and/or raised voices of irritation or impatience, Jevel was once again thrust out of the conversation and thus he decided to figure out a way to slip past the police cars stationed around them.


It didn't look as if it would be too difficult. The cars were positioned rather sparsely, each one about five yards from the next. The only thing blocking the space in between them was caution tape, set up from car to car all the way around the quarantine site. Some of the policemen sat in their cars, others played cards on the hood in boredom or strolled along the line of caution tape.


All Jevel had to do, he figured, was wait until there was a less densely occupied area of cops, and then make a run for it. Jevel had spent significant time in a parkour gym in his off-time during college, and so he was confident that with his superb agility, he'd be able to outrun a dozen cops who'd had a dozen too many donuts.


And so he waited.

 

[Haley]

Emilyn hit the ground and pulled Puddin' under her, almost squishing him before she realized you can't just lay on a small dog and them be cool with it. She shifted her weight and risked lifting her head to look around. She could hear the pierced chick yelling if she and and the bearded man were okay.


"I'm- I'm in one piece I think... Gawd dude, I hope so." She coughed as debris, dust and dirt swirled around her and got in her eyes. She reached a hand up and wiped at her face and squinted her eyes to see some woman pulling the pierced chick up by her arm. Behind her, Old Man Jimmy was cussing and stumbling his old butt back into the damn building, like a friggen genius. Emilyn couldn't see where Piper was or the bearded man from before either. She coughed and stood up, holding puddin' in her arms.


"Hey, Wait! I found her first, uncool." Emilyn coughed as she stumbled toward the woman and the pierced chick. "She's my survival buddy." She smirked and laughed at her own ridiculous statement. The weed was just not going to let her mind assess just how dire the situation really was. "Man, I'm creepy..." She mumbled and gave another raised eyebrow, slitted eye, half smile.

 

[Ozmic]

Before the pierced gal even seemed to really acknowledged him, she spat a cry of "Watch it!" and quickly moved his way, coming within inches of his form abruptly. Generally, Gerry wouldn't be one to complain about such an 'invasion of privacy', but with everything going on this morning, he was caught well of guard. "Er..." he began, holding up one finger as if to say something when the other cut him off, speaking about them taking away his camera. "Oh, that's just great. The hell're they on about?" he snapped, a bit more coldly than he'd meant to. Sighing, he rubbed his eyes and spoke again, more quietly this time, trying to tuck the camera away as well he could. "Don't mean to be all shirty about it.. just had about an hour of sleep last night, might still be a bit pissed."


When it seemed the female was about to answer just what was happening, another sauntered over, donning a pug and making a comment that was almost mocking his about the shirt. Any other time, he'd be a bit put off by it, but the bird seemed a bit altered. That is, if her bloodied, glazed eyes had any merit to them of her actions. When she told of the geezer, Gerry couldn't help but snort a bit of laughter, despite his mood. "Got a point there", he replied to the first woman, before another explosion shocked the earth. He stumbled forward toward the crowd and raised his camera, meaning to get a shot. Before he could, however, something happened to go very wrong with his head.


Giving a bit of a moan, he let the expensive SLR tumble to the pavement as he gripped his head. If anyone had been looking right at him, and not in a panic at the events before them, they might have noticed his brown eyes shift to a dull shade of crimson and go bloodshot as if he suddenly came under great stress. "The shite?" he managed, bumping into a couple at the back of the crowd. "Quit messin' about!" the woman shouted shrilly, pulling the both of them away from him. They were glowing, he noticed, and tried to say something, but only bumbled through some half-arsed apology. When he spun around to the crowd, he noticed bright glowing coming from everyone and shimmering waves in the air around them.


"I've been bloody drugged," he groaned to himself, turning back toward his 'companions' from before. He'd gone white as a sheet and tried his best to look respectable while he pushed by them quickly. "I think I've gone mad..." he droned on, stumbling walk breaking into a sort of jog as he rushed away from the crowd as far as he could, making his way to an unguarded alleyway, shaking hands covering half-lidded eyes. Pressing himself against the wall, he slid down it and looked up again, gobsmacked. The air around him was slight with quivering shapes that almost looked like some sort of current. "This can't be happening." Pushing his hands over his eyes again for a moment, he sat there in denial for a beat, then took his hands away again to witness the exact same site, albeit different somehow. "Oh bollocks. I've drank myself a brain tumor."

 

[ErisianDialects]

Horace Chase. Thespian. He was happily having his morning coffee, staring out the back of his house as the power flicked and a lightbulb exploded over his head, as the rest of his apartment went dark. Then it became light, very briefly as he let out a low whistle as the room around him trembled slightly.


"Well, this isn't good. This isn't good at all."


He moved with deliberation, still managing to cut his foot open, and went in to brush his teeth and fix his hair. No water. He supposed it was drowning into the sinkhole. No power. No water. A sniff of the air. No gas leaks, from the smell of it, yet. Small mercies. He would at least dress himself well, casual refugee. Not a suit, but nothing too dirty. Black tee, jeans, white shirt over the top for the layered look. Use the cut throat to trim his beard and mustache. Avoid the crowds trampling down stairs. Elevators are out.


And so, in his leisurely pace, since they obviously weren't evacuating the area yet, else they would announce it somehow, men riding tanks with loudspeakers, even. So while he was carefully getting casually ready, letting the press of the crowd spread around the cordon, he would move with purpose when the street was mostly clear except for the few stragglers like himself.


He would take a cigarillo out of his pocket and put it in his mouth, lighting it and watching as he puffed on it. Someone near him, off to his left started making a fuss about his head. He would see the bearded man, the pierced girl, and the girl with one of those dogs so ugly they were cute again. He would think for a minute before moving over to the four.


"Medical tents, now."


He would move to put his arm around the man, gauging, or trying to at least, the best way for him to come off as a hero to the press when they arrive. Of course, unbeknownst to him, except for a sharp pain through his body as it changed to mimic the man, down to the extremely long growth of beard and hair, he would lead what now appeared to be his identical twin brother through the crowd to the medical tents.


~~~~~~~~~~~


The police and doctors would be working hard to check and double check, and were slowly cutting those who seem to have evolved out of the apparently normal people to a separate facility from an on site commandeered business. They were being kept quarantined there, but being treated nicely and politely. The last thing that they wanted was any large-scale disruptive uproar.


As it was, it was going quietly until someone stupidly tried to separate a ten year old girl from her father. The man started pushing through the two officers assigned to be the man's escort, and his eyes flared a bright blue before a sudden cold snap seemed to cover the man and police, freezing the three into a tableau in an ice cube.


A very public, very large ice cube, but it was still an ice cube.


One neighbour reached down and took a chunk of concrete and threw it at another policeman, and nerves, frayed by the general public, seemed to explode like the house, of people trying to force their way out. A few people quickly armed themselves with loose debris, and the government was finally given the spin they were so happily looking for. They could figure out a reason why a house was destroyed in a riot, after all.


The crowd would surge forward, apparently now having a panic on their hand. But it seemed this was going to get a little worse. People couldn't tell who was normal, who was enhanced in every case. But the uniforms, the uniforms and HAZMAT suits were starting to give people a target. And with a rioting mob this size, they were going to need a lot more people.

 

[Vive]

"Are you alright?" A woman who looked like everything Sebastianne wanted to be when she was 10 years old walked over to her. Sebastianne blinked and looked down at the yowling cat and then up at the sky that shivered with every colour imaginable in the cold light of morning. And while she laid against the pavement with her eyes upturned towards the sun, she saw her vision reflected again and again in her mind's eye, tinted differently each time and each image showing the surrounding buildings at different angles. Wait-- what?





What? "What's happening right now? Are you safe?" Where are you, are you in the Cordon Area? "Excuse me, sir, but the power's gone out and I shan't be able to get to work for another...." Reports coming in are saying that an explosion No word on how Cordon Area "Are you hurt?" "...the sky is so" "Taxi!" Medical personnel and officers How Interpol is handling bloody tube stopped Crater in the middle "I think I'm hurt--" r u safe "Need to find a doctor for you" "My daughter! Is my daughter" "What's happening?" whats happening? are you From Outside the Cordon Area #rainbowsky "Mommy, I'm scared to" What Why what's happening Cordon Area, the number of people "Officers on the scene are..." Babe, I hope you're r u alright? "The building just crumbled and then" explosions happened, are you "What's going on?" shimmering over the cordon Quarantine issued why r being What? "Why are you being quarantined?" What? What's happening? "What's going" "WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?!"


With so many other voices and words raging around her head, Sebastianne barely recognized the last voice as her own.


She was having a hard time discerning between the voices that were real and the voices in her mind but of them all, one sifted to the top and said


"I think I've gone mad...."





With a noise somewhere between a scream and a groan, Sebby clasped onto the outstretched arm, trying to focus on the physicality of it and blocking out the whirling madness in her mind. Flashes of other arms, arms of all different colours holding up cameras, holding children, holding skin, holding briefcases, holding money, clasping hands, shaking hands. She looked desperately at this woman who looked like--Stop it, Stop it! Sebastianne just clung to the woman's arm, and tried to feel only the cat scratches across her collarbone and hands. She bit her lip, trying to focus on the pain to keep her lucidity.


I can't faint, I can't faint


The bearded man and the girl with the fuzzy slippers may or may not have spoken, the woman she was clutched to said something but between the din of the riot happening so close by, captured twenty times in her mind despite keeping her eyes firmly shut, and the din of voices inside her head--


Just then, the mobile in her pocket vibrated. Without even uncurling her body away from that arm that anchored Sebby onto reality, she knew what the text had said. r u alright. should i pick u p?


Please, Sebastianne prayed.


Sebastianne opened her eyes and blearily looked up at the woman and down at the other girl's fuzzy slippers. No picture in her mind was identical to either. Her cheeks were wet and her eyelashes were stuck together. She tried to focus on that-- all of those things that were real."There's a riot close by," Sebastianne said, rather stupidly. "We can't get out that way."

 

[Haley]

Emilyn stumbled backward, clutching her puddin' close to her. She whipped her head towards a man who was demanding they get to medical tents but she could see what was happening over there and she didn't want to be apart of that. She was officially freaking out. "Dude, what's happening to them?!" She asked as she looked back towards the pierced girl who was clutching the woman's arms and freaking out as well.


"What's wrong with her?!" She asked and started backing up more. She wanted to help but her mind was stumbling over everything. Visions of her staying high and unfocused forever raced through her mind and her eyes widened as she started to hyper ventilate. "I'm never comming down man, I'm gonna stay like this forever!" She cried and kept backing away, dodging women and a few men who pushed past her to run either to or from the medical tents.


When she finally stopped backing away it was because she'd hit a small line of bushes. She pressed her back to it and closed her eyes as she tried to clear her head. "Just make it safe." She mumbled and before she knew it the leaves were extending from the bush and gently growing up to wrap around her protectively, as if she's commanded it. She opened her eyes and watched as the leaves extended and began to clasp together, shielding her and puddin' from the rest of the street.


She panicked, gasped and almost tore herself from the bush but became caught and tangled in the leaves. "Stop!" She growled and like that, the vines fell limp, swaying only slightly in the breeze. Emilyn froze and puddin' stared at the bush with big rolling eyes and an open mouth. The young female swallowed hard and gently reached out her hand stopping a few inches from a leaf. She concentrated and bit her lip and suddenly, the leaf extended to touch her finger as if she was the sunlight it grew towards. She yanked her hand back and took a step back.


"No way... bro, I think I may be like- an earth bender..." She breathed thinking of one her favorite shows to watch while high, Avatar: the last airbender. She looked down at Puddin' who only looked up and licked her chin before wiggling from her arms and trotting over to the bush and pissing on it.


"How did this happen...? Am I the only one?" She wondered aloud as she turned from her dog doing it's business and looked over at the pierced girl who still looked super distressed and then down the street where she could barely see the bearded man near an alley, then back to the man who'd frozen three cops and was freaking out, then back down to her own hands.

 

[ninbinz]

Yurev Evgeny:


What next?


Outside the world was chaos, the police had combed through the buildings in the four block CA and ushered people towards tents, luckily for Yurev and Malinda, the single mother of 3 children they were near enough to the the back of the line that the riot had swept past them with little effect but the soft sort of fear hen one can see danger but are just beyond its tenuous touch. Like staring at a lion from behind the safety of bars and high walls or in some cases very thick glass. Malinda's children Mary, Carver and Tony whimpered. For some reason Yurev could not help but feel responsible for them all, it was not as if he were attracted to Malinda but he felt he owed her for allowing him the use of her phone. Her two boys held to the fabric of her pants while she cradled little Mary in her arms, they were all just a little scared, Malinda prime among them, few things were quite so palpable as a mother's fear for the lives of her children.


Yurev watched as the crowds slowly calmed down or cleared away enough to allow them access to the medical tents unmolested. Yurev lead the small family into the tents and waited until each of them was categorised as normal, he felt a small burden lift from his shoulders, at least they wouldn't e treated adversely. Malinda looked at him worriedly and in return he smiled reassuringly at her before shooing her and her kids away from him. They skirted around the giant Ice Cube that displayed three men in a tableau of struggle and anger. The two policemen wore a look of angry surprise while their 'victim' had donned a look of outrage and worry. Despite the forceful prodding of the medical personnel to move forward for testing but he shrugged them off until the woman and he children had moved from view.


Placated, he moved along and sat in a white stall where a man wearing a full HAZMAT suit who gingerly went about his duties. A drop of blood drawn from his finger, more drawn from his arm and a cotton swab through his mouth. The man ran another cotton swab down the length of his clothes another on his shoes. Yurev looked bored and sighed up at the man, such processes were standard when working for the Royal Family of England. Security checks bi weekly, swab tests randomly throughout the week and several other less savoury (or more in some cases.) methods. He waited impatiently while the man completed his tests and then was ushered down the opposite way.


His heart was thumping with panic, he was some sort of mutant? No. He shook his head and pushed forward, what he found was people, people who were nervous and angry, people who looked like frightened deer and cornered cats.