Rapture

[Salix]

Petra moved out of the way so that Mak could hand the light to Erin unhindered, as she moved she took hold of Nougat’s collar to encourage the dog away from where it was nudging and licking Emily’s hand.

 

Reluctantly the dog let itself be lead out of the car, but cast continuous worried glances towards the opening of the ambulance “Its okay darling” Petra tried to reassure the dog as she surreptitiously patted and ruffled the along the dogs body and legs in order to make sure that Nougat gained any injuries during the accident, “Just let Erin do her thing, and then I’ll let you back in to be with Emily”.

 

Nougat uttered a distressed whimper, licked Petra’s face and hands and then sat next to Petra with uneasy anticipation, waiting for the first minute she could bet back into the ambulance and be with Emily.

 

[Fangirl05]

"A flashlight, a penlight, a laser pointer, anything that makes light and doesn't make smoke!" Erin answered harshly. She didn't mean to sound so angry, but she was panicking a little. She had no idea how to operate sophisticated medical equipment- MRI machines, CAT scanners, heart/lung machines- and if it turned out that was what Emily needed, they were both royally screwed.

 

"Emily," she pressed in her best Arrest Voice, "open your eyes if you can hear me."

Edited October 17, 2014 by Fangirl05

[Kestra15]

Mak frowned in concentration; he had seen a pen-torch recently when he was sorting out the equipment in the ambulance, trying to orientate himself to the medical supplies they had been able to scavenge. He moved past Petra so that he could get to the large green backpack from which they had already plucked the current supplies and hesitated, trying to picture the equipment in his mind as he took a deep breath. Then, still not entirely sure, he unzipped the main compartment and flipped the central plastic tab over. There, in a small loop near the top, sat two pen torches. Allowing himself a ghost of a smile he pulled one out and handed it to their improvising medic.

[Fangirl05]

Erin snatched the light out of Mak's hand without remembering to say thanks and pried first one of Emily's eyes open and checked her pupil, then the other. She wasn't sure if she was seeing unevenness that wasn't there in her terror, but she couldn't shake the feeling that one of them was just slightly larger than the other, slightly enough that it could be missed.

 

"Pupils dilated but apparently even" she said. She switched the light on and shone it directly into her eye.

[Fortune86]

When James had navigated his way back to the convoy he was relived to see that the vehicles were still upright at least. However he couldn't see any of the others yet. He couldn't even hear Jaune ranting.

 

The wind was causing smoke to billow across the road in thick clouds. The fires from whatever had exploded had turned the skyline orange. James didn't know what had blown up, but he had a feeling that staying this close wouldn't be a good idea for long.

 

He pushed up the visor of his helmet up as he drew closer and tried to see through the smoke.

 

"Guys? Guys you okay?"

 

From the wreckage there was another bang. Whether it was another explosion or something simply falling over James didn't know, but it added to his feelings of anxiety.

[Mistress of Whispers]

What the hell was that?! Wisperlee, who had been a little ahead of James on the road, could hear and see the ball of fire rise in the sky even from this distance. Turning her bike around, she followed James back to the scene.

 

Somewhere off the road, a raging inferno was consuming what she fervently hoped was not a powerplant. Jaune was watching - no surprise there - and the others were.... That's when she noticed a figure prone on the ground. It was still too far to make out who it was and she really didn't want to lose anyone. A group of silhouetted figures was gathered around the prone person and she stubbornly drew hope from that - after all, there would be no point in giving aid to a dead person?

[DragonSpirit009]

Emily started to feel her body reacting to her thoughts but the numbing throbbing pain on her head caused her to feel sick to her stomach. Suddenly a bright light blinded her causing her to grab hold of the persons arm and pulling it so that the brightness would fade. The brightness of the light caused her to feel even more sick and she battled to keep whatever in her stomach was in.

 

“I’m… okay.” She finally spoke now resting her arm over her eyes while she breathed heavily trying push the pain away.

 

[Fangirl05]

"Oh, thank God" Erin exhaled. She clicked off the light and touched Emily's arm to keep her attention. "Emily," she continued more gently, "do you feel dizzy or nauseous at all?"

 

She started looking around the ambulance for something bucket-shaped should the need arise. "Mak, can you help her sit up?" she asked, and stuck her head out the door. "Petra, she's awake" she reported, "Maybe you can bring Nougat back in here, cure her with kindness and all that? Just try to rein her in a little. She seems a little woozy."

[Fortune86]

James heard voices, which was a good thing. Checking in his mirror he could see Whisper still driving behind him. Through a break in the smoke he could see Jaune checking out the flames. he was glad about that too in a way, if someone was hurt the last thing they needed was that weird freak dancing around them.

 

"Guys?" he tried again stopping the engine on his bike. "What happened? Everyone still here?"

[Kestra15]

Helping Emily to sit up, Mak then stepped out to see James and Wisper had arrived - clearly they must have pushed the limits a little to get back, or they were not as far ahead as he had originally thought. Either way he was glad to see them - moreso that they were alive and unharmed.

 

"At a guess?" Mak said as he approached the pair, his mind finally getting back out of survival mode and once again becoming a scientist. "Dust explosion. It's a brewery, plenty of sugar sitting in vats and silos. Normally you need someone around to keep an eye on the pressure and heat, but with no-one around to check, all that heat building and friction between particles..." His voice trailed away, and he simply swept his hand towards the blazing plant.

 

"We're mostly unharmed. All three vehicles are intact, and Emily is the only one with any severe injury that we're aware of," he continued, flexing his bandaged hand. Now the adrenaline was seeping away he was becoming aware of a pain across his chest from the seatbelt and a throbbing from his ankle, probably from where he had been jarred mid-drive and twisted it off a pedal. But they were clearly minor aches and pains. "Thank you for coming back - I'm glad to see you're okay," he finished with sincerity, looking at James and then Wisper with relief in his eyes.

[Fortune86]

A brewery huh? Well that was better than a chemical plant or something. It probably wouldn't help the situation much if they were to all start breathing in deadly gases or suchlike. Now that Mak mentioned it, there was a certain beery smell to the smoke.

 

"Emily is hurt?" asked James concerned. "Will she be okay?" He swung his leg over his bike so that he could get both feet down on the ground. "Is there anything I can do?"

[Fangirl05]

"You can help me find some Tylenol and something cold for her head and neck" Erin answered, "And maybe fish out one of the thermoses of coffee. Actually, make it two. I don't want Emily falling asleep for a long time."

[Fortune86]

"Tylenol, right."

 

He had no idea what the stuff was but he was sure he'd know it when he saw it. Leaving his bike where it was James walked over to the ambulance and started to look through the bags inside. Sure enough he found a small bottle with 'Tylenol' written on it and tossed it lightly to Erin. He passed on two of the thermoses when he found them, though he doubted Emily could drink both. But the 'something cold' stumped him a little. It's not like they had packed any ice.

[Fangirl05]

"Thanks" Erin nodded distantly at James. She would've preferred migraine-strength, but post-Apocalypse you had to make do.

 

She unscrewed and filled one of the thermos lids and dumped six of the tablets into her hand. "Down these-" she held them under Emily's face, "and drink this." - she did the same with the coffee.

 

She briefly turned her attention back to James. "For now, just give me something in the tupperwear" she suggested, "When we get where we're going, I'll see about finding some ice packs."

[Kestra15]

"Ice packs," Mak said, calmly handing over a freshly-popped cool-pack from the medical kit. "It'll be good for ten, maybe fifteen minutes. And I think you might want to hold off on some of the paracetamol - or Tylenol." He nodded to the pot, not wanting to question the odds of finding an American-branded packet in their medical supplies from an English depot. Probably taken off a tourist and accidentally never returned, or some other oddity that happened with surprising frequency. "Six is double the recommended safe dose, and unless you're an expert hepatologist I wouldn't want to risk liver damage just from not going by the instructions."

[Fortune86]

((I knew I didn't know that brand! ))

 

While Erin and Mak administered to Emily James leaned back against the side of the ambulance. The smoke wasn't as bad now, with the wind having changed direction, but the flames of the brewery were still an impressive sight. They'd probably burn for a long time. That was another worry in a world devoid of people, no emergency services.

[Fangirl05]

Erin accepted one of the ice packs with a raised eyebrow. "Do I need to remind you that she was incoherent and half unconscious for thirty seconds two minutes ago?" she asked, "This is just to kill the headache now, I'm not gonna be having her pop six pills every time." She turned her attention back to Emily. "You get two more in eight hours."

[Kestra15]

"Paracetamol doesn't work that way; you can't just load up past the maximum dose and gain more effects. It's got a narrow therapy window for a reason," Mak countered calmly. "Past a single gram the excess paracetamol does nothing but sit in the liver and cause damage - it doesn't extend the time or increase the efficiency." He gave Emily a concerned look; at the end of the day it was up to her to actually take the pills herself, though with the spinal collar on it would be almost impossible for her to swallow a thing.

[Marcus Pheonix]

Jaune whistled in appreciation as he gazed at the center of the factory. He was standing atop another of the outer walls that had collapsed, this one had a large girder holding it down, which had obviously ruptured during the explosion. Unfortunately the majority of the plant still stood, albeit there was almost zero space that wasn't covered in flames, even the metal roofing had flames lapping at them.

Jaune loved fire and he adored watching it move, but even he was unwilling to get much closer, he could feel the heat radiating from the ruins and wiped at his brow once more. Turning he hopped up onto the collapsed girder and ran up, his arms outstretched like a tightrope walker.

He was now fairly high up and had a better view point. To his joy there were a few multicoloured flames scattered around, probably the result of the burnt wiring scattered throughout the plant.

Jaune slowly eased his foot off of the girder and carefully placed it onto the roof. He felt now give, nor heard any squeaks, indicating that it was probably just this one girder that had fallen down.

He lightly stepped onto the roof and skirted around the edges, the centre of the roof had caved in on itself, whereas the majority of the outer edges still stood though many of them were coated with fire.

Jaune found that when he sprayed them with his paint cans the fire flared up, providing he stepped back quick enough to avoid it the rapidly enhanced flame ate through its fuel much faster and quickly died after. This allowed Jaune to explore more of the roof though the central fire would likely be blazing late into the night and possibly till the next day. Jaune turned around and finally noticed that all the vehicles were still stopped.

The two outskirts on bikes had even pulled back in. Jaune scratched his head, how come no one else was looking at the cause of the disturbance but just standing around their cars. Were they having a picnic? Jaune crossed his arms, he was feeling a little hungry. Maybe they were roasting some fresh meat on the fires! Angered at the though Jaune finally abandoned his exploration and scurried across the roof back to the girder he had initially walked up.

[Emeraldmay]

(Hey, I'm new I should be hanging in Oakington am )

 

The grocery store was pretty intact, and Jason assumed that almost nobody had been in there when they all vanished. At first, he’d thought it had been some kind of mass evacuation, that he’d been missed out, but he knew his girlfriend wouldn’t leave without checking on him. Holding his backpack open, Jason walked along the aisles, considering what he might need.

The café he’d gorged at on the way had filled his stomach, and with his stomach satisfied, Jason was able to make some more rational choices. Dropping another can of baked beans in, Jason shuddered as he felt the weight of his bag. Deciding he could do without, he shoved them back on the shelf. No need to make a mess unnecessarily. A packet of rolls went in, and Jason stopped to assess what he had.

 

One roll of twine. One flashlight. One lighter. Two water bottles. One sleeping bag. One coat. And of course, the army knife. Not exactly the most inviting prospect. Even though he was entirely alone, Jason still felt the need to be carrying supplies with him. Years of living on the streets made him uncomfortable not carrying all his possessions with him. Jason shoved a packet of dried meat in there. The freezers were still running – for now, but the second they died that food would start to go off. Jason wasn’t exactly willing to carry something around that would go off soon. Dried fruit and nuts was the obvious choice, and with a moment of weakness, Jason grabbed a packet of fruit gums.

 

As he stepped out of the store, Jason wasn’t really sure what to do next. Everyone he’d knew, worked with, seen on the street was gone, and while the deserted town was eerie, he didn’t exactly feel threatened. The sudden freedom, the chance of going anywhere, was exciting, and yet awful at the same time, and Jason had no idea what he wanted to do.

Survival instinct kicked in, and Jason knew that he couldn’t live outside forever. Swinging his backpack over his shoulders, he headed towards the well to do part of town. If he was going to live solo, he might as well do it in luxury.

 

[Fangirl05]

Erin shrugged noncommittally, but she wondered what that meant for her uncle; he popped those things like candy when he got migraines every week.

 

"Well, whatever" she nodded toward Emily, "It's her head that hurts like a mother."

[Avialae]

Micah just sat in the car for a while, trying to gather his wits after being rocked - both figuratively and literally - by the explosion. He saw the others who had been traveling by car group around a figure laying prone on the pavement, who seemed to be hurt - he was pretty sure that it was Emily, considering that everyone else who had been in the cars seemed to be huddled around her. He wanted to help her, but he didn't know much about first aid and with at least three people crowded up next to her already, Micah figured his presence would probably do more harm than good right now.

 

Turning his head, he then saw Jaune staring at the fire caused by the explosion. The boy had his back turned to Micah, but even so he could see that there was no fear in Jaune's body language, and indeed the boy started walking towards the fire even as Micah formed the thought. Micah immediately made to get out of the car to warn Jaune not to get too close to the fire, but then realized that Jaune being burned to death would probably solve more problems than it caused. Even to him, that line of thinking seemed a bit cold, but the guilt he felt wasn't successful in prodding him to try to stop Jaune.

 

Micah finally got out of the car as he heard James and Wisperlee's motorcyles come to a halt, realizing they had probably doubled back to check on the rest of the group. Stretching his legs as he stood up, Micah surveyed the area. It didn't look great, but it could be a lot worse too. He took a few steps forward, waving somewhat unsteadily to Wisperlee, given that James had already rushed to help Emily as well, trying to think of something he should do. Maybe he should check to see if none of the cars had been damaged by the explosion, seeing that the motorcycles seemed to be in good working order?

 

(OOC: Just a bit of filler for Micah seeing as I haven't posted with him for a little while. And hey, Emeraldmay, welcome! Glad to have you join us! I don't know what you plan on doing, but we might be on the highway for a while, so if you want Jason to meet up with the group you might want to direct him there . . .?)

Edited October 24, 2014 by Avialae

[DragonSpirit009]

When Emily finally got a chance to sit up right she just fell silent. Her one arm was grabbing hold of her stomach pressing it slightly hoping it would stop her stomach from turning while her other arm was holding her head. She didn’t touch to close to her wound knowing it will only cause damage more and the fact that there might be a big cut actually freaked her out.

 

She listened to everyone’s conversation but those talking only made her head hurt and with everyone standing around made her feel a bit claustrophobic.

 

“Can you... guys just stop talking?” Emily finely spoke. Her words sounded a bit rude but she found it a bit hard to control the tone in her voice. All she wanted now was to clean up and rest.

 

[Fangirl05]

"Sorry!" Erin whisper-yelled. She'd forgotten that bad migraines were made worse by talking. Noticing Emily's avoidance of the gauze patch on her head, she fished a bottle of saline eye drops out of the medical bag, squeezed some out onto said gauze and gingerly peeled it back. Apparently the cut was one of those glass-induced ones that bled a lot but stopped pretty quick when covered. She squeezed a dollop of Neosporin onto the cut and covered it with a large band-aid.

 

She narrowed her eyes at Emily's drooping eyelids and hanging head. "Oh no," she whisper-scolded and waved the thermos lid under her nose, "I gave you this stuff for a reason. You pass out now, you might never get up. You're not going to sleep until midnight at least."

[Salix]

Petra had fussed over Nougat and had given Emily, Erin and Mak space while they administered to Emily and discussed paracetamol.

 

A wave of relief and sympathy washed through her as she heard Emily shaky sounding voice asking for some quite. At the sound of Emily’s voice Nougat wriggled and whined, her tail whipping back and forth as she looked at Petra imploringly, wanting to go her mistress.

 

Thinking that Emily could do with something to act as a focus, and as a distraction, Petra let the dog move closer to Emily, but held herself ready should the dog become too excited and start to overwhelm Emily. Nougat quietly moved to Emily’s side and nudged her nose against the hand the Emily held to her stomach.