Rapture

[Fangirl05]

((Probably not, unless she's meant to have some kind of specialized training.))

 

"Born and raised," she answered, "and probably bred." She picked up her bags of meat for a closer inspection; were they moldy and she just couldn't see it? As an afterthought she poured the drippings from the steak into the Tupperware lid and set it down for the dog. "By the way," she asked as she rubbed its back, "does this lug have a name?" Suddenly it dawned on her. "Wait, how many of you are there?"

Edited June 19, 2014 by Fangirl05

[StarriAngel]

((Sorry I've been gone so long-exams suck. And thanks for the tip DragonSpirit, I'll remember that lol))

 

Ari frowned lightly at Erin's food offerings. "Sorry, I'm a vegetarian," she said. Not wanting to be mean she added, "But thanks for offering." As she went to grab another salad she watched Nougat happily eat whatever meat Erin was giving her. As she started to eat she noticed Emily walk away from Erin and Erin's angry reaction. 'uh oh,' she thought, 'That's not good.'

 

She continued to watch Nougat until she heard voices. Mak and Wisperlee must be back! She stood up and walked over to where they had stopped wrinkling her nose a little at the smell of the meat. The two had started talking to Erin and then turned to them. "I don't mind waiting for Lydia and Nay," Ari said. Then she heard Erin say she was from America. 'Well that explains why she carries so much meat' Ari jokes lightly in her head. When she heard the question about Nougat, she spoke up. "This big girl's name is Nougat," she said with a smile. When Erin then asked how many of them there were, Ari was at a loss. She tried counting but was always worried she was forgetting someone. She looked to Mak and Wisperlee. "I think there are six of us," she guessed, "Is that right?"

 

((EDIT: Thanks Mistress of Whispers, I'm dumb ))

Edited June 19, 2014 by StarriAngel

[Mistress of Whispers]

"Six, now seven," Wisperlee confirmed as she included Erin in the count. "And Nougat," she answered the question about the Lab's name.

 

"Should we call Lydia?" she proposed. "I'd have expected her back by now. I'm sure I can find her beeper number in the hospital's directory." Without really waiting for a reply, she got our her smartphone, which was connected to her laptop, which in turn was connected to the hospital server, and began searching for Lydia's beeper number.

 

 

((Nougat is a girl. Remember the earlier joke about Mak and his harem?))

[Fangirl05]

"Maybe they found someone" Erin guessed, "I mean, this town is apparently crawling with people who aren't good enough for the pearly gates, who's to say there wasn't already somebody in here?" She stood and worked her knife. "I think we should look for them." She glanced over at Ari. "I do have more than just meat on me, veg-head."

[DragonSpirit009]

Emily cursed in her native language when either her brother or sister didn’t answer their phones. How was she supposed to find out if any of them were safe? It’s not like she can hop on a plane and fly back home when it seems like the whole world is empty at this current moment. They could have been in an accident when people started disappearing which meant there was no one to help them. Emily tried hard to hold back her tears. She has to stay strong and think about the current situation.

 

With that in mind the microwave pinged indicating that it was finished with its job. Emily rolled her jackets sleeves down a bit into her palms. She wasn’t in the mood to look for oven mittens so the need to improvise was necessary. Taking out the bowl of hot oats Emily placed it on the table. Pouring a bit of milk and adding a bit of sugar Emily stirred her breakfast slowly mixing everything carefully. Leaving it to cool a bit the young woman went to the cupboard and took out another bowl. She filled it with water and took it to where the others were talking.

 

Emily placed the bowl with water on the ground near Nougat knowing the pooch would be quite thirsty after its meal. With that done Emily returned to the kitchen and placed her bowl of oats in her jacket covered hand. Blowing her breakfast cool she returned to the group.

[Fortune86]

James watched the flames as they roared and devoured the supermarket. He figured that Jaune was going to light a fire, but he didn't know that it was going to be this big. He was starting to have serious doubts about the guy. While James didn't want to be alone, he wasn't sure it would be safe to hang around Jaune for any long period of time.

 

When Jaune started raving about the hospital James opened his mouth to disagree, but then closed it again while he thought about it. They had food, getting some medical supplies wouldn't be a bad idea either. Especially if everyone of a medical profession had vanished as well. James had only basic first aid knowledge though. He doubted Jaune had much either.

 

"Okay" he said playing along for now. "But don't set fire to the place unless you see a zombie or something."

 

He climbed onto the bike and switched on the motor. He didn't know why he thought of zombies, but that was how it was starting to feel, like they were in a horror movie. Then again, Jaunes probably had enough horror of his own.

 

Driving away from the burning supermarket he sped off towards the hospital.

[Fangirl05]

With her head turned to the angle it was at, Erin noticed an apparent dark cloud in the middle of the sky, too dark for the clear blueness of the oh god it wasn't a cloud.

 

"Eh, guys?" she added, voice rising in terror and gesturing for them with her hand, "I think you should come take a look at this."

[Tiga]

((I'm just gonna butt in here with my late opening post X3))

 

Tilly wiped the camera lens with the edge of her sleeve. "Where are they?" She muttered, bringing the device to her eye. She turned on her heel gently, the wind blowing down her neck. She paused and brought the item down, examining the panorama with delight. She had been up since 8 o'clock-ish, taking pictures while waiting for her sleepy friends to awaken.

 

She took a sip of the dark coffee in her thermal cup and glanced back to her camera. Tilly lifted it again and took a photo, before standing up with a sigh.

 

"Seriously?" She growled before packing up and walking back to the town. She walked through a street, the trees being the only sound. Even then, with the rustling of the branches, it seemed quiet. Too quiet.

 

 

[Kestra15]

Mak had quietly watched the girls talking as the new arrival's carrier full of food was left untouched by the others. "We may as well use up what's here before we revert to your supplies," he tried to placate the obviously-irritated Erin. "After all, we can't carry the whole cafeteria around with us." His growling stomach objected to the discussion of food without having any himself, so while everyone dispersed to find food Mak went to the small counter near the tills and coffee machines, grabbing a few of the pre-packaged sandwiches to put into his backpack while ripping open an all-day breakfast roll. He managed to avoid having the brown sauce spill down his front, though a couple of drops managed to find the sparkling blue floor, and he absently grabbed a tissue to clean up the mess.

 

"Eh, guys? I think you should come take a look at this."

 

Mak stood up from where he had been cleaning the floor, noting that Erin's voice had dropped some of the passive-aggressive notes and instead now simply held an edge of fear. Mak's stomach lurched, out of apprehension rather than hunger, and he ran the tissue over his lips before dropping both roll and tissue on the table and moving over to the window where Erin stood. His mind was alight once more and he tried to quell rampant thoughts of alien spiders, half-eaten zombies and tidal waves as he scooped up the drip-stand and joined her.

 

If anything the smoke was an anti-climax compared to the scenarios running through his mind, and he almost laughed with relief. Instead he simply sighed and put the stand down again, leaning his head against the window and sighing with relief. Closing his eyes for a moment Mak took a deep breath to gather himself; his initial response was short-lived and once again more real, tangible concerns came to mind. The smoke that was floating up into the sky was erratic and more grey than black, suggesting that it was a fire and not an explosion, and that it was still early stages. The concern was that there was one very close by while another, darker plume could be seen further away. There was no doubt that these fires were close, within the boundaries of Hawkingsthorne itself.

 

It may also mean there were more people out there.

 

"Guys!" Mak's own voice was surprisingly loud and rung through the cafeteria and lobby - and with any luck, wherever their nurse and bodyguard had got to. "I think we need to gather up and get moving - seems like there's a fire close by."

[Fangirl05]

"Fine by me" Erin agreed quickly. Her hood-born paranoia told her that whoever had set these fires was most likely not someone they wanted to cross paths with. She closed her open bags, stuffed them into her suitcase, zipped it up and hoisted it over her shoulder. "Come on, dog," she nudged Nougat, gripping her knife, "let's find the other people and get the hell outta dodge."

[Fangirl05]

Nougat opted to stay in the safety of the cafeteria with her pack rather than venture out into danger with the food-bearing newcomer. It hurt Erin a little bit to be rejected by an animal, but she brushed it off as instinctive and set out to find the two others, praying that she didn't run into whoever had started that fire in the process.

 

She started with the what the directory said was the outpatient area, trying the handles of the closed doors and sticking her head into the open rooms.

 

"Hey!" she whispered, "Eh, Jay! Olivia! You in here? I'm with your friends, and they're heading out. Come on! There's somebody setting fires out there, we should probably be gone before they decide to light this place up!"

 

((Aww, Kestra15, you used my summation in the details? I'm so touched !))

 

((Post-edit: Whoops. Little fuzzy about some of the RP general rules ))

Edited June 23, 2014 by Fangirl05

[Salix]

((Hello, Kestra has kindly agreed that I may take part in this RP. I should warn you all that this is my first venture into RP so if I do something wrong please do let me know ))

 

 

The chirruping of the alarm clock woke Petra from a fitful restless sleep. Silencing the annoying noise mid chirp Petra uttered a discontented sigh, rolled out of bed and stumbled her way into the bathroom to perform her morning ablutions and to psych herself up for a new day. Leaving the bathroom feeling a lot more alive then when she had entered, Petra knocked on her twin boy’s bedroom door, telling them cheerfully that it was time to get up.

 

Dressed and consuming her first cup of tea of the day, Petra still could not shake the uneasy feeling that she had woken up with ‘ugh I hate the feeling of getting out of the wrong side of the bed’ she thought as she loaded the washing machine with dirty clothes, flung in a detergent capsule and turned the dial to the wash cycle. Pausing Petra strained to hear any noise from up stairs that might mean Josh and Thomas were getting up. Walking to the foot of the stair she yelled up “don’t me have to come up those stairs, it really is time to get up now, Josh your games kit is down here in the kitchen, Thomas where did you put your lunch box?”

 

After setting the table with breakfast bowls and the latest must have cereal Petra smiled to herself ‘they only make me buy this brand for the plastic toy’, on her way to the fridge she noticed that there was a stillness in the house that was terribly unnerving, by now the boys should have been making a racket as they got up, slamming doors draws and yelling at one another as they dressed and got ready for school, something was very wrong. Sprinting up the stairs Petra opened her son’s bedroom door only to find….nothing, the boys were gone!

 

A panicky feeling started to rise in her chest, while at the same time a sick feeling lodged like a weight in the pit of her stomach ‘where are my boys!’ Forcing herself to take a calming breath Petra scanned the room, looking for something that might tell her where they were. The room was tidy, well as tidy as the twins ever kept it; both the beds looked as if they had been slept in.

 

For the last few weeks the boys had been suffering from disturbing nightmares, which despite her gentle coaxing they couldn’t remember much about when they woke, she had become use to seeing the boys curled up together in one or the other bunk bed when she checked on them last thing at before going to bed.

 

This morning both of the bunk beds were empty, the clothes that they were to wear today were still hanging up on the wardrobe doors, and their favourite trainers lay where they had fallen when they had been kicked off haphazardly the night before. There was no indication of where they had could have gone, no notes, no clues, there was nothing! As far as Petra could tell nothing was missing.

 

An idea struck her, looking for the boys school bags she upended both of them onto a relatively clear space on the bedroom floor, fumbling frantically through the school books, lunch boxes, toys and an old apple core, Petra discovered what she was looking for, their iphones were still here. When their Grandparents, Steve and Sally, had given Josh and Thomas the mobiles for their last birthday, it was with the strict understanding that the boys would take the phones with them whenever they left the house, so that they would always have a way to keep in contact with Petra, but where ever the boys had gone now they hadn’t taken their phones with them.

 

Petra’s first thought was to phone the police, but after dialling the number several times all she kept getting was some stupid frustrating automated voice message thing. ‘Oh god this is getting me nowhere’ she thought ‘where else could the boys be? Maybe they are at their Grandparents or their best friend’ Steve and Sally lived in a house that was the other side of town, near the hospital, and Josh and Thomas best friend Oliver lived in more of less the same direction, but a little further on outside of town.

 

Deciding that she had to do something Petra determined that she would head for their Grandparents house, she didn’t even think to try and use the phone that she still clutched in her hand. Her body was infused with panicky energy, she paused only long enough to stuff her feet into a pair of mismatched trainers, and grab her bag and keys from the table beside the front door, before she ran out of the house slamming the door loudly behind her.

 

[DragonSpirit009]

((Fangirl did you double post of did someone deleted a post there?))

 

Emily glanced at the window to where she saw smoke arising in the distance and it made her worry a bit. It could be some sort of danger that could mostly be found in once imagination or there were more people out there who were setting things on fire.

 

“I’ll grab a couple of supplies from the kitchen quickly.” Emily stated as she quickly turned around. She had eaten half of her oats already and quickly gobbled the rest as she made her way into the kitchen. There she grabbed a couple of plastic bowls and a couple of knives and forks. Along with everything else she also grabbed a couple of the canned food with a can opener. All on table she figured not everything would fit in her hand bag, even thou there is the space for it seeing she carried quite a bit of supplies due to her work but his would make her life harder if she tucked everything in there. With another quick search in the kitchen she came across someone’s back pack. It must have been one of the staffs bags caused it was sort of filled with normal clothes and nursing clothes.

 

“Oh well. I’ll bring it back when everything goes back to normal.” Emily spoke as she tossed everything out. “I hope that everything goes back to normal.”

She wrapped the knives and forks in clothes placed them on the bottom of the back. Then she filled the rest of the back pack with everything she gathered. Finishing up she zipped the bag closed and headed back out. Just as she reappeared she made a quick turn at one of the fridges that held the water and soda’s. They will most likely get thirsty at some point plus she needed to keep Nougat hydrated as well.

 

“I’m ready to go.” Emily spoke as she swung the bag over her shoulder. Giving a low whistle Nougat came trotting towards her and the young woman took the leash ready to go.

 

[Mistress of Whispers]

FIRE? Wisperlee looked up sharply and saw two columns of smoke rising in the sky. Whatever was causing it, was on course for the hospital.

 

"Emily, you've got Nougat?" she checked to make sure the Labrador was safe.

 

Having found Lydia's beeper number, she sent a message: 999 - followed by Wisperlee's phone number. She wasn't sure if Lydia's beeper could receive text messages as not all beepers could, so she had opted for all-numbers instead. Still, she hoped the gist was clear: emergency, call this number.

 

Like Emily, she did a quick run of the kitchen, tossing fruit, packed rolls and sandwiches and water bottles in her bag.

 

"Let's g-" she stopped when she saw that Erin had left the group. Great timing. They'd just have to hope they ran into her later and if not, at least they had her facebook. Making a mental note to exchange phone numbers with everyone later, Wisperlee joined Emily and Ari on their way out the door. "Mak, you coming?"

Edited June 23, 2014 by Mistress of Whispers

[Fortune86]

As they sped down the road towards the hospital James wondered if it might have been a better idea to remain close to the supermarket. He could see the vast plumes of smoke in his mirrors, spiralling ever upwards into the sky. If anyone was still in the city, apart from Jaune and himself, they would surely see it and want to investigate. Perhaps they should go back after they had checked out the hospital.

 

He drew up outside the closest hospital entrance and switched off the engine. It was just as quiet here as it had been everywhere else.

 

"Okay, let's head inside" he said to Jaune. "But do me a favour and lets not try and burn this place down. There are plenty of places to get food but this is the only hospital for miles. We never know when we will need to come back."

[Kestra15]

"On my way," Mak nodded, settling his own backpack as he moved to the main entrance with long, easy strides. In his mind he conjured up a rough map of the town and tried to place the smoke. The closest plume couldn't have been far off the Morrison's, and it was conceivable that some sort of power outage had shorted the wrong fuse, or unattended oven had somehow spilled over and caught something alight. Whatever it was it would have to be recent and fairly early stages; there had been no sign of a fire when he had been there close to an hour ago. Fire safety training and demonstrations had shown him that fires didn't suddenly erupt into an all-consuming inferno, but initially cooked slowly before building momentum and energy. He doubted that one presented immediate danger, but there was the compressed gas stored in and around the hospital that they had to be wary of. As for the one in the distance - edge of town if he was any judge. Certainly not near his flat.

 

Mak reached the entrance alongside Wisperlee as the sound of an engine filtered through the doors and filled the lobby area, causing him to slow his pace. Looking through the doors he could see a pair dismount from the motorbike, and he couldn't help but look at Wisperlee with a hint of confusion. Just how many people were there left in town? The door slid open automatically as it registered the presence of both parties, leaving Mak and his small group to face the newcomers.

[Fangirl05]

Was Erin crazy or was there a motorcycle outside? Well, just because one was true didn't mean the other wasn't. She looked out the window, found the source of the noise, and sucked in a horrified breath when she did. She sped out of the empty room and down the hall, back the way she'd come. She had to get to these newcomers before the others did.

 

She whimpered in defeat when she got to the front door; everyone was already there. She sprinted down the hall to them. Maybe she couldn't divert the strangers, but at least she could be there if things got as ugly as she expected.

[Marcus Pheonix]

The moment James stopped the bike at the hospital entrance Jaune fell off it.

"Huzzah! We have conquered the cape of good hope and discovered these forgotten lands first mate Lucy!" He cried staring wildly at the prey mantis on his shoulder. He then began kissing the pavement.

"It's been so long since my feat have stood upon solid ground," Jaune lay down on his stomach, his arms outstretched as if he were trying to hug the ground. He affectionately rubbed his cheek against the cold surface.

"Hmm, this new land is cold... I shall name it Terre de Glace. What do you think lucy?" He asked. She looked at him

"Hmm you're right, this is England they don't usually speak french here, AH HA!" He exclaimed lifting himself up, his index finger pointed upwards.

"The hospital! That is what this land shall be called, and we shall take care of all our sick and ill here... it's all very grey, I don't like grey. Why would god factor grey into their artistic pallete? When the variance is used with colour it can add dynamic contrast to the overall appearance and helps uproot any sort of uniformity. Grey is very uniform and I don't like it." Jaune said, stroking his chin. He looked at the doorway and saw several faces. He walked over to them and stared intently.

"Even the human race has an intense uniformity to their appearance. There are so few colours that we come in. Why can there not be a green human with hair that changes colour based off their appearance? Insect life is so much more diverse, camouflage and vibrant colours to attract a mate? How could one attract a mate when they are all just varying shades of Orange?" Jaune asked, still staring at the people.

He pulled out his spray can and pulled up his gas mask.

"All aboard pika-crew, let us sit at half-mask and mark this region as part of Lord Ho-oh's great empire!" Jaune shouted. He then ran off, his hands effortlessly swapping the colours of paint as he coated the dull hospital walls with a rainbow of colours.

 

((Yeah, Jaune has no idea any of you people even exist at the moment))

[Fortune86]

James watched Jaune with a mixture of curiousity and concern as the latter went off on another psychotic tangent. He found himself wondering once again if hanging onto the loony really was such a good idea. He was starting to feel seriosuly worried about him now. What if he tried to turn on him? Then James would be forced to get rid of him and he'd be left on his own again.

 

Suddenly the hospital doors swished open and to James' immense relief he saw several people on the other side. They were mostly female, as in most of them were girls or women of various ages, but right now their gender wasn't a major factor to James. They were people and they were here.

 

But before he could say hello or ask any questions Jaune went and introduced himself in his own rather unique fashion. James sighed and shook his head when he went running off again.

 

"Hey" he tried when Jaune run of down the side of the hospital. "I don't suppose any of you have any idea what the hell is going on?"

Edited June 25, 2014 by Fortune86

[Fangirl05]

Erin listened to the Pikachu-man's rambling in increasing terror; oh God, he was even crazier than she thought. She lunged at him as he ran off with the gas mask and spray can, sure that he meant to go and set the place on fire, missed him and landed flat on the ground.

 

She hefted herself up by her hands at the biker's words. She ran her eyes over him once, tilting her head for a slightly different angle. "Not bad" she decided, sprung to her feet and dusted off her thighs. "Me?" she answered and crossed her arms, "I think everyone we know and love has been sucked up to Heaven, but I'm just slightly less nuts than your friend over there." She jabbed her thumb toward the psycho in question, slightly relieved that the can was just full of spray paint.

[StarriAngel]

Ari grabbed her bag as she heard the others talk about fire. She hugged the pink fabric closer to her as she watched everyone else prepare to leave. She was panicking, she hated fire of any kind, especially the kind that engulfed buildings. She went towards Emily who had just come out of the kitchen. Ari always felt safer near Nougat. She then saw Erin run off and leave the group. She immediately worried for the girl. What if she didn't know where she was going? What if she gets lost and the fire gets here? She was biting her nails quickly in worry. She followed Emily and Wisperlee to the entrance and heard a rumbling sound outside.

 

Is that a car? Ari thought, No, no it can't be a car. It must be a motorcycle.

 

That thought alone worried her even more. There were other people, but what if these were the dangerous people who started the fire? She watched what indeed was a motorcycle came and stopped in front of the hospital the man on the back jumped of, said a bunch of really strange things that Ari couldn't entirely catch, and then ran off. The only things that stuck in her mind about him besides the fact that he was obviously crazy were the preying mantis on his shoulder, and his love of colors. Ari had always loved animals and felt herself drawn to the small creature. Its presence eased her nerves a bit as she smiled a bit at the strange man. She then noticed that the other man had asked a question and shook off her thoughts turning to the conversation. She heard Erin answer, When did she get back? and nodded to show that she seconded the answer about what was going on. "Yeah, I'm starting to believe that everyone else really is gone," she said.

[Mistress of Whispers]

Wisperlee did a double take at Erin's statement. The new girl believed everyone had gone to heaven? As in the Biblical endtimes? She was about to make a comment, when she realized that the rapture was a no more idiotic idea than aliens or a government conspiracy. Well, maybe a little more idiotic, but certainly not worth picking a fight over.

 

She took in the biker, whom she thought was okay, and the boy, whom she thought as a nutjob. Oh well.

 

"We have some inkling of how it happened, though not what or why. We were just waiting for a friend to return before we share the information. Do you want to wait with us?"

 

Then, deciding that since she had answered his question, he might as well answer some of hers, she inquired: "We saw smoke rising from the city. Did you pass any fires on your way here?"

 

((It's been a while since loviebeest posted. Is she still active? I ask because we're effectively waiting for her character before Mak and Wisperlee share what they've found.))

Edited June 26, 2014 by Mistress of Whispers

[Fortune86]

Heaven? James thought of most of the people he knew. Even if there was some sort of life after death, which he doubted, the chances of everyone going to Heaven was unlikely. They were more likely to head somewhere much warmer.

 

When the second girl spoke James didn't want to believe her. A whole city full of people couldn't just vanish overnight. Besides, they were still around. They alone were proof that not everyone had gone.

 

He thought back to Mr Durham. He had only been out of sight for a few moments before the sounds of his approach had stopped. There hadn't even been a shot fired. What the hell happened?

 

When a third girl asked him a few questions of their own, James gave a nonchalant shrug.

 

"I saw the smoke from the first fire and headed towards it. Found Giggles over there playing in the street and put two and two together. I figured I couldn't just leave him on his own so I took him with me to the supermarket, where he started a second fire."

 

He looked round for Jaune.

 

"I just hope he's not planning a third."

[Marcus Pheonix]

((I just realised Mistress, Jaunes older then Wisperlee ))

 

Jaune looked up from his work, communication was going on. His head snapped back and he saw James talking to people.

He hurried back over and placed himself between them, his spray can held at the ready, a match already lit between his fingers.

"Do not trust them, my fellow compatriot in this dark time. They could be the ones behind it" He said angrily, the mask giving his voice a slight buzz. He through the match in the air and sprayed it, releasing a small fireball into the air.

"Which means they're the ones who got rid of my pesky mother. Damn her and this filthy language I was forced to learn. Alas I miss the warm cold air of my hometown... plus the food here is horrible. I swear, Lucy, those curries are out to get us. But do not fear m'lady for I shall protect you, with my trusty steed James!" Jaune cried spinning around behind James and glancing out form behind him, nervously looking at the group of strangers. His eye twitched.

"On your request I shall not cleanse this location, the hospital is an area that even the great lord Ho-oh appreciates... even if I may not like it," Jaune slid down, his back pressed against James's legs, his eyes transfixed on James's bike.

"Your bike is dirty..." He said accusingly, pulling the gas mask off. He reached into his onesie and pulled out some of the domino's he had taken from the supermarket, and slowly began setting them up.

[Mistress of Whispers]

Wisperlee opened her mouth to comment on the stupidity of setting fire to a supermarket, which was full of food and useable items, in the middle of the apocalypse. Before she could speak though, the boy (no, a man, she corrected herself now that she got a closer look, he is older than his behaviour implies) sprang between her and the biker, and effectively threatened her with a spray can and match.

 

Narrowing her eyes at the encounter, she turned to the biker while the man-child began setting up dominoes. She didn't speak, though she was clearly considering her options. Wisperlee was loath to send anyone away given the circumstances, but she also had little intention of remaining in the company of someone who apparently set fire to buildings and possibly people. Her life had gotten complicated enough overnight without having to add 'possible homicidal firestarter' to the mix.