Agnes' Awakening

[Mr. Handy]

Lionel tries to open the door and see what's on the other side.

[Laraqua]

Its the administration office where the receptionist support staff perform their administrative duties. The room is silent and relatively undisturbed barring a single flashlight that sits on one of the desks and points towards the door. It's one of those heavy-duty flashlights and is unlikely to have come from any of the local workers. There's no sign that anyone else is here now but as you approach you can see candy wrappers on the linoleum and a rusty smear that leads underneath one of the rear-most desks. There doesn't seem to be much point in checking out where that smear leads....

[Mr. Handy]

Lionel picks up the heavy flashlight. "It's always good to have a spare," he says, "and this one probably provides more light. Plus it'll make a decent blunt instrument in a pinch."

Sarah sidles around the desks, keeping her distance from them but positioning herself so that she can see underneath the one to which the smear leads.

[Laraqua]

There's a mishappen bundle underneath there about the size and shape of a body... She could crouch down to get a better look but it would be yet another hit to the soul that she might not want to confront right now.

Show,Potential sanity hit ahead!

[Mr. Handy]

Sarah turns away and throws her arms around her father. "I can't look," she whimpers.

"Neither can I," says Lionel, holding his daughter tight.

"Someone's probably dead down there...but what if they're still alive and badly hurt?"

OOC,Does it look like the person lost so much blood in those smears that whoever it is can't be alive?

[Laraqua]

They could live through it. It wouldn't be pretty or that likely,though. Smears are hard to be sure but they lost at least a pint or two of blood.

[Mr. Handy]

"I'd never forgive myself if whoever it is was still alive and I didn't try to save them," says Sarah. "I have to look, just in case.". Reluctantly, she detaches herself from Lionel. Keeping her first aid kit ready, she steels herself and crouches low to peer beneath the desk.

[kabukiman]

Agnes come near, but very cautious...

[Laraqua]

The bloodied bundle of clothing is all bunched up like the victim curled up into the foetal position but as Sarah reaches out and touches it, the fabric collapses in on itself in a puff of ash that brushes across her face and runs up against her nostrils, leaving a nurse's uniform behind. To make matters worse, there's a photo ID attached. Nurse Petra Harlan. A pretty curly haired black woman with a radiant smile gazes out at Sarah from the ID badge.

Show,1/1d4+1 SAN loss for coming face to face with proof of what's happened to everyone here.

[Mr. Handy]

Sarah can't help but wince slightly, but she had been prepared for the worst. A solitary tear rolls down her ash-streaked face. "Did I know her?" she wonders aloud. She straightens up and flings her arms around her father again.

"When we succeed, she'll be whole again," Lionel reassures her. "When you're both ready, we'd better head back to that lift and go below. We'll need to bring some ash with us so that it can find what we're looking for, but it looks like we've got some on us already, so that shouldn't be a problem."

Sarah nods. "I'm ready, Daddy. Agnes?"

[Laraqua]

"Brianna! Oh Brianna! Are you there sweeeeeeeeeeety pie?" A familiar voice, high and reedy, echoes through the otherwise silent confines of the corridors. The building seems to shudder in response and a quick peek out into the emergency ward (which I'm assuming you'll do eventually) can detect nothing by sight but their ears can easily hear the increased rattling of ash laden wind against the building as though the winds outside were gathering force. The ash laden air bounces and tears about in the flashlight beam and the wind howls through the gaps in the windows and the torn out gash where an ambulance had once been plowed into the glass doors but is now gone (and has been since before they entered).

[Mr. Handy]

"Brianna, it's Lionel!" calls Lionel, excited. "Sarah and Agnes are with me! Where are you?" He grins at Sarah and Agnes. "If she's here, we have to find her. And there's someone else here too. I know that voice."

"We're coming!" calls Sarah. She nods and walks with her father towards the sound of the voice.

[Laraqua]

Its hard to be certain if he would hear them due to the roaring wind but they do have a reasonable idea of the location of his voice. Or at least, where it had been. Now they have three flashlights they can find their way reasonably well although the obscuring as is certainly a problem. So long as he remains in a corridor, they should be able to find him.

[Mr. Handy]

As they proceed towards where they heard the voice, they make a mental note of the route they're taking. Sarah checks inside her first aid kit to see if there are surgical masks they can use to keep the ash out.

[Laraqua]

There's a set of three surgical masks sealed in plastic. The flashlight barely pierces the ash shrouded darkness but they make their way down the principle corridor and then make a left turn. There should be Ronald either in this corridor or around it.

[Mr. Handy]

Sarah gives one mask to Lionel and one to Agnes, and then she and her father put on their masks. "Hello!" calls Sarah. "Where are you?"

Lionel peers at the floor, looking for footprints.

[Laraqua]

Ronald's voice cries out ahead of them. "SARAH!!! OVER HERE! I THINK I SAW BRIANNA.... SARAH! OVER HERE!!! HELP ME!!! PLEASE!!

[Mr. Handy]

"We're on our way!" shouts Sarah. She and Lionel quicken their pace, moving towards the sound of Ronald's voice.

"Thank God we've found them!" says Lionel. "Ronald, it's Lionel! Agnes is with us too!"

Sarah's memories of Brianna slowly return. Her heart aches again for what the girl had gone through and how frightened she had to be now, but the thought of finding her fills her with hope.

[Laraqua]

Show,sorry, I meant to state that you two can now enter Ronald's thread but was in the middle of something and posted without thinking.