Play@YSDC

Lionel slowly sits up in the darkness, covered in ash that billows from him as he moves. The world swirls with ash. It flows into his mouth, clogs his nostrils, and irritates his eyes. Above him, something hangs in the tree, large and pendulous. He's in some kind of car park. He can barely make it out. There's a few glowing windows in the large building nearby. The hospital? A police siren wails nearby though the noise seems warped somehow, as though the machine is weakened partway through, perhaps damaged.

"Sarah?" says Lionel as he drags himself to his feet. "Sarah, where are you?" He looks around carefully for any sign of other survivors, or of where they may have gone if nobody else is around, paying particular attention to any footprints in the ash on the ground, but the darkness makes it difficult.

The ash is like softly falling snow. It blankets the ground then lifts up and settles again, likely eradicating any footprints laid down quite quickly. From somewhere within the hospital, he hears a woman scream, but it sounds faded, muffled. Looking up, he can see that it's the helicopter dangling from the tree. Perhaps she's still up there.

Lionel needs no more time to come to a decision and runs towards the hospital. The helicopter will still be there later, but that screaming woman needs help now, whether she is Sarah or not. There might also be other doctors alive in the hospital, and they would be of great help if he could find them. He knows he'd also feel more comfortable among fellow medical professionals.

Lionel rushes through the emergency ward, glimpsing the shambles it has become in the darkness. In the distance, he heard a woman's voice cry: "Sarah, I'm coming!" It's Agnes.

"Agnes!" calls out Lionel as he makes his way quickly through the hospital towards the sound of her voice. "Sarah! I'm on my way! What's going on?"

You may now post in Agnes' thread.