Norbury At Night

[jimacol]

As he's helped to his feet, Rupert says "Well Mr Hewitt, it's all a bit hazy. Like a dream...well a nightmare more accurately. The bomb struck as you will remember. Part of the ceiling came in. Dust everywhere, and screaming. I was struck on the head and fell to the floor. I was in and out of consciousness......the...the strangest thing." Rupert frowns, as he begins to recall the events. "Next thing I was being dragged across the floor by my legs. Felt like..like...thick wires. So cold. So dark....Screams......" He trails off.
He removes his glasses and rubs his eyes, then continues "But the strangest thing. The wires, they...shifted, almost alive. No...silly. Must have been the bump to the head. Well I screamed for help as loud as I could. Then an odd screeching in response and the wires released. A scampering sound, as if the person controlling the wires was fleeing. Well, I must have passed out after that. Next thing I'm coming to, and here you all are. But... but the others...where?" Rupert sighs.
As he looks around, there is sudden shock on his face "My word, that's not ...b-blood on the walls?"

[Laraqua]

Hewitt nods. "It is but its not very much," he said matter-of-factly. "A blood nose could produce that much ... if it were a bad one."

[yockenthwaite]

"Mmm," says Florence, sceptical about the explanation. "Yes it's blood but we must not let it alarm us too much. I intend to continue looking for the people who were in the shelter, and am hopeful of a good outcome."

[aine]

John looks at the blood carefully to see if there is a trail of it further along the tunnel. Rupert's story reminds him of the scrapes in the floor that they saw earlier. "That would tie in to those marks that looked like something had been dragged across the concrete. And wires? Possibly ropes. I have a feeling someone may have dragged the people down here. Ruthless thugs maybe, kidnappers, Jerries?" He voice is low and only carries to Doug and William as he doesn't want to alarm the women.

[Mr. Handy]

"Well, we've found you, Reverend, and we'll find the others," says Irene. "There's nothing for it but to keep going the way you were being dragged. The others must be further along. Did you write that prayer on the wall? If you've got chalk on you, we can use it to mark our route so we can find our way out of here. It's a lot better for the job than my lipstick that I've been using thus far - not to mention a lot easier to come by."

[Laraqua]

"I can provide you a replacement stick, if you like," says Hewitt in that rather airy yet sly American way that most are used to seeing on the silver screen. There's the edge of a flirt there but, at the same time, an acceptance that she might refuse or even accept without meaning anything by the acceptance.

[Mr. Handy]

"Thank you, Mr. Hewitt," says Irene with a smile, though it's impossible to see behind the gas mask. "I'd forgotten how available life's little luxuries were in America. Though Julia doesn't have any lipstick at all, so if you have only one stick you should give it to her. I still have part of mine left." She still hasn't made up her mind yet about Hewitt, though she's open to the thought. In any case, he had shown interest in Julia earlier, and this gives him the perfect opening. Irene knows she has no shortage of potential suitors if the two of them hit it off.

[Laraqua]

Hewitt gives Julia a sidelong glance. "Well, I got a few things from America. Maybe when we get out of here I'll be feeling generous. Chocolate and tea all round."

Julia doesn't seem to notice their conversation. She simply gazes up at the flaming patches of light coming in through the grilles set into the three feet deep gaps. "That's if any of us have anything left standing," she murmurs quietly. She hurres over to the reverand. "Are you able to keep walking?"

[royya]

There is a good chance some of the gangs transferred their activity to the sewers now that it is not safe outside.
Doug remarks
Tying people with ropes and dragging them all over sounds a bit odd. why not steal their belonging and disappear in the tunnels ... but these are hard times so who knows why they did it.

[Laraqua]

"Well, meat is rationed," murmurs Hewitt with a wry smile.

[Mr. Handy]

"Someone might be able to make off with one or two people," says Irene, "but upwards of two dozen? It would take a lot of people to pull that off. This still isn't making much sense."

[yockenthwaite]

"I agree," says Florence, "it's baffling. But we've found one person, and can have hope that we will find more. We need to keep looking."

[aine]

"Okay, lets continue then." John takes the lead again, waiting for the others to file behind him before he starts down the tunnel. He keeps an eye on the floor for more evidence of dragging and blood.

[yockenthwaite]

Florence smiles at John's reply and steps behind him, ready to move on.

[jimacol]

"I'm afraid I didn't write the prayer Miss Carpenter" Rupert replies. "Yes, I'm quite able to walk now thank you. Well, we must find the others and have faith that they have been as fortunate as I." After brief introductions he falls in with the rest behind John, and notes Hewitt and William's weapons "Are you gentlemen from the constabulary? I see you have firearms. Are they quite necessary?"

[Mr. Handy]

"That's good in a way that someone else wrote this," says Irene. "It likely means at least one of the others is free and in a condition to write. I'm ready to keep looking for them."

[Laraqua]

They continue on down the wide tunnel, occasionally bathed in the edges of that red fiery light, listening to the wind howl up through the narrow grilles to feed the conflagration above. Eerily enough, it is cold down here, even close to the flame, and only when the wind seems to reverse and rush down the grille and through the tunnel does any smoke and heat follow it. They're probably vents set into the side of the street that the citizens, accustomed as they are to looking up, haven't particularly noticed. As they continue, they note that one of the grilles above them has been broken, the metal twisted upwards as though something has punched through the steel. A short distance away, there's a thick crack in the wall, wide enough for a man to squeeze through. The tunnel continues on ahead.

As they approach the thick crack, there's a terrifying shriek that echoes down the tunnel, seeming to come from all around them. There's something about that noise, that unearthly noise, that leaves them with the impression that there's something inhuman down there with them. Its a foolish impression. An impossible impression. Yet the creeping sensation across their skin suggests that it is the only valid impression to consider.

Show,0/1d3 SAN hit.

[Mr. Handy]

Irene finds her inner courage and stands strong, not even flinching. She shines her torch into the crack to see what's beyond it.

[Laraqua]

There seems to be some sort of white bone, like a couple of femurs, stretched across the gap a few feet back but no matter which angle she stands she can't see the edges of those femurs. Beyond that is a brick room, about twenty feet deep. The floor has a few holes taken out of it, dropping who knows how deep?

[dormire]

The scream unnerves William, reminding him of all the voices from battlefields past wailing as one. He shivers in fear and automatically takes a belt from the flask, emptying it in one last gulp. He approaches the gap with his gun held as a shield before him and tries to cover Irene.

Requested Rolls,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3744890/]Sanity Roll = 94[/url] [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3744894/]Sanity Loss = 1[/url]