Platform BEGIN HERE

[Laraqua]

"Alright, let me go tell folks what you have found out, is the train no longer even there?" Artemis answered while standing with his head out the window.

[Overlord87]

Jonathan answers back: "The train is still here, and for the moment doesn't look like it's going anywhere".

[Laraqua]

"Ok Jonathan, I am going to share this with the others and we can figure out how to get folks out of this place," Artemis responded back to Jonathan. Then he turned and walked away from the window.

[Overlord87]

Until a few moments ago, Jonathan desperately wanted to be out of the building. Now, alone on the platform, he almost wishes he had stayed inside. The others will come out soon, he tries to reassure himself, looking nervously up and down the paltform.

[Laraqua]

The silence draws on.

The first minute passes.

No sign of anyone yet.

[Laraqua]

Another minute passes.

And then footsteps from that room.

And then ... two ladies shoes are flung out the window, one after another, hitting the ground not far from him. One barely misses his face.

Then Aston's voice calls out, "Sorry!"

[Overlord87]

Jonbathan ducks to avoid a flying shoe.

What the...!

He gets ready to help anyone descending from the window.

[Laraqua]

"Ok... I'm coming down now!" says Ilona Aston, awkwardly coming down the makeshift rope line.

The fog is thick and dense around you, cold tendrils snaking into your clothing and tickling your skin almost as though it were a live thing. The bright roundness of the moon can still be somehow glimpsed through the cloud which surrounds you though you can barely make out more than a few yards ahead of you. You can primarily see the concrete platform and the stripe of paint declaring how far you should stand back to avoid being sucked under the train's wheels, and the red brick building behind you with its white-lined windows and Victorian lamps pressed against the station's brick walls and sitting unlit. Benches line those same walls, empty of fellow passengers, crowding more thickly beneath the blue awning that stretches before the station restaurant. You can smell the smoke slowly dissipating from the train itself and see it mainly by its dark silhouette, somehow darker than the space behind it. You can hear the sounds of its engine slowly, ever so slowly cooling, as though the train were parked here to stay. Perhaps with a flashlight you could see further, as it is, you have to walk and look about.

Places to Go:

• Appledown Station Restaurant (locked).
• Main Waiting Room (covered in chains).
• Upstairs Bedroom Window (cloth rope dangling down from it).
• Shed (locked).

Evidence Collection,There are twin scrape marks across the platforms. 1-pt Outdoorsman or Crafts spends available.

[jimjam]

Once getting into the platform, Ilona quickly grabs her shoes near Jonathan and slides them on. "I'm not sure how long the others will be, they're still messing around downstairs."She says shivering. "It's so warm in that room, I forgot how cold it was out here!"

[Overlord87]

"Messing... around? What for? The fastest we get away from this damned station, the better", he looks at the building with disgust. "Dis you bring the flashlight, perhaps?"

[jimjam]

"No, unfortunately I didn't take the flashlight." Ilona says as she starts to wander around. "I need to find my coat, I left it out here earlier when a bird flew into the wall. I wrapped it in my coat to help the poor thing but more birds came and started just flying into things! I ran inside to take cover and moments later the doors were locked and chained... It has to be around here somewhere..."

[Laraqua]

The coat lies on the ground where she left it. She can hear something fluttering inside, desperate, weakly. The flutter-beating of wings of something small desperate to escape. What's odd is that Jonathon hadn't heard it until now. Though he might have just stepped over the coat in the darkness quite easily without noticing it makes less sense that he wouldn't have heard it. Has it somehow noticed her arrival?

[jimjam]

"Oh! Here it is." Ilona says, bending down to pick it up. "I hope the poor thing is alright." Ilona pouts for a moment. "Well I guess I won't be getting my coat back soon. Perhaps it will be warmer on the train? We could ask why it's stayed so long."

[Laraqua]

The coat is warm and wet in patches. The bird within is frail within the wrappings. She can feel it moving, shuddering as she picks up the coat that surrounds it. Perhaps she should open it and check to see how it's going? Or perhaps not? It might escape.

[jimjam]

She holds the bundled coat in her arms and opens it up so she can peer inside to see how the bird is doing.
Doubt it will fly away,it would have by now it it were able.

[Laraqua]

It struggles hard as she peels open the coat, uttering a terrible squawking sound, but in the gloom she can hardly see the reason. Is the cloth stuck to the bird? It seems to be, but easily enough peeled aside. The shape within is a quivering mound of darkness. The shape of a bird, yet, can just make out the beak, surrounded by a deeper darkness. Is it all right? Why is it making that noise? If only she had a light? Perhaps she could reach in, touch it, see if it's all right?

Then a window above her shatters, raining down glass on them and though she doubtless crouches protectively over the bird, she cannot protect herself from the pitter-patter of tiny shards of glass that rain down on her hat. Nor can Jonathon. Luckily beyond a few minor scratches, neither of them are harmed. A woman screams, somewhere above.

[Overlord87]

Jonathan tries to shield himself, but he realizes it won't be much help as he is taken completely by surprise and reacting too slowly. Luckily, it's just a couple of minor cuts and a ruined coat. "Are you alright, Miss Aston?", he asks, before turning his attention to the broken window. "What happened up there? Artemis, can you hear me?"

[jimjam]

"Yes, I'm alright, just a few cuts. I'm more worried about those still inside. They're not going to last long if they don't hurry along! That's if they're all still in one piece..." Ilona says as she tries to inspect the bird again. "...I think it's bleeding, it's sticking to my coat."

[Laraqua]

It looks like the bird's feathered skin has somehow become attached to the coat! It's impossible to say how, or why, without more light and investigation from someone skilled in Forensics. The poor thing shudders, close to expiring.

Jonathan can vaguely make out a returned shouted phrase, male, from the upstairs floor but can't make out the words.

[jimjam]

Ilona kneels down and places her coat on the floor. She carefully unwraps the bird from the coat and reached in to see if it's bleeding.