Play@YSDC

Cable Street - London, England
8:30 PM - Saturday, September 7, 1940

Eddie Lawlor pedaled his bicycle eastwards along Cable Street. Four years earlier, this had been the location of a terrible riot. Blackshirts from the British Union of Fascists had assembled near the Tower of London and marched into the East End, into a neighborhood where many Jewish-owned shops were located. However, the people of the East End would have none of it. Many of them, organized in large part by Communists, had barricaded the streets and blocked the blackshirts' march, resulting in bloody street fighting. The Battle of Cable Street was what they had called it. Things had changed, but they were also the same in some ways. Fascists were still causing damage on Cable Street, but this was a very different sort of carnage. Two high-explosive bombs had fallen in this stretch of the street earlier this evening, causing extensive damage to a couple of the buildings.

The ARP warden was out on patrol, searching for any stray people who had not made it to a shelter and for any violations of the blackout. It was easy to get lost, as all of the street signs had been taken down months ago in anticipation of a possible invasion. Londoners generally knew their way around their own neighborhoods, but the darkness of the blackout made it difficult even for them. The first bombs had fallen in late afternoon, when there had still been daylight, but now it was black as pitch - other than the orange glow on the horizon indicating that the docks were aflame, though someone who didn't know any better or what time it was might have mistaken it for the sun. The most intense bombing had been between five and seven o'clock, but now there was somewhat of a lull in the bombing. The all clear had not been sounded, but some people might have been foolish enough to venture outside, thinking that the worst was over.

OOC,[b]Eddie[/b], please roll Spot Hidden and Listen. To do this, roll 1d100 twice and compare the results to your Spot Hidden and Listen skills, respectively. A roll that is equal to or less than your score in the skill succeeds, but a roll that is higher than your score in the skill fails. The lower your roll, the better your success (and the more detail you will notice). The higher your roll, the worse your failure.

Eddie stops pedalling and listens for stragglers or anyone in distress, while scanning the darkness around him. "God help us all", he mutters to himself grimley.

Listen:
[dice]0[/dice]

Spot hidden:
[dice]1[/dice]

With little else to distract him, Eddie was able to detect something within one of the ruined buildings. He spotted a movement in the ruins out of the corner of his eye, and he heard what sounded like the soft padding of small feet. Could someone be alive in there?

Approaching carefully, Eddie calls out "Hey, who's in there? Show yourself. I'm here to help. I need to get you to shelter as soon as possible. It's not safe here."

He keeps a wary eye on the ruins he case he needs to move quickly.

The motion and sound stopped when Eddie called out, but there was otherwise no response from what was left of the building.

Eddie tries to get as close as is safely possible and calls out again, softer this time, thinking he might be speaking to a child.

"It's ok, just come towards my voice, as carefully as you can. I'll look after you."

He keeps a constant look out for any signs of movement, falling rubble/masonry etc.

There was still no response to Eddie's call, nor was there any further motion or sound from the ruined building, though he was certain he had both seen and heard it earlier.

'Bugger this', thinks Eddie. Readying his ceiling pike, he proceeds cautiously into the ruins...

Eddie carefully clambered into the ruins and made his way towards where he had seen movement. He was in what was left of a kitchen, the furniture smashed to pieces by the explosion. The stove was intact, and a pair of baleful yellow eyes glowed underneath it.

"What 'ave we 'ere then? Come on darling, out you come."

Eddie beckons to the creature in as reassuring a manner as he can, careful not to startle it or cause it to run, if at all possible.

[Spoiler-Button]Fast Talk:
[dice]0[/dice][/Spoiler-Button]

A small black cat squirmed out from underneath the stove. "Mrrow," it squeaked, cautiously approaching Eddie. It purred as it rubbed against his trouser leg, smearing soot on it in the process. Of course, his ARP uniform was already a little worse for the wear anyway after the last few hours, and would no doubt be moreso before the night was through.

"Hello there little fella! You're a lucky little sod aren't ye?" Eddie picks up the cat and carefully makes his way out into the street. "Let's hope some of that luck rubs off on me, ey?", he says, looking at his trousers.

"I think you better come with me. Don't want you coming to any harm now do we?"

OOC:   Could Eddie make room for the cat somehow? Maybe use his gas mask bag?

Eddie puts the cat in his bicycle basket, making sure it's comfortable.

"Now then....Felix, let's see if we can find anyone else in this god forsaken mess."

Mounting his bike, he slowly carries on down the road, eyes and ears peeled...

Eddie continued pedaling along Cable Street, soon approaching the point where it ended at a T-intersection with White Horse Road.

OOC,[b]Eddie[/b], please roll Spot Hidden.

Spoiler: [Spoiler-Button] Spot hidden roll:[dice]0[/dice][/Spoiler-Button]

Eddie could see a faint reddish-orange glow through gaps between the buildings to his left, in the direction of Commercial Road, which ran roughly parallel to Cable Street. No doubt it was from fires caused by incendiaries.

Eddie makes his way as directly as he can to the reddish-orange glow. He's careful not to approach too closely until he's assessed the situation. He rubs Felix's ears for good luck.

Eddie turned up the next street to the left. There were no signs, of course, so he couldn't be quite sure which one it was, but it led directly to Commercial Road. When he reached the intersection, he could see more clearly. The flames were off to the left a short distance. Two incendiary bombs had fallen here. One had landed in the street, damaging the pavement. The other had struck a few buildings and set them ablaze. The roofs had for the most part fallen in, and flames also blazed in the windowframes, which were devoid of glass. There was no sign of any movement and no sound of anything inside the buildings but the crackling of the fire, which was a good thing. It seemed highly unlikely anyone could be alive in there at this point. There were a few men from the fire brigade in the street outside, playing their hose on the flames, but it did little good.

Eddie approaches the firemen, asking if they need any help or if they've any news, all the while being careful not to get too near the flames.

He also scans the buildings for any signs of life.

"Blimey Felix, It's a mess and no mistake."

"Cheers, mate," said one of the firemen, "but I don't think there's any more you can do. This fire's just going to have to burn itself out, but at least we can stop it spreading. The building will likely be gutted."

Eddie decides to wait a bit to see if the flames die down. He wants to try and make sure no-one was caught in the blaze.

Eddie watched for a couple of minutes as the firemen fought the blaze. They were able to keep it under control, but it did not seem to be dying down much. It seemed evident that nobody could still be alive inside the building.

"On we go then Felix. Best get on with it."

Eddie carries on carefully down the road, looking about as he goes, all the while resisting the urge to whistle.

Eddie returned to his patrol route, passing more bomb damage. He pedaled up White Horse Road, turning right on Salmon Lane. As he neared Regent's Canal, which he could not see but could detect by the stench, he saw the unmistakable glare of an electric torch, one without a hood, in the distance ahead. Whatever fool was doing that might as well be telling the Germans "Bomb here."

"Cor blimey! Who the bloody 'ell's that?!"

Eddie sets off full pelt towards the source of the light, determined to give them a right mouth full.

Eddie pedaled rapidly down Salmon Lane. The light went out again, thankfully, but not before he saw its source. It had been coming from the open front door of a warehouse. A sign over the large loading door beside it, which was closed, read "HORRANCE AND SON." Eddie also saw a large pool of blood in the middle of the street. A trail of it led straight through the open warehouse door.

OOC,[b]Eddie[/b], please roll Listen.

Eddie stops short upon seeing the blood...

Eddie could hear nothing but silence.

Eddie leans his bike quietly against the wall by the entrance, tickles Felix's ears reassuringly and carefully peers in through the door.

As Eddie leaned his bicycle against the wall, he heard a girl's voice coming from just inside the door saying "Uh, yeah, sorry about that. Do you know of a shelter nearby?"" When he reached the door, he saw her just inside. She was a pretty teenage girl dressed all in black, with jeans, a jacket over a blouse, and boots. Behind her stood a middle-aged man wearing an overcoat and a woman in her twenties wearing trousers and a jacket over a woolen pullover. All of them held electric torches, which were thankfully off at the moment. He could see that the trail of blood led past the three strangers, but their presence in the doorway restricted his view. Eddie knew that the nearest shelter was not far away, in the basement of St. James's Church. The quickest way to get there was via Yorkshire Road, which led southwest a short distance from here.

OOC,[b]Eddie[/b] is moving to the thread linked below:

The Storm Breaks