Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

[Philulhu]

Date and time unknown

The freezing, timeless journey came to an abrupt end as a portal opened in the distance and they felt themselves drawn towards it with increasing speed. Suddenly ejected, they found themselves in a sunken pit, in a confusion of smoke, mud, splintered timbers and shattered bodies.

As they looked over the edge of the pit, a man emerged from the smoke that wreathed the landscape, slowly moving in their direction. Stalking across the ground towards them, he would periodically point a weapon which squirted a gout of flame, accompanied by screams of agony and terror from his unseen victims.

Closer he came, until he stopped just yards away. His face was obscured by some sort of mask with large, soulless glass eyes. He looked at them, brought the weapon around in their direction then paused. He looked up, distracted by a noise that sounded like an approaching train. He turned as if to run but it was too late. With a ear-splitting ‘Boom’, a shell landed behind him, exploding and filling the air with red hot shards of metal that tore into the man, shredding him and causing his weapon to explode in a fireball.

Saved from the worst of the effects by the walls of the pit, nevertheless they were still caught by some of the metal shards, while the burning fuel singed their hair and burnt their skin. Before they could react however, there was a further sound of an approaching express followed by a second explosion, and the wall of the pit lifted and crashed over them, burying them in clods of earth that hammered down upon them… …

… … …

The first they were aware of still being alive, was a periodic shaking, that caused them to shift on the gurneys upon which they lay. Eyes open, they could see that they were in what must be an ambulance, with two stretchers mounted each side of a small cabin. As they looked up, they caught sight of the driver, a young women with haunted eyes. “You’re awake, then,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to make it back.”

[Bullfrog]

"Where am I? Where is this!?"
Lawrence awakens with a start and a brief shout of terror, his eyes wildly darting around the ambulance.

This was not Arkham. Or Massachusetts, or even America. He didn't know where he was, but he was starting to get a good idea of when that portal dumped him out.

This may have been the Great War.

[Mr. Handy]

"I think this is what we would call...somewhere in France," says William, who had been about to say the same thing and is drawing very similar conclusions. "Thank you for your help, Miss."

[Silver Priest]

Alex lets out a groan. His first time on the front he had avoided being injured and had had abetter time of it than many of fellow troops, but he still lost a few friends. It was not an experience he was eager to repeat. Add that to them being over a decade behind where they should have been.

"Yes, thank you," He tells the nurse. But his mind was already attempting to figure out how to get out of here. He had no desire to play through this conflict once again.

[Philulhu]

“Of course we’re in France! Where else would we be?!” she muttered to herself, scowling through the windscreen.

Glancing back at Lawrence with a worried look on her face, she said, “Is he alright?! If he’s not safe, there’s some straps, there!”

They could see some thick webbing straps that could be used to secure a patient to the stretcher, if required.

[Mr. Handy]

"You okay, Lawrence?" asks William. "The phrase 'somewhere in France' is an expression, Miss. It's what they tell soldiers to say in letters home about where they are, because they're not supposed to reveal their exact location, which is what he wanted to know."

[Bullfrog]

"I feel just fantastic, William, thanks for asking." Lawrence says facetiously, obviously feeling the least fantastic he has ever felt in his entire life. Something about what he had witnessed in Brichester had opened his mind, igniting a spark of knowledge about the things man is not meant to know of; there was more out there than what he had seen, more than just Yig and Gla'aki and their servants.

Lawrence, needless to say, did not enjoy dwelling on that thought for very long.
"Where are we going, anyways? A hospital, or something like that?"

[Silver Priest]

"Hell," Alex responds to the nurse.

"Hopefully to a hospital." He responds to Lawrence. "I'd like to confer with both you gentleman-- preferably before we get sent out again." Then again, who knew if the others had even served. Alex had, and while there had been many soldiers on the front, there remained a chance he would run into himself out there.

[Philulhu]

The driver frowned at Alex, then looked back at the road. Through the windscreen, they could see they were in a convoy, with another ambulance, its wheels spinning for purchase, up ahead.

As they watched, there was a sound like an approaching express train. Their ambulance shook, then, mere fractions of a second later, the one in front exploded! It was thrown five feet up into the air before crashing back to earth, with everything above the level of the wheels a smoking ruin.

The driver bit the brakes and their ambulance skidded to a halt. She stared dumbfounded through the windscreen, then screamed, “Jenny?! Jenny! Noooooo…!!!”

Can you roll a 1d500000, please? To see if you bump into your past self…

[Mr. Handy]

"It must have struck a mine," says William. "We should check if there are any survivors. Someone could have been thrown clear by the blast."

[Silver Priest]

Alex frowns, torn. "I doubt anyone could have survived that, and we're an easy target out here, William." He turns to their driver. "We should keep going."

He's already not sure if that is the right call. Or even still if they had helped to cause the attack by being here; maybe the ambulances would not have been at this exact location if not for them being picked up. People may be dead that otherwise wouldn't be because of their presence here. The guilt gnaws at him.

I think you may have been joking, but found a dice bot and rolled 278813.

[Philulhu]

The ambulance ahead had been wrecked by the shell that hit it. There was no way past until it was removed from the road. Until then, they’d be sitting ducks if any more shells came over…

If you’d have rolled a 1, I’d have had you bumping into your past self…

[Mr. Handy]

"Looks like we have to get out anyway just to push it out of the way," says William.

[Silver Priest]

"Let's get this over with as quickly as we can." Alex responds. "Be careful, gentlemen."

[Bullfrog]

"I plan on it."
Lawrence nods nervously in agreement, departing from the ambulance as quick as he could; he didn't know much about war, but being unable to move would make the ambulance, and by extension the people near it, an easy target for artillery fire. He'd already seen a man explode today, and he did not hope to meet that same fate.

[Philulhu]

The artillery strike had shattered most of the vehicle above the level of the wheels. Remarkably, the rear window of the ambulance wasn’t wholly smashed, although it was spattered red and blood dripped down the rear door.

The ground beneath their feet was muddy and it was difficult to get purchase to push the vehicle out of the way.

Can I have strength rolls, please?

[Mr. Handy]

William is not the strongest of men.

STR x 5 roll (40% stat) to move the ambulance:
d%

[Bullfrog]

STR 11×5 (55%): 1d100

Lawrence finds it difficult to get a steady grip on the wreck.

[Silver Priest]

1d100 70

The thought of being out in the middle of a warzone is all the motivation Alex needs.

[Philulhu]

The ambulance rocked back and forwards as they pushed, but it barely moved. Fortunately, a troop of British Tommies was making its way up the line and they stopped to lend a hand, making short work of clearing the road again.

”Blimey, what are you, fellas? A concert party?” laughed one, nudging his mates and pointing out the others that they were wearing…