IC-Breakfast(various)

[Mr. Handy]

Z-Day - 8:50 AM Mountain Daylight Time - At the T-Bone
In the parking lot-
Jim Kerr was trying to call in the nearest air traffic controller station or police station. He’d been listening to the reports of the fire in Kimball and it sounded like the local Fire Department had been fighting the blaze. The radio operator had said the firemen were being attacked by a mob, that the police were already overrun. Then the radio got cut off.

Jim looked over to the State Trooper’s vehicle nearby. The State Trooper, Bo, was on the radio trying to monitor the situation. Bo couldn’t seem to reach any of the nearby State Trooper stations and was very worried. He also noted that there was almost no traffic coming out of Kimball.

Jim had noticed that most of the people going to the café had come from the motel, except the two young guys who just wandered in.

In the convenience store-
Rita was reading a copy of the Weekly World News. There was a cover about man-eating zombies attacking a small village in Brazil. Rita thought it was unbelievable. She gazed over to watch Horst and Flip.

In the café-
Horst was growing impatient. “I can’t believe that f***ing Hammond has me waiting.”

Flip was watching Lynne the waitress and his mouth was watering, either for Lynne or for the waffles she was supposed to bring. Breakfast at the PMS is s*** compared to what he can get at the T-Bone. Flip was also trying not to think about what Horst did last night. He tried to distract Horst with the television.

In one booth against the wall, Dr. Hausmann was running calculations through her computer and did a lot of “Hmmmm” and “Ahhhh” and occasionally, “tsk.” Stephanie sitting next to her saw that Hausmann was doing calculations to predict the spread of a disease based on a variety of equations.

Stephanie was going over reports, running calculations in her mind, calculating the various consequences of different chemical formulas based on the "substance." She was also wondering what was taking the helicopter so long to fix. She noticed Sean was watching TV and drinking his coffee but not saying much.

Rosie stopped by to fill the coffee. She didn’t show it, but she was a bit worried about the State Trooper that kept coming in, talking to this group in a hushed voice, then going back out to the car.

Ashley was waiting for Charlie to serve up the food and was watching the news broadcast on CNN. Lynne was flirting with Randall who had asked her what time she gets off. Before she could answer, the news had come on, and Lynne hadn’t spoken since the report from Washington.

According to the news anchor, much of New York City was on fire and the CNN crew had barricaded itself in their building. “The city is ablaze with smoke.”

She went on to say, “The Governor has called for the National Guard, but the Mayor is calling for everyone to remain at home. Martial law has been declared.”

The picture on CNN showed much of lower New York was under a cloud of smoke.

Baldwin was also watching the television and getting increasingly worried. He could overhear Tisha the journalist talking with the cameraman Willie, urging him to get going, but Willie was taking his time on his breakfast. Baldwin thought the old cameraman might have the right idea.

Kimberly was also watching TV, very worried. It had become difficult to continue eating her cereal.

Two young guys had just come into the café and taken seats on the counter. One of them had said, “Hey I think I have seen this flick.”

Beth, who was filling out an application, had said, “It’s not a movie, it’s the apocalypse.”

Another older fellow in khakis, Luke, followed them in and took a seat in one of the booths, turning his attention to the television news.

One young lady, Sally, said, “By the look of those wounds I’d say it was some form of insanity. No way someone that injured can move so fast.”

Another woman, Alice, nearby said, “Do you think it was some kind of attack?”

Baldwin shook his head. “Whatever it is, it’s pretty f***ed up.”

“This is because of the f***ing n****s and the Jews,” said the old skinhead sitting in the booth. The younger one laughed.

Baldwin considered speaking to the skinhead about it, but considering himself in the minority thought better of it. He noted the other black man, Gary, who was sitting in a booth with a newspaper was watching him and flicked his eyes back to the skinheads. Baldwin didn’t feel quite so alone.

[Starspawn338]

Gary is troubled by the news on the TV but keeps to himself. He'd like a refill on his coffee but he's not about to call attention to himself with the skinheads talking s*** about n******.
"At least there ain't nothing about California or the west coast on the news." He mutters to himself.

[Starspawn338]

Jim walks closer to the state trooper.
"Hey, you getting anything on the radio? He says loudly. "I can't seem to raise anyone on mine."

[Dave Syrinx]

Bo sees the Woodlands Ranger/Scout captain fail in getting any radio contact. He stops himself from turning the keys and drive off to check on the nearest town to check on the station to rally some troops. This isn´t a regular extreme weathers incident. This seems biblical. Orders or not. The doctor surely would get where she needed via plan A.

He leans out the window. Lifts the brim of his hat and answers the call. "I got some reports from nearby stations. Was figguring I´d head over to one of them and help out. Care to join up? I heard the Governor called in the NG, so we´d better head out to get a bead on what´s what. They´ll never say anything over the radio if it aint bad." He watches the helicopter group pour inside the cafeteria and bites his lip. "On the other hand, we might better hole up here for a while." He pulls the keys and grabs the radio and portable HAM and exits the patrol car.

He pops the trunk as Jim gets up to the car. "Just grabbing this kevlar and Mossberg for safety." In his belt a Beretta and a cannister of pepper spray sit snuggly. On the left hip, a baton is wobbling as he turns to Jim.

"Judging from the latest reports, we´d be getting visitors soon. Better be prepared. Are you set?"

[Silver Priest]

Sean continues to drink his coffee, thanking the waitress as she refilled his cup. He glances back at Brigetta, feeling regret that he could not help her in some way. He hopes the damn helicopter will be repaired soon and they can get back on the move.

[Silver Priest]

Tisha taps her foot impatiently and looks to Willie. She had been working with the older man for awhile and knew the cameraman did good work, but he sure took his time.

"Are you almost done, Willie? The stuff going on here; it's historic. We could be on the front lines! It's stories like this that get national's attention. And I am not going to miss my chance to make network because you think this dump's hash browns are phenomenal."

[Mallard]

Willie looked up, swallowing a mouth full of the hash browns - they were actually pretty phenomenal! "Sorry Tish, when the proverbial's hitting the fan, I've learned to eat whenever I can." Willie drank his last mouthful of coffee, and then pushed his plate away, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand "Ended up four days between meals once. Sierra Leon... now that was the front line."

[Mallard]

Dr. Hausmann was engrossed in her work but paused to check the power cable running from her laptop to the outlet below the table. She was obsessive about many things, and the battery on her cellphone and laptop being charged at all times, was just one of her many 'ticks'. As Brigetta sat back up, after checking the charger, she looked at Stephanie, turning her laptop screen so that her co-worker could see. "It's spreading faster than I could have imagined" she said, with an exasperated look.

[Cotton]

When Dr. Hausmann addressed her, Stephanie tore her eyes away from the tv screen to look at the laptop. She licked her lips nervously and replied, "Doctor, I'm not convinced the helicopter will be fixed anytime soon, maybe its time we consider another form of transport?"

[Mallard]

"Maybe you should go and find Bob?"sighed Dr Hausmann, in response to Stephanie. "Heaven knows how long it will take us by road, but unless he has that thing up and running soon, you could be right."

[RonaHattingh]

Rosie watches and listens quietly to everyone's actions and words, while she serves coffee to everyone. The worry deepens, but she pastes on a false smile to hide it. She hopes she has a moment alone later with Bo. She needs some reassurances.

[Starspawn338]

"Judging from the latest reports, we´d be getting visitors soon. Better be prepared. Are you set?"

Jim looks at the trooper with surprise. "You think we'll get trouble out here? I know there was a fire but what exactly is going on that you think we'll have to deal with? He reflexively pats the gun on his hip as he speaks. "I got some nunchucks in the 'copter if you think we'll need to do riot control."

[Starspawn338]

Gary holds his coffee cup up for Rosie to refill. It looks like folks are getting a bit more agitated inside the cafe. If he's learned one thing, it's that people start looking for someone to blame when the s*** hits the fan. It's probably best to get going soon.

[Dave Syrinx]

"Before the radio gave up to ghosts, there were reports about the cities on the I-80 have been overrun and the police barracks have been breached. The places off from the highway seem to be clear, though. I considered we ´d head there for inforcements. But we might be our own best help. Yeah, bring the cuffs. We never know when we need them."Bo replies to Jim´s question. He reaches the entrance to the cafeteria and opens the door, stops it with his boot and lets Jim past.

[Starspawn338]

"You go ahead. I'm going to grab some stuff from the 'copter."

Jim gets his nunchucks and imagines himself the star of one of those bad dubbed kung fu movies from his youth as a mob of people charge forward and he knocks them down one by one. He smiles at the ridiculousness of the thought. He's sure the trooper is crazy to think that trouble would hit here, in the middle of nowhere but he does scan the horizon before heading back to the cafe.

[Dave Syrinx]

Removing his foot from the door, Bo enters the cafeteria and nods at Rosie as he leisurely carries his shotgun and various riot gear towards the bar.

He scans the room for the good doctor and finds the techs at one table. He walks over to them and says, "Bo Richards, I´m tasked to deliver a message to a Doctor Hausmann." He glances at the entrance door and adjusts the balance of the Mossberg, eyeing the individual members around the table.

[Silver Priest]

"Wait a sec, I'll go with you."

Sean also heads back to the helicopter with the intention of grabing his gear, especially his rifle. Surely the grill owners wouldn't mind too much, given the insanity that seemed to be overtaking the world at this moment.

[Raiko]

Lynne:

Lynne knew that creep Flip was staring at her ass again, but sc*** him, he could stare. This guy was much more interesting than Flip and his Nazi buddies.

The stuff on the news was scary, but at least New York was far away from this s***-hole.

As the news flicked back from the anchor to footage of half of Manhattan ablaze, she looked back at Randle, fluttering her eye-lashes and asked, "D'ya think anyone's hurt?"

[Raiko]

Baldwin:

Damnit thought Baldwin, how long's that old f***er Earl goin' to take fixing the truck?

It's a hell of a long way to go to finish his delivery and then a hell of a long way back to Mississippi again, the country was going to hell, and he was stuck in this Redneck dump with a couple of Nazis spouting off about n*****s.

Damnit!

Baldwin tried to concentrate on his breakfast, and not the skinheads, but he knew it was going to make him real mad soon, if they didn't shut their racist mouths.

[Mr. Handy]

8:52 AM
In the parking lot-
Sean Blank stepped outside as Jim Kerr was retrieving his nun-chucks from the chopper, so it was a simple matter for his buddy to grab his rifle while he was at it. Then the two of them followed Bo back into the diner. It wasn't good to leave the scientists by themselves for too long, in case of trouble.

In the café-
Randall looked back at Lynne. "It would be a miracle if nobody was," he replied.

Luke took a seat and ordered breakfast. Which wasn't an easy task, as the waitresses seemed phased and rather non-responsive. He watched the news broadcasts and wasn't quite surprised. He never understood them city folks, it was only a matter of time before some of them went crazy. That would teach 'em to live in a concrete jungle...

Ashley eventually saw Luke and came over with a menu. "Can I get you something to drink?" she asked. "Coffee? OJ?"

"Coffee, black," he replied. "And a big omelette with some bacon." Luke replied to Ashley while barely looking away from the television. "There is some strange stuff going on in that concrete jungle." He remarked, not talking to anyone in particular.

The older skinhead noticed Baldwin glancing at him before looking away and glared back. "You got a problem, n****?" he snarled.

The atmosphere in the café grew tense.

OOC,[b]Jim Kerr[/b], you may roll Spot Hidden to see what you noticed when looking around out in the parking lot. [b]Bo[/b] and [b]Sean[/b], you may roll as well.