IC-GOLD-Nerve Center(Melinda/Kathryn/Ho/Cynthia/Ray/Colby)

[Mr. Handy]

Z-Day + 1 - 7:00 AM Mountain Time - Warren Air Force Base, west of Cheyenne, Wyoming
In the operations room-
Sergeant Major Raymond Crew was once again working in the operations room of Warren Air Force Base, acting as an unoffical advisor to Lt. Colonel Burton Carmichael. The quarantine clinic had been closed down earlier this morning after all of the patients had been examined again and cleared, then transferred to a regular hospital.

Some of those patients had arrived with him, having been given new outfits consisting of camo pants and white tank tops. Melinda Christie, the sweet Public Relations specialist, had been an obvious choice to assign to operations. With the right training, she would fit right in with communications. Melinda had been one of the first civilians to be admitted to the base. She had seen a lot of death and destruction in Sidney, Nebraska and at the truck stop, but she had also found a new family. Her new boyfriend Keith Deeds had been shot in the head, and he was still recovering from his wound. After that, he would probably be assigned to a ground crew and taught to maintain aircraft. Keith's mother Amanda had gone with him to the new hospital, where she would be working as a nurse.

Kathryn McCoy was an air traffic controller, so she was naturally being assigned to air traffic control here. She had survived the worst day of her life yesterday, and while her physical wounds had healed, she didn't know if her mental ones ever would. Kidnapped by the maniacal - and murderous - Coproral Anthony Gardner, she had done what she had to do to stay alive. Her plight had seemed hopeless, and it had appeared that she would remain his prisoner forever, but she had been unexpectedly rescued by a man named Jack Montrose, who had later died protecting her from a zombie. She had traveled with his widow Emily and her daughter Lauren, as well as Kyle Perkins, a farm boy whose parents had both been killed. They had stopped at a convenience store run by Ho Nguyen, where she had met and befriended a drifter named Cynthia Louise. The store had been overrun by the dead, and the survivors forced to flee when a tornado approached. They had barely made it to Warren Air Force Base late last night. Other members of their group hadn't been so lucky. Kathryn hadn't slept at all well. Thankfully, it was hard to remember the nightmares she had had, but they had involved Gardner. Even after he had been killed - twice - it didn't seem like he would ever let her go.

Cynthia Louise was an exotic dancer. She wasn't really qualified to do most of the work that was carried out in operations, but she could still entertain people and help with morale, and she also wanted to hang out with her new friend Kathryn. She had fallen hard for fellow drifter Richard Saxon, who she thought was her ticket to a better life, but he had thrown his life away attacking the mob boss who had taken shelter at the convenience store with his crew.

Ho Nguyen had lost his store and his employees, but not his dreams. One day, when this was all over, he would reclaim his store and rebuild. He would hire new employees, ones who would work for less and who wouldn't complain as much. Perhaps Cynthia would be interested in a job. He was here in operations because of his organizational and management skills.

Carmichael approached the new arrivals. He was a tall black man in his late forties with a bristly gray mustache and matching close-cropped hair. "Welcome to Ops," he said. "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Burton Carmichael, the Operations Officer. This is the heart of Warren Air Force Base. This is where it all happens."

[Laraqua]

Cynthia stands beside Kathryn, glancing around the place. The military's attempts to keep a vibe of sterile, regulation normalcy still boggled her mind after everything she'd been through. She didn't say as much, though. The military types scared her a little ... though some of them were also kind of cute in a macho kind of way. She sighed. It'd been only days since she'd lost Richard Saxon but already she was looking at men with interest. Was that how her life was now? Chalking up the dead in their own little box and moving on from them? Then again, she didn't feel like the Cynthia who had followed him all those few days ago so maybe it was all right because she wasn't that Cynthia anymore. She was new. This was her life now.

Besides, she was feeling really lonely.

She wondered if she could put on a performance later to cheer up the troops.

[Dave Syrinx]

Kathryn sizes up the situation room. She checks for what software they use for flight mapping. "Is the ADS-B operational, Sir? And have we heard anything from DOD? That is do we have a detailed lay down of the situation?"
She walks up to the workstations and introduces herself to the flight management crew. "McCoy, at your service. What do we have at hand?" The idea of getting some hands on experience of something mimicking real life is enough for Kathryn to be at ease. When putting on a headset, she looks over at Cynthia almost apologetically, she hopes the girl understands the dire need she has to play this game.

[Laraqua]

Cynthia simply winks at her and casts an appraising glance over the menfolk. Surely there'd be someone she could distract herself with... She wasn't about to do anything R-Rated or anything (who knew what might happen while their pants were down?) but a few sweet words, a tender glance, someone to crush on. She desperately needed a little romance in her life. She sighed. Would military grunts even be capable of knowing what romance was?

Then again, maybe there was a dreamy dish who'd be her knight in shining armor and come to whisk her away...

[Mr. Handy]

In the operations room-
Kathryn felt comfortable with the familiar-looking setup. If anything, the equipment here was much better than what she was used to using.

"You get right down to business, ma'am," said Lt. Colonel Carmichael to Kathryn. "I like that." He motioned to the handsome young officer sitting at the station next to the one she had chosen, the only other air traffic controller in the room. "This is Captain Fred Proust. He'll fill you in on everything you need to know about the equipment. The ADS-B is not operational, and it hasn't been since early yesterday morning when all the satellites went offline. We have no GPS, so we have to do things the old fashioned way. All our intelligence from the outside has been cut off since around 1:00 PM yesterday, so all of our data is 18 hours stale. The only new information we have is whatever people like you who have arrived since then tell us. You'd probably know more about the situation out there than we would. From what we've heard, this crisis is going on all over the world, in every country. The President is missing, other government facilities have been overrun, and long range communications are down. As far as we know, we're on our own."

Fred Proust smiled at Kathryn. "Pleased to meet you, ma'am," he said. "I'll be happy to show you the ropes. Our normal complement of Hueys is twelve, but we lost three of them yesterday. I've heard that you saw one of them go down yourself. That leaves us nine. One of them is in the shop for repairs, two are currently being rearmed, two are flying Combat Air Patrol, two are on standby, and two are flying recon. It looks like you know what you're doing already. What sort of experience do you have, Ms. McCoy? Say, do you have a first name?"

Cynthia began systematically checking out the men in the room. Most of the personnel here were male, though there were some women. The colonel wasn't bad looking, though he was old enough to be her father. Ho Nguyen was old enough to be her grandfather and looked plain, and he was grouchy to boot. The most handsome man in the room by far was Captain Proust. Sergeant Major Crew was scar-faced and unattractive, though his British accent was charming. Harvey Bennish, the mob accountant who had been at the store with her, was also present and working with the logistics people. He was kind of cute, in a nerdy sort of way. Cynthia saw that he was looking at her, though when he noticed her looking back he shyly turned away and wiped his glasses. There were a few Security Forces men around the room who looked macho and muscular. Some of them were checking out her, Kathryn, and Melinda.

OOC,It's actually only been hours since you met [b]Richard Saxon[/b] and he was killed. This is only the second day. Anyone may roll Psychology to determine more about the people here.

[Laraqua]

Cynthia looked around the room and then startled, flinching at the sudden realization that the world had only fallen apart a day ago. It was ridiculous. The height of absurdity! It had to have been days. No, maybe a week... She wracked her brain, searching for an answer to her time-logged brain but there was nothing that fit. Only one dusk. Only one dawn. It had to be so. Her lower lip trembled as she realized how recently it had been that there'd been music on the radio and that there would be no quality FM radio anymore. Only static and cries for help. Why? Why did this have to happen? She sucked in her lower lip and hugged herself, refusing to give in any further to the angst that threatened to envelop her. No, no melodrama from the painful kind. Romance. There had to be a sweetheart around here somewhere.

She gave Harvey Bennish a shy sort of smile the next time he looked her way. He didn't know all that much about him, really, but perhaps he might be worth while. She preferred strong right about now but macho ... maybe not. Defending her was great but she wanted someone to hold her and make it all okay. No, she wanted both of that. Perhaps Harvey wasn't right for her right now. Perhaps someone else was. Maybe looking for cute was the wrong idea. She glanced around, appraising them for their Knight in Shining Armor potential. As always, her sixth sense was quite hopeless.

[Dave Syrinx]

Listening to Charmichael she picks up a vibe she pushes the thought to the back of her mind and checks the data available. She winces at Fred Proust´s come-on. "Just keep your distance, sir." She says and moves her chair away from the Captain. "McCoy will suit fine, for now. What can you tell me about any evac plans? Are we sitting this epidemic out or is there a route planned, should we need to relocate?"

[Mr. Handy]

In the operations room-
Captain Proust looked disappointed when Kathryn distanced herself from him, but he seemed to accept it. "Yes, ma'am," he said. "We do have an evacuation route planned. It goes through the gate through which you entered - what's left of it. It's since been replaced by a mobile barricade that we can move in a hurry. In the event that the base falls, we have trucks and aircraft ready to leave at a moment's notice. The only problem is that we don't know where to go. It's like this everywhere. As far as we know, this could be the only government facility still standing. But our standing orders are to hold this base for as long as possible, and I think we can do it."

Kathryn McCoy,[b]Kathryn[/b] could tell that [b]Carmichael[/b] was a very serious man, but above all a very tired man. If he had slept last night, it couldn't have been much. He had a lot of responsibility on his shoulders, and he showed it. Even so, his mental state seemed solid. [b]Captain Proust[/b] was obviously very attracted to her and didn't look like he understood why she had shot him down. [b]Harvey Bennish[/b] seemed nervous and somewhat shaken, but he was starting to relax now that he felt safe. He was sweet on [b]Cynthia[/b] but afraid to say anything about it.

[Dave Syrinx]

Kat tries to bring up an overview map of the air force base. "Somewhere secluded, minor population with geological barriers on more than one side. That´s where we should go - if we need to relocate. From what I´ve seen, a high density of people is a bad thing." She eyes the crowd in the room.

Map?,If she gets a map up, she will suggest using a dam,[i] like the one [/i]at lake Pueblo. [img]http://www.pueblomlshomes.com/pa/Dam-at-Pueblo-Reservoir.jpg[/img] It would be easier to protect than a base surrounded by city of crazies.(3 hours south) There´s the Pathfinder Dam three hours north west from here. Up in the mountains...

[kabukiman]

Melinda tries to know first all the people there, so she may familiar with.

[Mr. Handy]

In the operations room-
"Ma'am," said Captain Proust to Kathryn, "that would be fine if all we were interested in were survival. But wherever we go, we need to maintain an operational air base. We need plenty of open space for runways, and we'll need the proper infrastructure to handle, maintain, and refuel aircraft. Another air base would be ideal, but we don't know which ones are still operational. None of the ones in aerial scouting range are. Any aircraft out on recon has an operational range equal to about half of its maximum range on a full tank. Going past that point of no return is too much of a gamble. If a base beyond that distance is overrun, that craft isn't coming back, and we've lost too many aircraft already. I agree about avoiding populated areas, and there are plenty of bases in isolated areas. Problem is, they're too far for us to tell whether or not we can go there."

Kathryn managed to display a map of the region around the base, but it was a static image. There were no new data coming in from satellite feeds, which were not functioning.

Melinda could observe the people in the room easily enough, but she knew that the only way to really get to know them was to go up to someone and start a conversation.

OOC,[b]Melinda[/b], you'll need to roleplay getting acquainted with the people in the room. Don't forget that you may also roll Psychology.

[Dave Syrinx]

"I see, so we are the center of civilization as we know it... " She checks the instruments."But we´re assuming that - while flying blind." Then she pushes the chair back from the controls. "But still, I´m glad to be of help. Show me the daily routine, sir. What´s fist on the agenda?" She looks at Captain Proust in a professional cool state.

[kabukiman]

OOC: When I say "know", I mean observe, to see what they are talking about and then start a conversation.

Melinda goes near Kathryn

-Is any television or radio still working? So we may get any news of what is happening.

[Dave Syrinx]

"Nah, nothing for the last 18 hours." She smiles at Melinda. "Might be best if we just sit here and wait for someone to contact us... Have a seat, I could use the company."

[Mr. Handy]

In the operations room-
"Right now, we mainly need to keep an eye on the choppers we have in the air," said Captain Proust to Kathryn as Melinda came over and joined them. "If you happen to spot any unidentified aircraft, that'll be of interest. However, there's been nothing up in the air but us since yesterday morning. One of the choppers on standby is being prepped for launch right now. It's wheels up at 0715 hours. We need to make sure that it gets safely on its way." He looked up at Melinda, smiled at her, and tipped his hat. "Ma'am. I'm Captain Fred Proust. Nice to meet you. What's your name?"

OOC,[b]Melinda[/b], you may roll Listen to try to hear what people in other parts of the room are discussing - it's a pretty big room. You can join in the conversation with [b]Kathryn[/b] and [b]Fred[/b] any time.

[kabukiman]

-Melinda Christie. I used to work as spokesman in Cbala when this started. But after all that passed, it look it was a century ago.

[Mr. Handy]

In the operations room-
"Cabela's, huh?" said Fred. "That's great! They make all sorts of quality camping and hunting gear. I've used their products before. I guess you must have gotten an employee discount. Do you like spending time outdoors?"

[Laraqua]

Cynthia leans up against the wall, pushing her boobs out a little, and looks bored because, well, she is bored.

[Mr. Handy]

In the operations room-
Harvey Bennish nervously approached Cynthia. "H-h-hi, Cynthia," he stammered, staring at his feet before finding the courage to look up. "I, um, how are you doing?"

[kabukiman]

-Yes, I used to go camping with my parents when I was a little girl, so I was always fond of going outside. But after college I had to stop, you know, at the weekend we were always very busy and my bosses were always calling me.