Exit 23

[tmart]

BJ freezes as the cold wind enters the washroom, staying as still and quiet as possible during the sounds of combat. As the room becomes silent again, he holds his breath, waiting for some noise to indicate whether the assailant is still there. If there appears to be nothing, he'll try to get at least some idea of what has happened using the faint blue/green light on his watch. "Hey... are you okay?" he whispers, fearing the worst.

 

[Sixchan]

Nick looks around in the dark, seeing little. "Well...this isn't good, is it? And those noises...where are my nunchaku when I need them?"

 

[Thomas Hobbes]

"What in heaven was that?" Mabel says in the darkness.

Funny thinks John, this first thought running through his scared mind completely detached from the situation. It's usually "What in hell".... Then he shudders, because he's got the feeling that his thought may be less detached than he thought it was.

When the he hears a voice in the darkness ask for a flashlight (he does not attach it to any paticular face, since he didn't notice him come in), he remembers his penlight. With a slight jingle of keys, a small cone of light comes on and sweeps the room.

"Er, I've got this..." says John hesitantly.

 

[Jarval]

The donut shop:

John's torch isn't very bright, but it sheds enough light so you can see the other people in the donut shop.

"Anne, honey, it's going to be OK, you're going to be OK." Mabel looks up from trying to comfort the sobbing, obviously terrified girl, over towards Ben. "I think there are some torches in the store. Anne, could I jus' borrow your keys?" Mabel takes a small bunch of keys from the girl and tosses them across to Ben. "It's to your right as you go out the door. Ahmed, show the officer the way, could ya?"

The young man with Asian features stands up from his chair, and heads over to Ben. "What do you think's wrong?" He asks nervously. "God, it sounded like someone was being killed in there!"


The washroom:

BJ cautiously opens the cubical door, trying to use his watch's backlight as a torch, the slight illumination only allowing you to see a few feet in any direction.

It's cold, really, really cold in the restroom, and a freezing draft drifts across from the direction of the door. BJ edges out into the room, and almost falls flat (untrained Balance check: 1 + 9 = 10) on the ice underfoot. Ice with a curiously red tint...

 

[Thomas Hobbes]

"Here, I'll come with so you can see where you're going," says John, and then reconsiders. "Er, unless you'd rather I stay here?" He says the second as much from a desire to not leave the other patrons without light as to stay behind and not meet... whatever it was that made those noises.

 

[loxmyth]

At the sight of the thin beam of light piercing the darkness, Daunte relaxes slightly. Even just that slight illumination gives him some comfort. "Hey, if you need an extra hand I can help, sir," he offers to the park ranger. "If there aren't enough torches, I have a flashlight in my car." He jerks his thumb out the window to the parking lot, but realizes that people probably can't see him and chuckles softly to himself. In any case, he was standing right next to the ranger, so he'd follow him for a source of light.

 

[ErichDragon]

Ben will cross to the thin beam of illumination and take the proffered penlight.

"Thank you sir. I'll return this in a few moments."

Turning to the counter. "Mabel, I'll be back here in a minute for those other flashlights. Right now I am going to check to make sure no one is hurt."

"Please everyone, stay here and stay calm. I will be back in a few moments, and we can get some real light in here."

~I hope I sound more calm than I am. It's not everyday that a Park Ranger is called on for crowd control.~

Ben will carefully make his way to the bathroom, holding the penlight in his left hand, away from his body, with his right hand on the grip of his pistol.

 

[tmart]

BJ drops to one knee, unfazed by the sight of blood, and tries to find who it came from using the wholly inadequate watch light. Being unsure of where the intruder may be, he stays silent, hoping to help whoever is hurt.

 

[Thomas Hobbes]

"Thank you sir. I'll return this in a few moments."

"Your welcome," says John automatically, and sits back down nervously in his seat, plucking at the fabric of his pants. Then something occurs to him, and he smacks his forehead, mutters "Stupid!" and pulls out his cell phone. It might not work because of the storm, and if it did they wouldn't be able to reach them, but hey, worth a try, right?

A diner, isolated from the rest of the world, and all the occupants end up dead. It sounded like a book he had read in the course of his studies... oh right. The first Sandman series. Now there was something about which could be said interesting things in the historical/mythological context...

Oh right. Cell phone. John taps in 911, then shuts it off immediatly. What if it's not that serious? He decides to wait, typing in the number again but waiting to press the "call" button until the park ranger comes back with some news.

 

[Sixchan]

Nick shouts after Ben. "If something is wrong, should you really be going alone? You want me to come with you?"