it's a very merry christmas

[monstermasher]

▶ WHO: Everyone!
▶ DATE: 11:11am, Day 6
▶ WARNINGS: FIRE AND DESTRUCTION.
▶ SUMMARY: It's your birthday.

WAKE UP, SUNSHINE!

---

At 11:11am, there will be a single flash of light, bright enough to show up in the sky over all of California. It won't give you any lasting damage, don't worry. It lasts for a second, if that, and is soon gone.

Only to be followed minutes later by a loud crack that shakes everything.

The sound eventually fades away, leaving a large trail of smoke pouring from some kind of accident.

If characters choose to investigate this, they'll find the remains of a high speed train that had mysteriously appeared out of nowhere and had driven directly into a... mountainside. Everything is on fire and nothing is okay—but amazingly, there don't seem to be any people on board. Or, uh, remains of people. Only melting, twisted metal and heat—the train was large, and part of it was driven up the mountain by the sheer force of the hit. It's an immediate danger zone, not something to be trifled with.

Inside the wreckage is a large rate full of walkie talkie type radios. That's it. For a train that was at least three times the height of a normal train, it sure didn't pack much. And once the radios are found, three things will happen.

1. Zombies will start advancing on the wreckage from all directions. It's not night, so the running screamy zombies aren't around, but oh wow that is a lot of shambling guys...


2. A male voice can be heard through a speaker hanging half off of the side of the train. "Hey! Hey, look, I know it's all shitty right now—you need to find the s—and wait—go to V—idiot left it there before h—ied, and I'll—you in a few—" before the interference is just too much to hear.


3. A piece of paper is sitting on top of the crate. It gives clear directions to the new radio tower, situated nearby.

Now you have radios, and a horde is forming right before your eyes.

OOC NOTES.

---

The train crash is located five or so miles from the compound. The radio tower can hold around 30 characters at once if you squish. How you disperse the zombies and get back to the compound (or wherever you're going) is up to you! Please view the OOC Post for potential plans and strategies, if you'd like!

If you're not interested in anything in this log, you can stay behind—the compound and anywhere nearby might be a little safer for awhile, since the zombies are all flocking to one place.

And while you're exploring the crash/landscape/tower, you might find something... here is the new permanent turn in post!

Any attempts to contact the man from the train speaker will be met with... radio silence.

Comments

Claire Dearing ; Jurassic World ; ota

[rexponsible]

A: cool guys don't look at explosions
[Claire hadn't seen the bright flash of light that illuminated the morning sky, but she had heard and felt the loud CRACK that shook the compound like thunder. She almost jumped out of her skin with the shock of it, covering her mouth to stifle her scream. What on earth was going on in this place?]

[Once she came back to her senses, she made for the vehicle bay as quickly as she could. Looking out the door showed a large plume of smoke rising into the sky some distance away. What on earth was going on? Could it have been an explosion at a power plant? A bomb? Something else entirely?]

[Whatever it was, it was clearly a cause for alarm.]



B: ticket to ride
[Common sense had told Claire that it would be safer in the compound. However, the idea that other people might be there - others who knew what was going on, and others who they could join and rally behind - made her reconsider her stance. She only hoped that there were survivors in that blast.]

[She was just turning the ignition on a military truck, steeling herself as the engine came to life with a loud roar. This was what she could do, and Claire was a woman of action.]

[She rolled the window down and yelled out to the gathering crowd.]

Okay, truck's ready - let's go!



C: do you think they'll have that on the tour?
[Things were not going well at the trainwreck, and it was definitely time to get going. The zombies were shambling closer, and Claire didn't want to get up close and personal with them. As far as she was concerned, there had been enough attempts to eat her person back in Jurassic World.]

[This was why she was bolting back to the truck, her heels crunching in the dirt and debris as she scrambled to get back into the driver's seat.]

[She turned back to look at whoever was behind her.]

Hurry up and get back in the truck! We can't stay here!

[volumeone]

[Peter shoulders his way out of the crowd. That truck is ugly, looks slower than a second hand Vultarn landspeeder and there isn't even a real roof on the thing that he can see - it's like they looked at putting an ugly tarp on it and going yeah, I think that does the trick.

Still. Wheels. Moves faster than he can on foot.

Plus the driver's hot.

Peter hooks his boot on the tire's thick tread and hauls himself up so he can yell over the roar of the truck's engine]

Got room for shotgun?

[No way is he riding in the back where there aren't even real walls - he'd probably get bounced out for all he knows and end up stuck out there having to walk back with those corpses stumbling around out there.]

SHAW | OPEN

[brawn]

[Outside of the screaming at night and the occasional sounds of gunfire, the compound has been quiet. Peaceful, almost. And for a girl coming from the noise of a city that supposedly never sleeps, almost as disconcerting as the rest of the situation.

Shaw had already made the decision to resolve that problem, as well as all the unanswered questions attached to it - what had happened, how she'd been brought here, if the machine had anything to do with this or where any of the others were. Supplies collected from the kitchens, medical bay, shooting range, all loaded into the back of one of the jeeps, and Shaw about to climb in the front when the vehicle bay is suddenly lit with a bright flash. She braces, immediately, recognising what that means, not disappointed in the rumble through the compound that followed.

Not exactly what she was looking for to shake things up, but where there were explosions, there were things that could explode.

The plume of smoke isn't hard to spot breaking up the sky. She turns back to the jeep, climbing in and starting the engine. A quick diversion, then she'd get on the road east.]

[ironcurtain]

[Yep. That sure was an explosion. A loud one, too. While it'd be easy to just ignore it and continue sleeping...that wasn't exactly Heavy's style. Despite all the supposed danger outside, this place was surprisingly boring. Going outside would help alleviate that, but there really wasn't much point unless something was needed or he had some sort of excuse.

This counted as the latter.

Soon enough he was up and at 'em, weapons on him as he made his way to the vehicle bay. His intent was to hitch a ride, as going by himself didn't seem like the best of ideas. When he spots Shaw, despite not recognizing her as anyone he knows, he still decided to lumber on over.]

Are you sure it's good idea to leave by yourself?

[axeyou]

[She hears it before she sees it: the grumble of an engine, the crunch of tires on dirt. Walking in the shallow fringe of brush at the edge of the road, her axe ready in her hand, Johanna freezes.

It's not necessarily a sound that means danger. What she's really listening for is the shambling drag of footsteps. Ragged breathing. It's almost funny, how like an Arena this really is. Like picking off Victors all over again, except way easier, as long as she stays smart.

But whatever you want to call these things, however you want to fight them off, they're not in a state to be driving any kind of vehicle. It's not Johanna's state that prevented her from getting a vehicle of her own. It's the fact that she doesn't know how to drive. The Capitol only let certain people behind the wheels of the big industrial rigs used to drive the logs, or even the trucks to transport them out to the sites.

She's not very far outside of the compound--it's slow going on foot, no matter how quickly she walks. The grumble of the engine is close, just around the bend in the road--and, abruptly, Johanna makes up her mind. She shoves her axe over her shoulder, straps it back into place, just a few quick motions--and then she steps right into the center of the road. Her wave has a frantic edge.]

Hey-- Hey!

Wolfgang Bogdanow | Sense8 | OTA

[fightingiswhatido]

When something blows up, it gets Wolfgang's attention; he tends to notice when shit blows up. He gets the weapons he's hoardedfound and he's out the door and ready to go.

He knows it's shitty out there. But it's shitty in here too, in a different way, so what does he have to lose? If he dies, he dies. Maybe he'll find something. Maybe he'll find others. Off he goes, armed and unafraid. Why not?

Getting a jeep, he takes off to follow the smoke. If anyone wants to go, they are welcome.

Bruce Wayne | Dark Knight | OTA

[knightbynight]

Bruce doesn't work well with others - and doesn't have any experience with it, anyway - but once he realizes that there's been an explosion, he's suited up and out of there. There's something to be said for the suit and cowl; if nothing else it provides decent protection from things with teeth.

There is absolutely nothing to be said for the fact that he takes off in a jeep instead of a tank. He misses his tank. He liked his tank. The jeep, by comparison, is just frustrating..

The fact that he is still, stubbornly, refusing to even consider using a gun is arguably stupid.

That he refuses to kill people who are already dead isn't even arguable. It's stupid, he knows it's stupid, and he can't do it. Can't and won't do it until the choice is kill the already dead or sacrifice someone who is alive by every definition of the word.

[ OOC: Get him on the way there, save him from being stupid and refusing to kill a zombie/zombies to save himself, let him save *you* (Like anyone needs him), or grab him immediately after he's finally been pushed into that headshot. ]

[antagonize]

Because things always tend to go from bad to worse, Bruce is going to be lucky enough to have a witness when he's finally pushed into that headshot. Of course, lucky in this case happens to be a matter of perspective. Some people might find it rather unfortunate — but Jason would disagree. For him, this is a real treat. And if Bruce hasn't noticed him by the time he's close enough, Jason will just have to bring attention to himself by taking a second or two to golf clap. Not long enough to put himself at any real risk, because he's still ready to take out any zombie that comes his way, but. Well.

He likes to be dramatic, that way.

"Batman using lethal force?" he says, and it's not hard to miss how condescending he sounds. "Now I really believe it: the end times are upon us."

[enchangement]

There's a lot of purpose there. A drive like breathing, like madness, and a life full of thin lines. But there are other lives and other thoughts - even the horde possesses slivers and breaks that run through River's consciousness like fracturing glass under pressure, so she focuses in passing. He does what he can to keep them at bay without a second death, and it could be foolish, it could be prideful, it could be so many things.

It all depends on how he handles the inevitable.

Of course it happens - he has to choose the living, breathing, as opposed to the thinking shambling biting, doesn't he?

The gunshot draws a crowd and that has to be dealt with, though there's plenty of them up for the task. Mostly, they are the scrappy fighting kind, and mostly, the gunshots are few, and mostly, River was just coming to bring him a radio.

Mostly.

Either way, have a radio, Batman. Cowl and all. "What is your name today?"

Probably not the best way to say hello.

[debts]

Natasha's tired. It's a thought she doesn't like to contemplate because physical discomfort doesn't actually matter, in the grand scheme of things. Lethality is in every sinew and snap of her gun, and while accuracy has been in her purview, headshots have always been relegated to some other subtle mechanic, not the cold spy warfare that the Black Widow wears as her mantle. But she goes anyway.

There's soot in her hair, on her cheek, and the fire's hot against her body even through the tac-suit. She has a radio on her belt, just the one, and is pinned for a moment against a vehicle. The zombie weighs almost nothing but she can smell how close it is, how wretched and putrid, how the skin sloughs off its face and gums are black and rancid.

Natasha turns her head away from it and grits her teeth. Fires her gun right into its skull and ducks so as not to get hit with the brain matter. She's breathing hard for a moment, and doesn't miss the other undead body that throws itself at her. She doesn't miss the bullet that sings past and saves her life, either. Natasha straightens like nothing's just happened, like it's kinship and not fear that rattles up and down her spine. Her mouth cuts sharp.

"I'd call you my white knight, but."

Tina | OTA

[wyld_child]

A) Radios

With a big crate of radios just lying there, Tina was not going to leave without one. She didn’t know who she’d end up calling, exactly, but it must be handy to have one of these. The little girl jumps up until she’s half-hanging into the crate with her feet kicking in the air.

“Gonna get me some radios~. Gonna call for a pepperoni pizza~. Gonna put some crumpets on that bio-tch cause it makes it taste gooood!~” She’s singing… some kind of song what the hell is that.

When she’s grabbed one, she drops her feet to the ground and lands. “BOOYAH!” The radio is held up high with triumph as a flash of light EXPLODES in the background and a drop screen declares ‘YOU HAVE FOUND 1 RADIO!’ Or… maybe you’re just seeing things don’t be ridiculous this isn’t a video game.

The radio is tucked into her belt.

B) The Engine

They didn’t have long before the zombies came around to try and bite their butts, so Tina was going to get what she could out of the wreckage. Luckily she had a whole lot of pockets to carry things in, though she couldn’t carry anything too big due to her size. The thirteen year old moves around some flaming debris as if it were a walk in the park and shimmies her way under some other things to get into what remains of the engine car.

“Giiirl, you look a mess!” She says to a panel as she pries it open with a screwdriver and starts ripping out cables. You can’t ever have too many cables. Or wires. And things. They’re useful for all kinds of stuff. Not to mention some parts here or there. All of this could turnin to something really useful later on! But she’s going to grab what she can while she can.

steph brown | dcu | ota

[controlledvariable]

compound

[As soon as the explosion rocks the compound, Steph is moving, checking that everyone is okay as she runs, but her priority is to get up to the roof. From there, she can see the plume of smoke in the distance, and is relieved that she's always in her Batgirl suit, since there might not be time to waste.

Without pausing for breath, she grapples down from the roof and runs towards the garage. Her truck is there, marked as hers by the purple Bat-symbol she's spray painted on the side, as well as the simple fact that the keys are in her pocket.

She drives the car to the gate, then sticks her head out the window.]

Anyone who wants a lift better hop on now! You've got a minute.

[And then she's leaving.]

crash site

[Steph spends most of her time alternating between playing cavalry, which mostly involves using the truck to run over a few zombies or using her batarangs (mostly the blunt ones) to incapacitate the damn things.

Occasionally she's on foot, her staff her primary weapon against the zombies, though sometimes kicks and punches work just as well to take the zombies down. She doesn't like killing them, in case there really is a way to solve this, but they need to prioritize the people who are alive now.

If anyone needs a rescue, she can be there quickly, since her focus is on keeping everyone else safe while they check out the site.]

compound

[cassassin]

[AAAAAAAAAND with a quick jump look who's in for the trip. In full sweltering Batgirl black. the sacrifices she makes.]

Wouldn't miss it.

compound

[notafraidofyou]

[Bright lights? Explosions? Count Tim in. He hasn't had anything interesting to do for ages. And look--it's one of his favorite new friends. Hop, hop.]

Nice ride. Almost makes up for not having an awesome bike, huh?

johanna mason || ota

[axeyou]

. on the road .

A loud crack, a plume of smoke: that's begging for investigation. Johanna might be curious, but she's not stupid. In the Hunger Games, you get what you can out of the Cornucopia and you get out before the bloodbath. Or you pick up weapons as you find them, shed by the people who died before you.

Or: you wait it out. Let everyone rush in first, and see what happens. So while other people were climbing up onto what vehicles they could find, forming up into teams and finding strength in numbers, Johanna set off on her own. Keeping to the fringe of brush at the side of the road, watching the vehicles go past. Wary and cautious, she walks, listening for the tell-tale crack of a twig, the shuffle of footsteps. The sound of shambling approach. She's deadly with her axe. She'll be fine.

Sometimes she stops, and listens, head cocked, senses all pricked. If a car comes down the road, she might stop it and climb aboard. She might take it, if it seems like she can take it. She would get there faster, that's for sure--but she's not asking for a ride. Not when it's easier to get what she wants in some other way.

. crash site .

When Johanna gets to the site, she waits, first. Regardless of who she's arrived with, regardless of what's happened before this point, she's still not going to run in there and join the frenzy--which has calmed by now. She's late enough to arrive that other people have already been and gone, but early enough that they haven't yet been joined by any of those things. There's still a sizable enough crowd divvying up the loot that's been dropped.

Radios. And that's it. Not that they're nothing, but still. Johanna observes for a few moments in the shadows of the trees, running her thumb along the edge of her axe's blade--never on the angle that cuts her finger, but slow, and thoughtful.

Then she goes to get a radio of her own. And a second, and a third, while she's there, grabs them off of the pile and shoves them into her knapsack. A forth, because why not. No one is stopping her, and no one better think about stopping her.

. headed back .

She's not alone and she knows it.

Eyes set grimly forward, Johanna keeps to her same path. On this return journey, she's dared to duck a little deeper into the woods, still with the road in her line of sight. This is the closest that she's come to these things. She doesn't like them. It isn't cowardice to be well aware of the fact that the sooner she's behind a wall, the better.

A loud snap of a twig freezes her--but only for a moment. Then she's got her back against a tree, her axe gripped in both hands, held crossed over her body, the head of it touched to her shoulder. She knows better than to breathe loudly in her fear. She knows better than to hold her breath, too. This might be a tight spot, but like she's not lived through tighter before.

Another snap of a twig, and another. Johanna breathes out, once. Counts to three. Breathes in, and then steps from behind the tree, swinging the axe back as she does, with force enough that it will bury in the skull of whoever--or whatever--the hell is stalking her. Silent, and angry, and deadly.

[if we had pre-planned stuff - shoehorn your way on in to these, or lmk and I'll do something more customized! also brackets or prose I'm good either way.]

on the road

[machaera]

[ Forever drives past the figure on her first pass. Her thoughts are on the noise, the commotion, the goal, and it takes a moment for the detail (the woman) to filter back in. Someone alive. Someone on foot. Someone alone.

Someone asking for the shamblers to sink their claws in. Even knowing what Father would say, that hesitation is weakness, she finds herself wavering anyway. She is wasting her time, if she turns back now.

But what she needs is information. Anyone who’s spent more time in the compound than she has can give her something she needs.

She doubles back and draws to a stop, bike idling, and eyes the woman over dark sunglasses. ]

Do you need a lift?

crash site

[antagonize]

Planning to chat yourself up?

[... Says the guy who grabbed at least two radios for himself. Hypocrisy is fun.

But he's not stopping her. He's just making commentary.]

shoves into this thread.

[cleave]

Hey.

[ scott's eyes skip from the ax back to johanna's pack. there isn't time to quibble over who's doing what, or scott assumes there isn't. being out here feels exposed, and the lack of zombies in their immediate vicinity doesn't ease scott's worries. but he still steps up beside johanna, unafraid. ]

Are you taking those back for the people who couldn't come out?

[ because scott has his fair share squirreled away to bring back, one for each teen wolf to be sure, and the extras will go around. but he isn't sure of johanna's motives, and he's not above suspicion, in spite of his hopes for the better. ]

Forever Carlyle | Lazarus | OTA

[machaera]

a )

[ There's a crowd gathered by the time Forever arrives. She stashes her bike and collects three radios from the wreckage, dropping two into her bag and stopping to examine the first. The shambling catches her ear; in one smooth motion her gun is in her hand. ]

Get down. [ And she'll empty her clip into the few encroaching until the bodies stop moving. ]


b )

[ With ammunition a commodity she fires with care for a while; each shot sighted with the precision of a scalpel. The effect on the horde is small, then miniscule, then nothing. Forever sees them swallowing the holes, spilling through every path she creates.

The sword is next. The bodies fall easily under the blade, and Forever moves to reduce (prevent) living casualties. The loss is needless. ]


c )

[ Once the forgone conclusion is clear, she sheaths the sword and shoulders her bag, moving with purposeful strides in the direction of the bushes where her bike is stashed. ]

Let's move. [ She’ll go with the assumption that anyone who happens to still be in her vicinity will have come to the same conclusion. ]

They won't stop until we clear the train.

jason todd / dc comics / ota

[antagonize]

one.

[So. An explosion. That's a new one. Definitely something that warrants further investigation, and even if he isn't sure of what he's going to find out there, he's immediately grabbing his gear and heading out by himself. Others are probably going to get curious pretty soon, and he'd rather check it out without too much of a crowd.

Which is a bad idea, because wow those are a lot of zombies. Slow zombies, but zombies nonetheless. Which means, well — that this guy and his ridiculous red helmet can be found doing the following things at or near the site of the crash:

A) Dramatically hitching rides, via acrobatic flips or what-have-you. If the driver is competent enough, he'll be more than content to decapitate any zombies who try to get in the way. But if the driver is just too slow? Move over, because he's totally shoving them to the nearest empty seat and taking over. Please put on your seat belt......

B) Being sensible and using anything but his firearms to take down the zombies. If your character is currently fighting their way through the horde, don't mind him as he lends a hand. If your character is squishy and two seconds away from getting their face eaten by a zombie? Assume he just stabbed it through the back of its head, because saving people in need is a compulsion by this point.

C) ... Alternatively, he can also be the asshole who fires his gun in the middle of the zombie horde, making it double in size. Hahaha... Insert Simple Plan lyrics here.]

two.

[Beat up from fighting the horde or not, he's not exactly inclined to return to the compound just yet... So he'll be heading for the radio tower, regardless of whether or not anyone else decides to do the same. That just means he has dibs on tinkering with the machinery, trying to get whoever it was they heard on the speakers back on.

Too bad it's hopeless, but. Well. He doesn't know that yet. Feel free to ask what the heck he's doing, after the nth time he mumbles something to himself.]

three.

[Wildcard option! If we plotted something out that doesn't quite fit in with the scenarios above, go for it here. Similarly, if we didn't hash anything out but you still want something different, toss it in.]

two

[notafraidofyou]

[Tim caught a ride to the site with Steph-Batgirl, but they split up when they got here--there's plenty to do for everyone. And once he's got the lay of the land (and fortunately no zombie bites), he's off exploring again. Keeping several steps ahead of the zombie horde is a challenge, but it's not like he's not up for it.

He's really got to get a staff. Dodging and avoiding is all well and good, but it's pretty energy-intensive, and it would be nice to have the kind of defense a good offense would offer. Fists and a couple of pocket knives don't give him nearly enough distance to be comfortable.

He's musing on that thought as he makes his way to the radio tower. He doesn't really expect to be able to do much, but if there's someone else there, he's willing to offer a hand. And there is a guy there--muttering to himself.]

Can I offer a hand?

two

[shuckit]

[ thomas doesn't ask what he's doing, because it seems fairly obvious - trying to fix it. thomas should know this. he did, once, before the swipe erased it all. he'd been on one of the other consoles, trying to kickstart his memory, hoping something, anything, filters back in about working with radio transmitters and frequencies. nothing, thus far, or at least nothing that will really help him in a big way.

instead, he's moving over to this guy, as he seems to know what he's doing, and crouches down on the other side of the machinery from him. ]

How do I help? [ tell him what to do, broski, he wants to get this shit done. ]

River Tam ; Firefly : ota

[enchangement]

@ the compound

[ The noise wakes River from her state of near-sleep, difficult to obtain surrounded by foreign thoughts and ideas as she is. Surrounded by danger, well...she's a little used to that.

The brightness in the sky is vivid against her eyelids and she climbs down from the rooftop of one of the buildings and starts to run.]

@ the trainwreck

[ Something has to be here. Something useful, something not on fire. River intends to find it. She'll probably find you instead. ]

omg :3 hi river. let's say trainwreck.

[cleave]

[ scott's loitering. there's still people who haven't moved on, and it isn't that scott thinks no one can take care of themselves, but if a shambling herd of zombie starts approaching, chances are scott will hear it before anyone else. he's straining so hard listening for the warning zombie noises that when river brushes by him scott nearly jumps out of his skin. ]

Um. Hi?

[ he ventures, looking down at her. ]

Are you going to take a radio?

Thomas | The Maze Runner | OTA!

[shuckit]

heading out to investigate;

[ well. that's not a very subtle clue. a more reasonable person would probably get that this is probably a trap - something that obvious going on just after they wake up with all these clues trying to breadcrumb them to uncover whatever they were brought here to take care of. or suffer from. whatever.

but thomas doesn't have a great track record for reasonable. at least, he grabs his handgun, the shotgun, throwing knives, machete, and his backpack stuffed with some light supplies before making his way to the gate. he probably should wait until the others organize - go in a group, something like that. but what if there's only something there for a short period of time? what is all the freaks out there will have everything overrun before the compound can get it together? nah. he's going now.

so, see a scrawny little 16 year old heading resolutely towards the gate of the compound, shouldering it open, and slipping out, breaking into a steady run the second he's out of the walls. ]

crawling through the train mid-zombies;

[ this is chaos. he was right in thinking the flash would attract the zombies, though thankfully most of the others from the compound showed up before the horde really formed up. there's others outside, holding off the zombies, and thomas has seen a few of them killing the... zombies... in pretty brutal ways. momentarily, he hopes that kieren isn't here to see this. it's not pretty, but, thomas can't really find it in him to blame those killing. in a situation like this, even if Thomas doesn't stomach offing them well, there's no real way to get out with trying to just restrain all of them.

instead, he tries to push it out of his head, focuses on the train, and trying to dig through it for anything - survivors, something they can salvage, information, weapons, food, anything. what he does hear is the man on the intercom, and thomas freezes, standing up from where he'd just crawled into another train car through a window, squinting his eyes as he tries to listen. ] What's he... Hey! Hey, come gimme a boost!

[ whoever else is inside the car, whoever's nearest to him, that's who he's pointing at, as he steps over rubble to make his way to the wall the intercom is hanging from, trying to stand on a wrecked passenger bench to reach his ear up to the speaker, to listen closer. ]

radio tower;

The shank on the train intercom - he said we needed to find something, go somewhere, but we didn't hear what or where.

[ thomas is explaining to anyone nearby who hadn't been inside the train when the message played, as he searches around inside the radio tower, crawling under a console to pick through the wires, hoping some part of his memory that once knew what to do with these might clear. ]

Interference whacked the stream, but if we can clear it up, we can get him back.

[ yeah he... can not remember enough about wiring to do this on his own, and it's the most frustrating thing in the world right now. they need to get to him, before he's gone. like everyone else that could've helped them here. ]

Does anyone know how to work this klunk?

wildcard;

[ have a different idea? none of these quite fit? hit me with it! ]

train!

[bronzini]

[ gwen waited around in the lab basically as long as she could, letting other people investigate while she adhered to her civilian status and stayed behind. but that kind of sensible attitude's only lasted so long, and somehow between then and now she's managed to slip through the chaos and get to the train without getting in anyone's way. she's helpful in her own fashion, providing support mostly.

how she wound up in the train at the same time as thomas is anyone's guess, but she hears the garbled message coming through on the intercom and she freezes, whirling around to try and locate its source.

instead, it's thomas she runs into first. and she's not even going to hesitate before following through on trying to boost him up because she might not be able to shoot a gun or swing a sword but heavy lifting, she can manage. ]

Charles Xavier | Closed to Gwen/OTA

[mentalisolate]

{at the compound - closed to Gwen Stacey}
People are off going to investigate whatever exploded like that and here Charles is, stuck trying to catch someone's attention outside. He wants to go look, naturally, is feeling a little bit trapped to be perfectly honest, but he's hardly about to go wheeling off across the wastes in his chair. But so many people don't seem to welcome another passenger, or wouldn't welcome his difficulty if he asked them. He's skimming, of course, riffling through minds before even bothering with a verbal question.

So it doesn't take him long to notice the girl from the laboratory. He tugs very gently and as subtly as he can to draw her attention as he waves at her, one hand on a wheel, ready to move over. She was nice enough. Maybe she'll help him out.

{by the train]
He can't climb into the wreck, obviously, but he's leaning towards the entrances, moving around it to look, stepping carefully inside through the vehicle of the minds exploring it. Now, radios, if they have power, if they can get them working, this is a worthwhile excursion after all. He'll have to get someone to bring him one o--oh. Oh no. Oh god. He wheels himself around, wavers between the vehicles again and hiding himself somewhere around the train. What an idiot he's been. He should be working with his limitations, not fighting against them. He should have followed from the compound. He should have done a bloody lot of things it's too late for, now.

When the explorers start coming out of the train, they'll find a man in a wheelchair, expression one big wince, fingers pressed to his temple. It's like scrambling after wisps of thought that slip away from him as he tries to seize them. Every so often he'll manage to get a zombie to freeze, but it's a minor victory with a horde still ambling forward. If only he was more in practise, if only he had Cerebro...

Basically, he looks either like an idiot, or like someone who's having some sort of fit--or has possibly frozen in fear.

[bronzini]

Gwen's waited long enough as far as she's concerned. She stayed behind through the initial rush, giving other, more combat-ready participants the chance to head out first. Talking with some of the others and reading the notes, she's been surprised to find that not everyone can drive. That much, at least, doesn't phase her. She can get behind the wheel and she's starting to see that there's value in that, at least.

Something makes her look around, so that she catches sight of Charles from the lab. To say that she breaks into a run at the sight of him would be - well, entirely accurate. He's older than her and seems perfectly capable, but that doesn't stop her worrying.

"Hi - hey. You all right? As all right as we get in these circumstances, I mean."

Obviously.

"I was just..." she pauses, looking over her shoulder, "breaking out of my science lab shackles. You wanna hit the road with me?"