i_digmummies (i_digmummies) wrote in we_coexist, @ 2011-09-21 04:15:00 |
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Entry tags: | amelia peabody, winifred burkle |
Utter Disaster (Narrative/Open)
While the storm had raged, Amelia had been stuck in her apartment. She'd even been forced to head to the basement at one point, after spotting a tornado on the horizon. While the scholar in her wanted to witness it all first hand, she'd had enough sense to lay low until it was over. Common sense, and no small amount of fear. While she seldom succumbed to such emotion, this storm was more than she had ever seen, and the destruction following its wake was enough to scare even her. She could not recall ever witnessing such a powerful storm.
Once things had calmed down enough to make travel a possibility, Amelia put on her jeans and a pair of rubber boots that she really couldn't remember buying. She grabbed a few flashlights, her emergency tool belt, and her parasol, then gingerly made her way through the devastation to the Library. She needed to know if everything was alright there. She considered her position and the exhibition area a gift from the City as much as appropriate compensation for dragging her here and forcing her to face the truth about herself. Present or appeasement, Amelia took her responsibility very seriously. Besides, she enjoyed her work.
Her heart sunk when she saw how dark and deserted it looked. It was to be expected; as far as she knew a good portion of the City had been without power for many hours now, but to see a large public location in that state was disheartening. There were a few lights on, obviously running on a back-up generator, just enough that she could see all was not as it should be. There were several broken windows, and books and papers were scattered throughout the main area. She turned on her flashlight, sending the beam of light throughout the area.
"HELLO? ANYONE HERE?" She shouted into the seemingly dead building, but her call was met with silence.
Amelia made her way toward the exhibition hall and her office, hoping it wasn't any worse there. Just as she reached her office, she heard a distinct splashing as she walked. Not good. She cast the light toward the floor, seeing immediately the standing water before her. She crept forward cautiously, now seeing her entire section of the Library was over a foot deep in water.
"Damnation!" It was seldom she swore, much less in the favorite phrase of her husband. A husband that really wasn't a husband...she pushed the thought from her mind as it caught her off guard. Now was not the time to deal with the what-if's of being a figment of someone else's imagination. There were valuable pieces in there, pieces that belonged to other people's lives, past and present. And she was going to do all she could to salvage what could be saved.
With a sigh, Amelia set the flashlight down on the nearest surface and rolled up her sleeves. She sloshed her way through the hall, placing the flashlights she was grateful she had brought in various strategic locations. Now that she had a fair amount of light, she could see what a mess the entire hall was in. This was going to take hours and hours to clear out and determine what could be saved, and what would have to be disposed of.
"Alright, Peabody, it won't clean up itself," she admonished herself. "Best get started."
The City was going to owe her for this.