InsaneJournal

WHO: Molly Suresh & some NPC locals (with the Master at the end)
WHAT: An act of heroism has dire consequences.
WHEN: Early evening
WHERE: The streets of Colligo.
RATING: PGish (if that); contains character death
STATUS: Complete; Narrative

In retrospect, Molly had to admit that her plan wasn't exactly a well thought out one. She'd left her apartment with the best of intentions and, not one, but two, fully functioning gas masks, true, but she had failed to take into account certain aspects of the gas that was permeating the air. Such as its actual ingredients. Which, while not something most would really think about either, was something she knew better than to overlook. Yet she'd done so. She'd heard the screams of help and had gone out to find the source and do what she could. Stumbling over bodies, tripping twice over discarded bicycles on the sidewalk, Molly relied far more on her ability than her actual vision to finally reach her destination. But even with her ability having given her a glimpse, she still hadn't been prepared for what she'd discovered.

Most people who were brought to Colligo tended to look at the locals as "less than". They were often referred to almost as though they were a second class citizen and were often the source of jokes by many non-locals. Molly, however, had a slightly different view about them. To her, they were the original inhabitants of the city. They fully functioning lives that were just as important to them as her life was to her, and they deserved to be treated like anyone else, if not a bit better. After all, they were there first.

So while some people might have taken one look at the local woman and her child, and possibly moved on, Molly couldn't bring herself to do that. Instead she did the opposite. She immediately moved toward the hysterical mother, eyes sweeping quickly over the young boy clinging to the woman's side. Then she wordlessly held out the mask she was carrying and, as soon as the woman had taken it from her, Molly took it one step further.

She pulled off her own mask and held it out to be taken as well.

Precious seconds ticked by with her holding her breath as she silently argued with the woman to take the mask, finally winning out about the times her lungs began to burn for much needed oxygen. Unable to help it, she managed to clamp her hand over her mouth as she drew in a breath, hoping to stave off too much inhalation of the gas. Eyes stinging from the toxin floating about, Molly waited until both child and mother were masked up and safe - or at least a bit safer - from harm before she immediately turned and began making her way back home.

She was about halfway there when she realized her mistake. Initially, she'd assumed she'd just suffer the effects as others seemed to have done. She'd face some of her fears (like her parents returning from the dead and hating her for her life choices), she'd probably discover some new ones (such as being tortured by a Hellgod again), and that would be that. That, however, was not exactly what was happening. No, instead, her heart was racing a mile a minute and breathing, no matter how hard she tried, was becoming all but impossible. It took a few more precious seconds, with her now stopped fully in her tracks and doubled over, hands on knees, hoping for some air that couldn't seem to reach her, that she figured out exactly what was going on.

She was having an allergic reaction. Something in the toxin was causing her throat to swell and her lips and tongue to tingle. Still trying to gasp for air, Molly tried to get to her PDA to contact someone for help. The Doctor, she knew, would be able to reverse the effects easily enough. He just had to know she was in trouble, first. Unfortunately, she realized a second later, in her haste to leave to help, she'd forgotten her PDA. She could see it, in her mind's eye, neatly plugged into the wall beside her computer. Ready for her to use whenever she returned. Which wasn't going to be for a while, if at all, if she didn't get some help.

Stumbling a few more steps, hoping to find someone, anyone, Molly's legs finally gave out and she collapsed in a heap on the sidewalk. Her body convulsed once, twice, three times, and her eyes rolled back into her head. Her last thought, in the agonizing seconds that ticked by as her brain slowly shut down, was that she really hoped someone remembered to feed her dog.