saveourearth | Thanks, Sadie [Mingle]

Date: 24th of February
Characters: OPEN!

After the earthquake on the 19th of January, the ground had been quiet. Or that was at least what everyone assumed; those who went to the meeting and listened to Walter speak might know that that was not exactly the case. Starting on the 9th of February, the earth had started to be shaken by the tiniest of tremors again, too small to be noticed by the everyday citizen, but not too small to escape seismic readers. Not that the public was told about this; why cause a panic? Things were strange enough these days in Mossgate Council.

Then, around 5am on the 24th, there is the most gentle shaking of the earth, only just strong enough to shake the leaves of some room plants, but noticeable. No damage is caused this time. At least not by the earthquake.

Because shortly after, a wave rolls towards the coastline of Mossgate. And not just any wave. It's a small tsunami wave, measuring about 1 metre at the top when it hits the shore and pressing up into the mouth of the river to reach a maximum height of 1.3m before it ebbs away.

The damage this time is substantial. Cars have been flushed into others, storefronts are shattered, the ground floors or many houses flooded and gardens torn apart. Some of the boats from the harbour sit somewhere inside the town now, and a ferry has crashed into the harbour office. By virtue of the very early hour and massive luck, there are barely any casualties - no more than one would expect from a major storm or flooding.

But Mossgate and Tarwich are in shock, and the descending media certainly don't help.

And every single Numbered in the echo boundary has received a plot echo, granted about a few minutes before the wave hit the shore.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The verbal backspace might have gotten an amused reaction - if their current situation weren't quite so distressing!

"Tsunami!"

He's decoding HTML and associated website coding in his own head as fast as he can to try and put the picture together - which, again, something that would bear much comment if all these things weren't happening so close together - and what Walter can figure out so far isn't pretty.

"We probably aren't even the worst hit..."

Probably, since he can't see what's in front of him.

Walter can laugh about it later, with his effectively perfect memory. Unless the memory of the emotions of the moment remain just as strong, overriding the distance of time to separate him from the distress...?

Either way, Russell sucks in a sharp breath.

"Down at the riverfront, they'd be... That's what Chad was shouting about!"

At least up on this street, they're slightly above water level. Maybe that helped prevent too much damage to the walls themselves.

"Are there more waves coming, do you see?"

He pulls forward a step or two into the hallway, cringing at the debris scratching at his legs as the water keeps pouring in. Staying put for this seems like a terrible idea, but where do they go?

"Do we even have an evacuation center for this...?"

That varied depending as much on his current headspace as it did that in the memory - a sort of emotional rock-paper-scissors, as it were.

"Hopefully Chad can get help, and soon. If he's down there, he's doubtless in trouble."

Walter sucks in a breath, and goes (virtually) digging.

"No, no immediate sign. It's like it was down at Moss River- there was one big wave after Sadie found what was down at the mouth, but no other."

The other question gets only a weary sigh.

"Better question is, can we get there while everyone's like this? The open streets are going to be worse off than any one flat. Whoever's running emergency transport may have troubles of their own."

"If it's just this, I don't mind... staying..."

Russell says as much, but he surveys the flooded floor with a grimace and it shows in his tone and hesitation.

"...Wait, what wave?"

He jerks around to stare at Walter, tugging a little too hard on the still clasped arm.

"Sadie found something, and made a wave... Did I hear this story?"

"It came up at the meeting."

Though Sadie never did clarify if the glow of magic had been her's or the river's own.

"She also took footage - I could ask Sadie to share it again."

Just not necessarily in a mode Walter could access - e.g., online.

"Is it safe to move and scope things out, or is it better if I stay put?"

Russell claps his spare hand to his face.

"Right, right, the whole... video they showed."

No need right this moment, when the mix of flood and early morning hours has him distracted a dozen different ways. Perhaps later.

"I don't know, honest," he says, apologetically. "If that was the only wave... There's some debris, watch yo- walk carefully, but it should start going back to sea, eventually. If there's another wave... I don't know where's safe."

He's a beacon of sunlight and optimism, this time of day. And here he's stuck being the eyes for Walter, who's even more prone to anxiety. They may need to call for help, or something.

Walter debates rolling his eyes - earned reaction or no, Russell might not even notice given how they're both preoccupied - but instead sighs and sets his shoulders.

"Whatever we do, we should start blocking off the doorways. Keep the water channeled down the hallway. And if you're heading out in the hall, so am I."

He doesn't actually want to be trapped in his room - the guilt of inaction would make a wreck of him. Even when his own (literal) worldview's taken a hit, there's still too much going on.

"If not... we'd better be quick, all the same."

Thanks, Sadie [Mingle]

rip his sense of peace (at least until he adjusts)

and then later it will only get more

But then, it'll be doing the same for everyone else as well. =P

except the lucky few staying fully human, russell would grumble

lucky is relative; look at Conan/Shinichi's life!

he wants to keep his blissful ignorant envy

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