Imogen grinned at Luke's smart-alec response, but quickly smothered it before Tony spotted her.

The rain was coming down even harder. Even without a mirror, Imogen knew she looked like a drowned rat, and her wet jumpsuit was starting to stick.

"Should've gone commando," she said to Dan.

Erica paused to twist the rainwater from her hair and pull its length to one side of her neck. Looking at the sky, she silently cursed the situation. It was bad enough they had to pick up garbage, but the rain just added insult to injury. And Marko's looming presence added an oppressive pall that made a gloomy day into a suffocating labor of misery.

With a deep breath, Erica continued. How could there be so much garbage here. If she didn't know better, she might have accused Marko of littering the grounds himself, just to have something for his prisoner to do. She might have almost believed he arranged for the weather.  It wasn't that cold, but her wet clothes sucked the heat from her. Absurd as they were, her entertaining thoughts helped to distract her from her chattering teeth and shivering bones.

Noticing Erica’s obvious discomfort with the wet and the cold, Luke called over to Tony. ”Hey, why don’t you let Erica take a break for a bit. I’m sure you don’t want to have to report a case of pneumonia that occurred on your watch. I’ll finish up her area as well as my own.”

Luke knew that any appeal to Tony’s humanity would just fall flat so he highlighted the thing Tony cared about most - his own skin.

Glancing to Erica he nodded his head in the direction of the door. ”Go on in and get warm. I’m sure Mr. Marko wouldn’t want to have to take you to the hospital or to have to do any paperwork explaining why a healthy person suddenly fell ill . I mean that cough of yours sounds pretty bad.”

Erica hadn’t coughed at all, but Luke looked to her expectantly as if encouraging her to play up her sudden illness.

"Cut your attitude Luke. Now. 6 more months added. Keep going. Go on. And it won't kick in that fast. You think I'm a idiot? For all I know she's coughing on cue. Teenagers will do whatever they can to not do a damn bit of work and I did not ask or tell Erica to help you with the trash. I'm not your babysitter." Tony seems to get rather aggrivated "Erica, go inside." Might as well be safe at least. One less person that can distract Luke.

Thunder begins to roll in and lighting forms but not near the center. It gets a bit darker. Tony watches the group.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:45, Wed 08 Mar 2023.

Erica caught onto Luke's con, but as she decided on whether she wanted to risk going along, Marko interrupted. He had also caught on, and he had a lot to say about that and about how teens shirk responsibility and a bunch of other offensive innuendos. Maybe it was just his nature. No, scratch that, it was definitely in his nature. Despite all that, he did excuse her. She had mixed feelings about it, but the shivering and her teeth clattering together won out.

Looking around at everyone, she picked up her bag of trash, and scurried back to the shelter of the building. "Thank you, Mr.Marko." She glanced her thanks to Luke.

Almost To Community Center: Main Hall
This message was last edited by the player at 02:05, Tue 21 Mar 2023.

The rain continued to pelt down over Luke as he frowned at Tony. He wasn't sure that the man could arbitrarily add months to his sentence. Sure, he could claim that Luke was insubordinate but ultimately the court would have to rule on the matter. Luke made a mental note to mention this to his lawyer the next time he had a chance to contact him. Maybe he could get some advice on how best to document Tony's abuse so something could be done about the petty tyrant.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:31, Wed 08 Mar 2023.

Jenessa came back out and over to where the tools are for scraping off the paint from the walls as she got to work.  She glanced over at where Luke was being made to collect trash from the ground in the rain.

Mr Marko was being a sorta despot who got off on lording it over others.  She was going to make it a point to try to stay out of his targeting. She got to work on scraping paint off of the wall as she tried to gauge the others who are stuck here.

She had gotten back just in time to see Erica getting sent inside, soaked to the bone from the rain and teeth chattering as she gave the blonde a quick, small smile in acknowledgement. Fortunately she was sheltered from the rain where she was scraping away, finding it tough going since she wasn't physically strong.  Under normal circumstances, she might have questioned on why they were still outside as the weather worsened, but Mr Marko didn't seem to be a reasonable person, from what she had seen.

Tony slips away as the group has finished up with their tasks. When Erica goes to go inside. lighting begins to strike down and slams into the ground sending her sailing into the air and she falls into the water! And then more lighting strike. One of which slams into the ground near the rest of the geoup. They all are thrown in different directions. Ironically, they don't seem harmed, not even remotetly but they are indeed probably scared to death. The weather starts to hail. First rain now lighting and now hail? It makes no sense.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:24, Tue 21 Mar 2023.

Luke luckily landed on top of his garbage bag, the soft paper and aluminum cans within cushioning his landing as he was thrown to the ground after being struck by the lightning. He was briefly knocked unconscious, but regained his senses as the hail started pelting his prone form. He slowly stood up, unclear as to exactly what happened. The bolt of another lightning strike and the associated thunder clap made it clear that he had barely escaped getting electrocuted. He looked around through the pelting storm, seeing some of the others straggling to their feet as well. He couldn't make out exactly who was still outside with him, but he called out, "Hey...get inside. The storm is right over us."

Luke didn't know if any of them heard him, but he made a mad dash for the interior, afraid that another stray bolt might zap him before he made it indoors.

==> To the Community Center Main Room
This message was last edited by the player at 01:41, Tue 21 Mar 2023.

As Erica hunched and hugged herself against the rain, she shuffled towards the door with hasty steps. With the cold getting into her bones, she couldn't get there fast enough. Just as it looked like warmth and shelter was within grasp the world went white. It was an odd sensation, feeling like she had been hit by a truck, but without pain. Then the world was cold again. And black.

A moment? A heart beat? Erica's eyes opened to an angry sky. Water was around her, but somehow she was floating. Her bones shook, but not just from the chill. That bolt from the sky hit so close to her that every hair on her body stood straight out at 90 degree angles and danced with turbulent surface of the lake. How she didn't sink and drown was beyond her ability to fathom, at least in that moment. Maybe it was because her mind was reeling. In fact, panic bubbled in her chest at the idea of how close she came to being struck by the lightning. She felt certain that another would hit soon, but what she didn't expect was the rain to become balls of ice pelting her skin.

Still not completely rational, Erica thrashed in the wet, turning over to kick and stroke to the lake edge amid the hail and wind with the world blanking out in a field of white every few seconds. The bank was steep with wet grass, but somehow she was able to scramble up the slope. There would be no pause, as the doors were in sight.

==> To the Community Center Main Room
This message was last edited by the player at 22:11, Tue 21 Mar 2023.

Jenessa was just putting her tools away when she got hit with lightning, she didn't even have time to wonder what was going on.  One moment, rain was drenching, Tony had called for them to g inside and the next the world went white and she find herself crumpled on the ground at least ten feet from where she had been.  Eyes wide with shock, she jumped to her feet and as Luke called for everyone to head inside, she didn't hesitate to start running in that direction as hail started to fall onto the courtyard!

==> To the Community Center Main Room
This message was last edited by the player at 03:18, Tue 21 Mar 2023.

Dan gets thrown by the lightning. As he lies on the ground, cursing his luck, wondering how it gets any worse, he thinks "have I wet myself?"

He then remembers how much rain was pouring down the jumpsuit before he got hit, and decides it's just rainwater. He gets up with a moan, and runs inside.

==> To the Community Center Main Room

There was a flash, and Imogen found herself lying on the grass.

She stared wide-eyed at the sky for a moment, nerves jangling, unable to move as she processed what had happened. Then the unpleasant sensation of a wet backside made her scramble up and dash after the others.

==> To the Community Centre Main Room

From the Community Center Main Room

Bursting through the doors, Erica rushed outside. She didn't run, but walked quickly. It took a moment to get her bearings, but once she found the way to the road, she headed there. She wished that she had paid attention when then brought her in so she would have a place to go, but anywhere was better than where she was. There would be someplace. A church or a shelter or even a bridge. She had no money, but earning some cash would be easy. There was always a strip club that was hiring or if necessary there was the other job. All that could be worked out later. For now, she needed distance.

Getting outside, Jenessa stopped and placed a hand on a wall to steady herself as she looked around for Erica!  "Erica!  Erica!"

All is still within the community center. Besides the blood and the two lying on top of eachother. Jes seems to be correct-neither one had any pulse. Or so she thought. Maybe they are dead. Hard to tell but they sure ain't moving.

Once everyone charges after Erica who seems to have lost her mind, they don't see her. She turns and keeps walking. Still outside the center on the road and she starts to walk just as a car pulls down into the parking lot.

Still marching towards the main road, Erica spotted the car as it turned into the community center. Whoever it was was about to find out what happened there, and there she was in plain view, fleeing the scene. Not that it mattered, when the police showed up, the others were going to explain what happened and they'd know exactly who to go looking for anyway. There was nowhere to go but forward.

Jenessa stopped calling as she didn't see Erica, but then a car pulls up and was starting to park.  This was bad, she went rushing back inside to warn everyone else about the coming people.

--> Main Room

Someone gets out of the car and goes into the center. There seems to be no one on the street with the storm hit. Some areas have power, some do not.  You get a urge to go back but its just a urge.

Erica had no idea why she had the urge to go back. Actually she did. She felt guilty. She left everyone back at the center holding the bag. Even if they told the truth, it's possible they wouldn't be believed. But as long as they could blame her, they might have an out. She should go back, but she didn't want to go to prison for murder. As she looked up and down the empty streets, she hesitated.

There were two choices. Try to hide from the police, or go back and explain. It was unlikely she could evade capture forever, but it was also unlikely that anyone would believe what really happened. Still, she might be making things worse by running. No, she definitely was. But she couldn't bring herself to turn around. She was too scared. But it was too hard to move forward. And so she sat and covered her head.

The sounds of sirens can be heard in the distance but hard to make out which way they are going. With her heard lowered something approaches "You are such a drama queen. Oh what did I do? Oh no. Its the end of the world. Geezus. You ain't the one that got thrown." The voice is definatly similar.

The deep voice ringing out over her shoulder startled Erica to her feet. She recognized that voice, but hearing it there was impossible. Spinning in place she looked to see who was there.

And its a bloody Luke. His skin is more white then normal and he looks at Erica "Bravo! Bravo! You did a good job. So what are you going to do? Run? You know you want to."

"Oh my God, Luke!" Erica's eyes were wide with shock. How was he there? She was sure he had died, but there he was. "I thought you died. There was blood. A lot of blood. And Tony, he landed on you." She looked him over. "You don;t look so good though. We should get you to a hospital."

The man just started laughing "You killed me. And I will be sure you suffer." He steps forwards leaning into her "Boo."