The Streets Of Old Olney

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

The door that opens from Milliways leads to a gray and dusty landscape across which the fingers of the dawn are just starting to spread. Actually, no. Too poetic. The sun's coming up over one of those landscapes which would probably look a lot better in the dark. This is a land where the trees are sparse, shriveled, and black; where rock and concrete jut up through the ground like the bones of a compound fracture; and where jagged, ragged walls and chunks of rebar huddle together in vaguely squarish piles among heaps of rubble. There's a distinct smell of animal on the air. Many predators live here, or somewhere nearby, anyway. Those accustomed to nights among the densely populated regions of twenty-first century Earth may be taken aback by the fact that there's no skyglow to be seen even where it's still dark. This is a quiet place.

Except for the odd snuffling and hooting noises from deeper within the ruins of the city, anyway. Those carry real good.

"Welcome to Olney," Ellen says quietly. "You're hearing the deathclaws now. I did some scouting earlier. There's a gap in the outer rubble that we can all get through about twenty yards that way, so long as we keep an eye out for anything trying to kill us."

Comments

[unbreakableben]

Oh yeah...except so is ben as he spins to get a good throw his foot slips on some loose gravel giving the creature time to spring at him and he goes down. Good news is that Ben's skin turns out to be impervious to the claws. The bad news, the Deathclaw hasn't realized this.

Ben lets go of the concrete so his hands are free and twists within the thing's grasp to position himself for a half nelson. He squeezes until he feels bones breaking but the creature, not quite finished as it starts flailing about.

"Little help here?"

[calmhrtprevails]

"Of course."

The Gatling isn't Fawkes' only weapon; he wears the other on his back, alongside the laser's power pack. A hammer easily as long as an un-armored Ellen is tall makes one hell of an impact when it's brought down against a Deathclaw's back with all the force Fawkes can muster.

[unbreakableben]

Ben shoves the dead thing off him and stands shaking his head. "Stupid rookie mistake. You always make sure of your footing." Works for football, works for life or death situations in post-apocalyptic worlds.

"Is that thing hard to work?" Ben's feeling the need for a boomstick and that hammer seems to fit the bill.

As he talks he's back to walking and searching. Any large piles of rubble that might be door sized, whether on the ground or standing, he tries to grab at least a large enough chunk that they can see if there's anything underneath worth a closer look.

[calmhrtprevails]

"A lesson learned in time, I think," says Fawkes. "When the next creature strikes, you will be ready."

He glances down at the hammer and shakes his head. "Simple enough, really. There are no controls, except for maintaining it between uses. It amplifies the force of the wielder's swing entirely on its own."

There are few doors to be found here of any real use, and while Ben does find a manhole cover at one point, the tunnel below it is partially collapsed and filled with rubble. Still, it seems to indicate that the tunnels run along a particular side street; perhaps searching that way will be useful.

[unbreakableben]

"OKay, maybe if we get in trouble I can borrow it while you got your hands busy with that canon of yours." As he talks they are of course continuing on their search. "Hey there's a tunnel here. It's collapsed but the other side should be over that way right? You guys build on a gride I assume?"

[calmhrtprevails]

"To the best of my knowledge," says Fawkes. "All the maps I remember seeing in the database laid the cities out in a grid. Let me see what I can find this way."

[unbreakableben]

Ben follows along behind but keeps an eye out for any more Deathclaws. As they walk he spots some rebar poking out of some rubble and stops to pull it free. Once he's got it though he drops it as it's a little awkward to hold in his hands. Concrete fits better and there's lots of it so he takes another couple of hand fulls.

[calmhrtprevails]

There are, thankfully, not many deathclaws in the immediate area. They seem to have decided to check out the smell of blood elsewhere.

Probably just as well. They're nasty critters and that pair of ancient, rusted metal panels set into the surface of the sidewalk just ahead probably wouldn't stand up to one.

[unbreakableben]

"Careful there," Ben says and points out the doors. If they don't look like they can take the weight of a Deathclaw there is no way it will take Fawkes and Ben. "Think we found our door?"

[calmhrtprevails]

Fawkes kneels down and raps at the doors with one fist. "So it would appear," he comments as the hollow sound echoes below. "It seems simple enough."

[unbreakableben]

"How about you cover while I open them? In case there are any nasties on the other side."

Assuming this is good, Ben starts clearing the rubble from the doors to make sure he can throw them open and not have them blocked.

[calmhrtprevails]

"That, I can do," says Fawkes. It's a pity the Gatling laser doesn't have an ominous whine as he shifts it into position and flicks the on switch. It really ought to make some kind of warning noise.

[unbreakableben]

He looks over the door trying to figure out the best way to open them. The main problem is his fingers are too big to fit in the ridges that are present. Oh well, he's got other ways.

"On three...one...two...three," he says and then punches a knife hand strike through the metal and then grabs an edge and pulls. He's much more careful of his footing this time and so is well anchored.

[calmhrtprevails]

The barrels of the laser are in place immediately, but Fawkes needn't have bothered. Below the rusted doors are a set of stairs leading downward, into a dark, dank-smelling tunnel. There is no sign of deathclaw activity here, or any other creature, for that matter.

[unbreakableben]

Ben drops the doors off to the side and crouches at the edge of the doorway.

"Did you happen to bring a flash light?"