Burn, Baby, Burn
| Burn, Baby, Burn | |
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A piece of pizza sounds great right about now. | |
| Players |
There's no disco, but there's def an inferno. Another fire has broken, and in the west side now. Specifically, in the area of East Garfield and near the Garfield Park Conservatory. The CFD is on their way, but there's already chaos spreading among the tourists and it won't be too long before the fire reaches the Conservatory and turns it into a tinderbox. |
Things were summery warm, but nothing too hot. The mosquitos were out in full force regardless, and it makes East Garfield that much less tolerable tonight. Things appear to be relatively calm, though. Passersby through the park can enjoy a peaceful night along wit ha small handful of street vendors clamoring for whatever buck they might get. The warm breeze that comes through carries with it a certain kind of heat, but nothing appears out of the ordinary. Just a few people here and there swearing that they heard something, someone even, whispering to them. Something or other about a neverending hunger. Maybe just everyone remembering some ad that came to mind. Javi doesn't generally get over to the west side of Chicago too much, but today he's just finished up a job. It's the sort of job that leaves one tired and hungry, and so before heading home for the evening he's stopped at one of those vendors to grab a slice of pizza. In fact, he's just finished paying, and after thanking the vendor he steps away, folding the slice in half and taking a bite. His other hand comes up to wipe across his forehead, but it doesn't do much for the little smudge of grease at his temple except shift it slightly downward. It does, however, dislodge one of the mosquitos, which is nice. Tahlia was making her way across the part, intending to catch a cab back. Why did she think it was a good idea to *walk* all over town today? She has a car, she really needs to use it more. She slows a little in her steps, curious at some of the whispers she heard. Odd. Her walking brings her closer to where Javi happens to be. "How's the pizza?" She asks, not quite looking at him but instead eyeing the vendors. Maybe she'll get a slice herself. The pair of them can hear that same whisper that the vendor does at the exact moment. Something about an insatiable hunger that will never end. It cause a man that's currently walking his dog to grow just distracted enough for the pooch to slip the leash, and he's left chasing after the dog The dog gets only a few meters away from its owner before letting out a whimper. It starts running back with a yelp, warning of something else on the horizon as it darts off in the opposite direction of its original egress. "Hm?" Javi looks up when he's addressed, and after identifying Tahlia as the source, he grins, lifting the slice as if in toast. "Amazing," he replies, after he's swallowed the bite -- mostly, anyway. It's swallowed enough not to be horribly gross. "Always go to that guy when I'm over here. A+, five out of five." You're welcome, Tahlia. And also vendor! Maybe he's just gotten the guy another customer! Before he can further extol the virtues of the slice of pizza, though, he catches that whisper. His brows pull together as he looks around for the source, but he doesn't look //too// worried about it -- that is, until he notices that other people are hearing it, too, not just him. "What the fuck?" he murmurs, his gaze shifting to the dog as it whimpers and runs back to its owner. "Um...you hear that?" This is to Tahlia again, though hesitantly. Hopefully he's not about to look //really// crazy. "Hell yeah." Tahlia grins when Javi praises the pizza. "Just what I wanted to hear. A piece of pizza sounds great right about now." She agreed, already tilting her head so she could talk to the vendor...but then the whisper happens. Her eyes narrow and she looks around suspciously. She can't see anything though. Nothing immediately jumps out at her. Looking up at Javi, there's a nod. "I did and I didn't like it. Do you see where it came from" The dog smelled it first, and obviously so. The wafting stench of fire spreading without end and consuming whatever may come in its path. The blaze that's started and moving it's way eastward is large and surprisingly so. Smoke was in the air, sure, but nothing that spelled the gleaming wave of heat on the horizon. Both Javi and Tahlia are able to notice that not too far from where the fire is spreading something else is wrong. A handful of unattended children, the eldest of them no older than twelve or so, who haven't started moving yet. They're crying and shouting out for someone, uncaring of the blaze just yet. It's not //exactly// comforting for Javi when Tahlia confirms it, but perhaps on some level. "Nah," he murmurs with a shake of his head, though he continues to scan for it. "Not...shit!" Because that's when he's noticed the blaze -- and then the kids. "Hey!" His eyes widen, and he tosses the rest of the pizza into the garbage by the vendor's stall without another thought as he starts quickly toward the kids so he can try to herd them away. "Here, we'll find your mom but let's do it over here, yeah?" He obviously has no clue who they're looking for, but doing it in the path of the fire is not going to turn out well. The fire causes Tahlia's eyes to widen. Well *that* didn't seem normal?? She follows Javi, rushing over to the kids. She tries to focus on the oldest one, tries to assert her will for them to Calm Down and follow The Man - because she has no idea what his name is. It doesn't *quite* seem to take. Maybe they're just too frantic? "Come on kids! Away from the fire, let's go!" She calls out, hoping that they'll get a move on. Something tugs at the heart strings of the eldest child, but she doesn't act or move at first. A few thoughts that lead her to stand still for just a moment. Just as her mind sinks back to reality she can hear the words of Javi and then Tahlia. There's an obvious note of hesitation. Stranger danger and all that. However, they're able to win over the kids' trust just enough for them to follow. There's five total of them, and their similarities in visage mark them as siblings. As the children draw nearer the fires rise seemingly without need nor fuel, and the sky shifts from its former purple hues to reds and oranges as the burning trees light up the night sky. Those with any level of a survival instinct are running and screaming, some even trampling over others in a panic. Javi lets out a little breath of relief when the older one accepts the direction -- he probably figures that where the older one goes, the little ones will follow. He's not wrong, and he casts a grateful look to Tahlia for her help, too, before he starts to scan for an avenue of escape. He can see the panic happening in the crowd. To be fair to them he feels it, too, but he hasn't yet given into it even though he's moving quickly, herding the kids from the rear so that he can make sure they haven't lost anyone. "Fast, guys, don't stop," he says, managing a tone that's at least not hysterical even though that shifting sky is causing rising alarm in his chest. "We'll get you home but you can't stop, okay?" He keeps a particular eye on the youngest just in case one needs to be picked up and carried, though he does glance to Tahlia again as well, perhaps to see whether she's located a safe egress. Tahlia is not equipped to fuck around with a fire like this. At least there's something tangible here - focusing on getting these kids safety. She looks a little helpless when Javi glances at her, but she does point over to a set of buildings across the way. "Let's try to make it there! Towards that shop, kids!" She encourages, pointing it out. At least it gives some kind of goal while she tries to fish out her phone and call 911. Hopefully the fire department is already on their way though. It takes a whole hell of a lot of effort to get the kids to move with them. Much less to keep them moving while everyone else is running around in a panic. Cooler heads prevail through the ongoing insanity, and they're just able to keep themselves and the kids moving without any of them being ran over or knocked down. The closest shop is a currently abandoned outlet mall. The window of one shop has been busted open, and through this makeshift portal a couple looters are having their way with what look to be as many electronic devices as they can carry. They stop at the sight of Tahlia, Javi, and the kids. All the while the fire rages on, taking several trees and a few lives with it. Worst of all, there's no sound nor sight of a siren. No fire trucks, nothing currently stopping the all-consuming fires. It could be the crackling and smoldering fires, the screaming of those terrified by the flames, or hope dying faster than the fire can consume it. There's nary a sound of help arriving anytime soon. Javi is happy to try Tahlia's suggestion, and he shifts his steps, herding the group that way. When they get close enough to see the looters, though, his stomach sinks, though he manages to keep his head. Barely, but he does. "Yo," he calls to the looters, "we don't give a shit about that," and here he gestures vaguely to the stuff they're taking. "Do what you want. Is there a back way outta there, though?" That gesture shifts to the kids they're with -- he's clearly hoping the presence of children will allow them to reach a truce. "Maybe we can cut through?" Tahlia will try to get a 911 call through to the fire department as they herd the children towards the strip mall. She isn't sure if the fire department could actually *do* anything about this but at least it was worth a shot. It wasn't a normal fire, but Tahlia had no idea what could be causing it. So she had to focus on what she could control. For now, it was the fate of these kids. She lets Javi take lead on the looters, looking over her shoulder to check the status of the fire. Tahlia swallows hard and looks back towards the store, trying to see past the looters for a possible back exit. "Cutting through would be very much appreciated if it's possible. Before the fire catches up." "That all depends," one of them asks, looking between Javi and Tahlia. His buddy nixes it, and nudges him in the side with a flat screen. "Nah, Johnny, it's all good. Look at 'em." He motions over to the collection of kids. This causes the one named Johnny to pause for just a moment, and his gaze narrows. "You guys didn't see anything, and you don't know our faces. Right?" "Yep," Javi says, without delay and with a very firm nod of understanding. He glances to Tahlia -- but he's clearly sure she'll agree. "Whose faces? No one here, man. Totally empty." He's tense, sure, but he's holding it together, and as soon as he gets the go ahead from Johnny, he'll start herding the kids through and toward the back exit so they can take a perpendicular route from the fire and hopefully get far enough away from it to rest and figure out how to get the kids home. "Careful, buddy, watch the glass." "Completely empty." Tahlia agreed readily, moving with the children and focusing ahead. The youngest child seems to be struggling a little so Tahlia lifts them up in an easy swoop to carry them so they can speed up a little. "Don't worry kids, almost home." Of course she has no idea where they live either but surely the oldest one knows the way home once they clear the fire zone?" The two looters take a few seconds to decide between them, but they believe the duo after a short, whispered conversation between them. They move back into the shop, happy enough to ignore the lot of them while grabbing a few phones. The kids are watching them, but are more than happy to stand and stay behind Tahlia and Javi. The shop itself doesn't reveal too much aside from a door to the back, but the thing is currently locked. It takes several long, hot minute to make any headway. Hidden in a compartment under the register Javi's able to find a key that looks like it should open up the back rooms and in turn a way outside. There's some relief when they're finally let in, but once they are, they can't get //out// again, not easily. Javi gets more and more twitchy the longer it takes them to find any way to get the door open -- he first tried to break it down, which went as well as one can expect. That is, not very, at all. There are plenty of helpless looks at Tahlia throughout this whole situation, though true to his word, he ignores the looters. He may think they're spending time on the wrong things at the moment, but he sure won't be the one to tell them that. Finally, mercifully, he stumbles on the key, pretty much by sheer luck. "I got it!" He practically sprints back toward the back room so he can jam the key in. "Come on, come on, let's go!" He'll even leave it open for the looters as a thank you. Maybe they'll make it out after all. Tahlia, unfortunately, isn't very helpful when it comes to trying to get the door open. Instead she is focused on keeping the kids together and out of the way of the looters if they linger. She is also trying to keep them calm and assure them that they'll be home soon. While Javi is looking for a way to get the door open, she turns her attention on the oldest kid. "What's your name? Mine's Tahlia." And then she would ask after, "Do you know how to get to your home from here?" When Javi finds the key, Tahlia looks visibly relieved. "Yes, yep! Let's get a move on." Smoke starts to billow in from the front of the store as they move to the back. They can hear one of the looters yelling, "Oh shit!" Nothing more comes from the thieving pair aside from the revving of an engine that's gone faster than the time it took to start it up. The back room is downright filthy. Dust and dirt everywhere. Rat droppings in a few spots, too. Then there's all the boxes just in the fucking away, and full of god knows what tech. At the least the door leading out doesn't take that long to get to, and from there relative freedom from the flames. The eldest kid hesitates a few seconds before answering Tahlia. "Kimberley. Kim." She swallows, and stops a second before answering anything beyond that. The next oldest kid, a boy with short hair, wipes at his eyes before answering the next. "We live back the way where all the fires and smokes were coming from." Once they're in the back room, Javi doesn't waste time. He also isn't particularly gentle moving the boxes out of the way. There are going to be some broken electronics in here in the morning, but that's only if the whole place doesn't go up in flames. None of it is his problem, anyway. It's only once they're outside and more or less safe from the immediate danger that he lets himself relax -- a little, anyway. That is, until Kim answers Tahlia's question, and a dismayed look crosses his face as his eyes come up to Tahlia again. Oh good. However, he doesn't give up. "You guys got any family somewhere else?" he asks, directing the questions mostly toward Kimberly and the next oldest, but leaving it open enough that any of them could answer. "Grandma? Uncles, aunts? Friends? Anywhere else. South side, maybe? East?" Tahlia shares the dismayed look with Javi. That wasn't good. Looking back to Kim and the older boy, "If you don't have any other family...I live on the East Side." She wasn't exactly sure if her father would approve, but this was an emergency! "Or!" Better idea. She looked towards Javi, "We can take them to the police station." Only if they didn't have any other family. She hoped that they did though and looked to the children to see what they would say. "East side," the girl answers. Her little brother seemingly corrects, "I thought it was the south side." This draws a moment of silence among the young kin until one of them pipes up, "North side." This leaves them all a bit confused until they look to the adults for a bit of direction. As they all talk and find some level of relief. They can hear the telltale sign of sirens. Nothing too close, but at least a small sliver of hope to rid the area of the raging fires. Javi looks a little wary about Tahlia's suggestion to go to the police -- but when the five kids begin to pipe up with five different answers, he has to concede that she has a point. "Yeah," he replies after a few moments, nodding to Tahlia in agreement, and consequently putting up a united front for the kids. Hopefully that helps, too. "Cops're robably gonna be the best bet. We'll take you guys over there, yeah? Then they'll figure everything out. Gonna be fine. Okay?" Again, mostly to the oldest, but he does look around to include them all at least in some fashion. Coupled with those sirens coming, there's definitely some relief in his posture now. It's giving way to some exhaustion, too, but he pushes it to the back for the moment until they can complete their task. Tahlia starts to look disheartened when the kids don't exactly seem to know where any other family members live so Javi is given a thankful look when he agrees with her. Looking to the children, "Do you hear those sirens? That means help is on the way for that fire and then the police will help be able to get you home." For now, just getting the police station or flagging down an officer that wouldn't be racing to the scene of the fire seemed prudent. There's a brief pause and then she asks, "Do either of you know your parents' numbers?" It might be beneficial if Tahlia couple place a call to them to at least let one of them know what was happening. There was another look to Javi and she nodded down towards the end of alley. "Should we keep moving?" The children think for a moment before the eldest comes up with a cell phone. It doesn't look that great nor modern, but it also doesn't appear to receive much use. It takes just a second before she does as directed. First few calls get no response until they finally give up, and just as they do their phone lights up with the name Mom shown as the caller. "Yeah," Javi replies with a nod, pushing himself to straighten up and offering his arms to one of the youngest kids if they need to be carried. "Let's keep moving. Pretty sure we can find a station close to here." Just as he's saying that, though, the phone rings, and he lets out another relieved sigh. "Pick it up," he urges Kim, "then tell her we're at..." He pauses, squinting up at the closest corner street signs, then reads them off for her. "Ask her if she wants us to wait here or meet her somewhere." When the phone rings, Tahlia nods in agreement with Javi. "Yes, answer it. And if she wants to speak with one of us, we will." She adds. This was a good thing. At least it meant that one parent was alive? Hopefully. It would be much worse if that was a stranger on the other end of the phone. She adjust the youngest child that she's still holding. Ready to move if the Mom says she wants to meet them somewhere else besides here." The kid only takes a few minutes on the phone. Nothing too long as she exchanges information and what all went down. After their short-lived exchange is finished the eldest holds out the phone. First to Tahlia, although she'll be hard-pressed to take with with the small child holding onto her like a squirrel on a tree. This leaves the girl to think, put the phone on speaker, and then for their mother to start giving her thanks to the pair. "Yeah, she'll talk to her," Javi confirms, tipping his chin toward Tahlia. For whatever reason, he doesn't seem to feel like he should take the lead on //that// one. However, when the speaker goes on, he looks a little pained, but he does at least say some stuff -- not a whole //lot// of stuff, which might actually make it the sort of weird he's trying to actively avoid, but there's no help for it. He isn't comfortable, that much is clear, but hopefully Tahlia is able to mostly manage navigating the conversation to a successful conclusion so they can get the kids back. Probably the fact that everyone's all right instead of burned to a crisp will smooth over any awkwardness from his side. Fortunately for Javi, talking to people is something Tahlia is good at. She accepts the thanks of the Mother and assures her that all the children are fine, just a little shaken. She'll also suggest a coffee shop that she recalls isn't too far off of a walk from their current location to meet at. That way the kids can have a chance to sit and calm down and it's probably a little safer to wait in a public place like that instead of this particular kind of public space. | |