Reboot: "The Night the Lights Went Out"

[HumanBean]

(OOC: I made a mistake. I didn't see Alice's post for Sergeant Caroline before I wrote my post. My post is totally contrary to Alice's. So sorry.

I removed it and saved it for later. I will write a new post to replace the removed one, but not now. Family time.)

 

[Alice2015]

Roxie Harrington, Glenn Harrington, with Roxie Harrington and Emily Hahn (OOC thread)

Noon, local time, 34 hours after TLWO
Monday, 20 January 2025
Harrington Hills Vineyards
East of San Diego, California

(Continues from here.)

Roxie got to work cutting up the now-defrosted beef, pork, chicken, and fish Glenn had salvaged. He told her, "It'll last weeks that way."

She didn't want to believe that the effects of the Event would last that long; she'd hoped the power would be back on already and was obviously disappointed. Roxie understood her husband's sensibility on the issue, though. The worst that could happen was that they unnecessarily turned all of their expensive, fresh meat into stiff, hard to eat jerky.

Emily finally made an appearance at midday; she looked much better after a good night's rest. The shapely, bosomy blonde was wearing some of Roxie's clothes; the petite redhead's things clung tightly to Emily's curves, something Roxie noticed and -- by her husband's reaction -- she knew Glenn had, too.

Roxie pointed to packages of meat and a second knife, leading Emily to laugh. "You're kidding, I hope."

Roxie laughed as well, turning to inform her husband, "Em' here is a vegetarian."

"Pescatarian," Emily corrected. "I eat fish and seafood." She noticed packages of fish. "If you have the right spices, I can make those taste like white gold."

The two women couldn't find what Emily needed in the Event Center's kitchen but did back up at the house. As they gathered things, Roxie asked her friend and lover, "So, how did you enjoy my husband?"

Emily turned to her friend with a surprised expression, blushing. She smiled meekly, asking, "I'm not ... I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say."

Roxie laughed as she went to the other woman, took her into her arms, and engaged her in an erotic kiss. When her mouth pulled away from Emily's, she giggled, saying, "You're not in trouble, baby. Remember, I told you I wanted you to enjoy him. You did enjoy Glenn, didn't you?"

Emily blushed yet again, diverting her eyes in embarrassment. Eventually, she looked back to Roxie, telling her, "So much, Rox'. So ... much." They laughed together and kissed again before Emily whispered, "My God, Rox' ... he's so good. I envy you."

They spent the next several minutes talking about Emily's experience with Glenn -- before the Event, that is. Roxie enjoyed hearing Emily's recollection of the night. Hearing how her husband had so pleased another woman was almost as exciting as being the one Glenn was pleasing. As they talked, they occasionally kissed, even caressing each other's faces, holding each other's hands, pressing into each other's bodies.

"I need you," Roxie whispered, kissing Emily again. She stressed, "Right now."

"I need you, too," Emily replied. She giggled softly, adding, "Right now."

"I'm going to take this out to Glenn," Roxie said, gathering the container holding the spices and flour mixture Emily had created. "I'll be right back." She'd only walked a couple of steps before she stopped, turning to ask, "Just the two of us ... or...?"

Emily smiled wide, asking in return, "What do you think?"

Roxie said, "I'll ask."

She headed out to the Event Center, making her delivery, kissing her husband, gently fondling his groin, and asking, "Do you want to join Em' and I for a break?"

 

[HumanBean]

Sergeant Phil "Fish" Spahn, with First Sergeant Caroline Edwards (OOC thread)

0800 hours local time, 30 hours after TLWO
Monday, 20 January 2025

Oregon Army National Guard Station, Springfield (OANGS-Springfield)
Springfield, Oregon:

(Caroline's last post here. The first half of this reply was previously posted, then removed. I had missed Alice's post for her character, Caroline. My reply contradicted that reply, which is why I deleted it. So, if you read my post previously, you can feel free to skip down to the purple XXXXXX, which is where the new text begins.)

Phil had been lying in his bunk, unable to sleep. He and most of the soldiers were standing six and sixes. They stood watch for six hours, then had six off. They could use the latter for sleeping, playing cards, eating, shitting. Some had hooked up with each other or with local residents. Phil had considered that. His wife wouldn't have been happy about it, though. He'd see her soon enough, he knew.

Fish wasn't planning sticking around any longer. He had no interest in his First Sergeant's plan for the Platoon. If Colonel Caldwell could walk away, Phil could, too. There was a difference between how Phil and Caldwell were leaving the Station, though. The Colonel had taken with him his personal possessions, his official sidearm, a box of ammunition, and some food, water, and coffee.

Phil planned on walking away with a lot more than that: guns, ammo, body armor, and even explosives. He'd been formulating his plan almost from the moment Caroline had flash a copy of the reg's at him and told him he was required him to remain until relieved by their Superiors in the capital.

He knew exactly what he was taking, how much of it, and how he was getting it off the base. There was a back gate that few people even knew existed. All he had to do was cut the lock, transfer his booty beyond it, and click in place a new lock. By the time they'd figured out he was gone and actually came looking for him, he'd be halfway to his home up the McKenzie Pass.

All Phil needed was help. Phil's closest friend in the unit was Private First-Class Mark Erickson. Phil was confident that the man would join him. Mark was of the same thinking that Phil was about most things. And he was both simple minded and easily manipulated.

The best time to do this would be tonight while Phil was on perimeter watch. Mark was on guard duty at the Armory. Perfect.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX​

Phil had risen, cleaned up a bit, and dressed when suddenly there was gunfire. He immediately and instinctively grasped the radio transmitter attached to his uniform. Then he grimaced and cursed. The only reason he still carried the radio was that he thought it might come back on at any time.

He hurried out of the barracks, heading for the gate. He'd determined already that the gunfire was beyond the Station's fence line. The weapons weren't likely to be Army issue. They sounded like AR-15s and larger caliber hunting-style rifles. And the First Sergeant had forced all of her soldiers to walk around with unloaded weapons, too. Fucking stupidity!

Three other soldiers joined him as they all approached the gate. They took a moment to look for the gunmen. There were locals running in seemingly every direction. Some even headed ignorantly toward the source of the gunfire. Phil wondered whether or not some of them were in cahoots with the shooters. Without knowing one way or the other, he called to the other three, "Watch your fire! Civilians in the cross!"

Return fire finally began from the location of the Grocery King post. Phil made out one, then two M4s firing in single fire mode. He looked down to his own rifle. It was set to full auto, the way it was intended to be used in his opinion.

"There!" one of the men who fell under Phil's spontaneous command called out. He pointed toward a grouping of cars. "Shooter! Behind the red sedan."

Phil gave orders to the three, and they headed out in pairs along either side of the street. He took a position and looked toward the grocery again. He saw someone rise and run from the main post toward the corner post. The shooters fired again. None of the soldiers did, though. That made no sense to Phil. You didn't run through the open like that without cover fire.

Then, the deeper sounding boom of a larger caliber rifle echoed through the neighborhood. He looked toward the supermarket for the source. He suspected that Caroline had deployed a sniper, likely Corporal Owens. It was what Phil would have done. It was why there'd been no cover fire. Caroline hadn't wanted the shooters to duck their heads. As it turned out, that shot and the next one would both nearly take the heads off of two of the shooters. Owens was good at what he did.

Phil pulled out a smoke grenade and tossed it into the parking lot. It exploded, billowing out green smoke. It identified the location at being occupied by friendlies. The last thing Phil wanted was one of the men with him to get shot. He particularly didn't want himself shot.

Another boom washed over him. It was almost immediately followed by one of Phil's men calling out, "One shooter down!"

(OOC: I'm adding something that wasn't in Caroline's post.)

The fire fight seemed to end for a moment. It seemed as though Owens had gotten all the shooters. Phil waved his three toward the shooters' location. He came across the shooter behind the red sedan as earlier sighted. The man's head was a mangled, bloody mess. Again, Phil reached for his radio, then cursed aloud.

"Second man down here, Sarge!" a voice called to him. Phil thought it was all over.

Then there was sudden movement off to one side. He spun his rifle around, leveling it at the subject, only to find a frightened boy running for his life. Then, shots rang out. One of his men went down right in front of him. Phil crouched and moved forward, found a third gunman firing toward his pinned down soldiers.

Without hesitation, Phil aimed and pulled the trigger. The M4 spit out half a dozen rounds. Most of them hit the target, knocking him down. A fourth shooter ran out into the open, firing toward Phil. Again, he fired the rifle, taking that man down, too.

Then, silence. Well, except for the continuing yells and cries of people who were either still running for cover or on the ground crying. Some of the latter had been shot. Others were kneeling over those who had been. Phil and his three cleared the area before he called toward the Grocery King, "Clear! Clear! Unit coming out!"

Just for safety purposes, Phil tossed another green smoke grenade. Then, he and the three began checking the dead, securing weapons, and gesturing civilians to clear the area.

Four soldiers from the market came out to join Phil's squad. As Caroline herself arrived, one of the dying men said, "You're all dead. There's more of them than you ... and ... you can't ... stop ... them."

The man went quiet. His eyes took on that death stare that Phil knew from so many battle zones.

"Check him for a wallet," Caroline ordered. "We need to find these guys ... before they find us."
Phil rolled the man over and found his ID. The address was a dozen blocks away if that. He didn't hesitate to ask, "Permission to take a squad to this address, First Sergeant. We'll find these fuckers and deal with them."

 

[HumanBean]

Glenn Harrington, with his wife Roxie and their shared lover, Emily Hahn (OOC thread)

1 pm, Noon, local time, 35 hours after TLWO
Monday, 20 January 2025

Harrington Hills Vineyards
East of San Diego, California

(Continues from here.)

Glenn began to wonder if the girls were ever going to return to the Event Center. They'd done to the house for spices and such. He wondered if maybe they hadn't diverted to one of the many beds once again. He wouldn't have blamed them,

In the end, Roxie returned with the goodies, asking, "Do you want to join Em' and I for a break?"

He knew his wife's expressions and tones. She wasn't hinting that she wanted to play Gin Rummy. Glenn smiled to her. "Sure, honey."

He looked around the scene, adding, "Let me take care of the meat that's already out. The rest I can put back in the coolers until later."

Then, smiling as he looked her up and down, Glenn said, "But feel free to get a head start if you want. Maybe warm up the bed for me."

 

[HumanBean]

Peter Phillips, with Hannah Wilson (OOC thread link)

5 am, local time, (27 hours after TLWO)
Monday, 20 January 2025

Peter's childhood home, Baywood-Los Osos, California
North of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant
The Pacific Coast, 200+ miles northwest of Los Angeles):

(Continued from here.)

Peter eventually found Hannah on the sidewalk out in front of the house. He hurried to her, grabbing and turning her toward him. She screamed, startled. Then, she was in his arms, crying out, "Oh my God! I thought you were in there! I thought you were--"

Then, Hannah only sobbed into the crook of Peter's neck. He clutched her tightly to him as he watched the conflagration. It was shocking and horrifying how fast the house was engulfed in flames. Everything he'd ever had of importance was in there. When his wife died and he'd found an apartment closer to work, he'd left almost everything here. Now, it was all gone.

Neighbors began arriving from every direction. They wanted to help. But there was nothing to be done. No fire trucks, no fire fighters. No water for hoses or even for a bucket brigade. Peter moved Hannah across the street. From there, they simply watched Peter's life go up in flames.

.....................................
​

The rest of the neighborhood was thankfully safe from the fire taking Peter's childhood home. There were so concerns at first. But dozens of neighbors came together to contain the danger.

They also came to care for Peter and Hannah. They'd lost everything. Not just what Peter had had prior to knowing Hannah but everything they'd brought with them from after Diablo Canyon. Hell, Hannah was in a set of Peter's pajamas. Neighbors got them dressed in warm clothes, fed them, gave them clean water.

Sometime around midday, Peter began thinking about why they were here in Baywood to begin with. He explained to his neighbors about the nuclear plant's explosion and the imminent danger. Some began to panic. Others shrugged the threat off as not important.

Sometime after that, another neighbor arrived with last week's newspaper. It included the extended forecast. That, of course, included descriptions of expected winds. It wasn't good news. Peter explained how the jet stream was shifting. "Radiation from Diablo Canyon will work its way here. That's assuming it isn't already here."

"How the hell would we know?" someone asked. "There's no one to tell us. No news. No cops. No nothing or no one."

"What about a Geiger Counter?" someone asked.

A second person hopped in, "I have one. My father bought it clear back when they built that damn plant."

The man retrieved it from a couple of blocks away. He returned to tell them sadly, "It doesn't work either. Dead."

"Just like we will be if we don't get out of here," someone interjected.

An argument about what to do next exploded through the crowd that had grown to more than three dozen people. Peter silenced it with a call. He stood atop a table and said, "Whether it's here now or tomorrow of in a month or year, the fact is that Diablo Canyon's radiation cloud will eventually reach Baywood. It's inevitable."

There was more argument, some of it almost violent. Peter silenced the crowd once more. He told them, "It's your choice. Your personal choice, as to whether you leave or stay. Me? I'm getting the fuck outta here, now, today."

It was already nearing sundown by now. The temperatures would drop rapidly as soon as the sun slipped beneath the horizon. But Peter wanted to be as far from Diablo as he could get as soon as he could get. "I need two bicycles. Preferable something with trailers. I don't have anything to give you for them, though."

He looked across the street at the still smoking house. "I think you all know why."

During the hours after the home invasion, one of Peter's neighbors had noticed that his son had disappeared. He'd concluded that one of the dead men in the fire had been the fruits of his loins. He came to Peter, saying, "I'll give you all you need. Anything."

He didn't explain why he was offering this to Peter. Nor did he explain who he was in relation to the home invader. He simply told Peter, "Come to my house. I have bicycles and packs. I don't have trailers, but maybe we can find something. I know my neighbors fairly well."

 

[Alice2015]

Sergeant Phil "Fish" Spahn, with First Sergeant Caroline Edwards (OOC thread)

0830 hours local time, 30.5 hours after TLWO
Monday, 20 January 2025

Oregon Army National Guard Station, Springfield (OANGS-Springfield)
Springfield, Oregon:

(Continued from here. And I like what you injected into the scene; good job.

Caroline had seen the green smoke before her sniper did his job, of course, and had hollered to the man, "Owens! Friendlies! Green smoke!"

He'd confirmed before he took his shots, taking out the two men who'd obviously not been the friendlies about whom his First Sergeant was warning him. When the shooting ceased, Caroline rose to help with the wounded, only to again hit the deck when gunfire once again erupted.

After a short time, she heard the familiar voice of Sergeant Spahn calling, "Clear! Clear! Unit coming out!"

"Hold your fire!" Caroline warned the soldiers near her. She called to her left and right, "Hold your fire!"

<<<<<<< >>>>>>>​

Out at the perimeter, she listened to the dying shooter's warning, then to Phil's request, "Permission to take a squad to this address, First Sergeant. We'll find these fuckers and deal with them."

"You'll arrest them, Sergeant," Caroline specified. She could see in his expression that he didn't agree with that, so she made it clear, "You'll take them into custody without the use of deadly fire if at all possible. We have no idea what waits for you at this man's address. He could have innocent family there."

She looked to the soldiers coming up with the wallets or other forms of ID from two more shooters; the rest were smartly not carrying anything that would indicate from where they'd come. Caroline's adjutant had come out from the Grocery King also. Caroline told her, "Go with Sergeant Spahn..."

Caroline looked through the IDs and tried to picture where the addresses were located. "Nix that." She handed two IDs to Phil, saying, "You and a squad of six take these two. They're close to each other." The other ID she gave to the Adjutant. "Take four with you here."

Stressing to each of the Squad leaders, Caroline said, "I don't want firefights if we can avoid them. Invite them out politely ... tell them what had happened and that we are simply investigating--"

The Adjutant asked the question that Caroline was sure Phil wanted to ask as well: "And if they won't cooperate?"

Caroline considered the options. "I don't want another Waco. Use the Class 3 smoke bombs if you need. They don't burn as hot. Get the people out of the houses without gunfire ... but ... if you get fired upon ... do as you feel is necessary. Remember! This isn't Fallujah. It's Springfield, Oregon."

She looked to Phil in particular, stressing, "We don't know that anyone in these homes has anything to do with what just happened here. Understand?"

 

[HumanBean]

Nick Long, with Sammi Evans (OOC thread):

Eugene, Oregon
2 pm, local time (36 hours after TLWO)
Monday, 20 January 2025
(OOC: Continues from here.)

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sammi said in response to Nick's indication that she'd flashed him from her window last night. She smirked, adding, "Maybe you were seeing things."

"Maybe," he said. He was concerned that the teen's parents might hear them flirting. Sammi looked off toward the porch. Her expression told Nick that he was clear to proceed. "Maybe I'll get lucky tonight and see even more?"

It was definitely posed as a question. Sammi' expression changed as she again looked toward the house. Nick knew that meant that one or both of her parents were heading this way. Would she have time to respond?

 

[HumanBean]

Marcus Washington; introducing Aisha Bloom, and mentioning Keri Lee (OOC thread)

Sunset, Monday, 20 January 2025 (~36 hours after TLWO)
Washington DC:

(Continues Marcus's lone activity from here. He and Keri have gone their separate ways, even though they are both still in the DC area.)

Marcus had walked from Reagan Washington National Airport to his apartment in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Northwest DC. He'd seen a great deal of violence along the way. Twice he'd heard gunfire. Once a bullet had ripped through the air over his head.

He was happily surprised to find a high number of police, National Guard, and regular Military patrols and and roadblocks along the way. Those that had received early protection showed little signs or looting. Those which hadn't did.

His place had been untouched. He lived alone in a fourth-floor walkup located in a building with a street level floor dominated by locally owned shops. He went down to the coffee and bagel shop to see if they were open. They were, but all they had for him was coffee, milk, and day-old pastries.

Keri was on Marcus's mind, of course. He was angry with himself for not taking the moment to give her his information. He had one thing going for him, obviously. He knew where she was going to be at a specific time tomorrow. That was, of course, if the inauguration was still taking place as scheduled.

There was a knock on his door. The strength in it, or lack thereof, and cadence made him smile. He peeked out the peep hole and smiled at the sight of Aisha Bloom. (OOC: Picture her in actual clothes.) He opened the door, smiled, looked her up and down, and said, "Girl, you're a sight for sore eyes. Come in."

 

[Alice2015]

HumanBean and I have decided to abandon this thread and start up a "spin off", based upon the same TNTLWO concept but placed on a yacht in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The link can be found here if you are interested.

BTW, we will be reusing images from this thread as new characters in the other thread. So, don't be confused if you have been reading along here.