The Last Day (For MissMarbles; PM to join)

[OrcishBarbarian]

Sometime past ten or so, Hannah had all the studying she could handle...and some more on top of that. That was just as good, since her shift at Levy's Bar and Grill began in less than an hour.

The weather today was a tad warm for April, especially for the Big Apple. It was a fine day for a walk. The New Yorkers were taking advantage of the unusually fine weather. The part of town Hannah worked in wasn't the best...sometimes young men hanging around gave her glances that made her nervous. People were out jogging, bustling.

It didn't take Hannah to pick up that there was something...wrong. The vibe just didn't seem right. She couldn't put a finger on it, as she jogged past the Fill-and-Go convenience store at the corner, about half a block from Levy's. She often dashed in on the way home to grab study-session munchies.

Then she noticed the cars.

Levy's was normally a busy place during the evenings...but at this hour of the morning, rush hour was usually over. Of the six pumps at the medium-sized gas station, usually one or two were available. But not today. Each pump was occupied...and a line of four or five cars, trucks and SUVs snaked around past the doors to the restroom and out into the street.

Whatever the draw was, Hannah realized, it wasn't the price. Out there on the sign, Unleaded Basic was $4.10...a good thirty cents higher than it had been last night when she got off work. "Hey, you dumb bitch, finish up and move on!" Hannah thought for a second the shout was directed at her, but it was from a man in an SUV to an older Chinese lady filling up a pickup truck.

She flipped him the bird.

 

[MissMarbles]

Hannah was perplexed by the scene she had witnessed at the gas station as she continued on her way to Levy's. She couldn't help but glance back over her shoulder. There was something about chaos - humans always had to stare. Kind of like when there's an accident on the freeway. Everyone slows down to stare, but what are they looking for? Blood? Brains? People could be so morbid. So what was Hannah looking for? Flipping her long brown hair over her shoulder, she turned her attention back to the sidewalk in front of her. Weird.. she thought to herself.

As she continued walking down the block towards Levy's, that uneasy feeling crept up on her again - an uneasy gut feeling. Hannah had walked alone to work plenty of times in the past. She'd been mugged once, but a fellow civilian was able to knock some sense into the culprit and return her purse to her. But tonight.. Why was everyone out? Everyone seemed to be in a hurry. She mentally debated whether or not to stop and ask someone what was going on or continue to work - but before she made up her mind she had already made it to Levy's. Hannah took one more look around at the bustling people before grabbing the handle of the door and opening it. Something's not right..

 

[OrcishBarbarian]

The bar was about as crowded as usual...which was to say, hardly at all. The lunch crowd was about half an hour from shuffling in. A table of businesspeople and a lady at another table were the only patrons. Their attention was tuned to the TV. Patrick, the bartender, a balding Caucasian in his forties who had moved up from bouncer, usually didn't turn the TV on until noon or so. He was polishing glasses.

"Somebody nuked Tel Aviv," Patrick said to Hannah. He barely looked up from polishing the margarita glasses. "You got a car, I suggest you fill it up while you still can. Damn Israelis, always getting something stirred up."

The middle-aged lady looked over at the barkeep. "Hey, in case you didn't notice, Tel Aviv is in Israel. They're the ones that GOT nuked. It's the stinkin' A-rabs you need to be pissed at. They're the reason we're missing those two big buildings that used to be on Manhattan, you know."

The TV picture was of a huge, burning ship. The video was jerky, as it it was taken from a helicopter. Maybe it was. The scene below looked like Hell itself, a huge ship, burning and fire and thick black smoke. "The supertanker was apparently hit by Iranian speedboats as it sailed near the Straits of Hormuz," a woman's voice read on the TV. "Oil prices are up over seventeen dollars a barrel today, and rising rapidly. The President is in an emergency meeting with his staff."

 

[MissMarbles]

Hannah walked into Levy's and spotted Patrick behind the bar. She smiled and nodded to him in greeting. She walked up to the bar and plopped down in a stool. She still had a good 25 minutes or so before her shift started. Normally, Hannah would be more than happy to clock in early if the place was busy - but during the day, it was mostly dead. Besides, she was hoping Patrick could hook her up with a pint before her shift.

"Somebody nuked Tel Aviv," Patrick said to her. He barely looked up from polishing the margarita glasses. "You got a car, I suggest you fill it up while you still can. Damn Israelis, always getting something stirred up."

Well, that sucks, Hannah thought to herself. Luckily, she didn't have her own car. She lived in the apartments accross the street from the university and worked just down the street. She did take the occasional cab, but didn't see that as being much of an issue - she was more concerned with the fact that everyone was going to have more to COMPLAIN about.

The middle-aged lady looked over at the barkeep. "Hey, in case you didn't notice, Tel Aviv is in Israel. They're the ones that GOT nuked. It's the stinkin' A-rabs you need to be pissed at. They're the reason we're missing those two big buildings that used to be on Manhattan, you know."

Hannah couldn't help but smile - not at the nuking of Tel Aviv, of course, but at Patrick's political incorrectness getting him in trouble again. She was half-listening to the news on the television as the older woman corrected Patrick.

"Hey, do ya think I could get a Kilian's before I start?" she asked, smiling. "You know I'll love you forever." Hannah couldn't help but laugh a little. She told that to everyone when she wanted something from them. Sure, the nuking of Tel Aviv sucks for the people who died and for gas prices and crap like that - but it was bound to happen, right? Hannah wasn't really worried, and that uneasy feeling from befor deminished into an amused one. People really know how to overreact..

 

[OrcishBarbarian]

Patrick didn't answer her question, not in words anyway. But his eyes did that quick flick back toward the beer cooler that was Patrick-ese for "Yes, just don't be blatant about it." The beer cooler was behind the wall, around the corner. Usually she hung out there to drink the technically illegal beverage. Deep down she knew Patrick didn't give a fuck as long as the owner didn't come around, and he almost never did.

The door to the back dock of the bar was open, and a delivery van pulled up. The driver left the radio on as he got out and went around to the back of his van. Hannah could hear his lift a dolly from the van, wheel it on the uneven pavement. The radio announcer was speaking. "And, about half an hour after an unknown nuclear device exploded in Tel Aviv, contact was lost with the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca. Observers reporting from nearby report seeing a massive, bright cloud over the city. The Saudi Arabian ambassador could not be reached for comment. Riots are reported in much of the occupied territories."

 

[MissMarbles]

She smiled, winking to Patrick in thanks as she slipped off of the stool and slipped around the corner to the beer cooler. Hannah tossed her purse on top of it, like she usually did, before whipping it. The cool air that wafted out was refreshing - it HAD been a particularly warm day for April. A petite hand reach in and retrieved her precious Kilian's. Using a bottle opening key chain attached to her purse, Hannah popped the bottle open and took a generous swig of that delicious beer. Closing the cooler door, Hannah leaned against it. She watched as the delivery guy dropped off boxes of produce and bread, straining to hear the van's radio. Now Saudi Arabia? That uneasy feeling returned in the pit of Hannah's stomach.

"Hey, Pat.. There any speculation about what's really going on?" she asked, though not making eye contact with him. She stared at the dirty linoleum kitchen floor, lost in thought, as she took snother sip of her beer.

 

[OrcishBarbarian]

Pat finished his last glass as he set it up on the rack with a clang. "I'd say it's great news." Hannah noticed the woman was no longer there. "That whole Middle East, it's a pimple on the ass of the world. About time someone came along and popped it. Look at all the Muzzies shouting and whining!" He gestured to the TV. "That's in Indonesia, for fuck's sake. Someone nukes Saudi Arabia, and people in Indonesia bitch and moan and burn the American flag. Well, fuck them, maybe someone oughta drop a nuke on their sorry asses too."

"Yeah Pat, stop holding back, tell 'em how you really feel." The van driver, Rufus, was a half-bald black man, jet black skin, wearing the beer company uniform as he parked the pallet behind the bar. He was a regular, had been on the route for a good ten months now. He gave Hannah the eye...more so even than usual, which was quite a bit. "I'm just glad the company buys my gas. Now if I was an independent cabbie, I'd be bitching big-time. Here, sign here," the black man said.

 

[MissMarbles]

Hannah's eyes widened a bit in response to Patrick's PI-ness. Sometimes she wondered why she continued to ask his opinion of such things, when she knew he'd blow is top and spout off something that was bound to piss off one ethnic group or another. Hannah was extremely tolerant of people of all backgrounds - definitely not a racist - but she was still one of those people who found racial jokes funny. Patrick amused her in the same way racist jokes did. They were both taboo and, technically, a danger to laugh at. But that was half the fun, right?

"Yeah Pat, stop holding back, tell 'em how you really feel," Rufus said in response to Patrick's rant. Hannah brought her beer up to her lips once more, noticing Rufus' lingering eyes. "I'm just glad the company buys my gas. Now if I was an independent cabbie, I'd be bitching big-time. Here, sign here," the black man said. She tried not to glare at him and simply pulled up the black tube top a little, setting her beer down on top of the cooler as he handed her the clipboard. She took it from him, grabbing the pen that was attached to it and scribbled her signature. The faster she signed, the faster he'd go. Hannah handed Rufus the clipboard, grabbing her beer from the top of the cooler.

"But.. seriously. I mean, Mecca? That's big shit, right? Isn't that, like, the Muslim equivalent of the Jewish and Jerusalem?" Hannah inquired, taking another drink of Killian's. "Think the U.S. will get involved?"

 

[OrcishBarbarian]

Rufus nodded. "If they attackin' our oil tankers, there's no way the U.S. can not get involved, sweety. We already involved."

Patrick smiled a death's-head grin. "Well, it had to happen sooner or later. We had to teach those people not to mess with our oil."

The black man picked up the clipboard and dolly. "It ain't gonna be pretty though. I'd have rather this shit wait until I had my house sold. See you later, bye missy," he nodded at Hannah as he moved out the back door.

The front door opened, and the first of the lunch crowd began to come in. There was less of the normal levity that she usually saw from workers on their lunch breaks. The TV picture returned to the commentary with a map of the Mideast...there were now three flashing spots on the map...one in Syria.

 

[MissMarbles]

Hannah downed the last of her beer, tossing the bottle into the recycle. Nodding to Rufus as he exited through the back door, Hannah grabbed one of the white waist aprons that was folded on one of the shelves in the back near the cooler. Time for work, she said to herself, though not audibly. She tied the apron around her waist, stepping back behind the bar. Hannah tossed a white towel over her shoulder, thinking about what Rufus and Patrick had just said. Was this the next world war? she wondered. Her khaki-short-clad-behind made its way over to some of the tables that had recently become unoccupied. Lifting the glasses, she wiped off the table, dropping off the dirty dishes on the other side of the bar as she went about the rest of the front of the house this way. She tried not to listen to the television, though she understood why Patrick kept it on. Bad news was good for business - especially hard liquor sales.

The girl nodded and smiled as she greeted several of the incoming customers. Her bright blue eyes sparkled despite that uneasy feeling that lingered in her stomach. "Take a seat where ever you'd like," she said to them. Levy's 'lunch rush' was still pretty slow as far as lunch rushes go, and Hannah found it was usually more of a pain to direct the patrons in a particular direction. Letting them choose for themselves seemed to cause fewer issues.

 

[OrcishBarbarian]

As Hannah's shift progressed, the number of blinking red dots on the map grew to six. Mecca, Medina, Tel Aviv, Damascus, Tehran, and Jerusalem.

Shortly after noon, three businessmen came in, joking. "Did you hear they've actually got a city crew in front of the New York Stock Exchange? They're cleaning up after the brokers who bumped themselves off. Worse than 1929, they're saying. Imagine that? Glad I filled up my Beamer today, it's five bucks a gallon in my burough now."

Patrick shook his head. He had a brooding look that Hannah had never seen before. The businessmen, all-American types, dug into their sandwiches, ribbing each other as they did so. As Hannah carried some orders back, he took her off to the side. "This is going to go bad," he said softly. "I can feel it. People are in shock now, all juiced up because it's a big news day, when when it hits home..." He looked at her. The clock read 3:23. "Maybe you should go for the day. We can see how things go tonight, see just how far this all spreads."

 

[MissMarbles]

"Maybe you should go for the day. We can see how things go tonight, see just how far this all spreads," Patrick told her. Hannah was rather surprised - he usually never let her go home early, even if it was slow. He'd always managed to find something for her to do. She unloaded her last armful of dishes into the sink as he spoke to her.

"You sure, Pat?" she asked, wiping her wet hands off on her apron. He gave her a nod which turned into a motion for her to hit the road. "Alright." Hannah untied her apron, tossing it into the hamper with the other dirty linen. Grabbing her purse, she wandered behind the bar and reached under the register withdrawing the $13 in tips she'd earned and shoving it in her back pocket. Normally, Hannah would easily have raked in closer to $50 before the dinner 'rush' but today.. people were holding onto their money. "Seeya, Pat," she said, walking out from behind the bar and heading towards the door. "Call my cell if you need me to come in later," she called back to him. Patrick nodded to her again as she left Levy's and stepped back out onto the city streets.

 

[OrcishBarbarian]

It was only 3:30 in the afternoon, but the shadows somehow seemed longer, like it was five or something. The streets were packed with cars...it was like rush hour already. She noticed that some cars had suitcases and other gear on top, and were full of people. As she walked near the Interstate, the traffic inched along, seemingly heedless of changes in the lights. She passed people trying to thumb rides. City buses sat mired in traffic, like ships trapped in congealing arctic pack ice.

A man ambled through the crowd, wearing a sandwich board...she could see JOHN 3:16 painted on it; he was too far away for Hannah to be able to read anything else. She drew near to the corner store she had passed earlier.

The scene was now pandemonium. One of the pumps was free, but a sign hung on it that read, "No Gas." A line of over two dozen cars was queued for the remaining pumps. Two people were in a fistfight at Pump #3. The price was $5.06 now.

 

[MissMarbles]

Seeing all the cars, the suitcases, the fighting.. Hannah quickened her pace, wanting to get home to her apartment as soon as she could without flat out running and perhaps starting a panic. She crossed the street, walking between completely stopped cars. This was definitely strange, even for New York. When she reached the sidewalk on the other side, she continued making her way to her aparment while reaching into her purse for her phone. She flipped it open, calling her home number back in DC. Hannah would have expected for at least one of her parents to try and get a hold of her, to see if she was okay. After the twelfth ring and still no answer, Hannah closed her phone and slipped it back into her purse. The fact that her parents hadn't answered the phone didn't settle her nerves any. She turned the corner, now less than half a block from her apartment. Traffic was still at a standstill. She spotted one car with a man and his family all packed up.. their window was down.

"Excuse me," Hannah said, approaching the car slowly. "Where is everyone headed?"

 

[OrcishBarbarian]

The man looked at Hannah funny. "They say the pipelines to the power stations are going to shut down. FEMA denies it, but we're not taking any chances. They say the refinery further down the coast was hit. No one knows who did it, but the oil supply is running out." The traffic inched forward. "I'd get out while you still can."

The cell phone still didn't work. She approached her apartment complex. Here things at least seemed normal. Her watch read just shy of four in the afternoon.

 

[MissMarbles]

Hannah thanked the man before she continued on to her apartment complex. She clutched her cell to her chest, praying that her parents would call and tell her everything was going to be alright. What was she going to do? Should she try to get to DC? Hannah suddenly felt ill, thinking back to what the man in the car had said. "They say the refinery further down the coast was hit," he'd told her. Were we under attack now as well? Her heart felt as if it were hanging low in her stomach. Hannah wasn't sure how she'd leave New York without a vehicle, nor did she know where she would go, but she knew it was probably in her best interest to get out of the city. She ran the rest of the way to the complex, rushing up the stairs and into her apartment. The rest of the complex had seemed almost normal, and she felt considerably more comfortable and relaxed now that she was 'home.' Tossing her purse onto the creamy leather couch, Hannah turned on the television.

 

[OrcishBarbarian]

Hannah thanked the man before she continued on to her apartment complex. She clutched her cell to her chest, praying that her parents would call and tell her everything was going to be alright. What was she going to do? Should she try to get to DC? Hannah suddenly felt ill, thinking back to what the man in the car had said. "They say the refinery further down the coast was hit," he'd told her. Were we under attack now as well? Her heart felt as if it were hanging low in her stomach. Hannah wasn't sure how she'd leave New York without a vehicle, nor did she know where she would go, but she knew it was probably in her best interest to get out of the city. She ran the rest of the way to the complex, rushing up the stairs and into her apartment. The rest of the complex had seemed almost normal, and she felt considerably more comfortable and relaxed now that she was 'home.' Tossing her purse onto the creamy leather couch, Hannah turned on the television.

The TV was all about the bloody business of the day. Seven cities in the Mideast had been hit, and the commentators were talking in terms of megadeaths. Iran and the U.S. Navy were fighting in the Persian Gulf. An aircraft carrier had been hit by jihadists. A refinery in North Carolina had exploded. It was like Tom Clancy's dream come true.

The stock market had fallen over two thousand points before trading had been halted. The Chinese ambassador blamed American imperialism, while his Russian counterpart urged a fact-finding mission while warning against "opportunism."

Local news was harder to come by. The local feeds had been pre-empted, of course. Outside, Hannah could see some other tenants, many of whom were college students, packing their belongings into their cars as the shadows outside grew longer and evening approached. The TV droned on, tallying up the costs of this terrible day...

 

[MissMarbles]

The longer Hannah watched the news, the more sick she felt. It all seemed so surreal - like something out of a movie. She sat on her couch, still clutching her cellphone to her chest. Staring at it, she popped it open, trying her parents' number one more time. Tears streamed down her face as she quietly sobbed. We're sorry, the number you have dialed is... She slammed her phone shut, jamming it back into her purse - now it wasn't even ringing. Originally, she had just wanted to hear their voices, she wanted to hear them tell her that everything was going to be alright. But now? Now she was genuinely concerned about their wellbeing. DC was probably not the greatest place to be today.

Hannah wiped the tears from her face as she pulled herself off of the couch. She needed to pack. Pack what? This wasn't exactly camping and she didn't have a car to lug around tons of clothes and supplies. Heading into her bedroom, Hannah retrieved her generously sized hiking backpack. This will have to work.. She had no clue what the next few days would hold. Hannah went about her apartment in search of anything that she thought might be useful, keeping her ears open for anything new going on in the news.

 

[OrcishBarbarian]

Hannah heard bits and pieces of the news...footage of cities afire, of fleeing throngs of people and cars flowing down overcrowded roads in search of that which did not exist any longer. Then newly frantic voices reporting Madrid had been hit with a "massive explosion" of "possibly nuclear" origin.

Then came the U.S. President's voice. "As a member of NATO, we regard an attack on Spain as an attack on the United States, and we will respond to it as such." The press conference broke into a pandemonium of shouts and questions. The President hastily moved off-screen.

Cars drove off from the apartment-complex parking lot. The place was eerily quiet. Hannah could not tell how many people were left. The street beyond was a sea of headlights and brake-lights. Two women on an adjacent balcony were talking. As Hannah packed in her bedroom, she could faintly hear their conversation. "I don't know where all these fools think they're going. There's hardly any more gasoline available anywhere."

"Yes," the second woman said. She was black but light-skinned, straight hair, looking around 30 or so. "Best to just wait this out."

 

[MissMarbles]

Hannah managed to stuff a few bottles of water, a flashlights, a couple changes of clothes, extra pair of shoes - since she was wearing sandals - blanket, batteries and a few other toiletry items into her bag. What else would she need? She truly had no idea. Thinking back to what her neighbor had said, she briefly wondered whether or not she should just 'wait it out.' Even if her parents were okay, DC probably wasn't the smartest place to go. But was New York the smartest place to stay? Hannah didn't think so.

Then, Hannah had another thought. She needed to get to an ATM. If power went out and the stock market was in as much distress as she'd heard on the television, she needed to get her cash out as soon as possible. Hannah sighed, making one last round through her apartment in search of anything she may have forgotten. Food? She grabbed a couple of cans of soup and a small bag of beef jerky. It'll have to do..

Hitching her bag onto her back and slinging her purse over her shoulder, she left her apartment, locking the door behind her - though a feeling deep down in her gut told her she may never see this place again. She slipped her keys back into her purse anyway, heading down the stairs and out of the complex. Her bank was a few blocks away.. She'd get her money and then figure out how she would get out of New York.

 

[OrcishBarbarian]

Hannah shouldered her packpack and prepared to leave. The sun had gone behind the row of buildings behind the apartments now. The cars were still there, on the street, the occasional honking of horns attenuated by the distance. A man was barbecuing down by the pool, an island of normalcy in the growing insanity that the world had become in such a short time.

Then the TV lost its feed just as Hannah was about to duck out the door.

 

[MissMarbles]

Finally exiting the complex, Hannah turned in the direction of her bank. It was in the opposite direction that traffic was headed on that particular street - and she couldn't help but notice the strange looks that the people in their cars were giving her. Was it really tha strange of her to be walking? A lot of New Yorker's didn't have cars..

Hannah continued down the block, not yet even a quarter of the way there. Looking around the streets, she suddenly got goosebumps - the city had an ominous, errie feel to it. As she walked, Hannah thought about where she should go.. Inland was probably her best bet.. She was lost in her thoughts as she continued her way to the bank.

 

[OrcishBarbarian]

As time elapsed, Hannah saw she was not alone in walking. The cars kept inching along; the smell of car exhaust was even stronger than normal in the street. Small cars, big cars, old compacts, shiny new SUVs, vans...all crept along. The rays of the late-afternoon sun turned the tops of the buildings orange.

As Hannah finally reached her bank, she saw a line of people in front of it already...apparently others were doing as she did. The group was a motley assortment of city-dwellers.

(OOC: How is Hannah dressed?)

 

[MissMarbles]

(OOC: Black tube top, khaki shorts, black belt and sandals)

Hannah sighed as she stepped into the back of the line. Hopefully, the machines didn't run out of cash - and, unfortunately, with the line as long as it was, it was more than likely that they would. Hannah stayed in line anyway, fishing her ATM card out of her purse as she waited. Wonder if any busses are running.. she thought to herself, still pondering what would be the best way for her to get out of the city.

 

[OrcishBarbarian]

The line inched forward...Hannah got closer to the bleeps and beeps of the ATM. Finally, it was her turn. She quickly keyed in the code...for a moment the machine hesitated, then gave her the $400 that was the maximum she could withdraw a day.

She secreted the money on her person, and began to walk further inland. She was now on a side street with comparatively little traffic. It was dusk now, as the last ruddy glow of the setting sun was leaving the tops of the buildings. As she walked, the street narrowed between two buildings. She heard the sound of a radio thumping bass, getting louder behind her, then a car screeched to a halt next to her.

Looking at it, she saw the front passenger was a black man, looking to be around 25 or so, with a pick stuck in his hair. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Two more were in the back of the Cadillac, looking older.

"Get in," the man in front said. Looking, Hannah could see the tip of a .38 held almost out of sight.