June 16: The Day the Lights Went Out
Who: Lillian McPhee (NPC)
When: June 16, around 8AM
Where: Sycamore House
Invited: Open to anyone awake
Status: Incomplete
The total power failure came as no surprise. Lillian McPhee was only surprised that it didn't happen sooner. She was asleep in the employee lounge, on the tattered couch that only she and a handful of other employees - all of them lost to the fallout of the almost end of the world -- found comfortable when it happened. It only took thirty seconds for the generators to kick in, maybe less, and in that time, Lillian jolted awake, slid her feet into her slippers and walked to the door.
One of the advantages to being the only power plant worker in a dead town was that Lillian now practically made her home at the plant on the outskirts of town. The employee lounge had a refrigerator and a microwave and even a small oven for heating food. There was a sink complete with garbage disposal, vending machines (which she managed to unlock, but only ate from sparingly; who knew when she might need that candy and those chips as last minute rations), and even an age old TV with a VHS player from back in the days when such models were all the new rage. She only left to take a shower, and that was just a short venture to one of the empty farms - the Carlisle farm precisely - and then it was back to mind the power plant.
Lillian didn't mind it, really. Although a small part of her psyche told her she was nuts for working so hard - and not getting paid -- to keep the power going, she didn't stop. There was a desperately hopeful part of her that believed that she wouldn't always be alone; that if there was an oasis of power and an echo of Life Before that people would inevitably come.
She almost gave up with the idea, throwing it into the wishful thinking category when she saw the cancer girl in town. (Amber,) Lillian had reminded herself at the time. Lillian didn't know Amber personally, but everyone knew that poor Amber had a brain tumor and would never see her next birthday. It seemed a cruel joke that the girl survived the plague only to wander alone through town. Lillian hadn't approached her then; her pager went off alerting her to a warning alarm at the plant. When she made her way into town later, Amber wasn't alone - a young, attractive couple - had ventured into town and Amber had taken them in. Though she wanted to be around people and meet people, the power plant required her full attention. She was only one woman and the plant was accustomed to a minimum crew of ten when things were running smoothly.
Two people had found Haven, there was a chance that there would be more.
She learned from the skinny girl with the boy's name - whom she met quite by accident - that there were even more people, but no Amber. It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened to poor Amber, and Lillian mourned for the girl. Amber was the first person she mourned for in a long while.
Fred visited Lillian often, offering suggestions and work arounds to keep the power up. Fred was an odd one - often existing in a place with angels and wolves and rams and hearts and demons and tacos - but even crazy company was better than no company, as long as the crazy company wasn't homicidal.
Fred, unfortunately wasn't there at 4:07AM on June 16 when the power went out completely.
Lillian stood in the control room, studying the panels and computer read outs and knew what had to be done. It was time to ration the power, but first, that meant isolating what areas of town didn't need power and cutting the breakers in shops and homes.
And she'd need help doing it. It was time to introduce herself to her fellow "citizens."
(And now that the power's off, there's no excuse to sit here and watch it like a hawk.)
She waited until a reasonable time, at least for the sun to rise before dressing and having a quick breakfast. Then she hopped into her VW Beetle and drove over to the former Rowland residence on Sycamore. As she stopped the car, Lillian blinked in surprise - there were far more cars here than there should be for a handful of people.
Giddy with excitement - (More people! Could there really be more people?) - Lillian walked up the porch and after taking a deep breath, rang the bell.
[OOC: Lillian is an NPC. I have no idea what she looks like, etc. She's the means to an end.]
When: June 16, around 8AM
Where: Sycamore House
Invited: Open to anyone awake
Status: Incomplete
The total power failure came as no surprise. Lillian McPhee was only surprised that it didn't happen sooner. She was asleep in the employee lounge, on the tattered couch that only she and a handful of other employees - all of them lost to the fallout of the almost end of the world -- found comfortable when it happened. It only took thirty seconds for the generators to kick in, maybe less, and in that time, Lillian jolted awake, slid her feet into her slippers and walked to the door.
One of the advantages to being the only power plant worker in a dead town was that Lillian now practically made her home at the plant on the outskirts of town. The employee lounge had a refrigerator and a microwave and even a small oven for heating food. There was a sink complete with garbage disposal, vending machines (which she managed to unlock, but only ate from sparingly; who knew when she might need that candy and those chips as last minute rations), and even an age old TV with a VHS player from back in the days when such models were all the new rage. She only left to take a shower, and that was just a short venture to one of the empty farms - the Carlisle farm precisely - and then it was back to mind the power plant.
Lillian didn't mind it, really. Although a small part of her psyche told her she was nuts for working so hard - and not getting paid -- to keep the power going, she didn't stop. There was a desperately hopeful part of her that believed that she wouldn't always be alone; that if there was an oasis of power and an echo of Life Before that people would inevitably come.
She almost gave up with the idea, throwing it into the wishful thinking category when she saw the cancer girl in town. (Amber,) Lillian had reminded herself at the time. Lillian didn't know Amber personally, but everyone knew that poor Amber had a brain tumor and would never see her next birthday. It seemed a cruel joke that the girl survived the plague only to wander alone through town. Lillian hadn't approached her then; her pager went off alerting her to a warning alarm at the plant. When she made her way into town later, Amber wasn't alone - a young, attractive couple - had ventured into town and Amber had taken them in. Though she wanted to be around people and meet people, the power plant required her full attention. She was only one woman and the plant was accustomed to a minimum crew of ten when things were running smoothly.
Two people had found Haven, there was a chance that there would be more.
She learned from the skinny girl with the boy's name - whom she met quite by accident - that there were even more people, but no Amber. It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened to poor Amber, and Lillian mourned for the girl. Amber was the first person she mourned for in a long while.
Fred visited Lillian often, offering suggestions and work arounds to keep the power up. Fred was an odd one - often existing in a place with angels and wolves and rams and hearts and demons and tacos - but even crazy company was better than no company, as long as the crazy company wasn't homicidal.
Fred, unfortunately wasn't there at 4:07AM on June 16 when the power went out completely.
Lillian stood in the control room, studying the panels and computer read outs and knew what had to be done. It was time to ration the power, but first, that meant isolating what areas of town didn't need power and cutting the breakers in shops and homes.
And she'd need help doing it. It was time to introduce herself to her fellow "citizens."
(And now that the power's off, there's no excuse to sit here and watch it like a hawk.)
She waited until a reasonable time, at least for the sun to rise before dressing and having a quick breakfast. Then she hopped into her VW Beetle and drove over to the former Rowland residence on Sycamore. As she stopped the car, Lillian blinked in surprise - there were far more cars here than there should be for a handful of people.
Giddy with excitement - (More people! Could there really be more people?) - Lillian walked up the porch and after taking a deep breath, rang the bell.
[OOC: Lillian is an NPC. I have no idea what she looks like, etc. She's the means to an end.]