Hunker Down

Critical

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Jan 30, 2014
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Jacob had been made aware of the tsunami alert before the students, but only just so. Technically, he had only been informed of the tsunami's presence earlier that day, and that he needed to keep it in mind in case something happened. He heard the alarm itself go off at the same time as the students, and that was when he knew that shit was about to go down. The momentary surprise and panic of the loud siren worn off, and he immediately stopped his lesson to begin ushering students into the ballroom.

"That's it. Calm and orderly. Everyone inside! Inside!"

He had performed many drills of many kinds throughout his teaching career, though not for one with a magnitude of danger as large as a tsunami. Fortunately, they all proceeded in roughly the same fashion. He needed to stay calm and assured for the students, whom were to be rushed to the safe areas as quickly as possible without a loss of control. The task became easier the older the student, as older kids were nowhere near as panicky as small children. That was assuming they even cared. Sometimes they were so jaded by all the fire drills that they hardly cared when a real one happened. Perhaps that was the point.

As Jacob stood by the open doors of the ballroom, he directed students to file towards the middle of the room and to make space for even more students to join in. It was uncomfortable and the room was growing louder with all the kids, but it needed to be done.

With every student that passed, Jacob found his anxiety growing bit by bit. He was worried for the kids, of course, but he was also worried about Lenn. Her classes were usually out on the sports field, away from most of the predetermined shelters.

"C'mon, Lenn... Where are you?"
 

JioJio

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Jul 2, 2014
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It was yet another busy day at the Academy, but it was a good day. A great day and it seemed to get better and better even if the weather was a bit gray. Earlier during the day, the staff were told about a tsunami warning. Most people took the news with a grain of salt; her included. It was probably nothing. Either that, or the tsunami was...going to change direction, or something. For the entire time spent on the island, the worst weather she had ever experienced was a bit of heavy rain. Not once did they ever have a hurricane, a tropical depression, or anything of the sort. Lenn found that kind of weird...But then again, there was nothing normal about this island, so there was the possibility that this island was protected by some sort of magic...Or whatever. As long as it worked, she didn't care.
Not even the rain dampened her spirits. Her class carried on as usual, her students improving with their drills and physical fitness. Lenn couldn't help but pat herself on the back a little and smiled as she saw her students trickling in from the track field. Some were smart enough to bring a poncho or any kind of wear for the rain. Then there was the unfortunate who stumbled in soaked to the bone. Hah. Suckers. They thought class was going to be cancelled.

WHRRRRRRRR--

The siren just above the track roared, startling most of the students who looked up to the damn thing as if something was ready to pour out of it...Like rainbows or something. God, she wished it was rainbows. The siren was not only beginning to get irritating, but soul crushing as well. So this realleh isnn'a drill... Sigh. And she had everything planned for today. It also occured to her that the sports field was the farthest away from the ballroom. Sadly, it was decided that the ballroom was perhaps the safest place to be. She swore under her breath. Of course she had to be the farthest. "Bullocks..." she muttered under her breath. The students looked to her with a hint of panic in their gazes. It was only a fleeting feeling however once they saw how calm their firearms instructor was. "Alroigh' ladies. Y'heard th' sairen! Move out! Stay on me!" As the students fell into formation, Lenn was tempted to light up a cigarette. The heavy rain squandered that idea as they cut through the field.

They were probably the last ones to reach the ballroom. Soggy tennis shoes and solid boots tracked loads of mud into the building. Even if this was an emergency, Lenn mouthed an apology before they entered the ballroom. Some sorry sap was going to have to clean all of this up once the tsunami warning ended. Said sorry sap was in the corner of the room. His gaze locked onto her and her group and man...If looks could kill, they would all be on the floor twitching, bleeding from their eyes and ears. The old man's hateful-gaze made Lenn shudder and herd her class further inside the ballroom. There was only one person she was looking for and-- "Oi! Jacob!"

She found him. Quickly, she guided her students to blend in with his group. Too bad her hair couldn't withstand the rain, but at least her makeup did. The commercials weren't kidding. She possessed the toughest liner and mascara. "Hoh! Thank god yer safe. Wot do we do now? Do we just...sit hea'?"
 

Critical

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Lenn's fears regarding the mess were a little overblown. She and her students were not nearly the first ones to arrive in the ballroom soaked and dirty. Nearly every class from the physical education department had tracked in some amount of mud and water, and that in addition to any random students that had been outside at the time for their own reasons. The old cleaner man might have been angry, but he too was hiding from the tsunami. Mud on the floors were the least of their problems at the moment.

Jacob had started to wonder why his group of students started featuring more unfamiliar faces when Lenn finally arrived. He closed-in on her as well, and resisted the urge to give her a quick kiss or even a hug. He had already been reprimanded previously for showing a little too much affection to Lenn while on the clock. It was embarrassing, but he understood. Instead he reached out for her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Yeah. I think everyone has found their safe rooms. Just like the drills."

He looked around at the crowded and noisy ballroom. Students and teachers were conversing and milling about, as if nothing was too worry about. They were not wrong. At the moment, everything felt tense but okay. It was the waiting game now.

"Pretty much. But it's not like it's recess. We gotta make sure the kids are safe and orderly, especially if something DOES happen.

Then shit goes down."

He pulled her a little closer for a quick side hug.​
 

JioJio

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Jul 2, 2014
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"Thas' it?" she hugged him back and took a moment to survey the room. So far, so good. Everyone didn't seem so worried. If anything, it felt like just another drill...Only, something just might happen. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. "Huh...this should be a breeze then."

Almost two hours passed by. She checked her phone for the third time. Nothing. There wasn't a single announcement about the status of the tsunami. She tried to check through the internet, but of course it didn't go through. The waiting game was a bitch. It made the two hours seem like an eternity. The ballroom had quieted down as time passed by. Some still continued to chat with others to calm their nerves. Some slept. Some paced. All of them had something in common though; and that was the fear of the unknown evident in all of their faces. What was going to happen? How bad was the damage going to be?

Lenn left Jacob's side and patrolled the room to check on the other groups. The conversations varied from group to group. Some students even grew restless when they couldn't go to the bathroom. Tough for them. Everything seemed pretty normal up to the point where she heard a few groups share the same story; that there were people getting murdered on the street. The tsunami was the work of an angry sea god...And...That the killings were some...blood offerings. The rumors quickly began to grow quite disturbing. It would have been easier to dismiss it if it weren't the fact that more and more students began to squabble about it.

Finally, the intercom crackled, but the announcement was something that only confirmed the rumors...and absolutely nothing about this being over anytime soon. The room started to fill with panic. Even a few teachers were scared, but they did their best to calm the students down. Lenn turned and started back for Jacob's group. The announcement confirmed a huge concern; there were still people out there that didn't make it. Not only that, but they were being killed for some crazy idea. Either that, or there were crazies out there that hopped on the bandwagon just to have a reason to shed blood.

Lenn fixed Jacob with a gaze of sheer deterimation, a look she only reserved for the scope and unholstered her Kimber and immediately went into mission mode. She checked her gear. Sadly, she only had a pistol, combat knife, and a few magazines since she only teaching marksmanship and not how to fight in a war. At least she had her cigarettes. Judging from how ugly this day was turning, she was going to need them. "Oy'm goin' out there to look for people. You stay here and watch over the kids," she ordered. No, she didn't want to separate from him, but...There were people out there and...Dammit, there were probably kids dying out there!
 

Critical

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"Don't get too relaxed, hon. We're on high alert until the storm passes."

Jacob kept telling himself the same thing in his own head, for his own purposes. Focusing on the task at hand--the task being that he needed to look out for all the students in his care--kept his mind from wandering. He knew that if his head was left to its own devices in a crisis situation, then it would start conjuring all the worst possible scenarios and he would be too anxious to his job properly. No one, especially him, wanted that to happen.

Even given his mental focusing, Jacob still needed to do something with his body. After Lenn left to patrol the room, Jacob remained in the same area to look after his students and answer any questions they had. But as time passed, his presence was not needed as much. He had given all the answers he could give, and the students were finding better uses of their attention with each other. So he too started to patrol the room, and overheard the same disquieting murmurs that Lenn was hearing.

He so desperately wanted to ignore the rumors of a killer during the tsunami. It just sounded so preposterous. But the official announcement made it clear: two very bad crises were happening on top of each other. He was busy trying to calm his students, futilely, when Lenn returned with her sidearm drawn.

"Lenn!"

Knowing that touching a drawn firearm was dangerous, he still tried to push it down and away from anyone's view. He too looked concerned, but for a variety of reasons. The students. The tsunami. The killer. Lenn's gun. All of it at once. It was a lot to manage.

"Don't just pull out your gun outta nowhere, please?"

He drew her closer, trying to whisper to her in the din of the ballroom.

"I know you're concerned. But the gun just adds another thing to rile up the kids. Right now, it's more important that we both stay calm as an example for the--"

Right then, there was a rumbling from outside. For a moment, everyone quieted as they tuned into the sound. That was immediately followed by everyone screaming and yelling as the walls shook and someone yelled about the doors leaking.

Jacob whipped around to look and sure enough, there was already a sizeable gush of water coming from under and around the closed doors. The tsunami had arrived.

"Oh no... Lenn! Start getting everyone upstairs! To higher ground!"

And it was then that the doors flew open, and the water began to pour-in at force. All the teachers had already began rescue efforts.​
 

JioJio

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Jul 2, 2014
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Why? What was wrong with her having a gun in hand? There were people dying out there and he was concerned about discretion?! Her features soured almost immediately as he pushed the gun out of sight and dragged her in close. "Jacob! We don' hav' time for this!" she hissed. Everyone in the ballroom knew about the threats outside. What difference would it make if Lenn had her sidearm out? At least they knew they would be protected, or at least that's what she thought. She was still pretty green about 'doing the right thing'.

Before she could argue anymore on the subject, people began to panic. For a second, she almost admitted that Jacob was right, but she quickly realized that everyone had their attention towards the door. Others who stood by the door backed away as the water began to flood onto the carpet. The flooding spread and water began to gush beneath the doors. The current was increasing. Seeing it only confirmed everyone's worst fears; the Tsunami was here. This wasn't a joke. This wasn't a drill. It was actually happening before their very eyes. Lenn swore and re-holstered her gun.

Their argument was quickly forgotten as the doors burst open and the torrent of water rushed in, sweeping the unexpected off of their feet. Lenn stood her ground against the rush that already began to rise to her ankles. Quickly, the students were herded up the stairs. The water was up to her thighs now, making it rather difficult to snatch up the straggling students. By the time she rounded up the majority, the water level was almost up to the hips. There. Thas' all of 'em. They could get up to the second floor and leave from there. Lenn was thankful that the designer of the establishment decided to build the school on the highest point of the island. " Go, go, go!"

Lenn was about to head for the stairs herself until she heard a scream far off to the side. Of course, there was that lone student who stood on a table against the far wall, frozen in fear. Of course. "Aw hell..." To make matters worse, there was an unpleasant screech and something swam into the ballroom. Tha' can't be good... Seeing that Lenn was the closest target, the creature burst from the water, armed with it's trident and ready to spear her upon landing. She cleared the Kimber from her holster so fast that it practically materialized in her hand and jerked the trigger twice. Green and gray matter exploded out from the back of the creature's skull and it dropped back into the water in a dead heap.

Great. Mer-people. And they were out for blood. She fixed Jacob with a determined stare and tossed her favorite gun at him. " The kid's stuck!...I'mma get her," she motioned at the gun. " Jus' point an shoot, baby. Oy' trust you," She started off for the far end of the room where the last student began to bawl her eyes out. The water level rose to her waist. "Ouh! Thas' cold!" it kind of tickled and she refrained from smiling and focused on the task at hand.

Meanwhile, more creatures got inside of the ballroom.
 

Critical

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Jan 30, 2014
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While Lenn and some of the other teachers took to wading through the rushing water to get the students, Jacob and the remaining teachers stayed closed to the stairs to direct them upward. Every faculty member was needed to keep all the students from going every which way, whether it was to escape the water or pull off their own heroics. The help they might have provided by being heroes wouldn't have outweighed the extra chaos they would also be adding to an already out-of-control situation. More than once, Jacob had to grab an arm of an overly-energetic student and pull them back in line, before ordering them upstairs.

The water was killer. It was cold and wet and it was rising rapidly. What little footing he managed to keep after the initial deluge was quickly giving away in proportion to the depth of the water. Never mind the fact that he, and everyone else, were soaked to the bone in a matter of minutes. It was unpleasant to say the least.

"Is that all of them?!"

Yelling was necessary now, instead of a side effect of the chaos. There was so much splashing and rushing of water, and the waves were easily reaching his head, that he needed to yell just to be heard.

And if a tsunami wasn't enough, Jacob spotted something in the water. It was heading right for Lenn. He tried calling out to her, assuming anything in the water at this point was dangerous.

"Lenn!"

When the thing burst out of the water, all teeth and scales and armed, Jacob froze in fear for Lenn and the lone remaining student. But Lenn demonstrated once more that she was more than capable of handling herself when she blew away the fish creature with a quick draw. He was relieved when it dropped back into the water, dead, and embarrassed when Lenn looked back at him with a total 'I told you so' expression.

Then there was a gun flying through the air. Jacob's hand shot out and only just barely managed to catch it, after fumbling with it for a few seconds. His eyes went wide and he stood dumbly with Lenn's gun held gingerly in his hands.

"L-LENN! I-I don't use guns! I haven't had any lessons!"

He had no formal lessons anyway, or any time on the range. Jacob only had second hand knowledge of guns from the Internet and TV, and a few extremely basic pointers from Lenn. He knew enough to not maybe blow his own head off while handling a firearm. Her trust in him seemed misplaced at that moment.

"Lenn! I use A SWORD! And I barely know how I use THAT!"

But there was no time to argue the point. Lenn was already on her way to rescuing the last student, Jacob was the only other teacher left downstairs and there were more creatures swimming into the ballroom. He needed to watch her back and keep himself safe. He raised the pistol as best as he could remember.

"Okay. Both hands. One hand holds the other. Pull, don't yank. Arms straight out. Aim down both sights."

Jacob had to constantly whisper his few lessons back to himself as he planted his feet as best as he could in the waist deep water and took aim. The creatures were staying underwater, and Jacob did not feel like wasting ammo on something that might not be hit. But that feeling eroded as they drew closer and closer to Lenn and the student.

The first shot was almost an accident. His shaking finger shook took much and he let off a round near one of the creatures as it got too close. The bullet missed, but it sent a message. The creature swerved away. And now that one shot had been loosed, Jacob felt more at ease with the gun(relatively). He fired a few more rounds to deter the other creatures.

While his shots gave Lenn some room to work, they also drew attention to Jacob. A few of the creatures split off to rush at him. More shots were fired in vain. They were too fast and Jacob's aim was not practiced.

One creature rose out of the water, ready to strike with its trident. Jacob raised the gun out of reaction and fired, hitting it in the neck. It wasn't enough to kill, but it threw it off balance and the creature flopped off course near Jacob, dropping its weapon. Jacob dodged the body, but it was still alive.

Without thinking, he grabbed the trident and finished off the fish creature. But there was still one left. With a melee weapon in hand, Jacob felt more comfortable and lunged back. He hit the creature square in the chest, but it was still alive and flailed at him. Using the gun in his other hand, Jacob tried to finish the job. It took two shots even at that range because Jacob missed the first shot. Just in time too. A third pull of the trigger revealed the gun to be empty.

And there were still creatures left.

"LENN!!!"
 

JioJio

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Jul 2, 2014
434
If this were any normal day, she probably would have teased Jacob and said something along the lines of quit bein' a baby and shoot. Today couldn't be a normal day. Oh noooo. Not only did they have to worry about a tsunami, but there were all kinds of merfolk that went along with it and while she couldn't understand the fishy jibberish, she figured they were pissed off and needed to take it out on all the land-lovers.

She didn't need to look behind her to know that more of them had swam inside. The water level had risen enough to be troublesome enough that Lenn had no choice but to kick off the floor and swim. Jacob had already began to take potshots at the water, probably panicking that the creatures were closing in. More shots were cranked off. A creature screamed. She ground her teeth and eventually made contact with the girl. Suddenly, Jacob was screaming for her...And now the girl screamed. Instead of trying to find out what they were screaming about, she lunged for the girl and pulled her aside as the trident shot past and impaled itself into the wall. Lenn reached for the creatures head and brutally wrenched it, snapping the creature's neck. It bobbed and twitched in the water as she dragged the girl along with her to safety.

Since the water level had risen, it was easier to have the girl swim to the railing and climb over it as Lenn took out another creature with her Bowie knife. Not a lot of things could survive a knife to the eye socket. Finally, she climbed over the railing beside Jacob and took back the gun. "Noice shootin' there, Wyatt," she took back the gun and reloaded it with a chuckle.

It was seconds after she heard the clicks and whistles of another creature when it felt like something punched her through the back. Looking down, she noted the jagged tip of a harpoon sticking out of her side. Oh. How'd that get there? Being stupid and facing away from the threat almost caused her to lose the gun as the line pulled tight. Not wanting to take Jacob with her, she immediately grabbed for the railing. The slimy bastard was just outside of the ballroom with the gun in hand trying to reel in his catch. Nevertheless, she held on tight and turned, gritting her teeth against the burning sensation and plugged a few rounds into the gun-toting creature until it flopped back into the water. The line grew slack and she grunted. "Jus'..cut th' line. We gotta get out of here.." Despite quite literally having a thorn in her side, Lenn knew they had to get the hell out of there first before the current pulled them under. Harpoon guns. What a pain in the ass. Damn thing wouldn't budge. It was in an awkward position.
 

Critical

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The corpse of the fish creature hung limply on Jacob's new trident for a few seconds, swaying with Jacob's attempts to keep it away from him. After reassessing his grip on the trident, he gently tipped the body to the side and let it slough off and into the water. The trident remained in his hand as his remaining way of defending himself. Lenn and the lost student arrived just in time for Jacob. He hurried the girl over the railing and up the stairs, leaving on Lenn and himself behind.

The grip he kept on the gun meant that Lenn had to tug a few times to get him to let go.

"Y-Yeah. S-Shooting..."

Even as the water reached his chest, Jacob felt relief to be rid of the gun.

"L-Lets get out of here, honey."

The fish creatures were not polite enough to simply let up their attack while Jacob and Lenn talked. The corpses floated away in the current, only to be replaced by angry living creatures. Jacob pulled himself over the railing to Lenn's side and pointed his trident toward them, more ready to receive an attack from them. He still wished he had his sword though, especially when a harpoon zipped by him and into Lenn.

"Shit!"

Though initially panicked, he knew Lenn could take the hit. At least better than he could. But with his sword he could have deflected it or something. He was about ready to retaliate for Lenn when she plugged her attacker herself. The fish creatures were still closing in, so Jacob acted quickly.

"You're right. But we're pulling this out soon."

Holding the line in one hand and his trident in the other, Jacob snipped the line with the pointy end. Their next course of action was to retreat up the stairs while fending off the advancing fish creatures. Fortunately, after seeing the two of them fight, they were more cautious. They didn't dive on the two immediately, but quickly began surrounding them as they backed up the stairs. Jacob jabbed his trident a few times to ward them off.

"Back up! Back up! You're not getting to my kids!"

One creature lunged forward and Jacob caught him right in the chest, impaling the creature and then tossing the body at the others.​
 

JioJio

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Jul 2, 2014
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It had been a long time since she ever heard her body make funny noises. No, not the typical silly noises like farting, but more along the lines of ripping, tearing, and an unpleasant squelch as blood gushed from the wound. It would have been pretty funny to hear Jacob freak out over the harpoon if it wasn't for the fact that the water level was rising and there were a bunch of angry merfolk focused squarely on taking them out.

Lenn also hated the fact that merfolk were actually smart. The couple didn't get very far up the stairs when the creatures surrounded them again. A total of five, three by the water, two blocking the stairs. It turned into a modern day mexican stand-off as Lenn and Jacob stood their ground, back-to-back against the merfolk. She was extremely relieved that she prevented Jacob from throwing the trident earlier to tag the marksman. It would have made things ten times harder — especially since she wasn't so sure about Jacob's hand-to-hand skills. Even that wasn't a very good idea considering a good bunch of them had sharp spines and fins that made hugging a cactus more appealing and exciting. Lenn didn't want to gamble with the possibility of them being venemous as well.

Suddenly, one of them screeched, taking Jacob's threats as taunts and made it's first dumb move. Just like the rest that they dispatched earlier, Lenn was rewarded with a squelch as Jacob speared the first one. The two before her made their moves as well, one moving faster than the other to hopefully tag her in the chest. Combat initiated. In a mere second, violet hues turned into an ominous red shade as the spear stopped short of it's intended target. The creature on the other end had a human-like expression of surprise when it saw that Lenn caught the spear head just inches from her chest. Blood seeped through the torn leather of her glove and stained the steel tip. The mercenary took the opportunity to snap the spear in half with the swing of her other hand holding the Kimber.

The second creature's spear came fast, but Lenn was quick enough to lean back. Her tank top wasn't so lucky. The spear went right through, the tip scratching skin, but nothing more. With an irritated sigh, she plugged two well-placed holes in the second creature's chest. The first managed to pull the spear free from Lenn's grasp, but that was only because she let go. Lenn snap-kicked the creature so hard, she briefly felt it's ribs breaking around the impact of her heel. The body bounced off the stairs and just because it's friend was a total prick and ruined her shirt, she managed to place a shot to the groin and two more in it's gut before it hit the floor. The spear ruined her shirt further when she tried to discard it. Oh well. "Clea'!" she informed Jacob and hurried up the rest of the stairs to make sure the way stayed clear.
 
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