Post by Junkrat on Aug 10, 2016 17:51:41 GMT
When the shaking started, she sent him underground.
The Omnic Crisis had made bunkers necessary and intelligent for people across the map, and the Australian Outback was no different. Even the families that barely had enough to scrape together a meager living managed to find ways to have them built. After the crisis ended, the necessity of the bunkers faded from immediate need, simply remaining as a precaution in case things went to hell in a hand-basket. Jamison's mother was a resourceful woman, and intelligent, she'd prepared her small family for the worst case scenario with drills and lessons on what to do, and they had always lived as survivalists anyhow, depending on the land to give them everything they needed. He hadn't fully agreed with her husband's formation of the ALF, but she saw that that too had its necessity. Jamie admire his father's courage to stand up to those who wronged them, and who was she to snuff out that faith that the little boy had in his dad? He was a handful of a boy sometimes, but he listened, so when she told him to head to the bunker while she tried to contact his father. We went.
That felt like hours ago now, though it was probably mere minutes, she said she would be right down there with him after she got a hold of Mako, who was orchestrating a rally at the Omnium, a final stand he called it. She hadn't given the boy any details, but when the ground started to shake and a dull roar sounded in the distance, the command was immediate. He was sitting with his back pressed hard to the stone wall, listening to the earth move and shiver as the roar crescendo-ed telling him something was coming. He wanted to leave the bunker and find his mom, bring her down here and make her forget whatever silly thing she was doing, but he was scared, too scared to move from the place he was rooted to. The sound, muted slightly in the safety of the bunker, was still enough to send his little heart racing, but the explosion that followed it was enough to shatter the whole world.
It was like thunder exploding directly in his ears, deafening even as he put his hands to the side of his head to muffle it. Even his panicked scream was drowned out in the wake of that powerful explosion, strong enough to feel as though the world was crumbling, even down in his bunker. The thunderous shaking was followed just as suddenly by a silence so intimidating that it was almost more frightening than the roar. Almost. Jamie swallowed, venturing to creep open his eyes, fully expecting to see the world fallen around him, but all that greeted him was the four walls of the bunker, lit scantly by a single bulb in the ceiling. It took the boy a moment to find his feet, and when he did his legs shook terribly as he stood, stumbling towards the door that led up to the world outside. Like any earthquake, there is always an aftershock, shaking the ground as if meteors one by one were crashing into the surface above him. He found the wall and held himself up against it, too stricken with shock and panic to even let tears fall. The collisions continued for a goof forty minutes until that cacophony too subsided, leaving that dead quiet in its wake. He held onto the wall for what felt like forever, to afraid to even make his feet move, but he had to. He knew he had to. He had to make sure his mom was okay.
He swallowed, then put a determined look on his face, thinking back to something, anything that might bring the bravery back. He started to climb the steps that led to the door, Jack Morrison wouldn't be afraid, he would have been out of this bunker protecting everyone by now. He steeled himself as he placed a hand against the heavy door and pushed against it, grunting with effort as he threw it open and ventured a look outside.
The sight that greeted him was enough to suck every last breath from his body, leaving him motionless and dizzy. The landscape was a twisted mess of gnarled metal jutting from titanic mountains of concrete, smoking and painted red with the remnants of the flame that still clung to the shrapnel of the explosion. There was an acrid smell of burning in the air, enough to make the boy feel sick. He coughed and pulled his shirt up over his mouth as he pulled himself out of the bunker, squinting his eyes hard against the smoke, "M-mum?" His voice was tiny as he stumbled where his house should have been, nothing more than a skeletal pile of rubble now, "Mum!?" He swallowed his fear as he stepped through what had once been a doorway, eyes stinging with tears, "Where are you?" Surely she took shelter, where had she last been when she told him to hide? He coughed hard as he made his way to the kitchen, where their only working phone was, that was where she would have been trying to call his father from. There was a hopeful urgency to his step as he stumbled over wooden beams and wrecked furniture, heading for the kitchen. The room itself seemed remarkably intact given the blast, only a portion of the roof was caved in, letting sickly light into the room, this gave him another thrill of hope as he stepped into the room, letting his hands drop the shirt from his face, "Mum?! Mum!" She had to be alive, the kitchen was mostly remaining, surely she ducked into a corner and was waiting for him to find her.
All the color left Jamie's face as he rounded the island in the middle of the room, the body was mostly charred, blackened, but still distinctly human, the immediate area stank like burning flesh, a smell he would never forget. He crept closer and swallowed back bile as he surveyed the scene, her head was split, laying flayed open like some sick Halloween decoration, lacerations covered her body where shrapnel must have hit her. She was gone, he wanted to cry, to cry and scream, but instead he felt numb. He swallowed hard as he back-stepped out of the kitchen, out of the house and into the nightmarish hell that nor surrounded him. Where would he go? He couldn't last terribly long out there on his own, he knew that, but he had to try. His mother was gone but maybe his father was still out there, a new sense of determination filled him and he turned on his heel to head back to the bunker. He stumbled slightly as he reached the bottom of the stairs, glancing around until he saw what he was looking for. His father had stocked this place up ages ago, travel packs, water bottled, cans of food. He grunted as he pulled one of the backpacks out, looking determined as he stuffed it full with provisions. He would find his dad, they would leave this awful place, and things would eventually be okay again.
The bag was heavy on his back as he climbed back out of the shelter, casting a last look at the ruins of his home, "M'sorry ma...I couldn't save yew..." He steeled himself against the mutinous tears, wiping them away before setting that determined look once more. He only had a general idea of where the Omnium was, directions given by his father, so he would go north until he found it, until he found his father.
The Omnic Crisis had made bunkers necessary and intelligent for people across the map, and the Australian Outback was no different. Even the families that barely had enough to scrape together a meager living managed to find ways to have them built. After the crisis ended, the necessity of the bunkers faded from immediate need, simply remaining as a precaution in case things went to hell in a hand-basket. Jamison's mother was a resourceful woman, and intelligent, she'd prepared her small family for the worst case scenario with drills and lessons on what to do, and they had always lived as survivalists anyhow, depending on the land to give them everything they needed. He hadn't fully agreed with her husband's formation of the ALF, but she saw that that too had its necessity. Jamie admire his father's courage to stand up to those who wronged them, and who was she to snuff out that faith that the little boy had in his dad? He was a handful of a boy sometimes, but he listened, so when she told him to head to the bunker while she tried to contact his father. We went.
That felt like hours ago now, though it was probably mere minutes, she said she would be right down there with him after she got a hold of Mako, who was orchestrating a rally at the Omnium, a final stand he called it. She hadn't given the boy any details, but when the ground started to shake and a dull roar sounded in the distance, the command was immediate. He was sitting with his back pressed hard to the stone wall, listening to the earth move and shiver as the roar crescendo-ed telling him something was coming. He wanted to leave the bunker and find his mom, bring her down here and make her forget whatever silly thing she was doing, but he was scared, too scared to move from the place he was rooted to. The sound, muted slightly in the safety of the bunker, was still enough to send his little heart racing, but the explosion that followed it was enough to shatter the whole world.
It was like thunder exploding directly in his ears, deafening even as he put his hands to the side of his head to muffle it. Even his panicked scream was drowned out in the wake of that powerful explosion, strong enough to feel as though the world was crumbling, even down in his bunker. The thunderous shaking was followed just as suddenly by a silence so intimidating that it was almost more frightening than the roar. Almost. Jamie swallowed, venturing to creep open his eyes, fully expecting to see the world fallen around him, but all that greeted him was the four walls of the bunker, lit scantly by a single bulb in the ceiling. It took the boy a moment to find his feet, and when he did his legs shook terribly as he stood, stumbling towards the door that led up to the world outside. Like any earthquake, there is always an aftershock, shaking the ground as if meteors one by one were crashing into the surface above him. He found the wall and held himself up against it, too stricken with shock and panic to even let tears fall. The collisions continued for a goof forty minutes until that cacophony too subsided, leaving that dead quiet in its wake. He held onto the wall for what felt like forever, to afraid to even make his feet move, but he had to. He knew he had to. He had to make sure his mom was okay.
He swallowed, then put a determined look on his face, thinking back to something, anything that might bring the bravery back. He started to climb the steps that led to the door, Jack Morrison wouldn't be afraid, he would have been out of this bunker protecting everyone by now. He steeled himself as he placed a hand against the heavy door and pushed against it, grunting with effort as he threw it open and ventured a look outside.
The sight that greeted him was enough to suck every last breath from his body, leaving him motionless and dizzy. The landscape was a twisted mess of gnarled metal jutting from titanic mountains of concrete, smoking and painted red with the remnants of the flame that still clung to the shrapnel of the explosion. There was an acrid smell of burning in the air, enough to make the boy feel sick. He coughed and pulled his shirt up over his mouth as he pulled himself out of the bunker, squinting his eyes hard against the smoke, "M-mum?" His voice was tiny as he stumbled where his house should have been, nothing more than a skeletal pile of rubble now, "Mum!?" He swallowed his fear as he stepped through what had once been a doorway, eyes stinging with tears, "Where are you?" Surely she took shelter, where had she last been when she told him to hide? He coughed hard as he made his way to the kitchen, where their only working phone was, that was where she would have been trying to call his father from. There was a hopeful urgency to his step as he stumbled over wooden beams and wrecked furniture, heading for the kitchen. The room itself seemed remarkably intact given the blast, only a portion of the roof was caved in, letting sickly light into the room, this gave him another thrill of hope as he stepped into the room, letting his hands drop the shirt from his face, "Mum?! Mum!" She had to be alive, the kitchen was mostly remaining, surely she ducked into a corner and was waiting for him to find her.
All the color left Jamie's face as he rounded the island in the middle of the room, the body was mostly charred, blackened, but still distinctly human, the immediate area stank like burning flesh, a smell he would never forget. He crept closer and swallowed back bile as he surveyed the scene, her head was split, laying flayed open like some sick Halloween decoration, lacerations covered her body where shrapnel must have hit her. She was gone, he wanted to cry, to cry and scream, but instead he felt numb. He swallowed hard as he back-stepped out of the kitchen, out of the house and into the nightmarish hell that nor surrounded him. Where would he go? He couldn't last terribly long out there on his own, he knew that, but he had to try. His mother was gone but maybe his father was still out there, a new sense of determination filled him and he turned on his heel to head back to the bunker. He stumbled slightly as he reached the bottom of the stairs, glancing around until he saw what he was looking for. His father had stocked this place up ages ago, travel packs, water bottled, cans of food. He grunted as he pulled one of the backpacks out, looking determined as he stuffed it full with provisions. He would find his dad, they would leave this awful place, and things would eventually be okay again.
The bag was heavy on his back as he climbed back out of the shelter, casting a last look at the ruins of his home, "M'sorry ma...I couldn't save yew..." He steeled himself against the mutinous tears, wiping them away before setting that determined look once more. He only had a general idea of where the Omnium was, directions given by his father, so he would go north until he found it, until he found his father.
