xp_logs | Living Pele: Red X Day 1

Laurie finds out she's a natural with children while she's helping getting the information from some lost kiddies at one of the shelters

Tension was thick in the air, and Laurie quickly scampered after the administration official, headed for the temporary childcare facility. A lot of children had been separated from their parents during the first hour or so of evacuation and they were making sure the children were kept in one place in order to cut down on chaos and make it easier for parents to find them.

She'd been following after one of the evacuation administrators for half the day, trying to learn as much as possible. Soon they'd be sending her off to another part of the island where she'd have to start helping out properly, rather then just learning the ropes.

She was nervous and more grateful then ever before of the device Forge had created for her.

"Are evacuations always this crazy?" she asked, looking around at the lines of people busy giving their identification details to harassed looking clerical staff.

"Well, we've got drills, in case of an eruption, but this is the first time we've done anything this large scale," admitted the woman, whose nametag proclaimed her name as "Sarah". "The main part is trying to keep everyone calm. People are scared, they're angry, and they're confused - it's a volatile mix."

"I'd be angry too if someone threatened to destroy my home." Laurie replied, gaze taking in a family standing together a little ways off. A little boy had his thumb firmly in his mouth while the other hand was clutched tightly to his mother's. "It sucks."

"That it does. But sometimes we have to make the best of things - be it a natural disaster, or something like this. Our main goal is to ensure there's no casualties, which means getting people off the island and quickly and easily as possible." Sarah pulled open another door, leading to the childcare area, and they were greeted with the shrieks, screams and shouts of a dozen or so lost children. "I hope you're good with kids, Laurie. We need to get them calmed down enough to get their details, those that are old enough to know their names and addresses."

Laurie looked around at the disordered chaos that was several dozen children of various ages. She wasn't entirely sure how she was with kids, having never been faced with them before. She turned to Sarah, a somewhat helpless look in her eyes.

"I-I" Laurie began, before feeling a small tug at her hand. She looked down, meeting a curious gaze.

"Are you looking for your mommy too?" asked the tiny girl, around seven or eight, all curly brown hair and big brown eyes. "It's okay, they'll find her soon. That's what the grownups keep telling us."

Laurie crouched down to be on a better level with the child. "Adults are very good at finding things, I've found. But they've asked me to ask you guys some questions so that they can look faster. Would you be able to tell me your name, kitten?"

It was what her mother had called her when she was younger, and she unconsciously echoed that now.

"Katie," said the little girl, solemnly. She still held onto Laurie's hand - it made her feel better, somehow. "What's yours?"

"My name's Lauren, although my friends call me Laurie. Do you remember what the name of the street you live on is called?" Laurie asked, giving Katie's hand a squeeze of encouragement.

This wasn't so bad; there'd been no screaming so far, or tears or anything that she might have expected from a frightened kid. She could do this, she really could.

"Willow Street," Katie replied, smiling up at Laurie. "Mommy and I live in Chicago, but Daddy lives in Hawaii. I'm having a par-ten-tal rights vis-it." She said the words very carefully, obviously having heard them a lot. "But Daddy has a new friend, and he left me with the sitter today and now we can't find him." Normally this would have resulted in tears, but instead she gave Laurie another smile. "You're very pretty, Laurie. Will you be my friend?"

"Well, I figure we already are friends, otherwise you wouldn't be calling me Laurie, would you?" Laurie replied, grinning at the child. "Now, I just need to know your last name, sweetie. Then we can leave your details with Sarah here and she'll help the other adults find your Dad."

"Charles," Katie replied promptly, and Sarah nodded, noting it down. With a grin, the older woman handed Laurie the clipboard.

"You're a natural," she said. "Care to work your way through this bunch? You can holler if you need help, but I don't think you'll need it."

"Thanks." Laurie replied, before turning her attention back to Katie. "Would you like to help me out, Katie? I need someone to introduce me around, and I figure if you're with me then they'll know it's alright to talk to me. What do you say?"

Laurie hoped she'd agree, it would be much easier to talk to the other kids if they trusted her a little to start with. Even with her official uniform, strangers in a situation like this could seem very scary indeed.

Katie considered the proposal, still holding onto Laurie's hand. "Okay!" she said, and tugged Laurie into the heart of the chaos.

Laurie allowed herself to be tugged, laughing at Katie's enthusiasm. It would appear that she did indeed have a way with kids, or at least her power made it easier. She just had to make sure no one was touching her if she got a sudden shock.

It was perhaps an hour later when Sarah came back to check on her. The silence as she paused outside the room was worrisome, and she pushed the door open, wondering what had happened. She certainly didn't expect the sight laid out before her.

Laurie was seated in the middle of a circle of children, some having fallen asleep curled up against her, and a particularly inquisitive four year old had his hands firmly pressed against her face, as if trying to memorise her by touch. It was only when she took a step inside that Sarah realised the child had to be blind. Katie, the girl from before was seated to one side, playing with a box of crayons but she occasionally looked up as if to make sure Laurie hadn't disappeared. Sarah had never seen so many contented and quiet children in the middle of a crisis.

"Laurie?" Sarah asked softly.

Laurie looked up, smiling brightly at Sarah. "I got all their names and addresses, least the ones, who could remember, but there were more kids coming in and I thought they could use an extra helper."

"I don't think we're going to argue with an extra helping hand. Especially one with the gift of making small lost children quiet and happy." Sarah chuckled a little. "If I ask you to come help out somewhere else, are they going to follow you like the Pied Piper?"

"I think I can get them to stay." Laurie replied, giving the little boy a hug and standing up. She shook her head as some of the kids made protesting noises. "I've got to go, guys. But if you're really good, I might be able to bring you back some more colouring books later."

There was a small rush as the kids all tried to hug Laurie at once, most small enough that they could only wrap themselves around her legs. Katie managed to snag a hand, and held onto it tightly. "Thank you for looking after us, Laurie," she said, and was echoed by a dozen childish voices.

"It was my pleasure, Katie." Laurie replied seriously, as she hugged each of the kids in turn. It had been nice to hang out with the kids, a small spot of calmness in organised chaos. She'd hold onto the feeling, as she imagined she might need it later.

Last farewell hug given, she followed Sarah out the door.

-----

Angel is a bit nervous during her first Red X assignement, but she soon clams done and gets done what needs to be done.

Angel stared at the chaos in one of the medical center tents, arms wrapped around her middle. This wasn't...well, it couldn't be what she had expected since she didn't know what to expect. It had only been a short time since she'd joined up with Red X and now there was this huge disaster and they wanted her to help and...

"Oh god, I don't know if I can do this," she whimpered, scared out of her mind that she would end up doing something wrong. This was the place they'd assigned her, because of her age and inexperience. They hadn't wanted her in a place where she could get hurt and she couldn't argue with that logic.

But she was so scared.

"Do you need some help?" asked a voice from over her shoulder, "If you're looking for someone, we're taking names down. Food and water are available. If you're hurt..." The owner of the voice, a woman with the warm skin and glossy hair of a native circled around to face Angel and stopped talking as she saw the badge that Angel had been given that identified her as a volunteer. "Ah. Looking for something to do?"

"Yes!" she answered immediately, shaking her head. "Yes, I don't know what to do, this is my first..." Her hands flailed. "Helping thing. And I'm scared I'll mess up." And just plain scared. "Um. Help? Can I help you or someone? I'll be better when busy, I promise."

The woman nodded sharply, "All right. This way. There's not a lot of injured, thankfully. Mostly just bumps and scrapes." Her words belied the seeming chaos of their surroundings. "Biggest problem we have right now is keeping everyone from going back after their things."

They passed a TV that was nothing more than crackling static. "Only works when she's got something to say."

Angel frowned a little bit but the going back after the stuff made some sense, she'd seen it happen in Seattle. Her mom had told her stories about people trying to get back to their cars, even with the destruction going on around them. "I'll do whatever you need me to do, ma'am," she responded. "I don't know much about first aid, you know, but I'm good at following directions."

"Mary," the woman said, leading her over to a work station piled high with supplies. "Let's have you start in on building some kits. We'll give these to the search crews so that if they come across anyone they can take care of minor injuries."

Kits she could do. If she concentrated on it like she did when she worked the camera, it would help calm her nerves. "What's in them? Do you have a standard one that you give out each time or does it vary from situation to situation?" By nature, Angel was a curious person and it was pushing past the bad case of the nerves she'd been struck with.

Mary stepped up beside Angel and pulled down an empty box, assembling a kit for her. "Bandages, sterile swabs, splints..." she spoke as she packed, everything in its precise place.

Eyes flickering back and forth, Angel created a mental picture of exactly where everything went. "And where do they go once one is all made up and ready?" she asked, her voice steady now.

"On this palette here. Don't stack more than 10 high or they'll crush the ones on the bottom. If you need any help, you can ask any of the volunteers here or find me. Make sure you take a break, I know how you young ones like to think you're invincible." Mary started to turn away then looked back at Angel's badge, "Red-X, you're that division?"

Angel glanced up, surprised but not wary. "Oh, yes ma'am, I am," she replied, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"Anything that you can do that will help us that I don't know about?" asked the woman briskly.

"I..." Angel blinked. "I make fire," she responded, sounding almost sheepish considering it was a volcano they were dealing with. "But I'm fireproof..." Too young to help at the actual site, she thought, blushing. "And I don't get heat exhaustion or anything like that. Would that be of any use?"

Mary pursed her lips for a moment, thinking then shook her head. "We'll keep it in mind. Get to work now. I'll check back on you in an hour or two."

"Yes, ma'am." Angel nodded and then started in on the given project. This was something she could do, something to ease her way into this whole helping thing on this kind of scale.

And by the time three packets had been completed and set aside, Angel's hands had stopped shaking.

-----

Laurie and Mondo are helping to hand out food to evacuee and end up discussing the Winter Ball and the weather, a bit of normalcy in the middle of chaos.

Mondo handed the cold bottle of water to another grateful Hawaiian.

“Here you go. Don't worry, everything will be just fine. You and your family will be fine." he said reassuringly, meaning every single word of it. He'd dressed for the occasion, at least - a loud floral shirt done up in retina-blasting reds, yellows, and blues along with baggy cargo shorts. No shoes and a big lei of flowers completed the ensemble. "Wow, sure is a hot one!" he said to Laurie. "I've missed the Pacific."

Laurie took a drink of water, and then handed a packet of sandwiches to a family of four, smiling at the little boy who peeked rather shyly from behind his mother's skirt. "I'm not as much of a fan of this heat, I'm afraid. But, it is nice to get away from the cold for awhile. How long have you been in America?"

"Only for a few months." he said. "Personally, this is the first time I've been warm outside in a while." he said with a big grin. "Blue sky, blue water ... reminds me of home." he said with more than a hint of sadness. "But we're going to make sure that these people still have homes!" he said, rallying himself.

Laurie smiled, squeezing Mondo's shoulder as she walked past him to pick up some more canisters of water. "It sucks sometimes, being far from home. But sooner or later the place you're in becomes just as much home as the place you left and you're not so sad anymore. And we're definitely going to be making sure these people have homes to come back to. Mr Summers and the others are all smart, resourceful people, I'm sure they'll figure something out."

Laurie greeted another evacuee and handed them a bottle and some food before they headed off to wait in line for the next ship out.

"Absolutely." he said with perfect confidence. Privately, he doubted her words about coming to accept Xavier's as a new home. Home would always be Samoa, now and forever. He'd never give that up. Bending down, he shot a megawatt grin at a shy little girl who tentatively returned it. "Hi!" he told the girl. "I'm Mondo. What's your name?"

"Lanikai," Lanikai responded, staring up at the large man. "Are you a stranger? Momma says I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."

Laurie grinned, she'd always thought kids were cute and they seemed to be handling the evacuation much better then the adults were.

"I'm the good kind of stranger. See?" he said, showing the girl his Red-X badge. "We're the helping kind." He straightened up with a wince and handed the family a four-pack of cold water bottles in a plastic yoke. "If you're hungry, we've sandwiches just over there." he said, gesturing towards Laurie with his thumb.

"Hey, ya, Laurie?" Mondo asked. "You're an American, right? Born and bred?" he said. "Can you tell me what the deal is with this Winter Ball stuff?"

Laurie handed Lanikai some sandwiches for her family and watched them walk on by. "You don't have seasonal dances in Samoa? Although, I guess it's not a seasonal dance in the Pagan sense of the word."

She paused for a second to mark off the supplies they'd gone through on her clipboard. They were meant to be keeping an eye on how fast they were going through things.

"Dances are usually an excuse for people to hang about and dance a little, eat free food and if you've had your eye on someone for awhile, you can ask them to the dance. It's a good first date, since you're in a room full of people. It's not as threatening as you and the person you fancy alone type deal. You can also just go stag if you don't feel like asking someone else out, or go with a friend if both of you don't have anyone you want to go with else wise."

Mondo hrmmmed. He knew what a dance was, but he was more used to village-wide dances rather than school dances. "OK!" he said with a grin. "Do you think you're going to go? It sounds like marvellous fun!" he beamed.

"I am." Laurie replied, grinning back. "I’ve already asked Kyle to go with me. He's been telling me he's a great dancer, but I'll reserve judgement till I see his moves."

Laurie looked at the long line of people still waiting to be handed water and food. It was sad to see so many people having to leave their homes.

"I wonder how long it'll be till they can go back home?" She said.

Mondo looked a little crestfallen at that. "Cool!" he said, though, rallying quickly. "Maybe I'll go, have a good time. I think my knee will be up for it!" he beamed. "And I'm thinking that these good people won't be gone for too long. We're gonna take care of things for 'em." he said.

"You should go. It's going to be heaps of fun, and basically everyone in the school is going to be there. Even if we have to kidnap them on the night," Laurie replied, handing off some more water and then rubbing the hand towel across her face again.

She wasn't as used to this level of heat as Mondo, having grown up in a much more temperate climate. She was going to have to take a break in a little bit, or risk getting heat stroke no matter how much sunscreen she put on.

"We should take a break soon, get some lunch."

Mondo nodded. "Yah, gotta be careful with the sun. You're not used to it, it can really hurt you." he said cheerfully. "Come on; move deeper into the shade here. Sit down, rest." he said urgently, pressing on her a bottle of water.

Laurie took the offered bottle of water and took a long drink, moving into the shade as Mondo had suggested. While she was sure she would be perfectly fine, it didn't hurt to follow the suggestions of someone who was used to the heat, as Mondo was.

"No need to worry, I'll be fine. Just need a break is all." Laurie said, taking a seat on one of the benches set up for just such a purpose. "Is it always this hot, do you think? Or did we just draw the short straw?"

"This is pretty normal." he said. "It doesn't really get super-hot or super-cold here. It's always nice." he said blissfully. "Nothing quite like it."

"I'll take my nice snow any day of the week." Laurie replied, smiling "I like my seasons to have beginnings and endings. Still, it's been nice to be somewhere warm, even if the reason we're here isn't so great."

Mondo shuddered. "I'm surprised I haven't become ill. Too COLD out." he mock-complained. "And I don't think I like snow too much. Too cold."

"You just need more clothing. Best thing about winter is putting on a thick wool coat and getting to walk around in the snow completely oblivious to how cold it really is, because you're all covered up." Laurie replied; thinking of home and the nights her family had done just that.

Christmas just wouldn't be the same without snow, and an open fire.

"Come on, big guy. We need to get these people moving, before there's a traffic jam." Laurie replied, hoisting herself to her feet by using Mondo as a brace.

"I was wearing clothes!" he protested, but then laughed. "Yeah, you're right." he said, then reached back into the cooler to grab some more bottles of water to hand out. And to keep one for himself. He was getting kinda thirsty.

-----
Kyle gets assigned heavy lifting duty, in other words, retrieveing children from inside a school building so they can be reunited with thier parents.

Kyle brushed his hair back out of his face, leaving a slightly sooty
mark over his forehead. The hiking boots he'd gotten were starting to
annoy him a little, but he'd be damned if he was going to complain.
Not now. He'd heal from pinched toes, and even blisters and sore
calves.

The National Guardmen directing the evacuations had quickly stuck him
on heavy lifting duty, broken up with the occasional "Go get this
thing." and "Tell this person I need this.". In this case, heavy
lifting wasn't, not exactly. Little kids didn't weigh -that- much.
Even medium-sized ones.

"Come on, guys. Your teacher says you gotta go outside." Kyle said,
urging the two children he'd been charged with forward again. "I know
it stinks out there, but your folks are waiting for you."

One of the children was a visible mutant, with wiry brown fur on his
arms, a slightly simian cast to his features, and a long tail. Before
Kyle could even reach down to take the boy's hand, he had clambered
nimbly up the teenager's body to wrap his arms around Kyle's neck.
"Where are we going, mister?" the boy asked, visibly nervous. "Mommy
always comes to pick us up from school, but she hasn't come to get us.
Will mommy be able to find us?"

Kyle twisted his neck and reached up to try to loosen the boy's almost
death-grip on his neck. "Your mom's outside. That's what your teacher
said." Of course, she'd also said that getting the boy out from
hiding inside the coat closet had taken her the better part of half an
hour. He was definitly a nervous little dude, Kyle thought. "All the
phones aren't working, that's why it's taking everyone so long. They
have to use those walkie-talkies."

The other child, a small girl with blond pigtails and a serious face,
took Kyle's outstretched hand tightly while the boy continued to fill
the space with his nervous chatter. "Why are the phones out?" he
asked with the insatiable curiosity of the young. "And you have pointy
ears like an elf," the boy continued, reaching out to almost touch
Kyle's ears. "Are you an elf, mister?"

"Turns out phones don't like volcanos any more than people like
volcanos." Kyle said. The kids already knew, it was impossible not
to know. "I dunno why, exactly. I think because of all the stuff in
the air?" He wasn't sure. "And I have pointed ears because I'm a
mutant, like you. Only no tail for me." The tail was curling and
uncurling around Kyle's waist.

"Elves aren't real, boogerface," the young girl said scornfully.

"Am -not- a boogerface!" the boy yelled, leaning over Kyle's shoulder
to stick his tongue out at the girl, who was obviously his sister from
the way they treated each other. "And elves always have pointy ears
in the books mommy reads to us, and he has pointy ears, so why
couldn't he be an elf?" the boy asked.

"I don't have pointy shoes." Kyle said firmly. "No pointy shoes, no
being an elf. Also, I live in New York, not The North Pole, Hogwarts
or anywhere with hobbits." He reached back to hoist the boy further
up on his back. "Up the stairs, guys." He said, nodding towards a
flight of stairs that he knew lead to the hallway leading out.

The trio passed several other volunteers herding small groups of
children as they made their way toward the stairs. The boy continued
to cling to Kyle's neck, peppering their journey with questions about
volcanos, what New York was like, and Harry Potter.

Past the stairs was a small classroom that had been taken over by
volunteers, handing out disposable medical masks as the volunteers
brought children to be collected by their parents. "Okay, you either
need to hop down, or let someone put that mask on you." Kyle said,
trying to turn to look at the boy who was still clinging to his neck.
The little girl had already taken one, and was turning it over in her
hands looking at it.

"You put the straps over your ears, like this.." One of the
volunteers approached, holding out a mask. "Can I put this one on
you, so that your sister can see how to put hers on?" She asked the
boy.

The masks and the volunteers caused the boy to cling harder and wrap
his tail tightly around Kyle's upper arm as he buried his face in the
crook of Kyle's shoulder. "Why do we have to wear the masks, mister?"
the boy asked plaintively. "I just want to find mommy."

Kyle sighed, just a little put-upon, and reached around to tug the boy
so he could look at him. "I totally promise, she's outside. But you
can't go outside without a mask." He eyed the volunteer, and then
pointed at the stack of adult-sized masks. "Nobody can. There's all
kinds of stuff in the air that'll make you sick, and the masks help
you not to breath it." Which is why the kids were still inside in the
first place.

"Oh. O-okay," the boy replied unsteadily. He calmed down just enough
for the volunteer to fit the mask around his face, but he continued to
hold tightly to Kyle's shoulders the entire time. "Will...will mommy
be able to recognize us with our masks, mister?" he asked quietly and
nervously.

"Duh. She -probably- has a mask too, boogerface." The little girl
said, already tugging on Kyle's shirt, eager to go.

Kyle looped the strap of one of the adult sized masks over his ear,
and then adjusted it so that it sat over his mouth and nose. "I'm
sure she will." He answered. "They don't cover your eyes, or your
ears, right? Or your hair." He ruffled the boy's hair a bit, and
hefted him back up. "Next stop, outside."

After they left the classroom, it was only a short trip down the hall
to the doors outside. A woman stood not far from the entrance,
wringing her hands in worry.

"MOMMY!" the boy yelled loudly, leaping from Kyle's shoulders to the
ground to his mother's arms in practically one motion, burying his
head in her chest. His sister was not far behind in running pell-mell
and clasping their mother's leg in a death grip.

"Thank you so much, young man," the woman told Kyle in a choked-up voice.

"You're welcome." Kyle said, a little sheepishly. He was just doing
what he'd been asked to. But then, if it had been his kids, and he had
to evacuate with them, he'd have been worried too. "He's, uh, got a
pretty good grip." he said, awkwardly.

"C'mon, guys," the mother told her children. "We're going to ride in
a truck, and then a boat," she said cheerfully. She began to maneuver
them towards where the trucks were picking people up, and she thanked
Kyle with her eyes silently once more before turning to walk down the
hill.

Kyle watched long enough to make sure they got into one of the trucks,
and then went back inside, pulling the mask down to his neck. He
figured he could leave it there for now. It might make getting masks
on the next group of kids easier, if they saw him with one, and he'd
seen a few more parents arrive. The volunteers would probably have
names of kids for him to collect arlready.