Participants:
| Scene Title | This Bird Has Flown |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Anna just vants to be left alone. Some well-meaning adults have other ideas. |
| Date | December 6, 2010 |
With temperatures plunging steadily downward, just maintaining supply lines has become even more of a challenge than usual. Snow and ice threaten to build up on short notice and bring traffic to a standstill.
A group of volunteers from Columbia has hauled down to the southern part of the city to throw some extra manpower at the problem: picks and shovels to clear through blockages, and foot traffic to get things past it. Some veterans of the previous year's much worse freeze, Evan among them, have returned for a second, easier go-round; others remain shell-shocked and want nothing to do with it ever again.
Trying to make her way through the snow is one teenager. She's shivering, she's cold, and she's carrying around bags of groceries. In fact… the teen seems like she's so cold she's about to … no wait, she just fell over from the cold, into the snow. Not a good thing, not in this weather, anyway.
"What about over there?" Evan says, pointing. "That one looks like we can get it loosened up pretty quick." The man next to him squints, looking dubious about it. "How do you figure? The one over there's about a foot lower, let's go hit that one instead." "Yeah, but look how the ice is all—"
The argument is cut short by the distinctive sound of a human body plunging down into a pile of snow. Dropping his shovel, Evan makes his way in that direction instead, along with some of the others; it's slow going, lest they slip and fall themselves, but soon they're there and crouching down to get a better look at the damage.
Anna is cold. Obviously so… her entire body shows that she's way more cold than is healthy… she probably walked all the way from the store to here, and by the looks of her grocery bags, the store she went to was quite a distance away. Her body temperature is definitely below healthy, albeit not quite into dangerous territory. Not yet, anyway/
Good thing some of the volunteer crew are familiar with first aid as well— something that, again, came up far too often the year before. Warm blankets and a thermos of something-or-other are brought over in short order. Meanwhile, Evan crouches down, looking closer— yes, he's pretty sure this is the smartass from the book signing. It's hard to tell when her mouth is shut.
As the volunteer crew brings out the first aid, it becomes more and more apparent that Anna is, at best, not fully conscious. Her eyes are open, but she's slow to react… if at all. Still, she's not in immediate danger, or so it seems, as long as she is wrapped in those blankets and drinks that warm drink…
Getting her to drink it might be the difficult part, the teen is, after all, barely reacting to any attempts to get her to communicate…
With the others occupied with applying the equipment, Evan has more time to watch how effective it's being. "Hang on, I don't think she's getting it down," he says, carefully trudging forward and propping Anna's head up so that gravity can do the job her reflexes won't. Bigot or not, it's not like he can just leave her to her fate.
As the drink enters her body… Anna starts to hack it back up again, swallow reflex not working properly apparently. However, this has one potentially good side effect, "Nhgnnnn." Comes out of her mouth as her eyes seem to refocus. She shivers … quite a bit, "Hey…" She offers softly, "Wh.. what happened?"
Evan shrugs, even as he takes a step back to keep clear of the hacking. Hot soup does not feel remotely good after it's soaked into your clothes and turned ice cold. He knows. "You collapsed… before that, you tell me, I didn't see you until after you were already down."
"I was going back to my appartment with some groceries…" Anna answers that question, grabbing the soup and taking another drink. "Next moment I'm covered in blankies and fed soup." She shrugs, "Thanks for that… I guess…" A faint smile on her pale face. ".. haven't we met before…?" A pause, "I should head back to my appartment… get those groceries stored away…"
When Anna suggests leaving again, one of the women on blanket duty steps forward again, shaking her head. "Oh, now you can't do that, you poor thing, you just barely woke up again! We'll go with you and make sure you're okay, just let us know when you think you can walk again…" The others nod their assent, motioning to the others to work out where and when to meet up again later.
"I'll be fine, honest." Anna, well… probably lies. "It's only a few blocks away, now." She doesn't specify in which direction, "I'd rather go alone, honest." That part seems fully honest, at least… why she doesn't want them to go along with her… is quite a different matter, at least. "But I can wait to warm up a little if you insist…"
The rescue crew is having none of this. Let a girl her age wander off again on her own? Especially so soon after passing out and probably still being groggy. Waiting they can agree on, at least; a couple take the opportunity to switch out with others among the group. Evan hangs back and watches, still uncertain what to make of Anna even without taking her current health issues into account.
Well, Anna seems to be disagreeing, "I will be fine." She doesn't mention the fact that she has, in all likelyhood, been reported missing. Nor the fact where she has no intention of returning to where she's missing from. She takes another gulp of her soup, "So, please… let me go on my own. I'll be fine, really."
Evan still isn't clear on the specifics, but that tone of voice, plus her previous attitude? Sounds like she's avoiding something more than just taking up more of their time. Just as it seems the others are about to pipe up with another round of protests, he takes a step forward. "I can take her," he offers, "I know you said you needed to get back and pick up the kids before too much longer." Now to find out: will Anna reject this idea out of hand just like the other, or will she roll with it?
Taking a guess, Anna says, "Fine." And as such, she gets up, dropping the blankets and reaching out for Evan's hand. "I can lead the way, and we'll be fine, honest." A few last gulps from the soup before Anna hands the soup back to Evan, "Thanks for the soup, by the way… it was helpful."
He waits until they're a block or so further down the street before he speaks up again. With the air as cold as it is, there are advantages to keeping one's mouth shut. "Mothers, go figure," he finally offers. "So which way from here? I don't really know the area, Andrew was the one paying attention to the map."
"Hey, there flies a dead bird!" Anna calls out and points, and then starts to run off in the opposite direction, hoping to shake Evan, obviously not answering his question as she runs. The teen might not have thought this all the way through… but she's not planning on her place of living being found out either.