007- [Action] contemplating the past...

[springtime4me]

[All of these reminders of Westport have been weighing heavily on the citizen's of Mayfield who remember that horrible place. Hitler has been keeping his head down and avoiding the Hazmats and Sergei as best he can. But he has been listening to the information being passed around. He's also taken to carrying around his one souvenier from Westport. The half burnt police badge with the name -an Olney. And every day on the way home from school, he's been stopping across the street from the police station. Staring, for just a few minutes, wondering what kind of circumstances could have lead to this mess.]

Evan Olney..... I wonder what led him to betray his friends....

Comments

[bestwishes]

Really? ... Then why is he known as "Grady" now?

[springtime4me.livejournal.com]

I don't know. There's a lot we don't know.....

Were you around when the Westport thing happened?

[bestwishes]

No, I've only heard about it so far. Apparently those guys in the suits were there trying to kill everyone?

[springtime4me.livejournal.com]

Yes... but that's only part of it...

....

It's a long story though, and not a pleasant one. Are you sure you want to hear it?

[bestwishes]

Well, they say knowledge is power, right? And we're gonna need all the power we can get to have a chance of beating this place...

[springtime4me.livejournal.com]

True.

[He smiles, and then looks around.]

Across from the police station is probably not the place for this conversation. Let's go into the malt shop, okay? I'll get you a milkshake.

[Is he treating Ash like a little kid? Yeah, maybe just a bit.]

[bestwishes]

Right, that sounds like a good idea. By the way, I'm Ash. Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town.

[Hey, he's getting a free milkshake, right? Ash doesn't care if you're treating him like a kid unless it has to do with Pokeyman fights.]

[springtime4me.livejournal.com]

It's nice to meet you, Ash. My name is.... Adolf.

[He's been warned not to give his full name, and it does seem to cause a lot of problems. Let's see, subject change...]

Umm.... What flavor did you want?

[bestwishes]

Nice to mee'cha, Adolf!

[Even if Ash did know he was Hitler, would that ever register to Ash anyway? I mean, would WWII even exist where he came from? Who knows? Probably not.]

Hmm... Chocolate looks good?

[springtime4me.livejournal.com]

Sure.

[So he'll get him a chocolate shake and steer him towards a table in the malt shop.]

Let's see, I guess I'll start at the beginning. The first I heard of Westport was in the spring, when the town started broadcasting advertisements for a picnic that we were all invited to. Before that, Westport had only been mentioned in passing on the news, so a lot of people just ignored it.

.....

But then the road appeared.

[bestwishes]

Yeah, I remember hearing something like that before. And then once people got there, the road back disappeared?

[springtime4me.livejournal.com]

Actually, for the first day, you could go back and forth easily. I went there myself.

The whole town was wasteland. The buildings were heavily damaged, there was no food or water. And no people either. It looked as if a war had taken place. Although, that's probably what did happen. I went there specifically to search for any clues I could find.

[bestwishes]

Ah... That sounds more or less in line with what I heard, but I didn't hear anything about the time when you could go back and forth.

[springtime4me.livejournal.com]

It was only for the first day. While I was there, I found the remains of the police station. There was a damged safe in the rubble. And I found this.

[He pulls out a half-burnt police badge. All that remains of the name is -an Olney.]

[bestwishes]

I can't make out the whole thing, but I can see that it belonged to Olney? So Grady used to be one of the big shots over there too?

[springtime4me.livejournal.com]

As far as I can tell, yes. But I don't know why something like this would be locked in a safe....

[He sighs, it seems like every clue just raises more questions than it answers.]

During the evening on the second day that the road was open, it suddenly vanished. The people who were in Westport at the time were trapped. And the people here could do nothing to help them.

[bestwishes]

Huh... Interesting...

[He seems to be thinking about the new information as he receives it...]

[springtime4me.livejournal.com]

Umm, let's see... I was on this side when it happened. So I'll start with that.

[He figures this might be easier for someone who wasn't involved to uderstand.]

After it became apparent that people were trapped in Westport, the people here tried everything they could think of to get the road to open again. None of it worked though. And it seemed like the town was mocking the effort. They even aired a fake broadcast of the victims enjoying a picnic in Westport. And later on a graveyard appeared. With a grave for each person that was trapped.

I'm actually not sure if the radio broadcasts were intentional or accidental though...

[bestwishes]

A graveyard even? Wow, this town really likes messing around with us, huh?

[springtime4me.livejournal.com]

It really does. And every day we heard a broadcast over the radio. Apparently there was a working radio in Westport and the people were trying to communicate with us. Nothing we did could send any messages back though....

It was.... really hard. Just waiting for them, not knowing what was going on. And if it was hard for us, it must have been a nightmare for them.

[bestwishes]

Yeah... I'm glad I wasn't around for that... I'm not sure I would have been able to take it, from either side...

WESTPORT IS SO COMPLICATED!!! w*A*w

[springtime4me.livejournal.com]

The rest of this story I've only heard, secondhand. So I'm afraid I can't tell you that much.

[He pauses to gather his thoughts, trying to remember the things that were said about Westport after eveyone returned.]

At first the people trapped there only had to contend wth a lack of food and water. So most of them continued to search the place for clues. They actually found a lot. But then the Hazmats showed up. At first they just wandered around, not really doing anything unless they were attacked. But each day they became more and more aggressive. Soon they were murdering anyone they encountered. And it didn't help that they were joined by the milkman....

Pfffffffff...

[bestwishes]

Oh man... You think there's any chance of the Hazmats getting like that here too?

[springtime4me.livejournal.com]

Well....

[He considers lying. Ash is only a child after all. But he has a right to know what he's facing.]

It's certainly a possibility. I think that's the real reason that people are panicking. They're afraid of another Westport.

[bestwishes]

Man, things were so much easier back home where I only had to deal with normal apocalypses once every few months...