Cave In -- Lou/Savannah

[julian]

"How many have we evacuated from the coastline into the Convention Center?" The mayor asked Julian from where he was peering up at him. Julian looked down at his Blackberry for the latest update. "So far there are two hundred fifty people who have checked in at the convention center, Sir." Julian replied dutifully as he tried to sort through the mess that this storm was causing for the lot of them. All election efforts had been put immediately on hold. Nothing else mattered at the moment save getting the citizens of Myrtle Beach to safety as quickly as possible. "And Conway?" Julian didn't need to consult his phone for this one. He already knew the information that had been relayed to him and, in turn, relayed to the frantic mayor a handful of times already. "Ready to receive a surplus of residents if need be. From what I hear there are already a number of people filtering through to them, looking for the security of something a little further in-land." He commented. The mayor nodded.

Julian attempted, once more, to get the mayor in gear. "Sir, all due respect, but we really should get you to a secure facility at the moment." The mayor looked up at him. "Julian, you're a good boy, but there's just too much to do here." The mayor sighed. Another gust of wind rocked the building and Julian frowned. If they didn't get out of there soon, they wouldn't be getting out of there at all. "Sir, having you present at the convention center could do a lot to boost the morale of the people around you. Especially if they see that this is affecting you just as much as it's affecting them at the moment." The mayor seemed to consider those words for a moment. "You're right. Of course... Let's go..." The mayor said just as another gust of wind battered the building, but this time, the old building wasn't nearly so fortunate as it had been.

Julian heard the creak and groan of wood and metal giving way as a corner of the roof lifted up a few inches and slammed itself back down on the roof. Cursing, Julian forgot about any sense of decorum in the moment, grabbed his uncles arm and dove with the older man towards the small supply closet nearby. He slammed the door shut and, physically, covered the mayor with his own body as the most deafening sound Julian had ever heard started up. A moment later, there was nothing but silence. He poked his head out the door, though it would only open barely enough to let him squeeze out, he didn't need to go far to know what had happened. The roof of the building had collapsed in on itself and they had missed the destruction by inches.

"All right. We need to get to lower ground with a roof over our head now." Julian quickly went to work shoving the door open enough for his uncle to get through the door securely. As he made his way to the stairwell with the mayor, Julian realized that there were a number of people who hadn't been nearly as lucky as he and the mayor had been. The fact that the city hall was on higher ground was both a blessing and a curse. It meant that the wind battered the hell out of it, but it would also be one of the last places that wound up flooding. There weren't many people left in the building, thankfully. "Get the injured people down to the first floor if at all possible." He said to one of the staff members who appeared more disoriented than anything. "Get everyone hunkered down in the storage room in the center of the building." He said. He recalled the fact that the storage room was one of the internal, load baring walls that was actually made of brick. "I need you to go to the supply room, Uncle. You'll be safe there and everyone here needs you safe and sound." His uncle gripped his arm a moment. "What are you doing?" Julian gave him a sheepish smile. "What I do best. I'm getting everyone organized." He said.

Julian slipped from the room and quickly dialed Lou's number. He got voicemail which suited him just fine in the moment. "Hey baby... I want you to know, first hand, from me, that I'm okay. You're going to see, in the next little while, that the roof on city hall collapsed. The Mayor and I were near the damage, but we're both okay and I love you. Don't worry about me. Make sure you get yourself somewhere safe. I'm going to get everyone organized and figure out a way out of here at the moment. Be safe and keep me updated. Love you." Julian forced himself to hang up and then dialed Savannah's number. "Heeey. Fun weather we're having here, isn't it?" Julian, ever the part of the smartass. "Look, City Hall's roof just collapsed. Your father's fine. I got to be a superhero for Halloween, Savvie. You'd be so proud of me. Cape and all..." Julian paused just inside the door at one of the exits and cursed, cringing when he realized that Savvie would hear that when she got the message. Julian kept informing his cousin that her father was okay as he made his way to the other exit on the other side of the building and cursed again. "Ooookay. Looks like we're in a bit of a bind here... The east exit has a giant oak tree playing sentry to it and it doesn't look like it's ready to let us out and... the west exit has a chunk of roof covering it from top to bottom. Looks like it's Super Jules to the rescue again. Keep safe. You and Trace. I love you both, Savvie." And with that, Julian hung the phone up and set to figuring out how the hell he was going to get everyone out of that damned building.