Pencil entry on soggy paper, dated 13/10/08
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Tha rain keeps comin, just like last year. Its spilled up tha streets and washed through tha city. Tha tides are up, and tha beach was lost days ago. Today it was hip deep on me standin upright. People were sayin "oh won’t it be good if it floods, everythin will get clean." Bloody idiots. Most of em don't remember tha Toxic explosion out front of Haven, when dozens of buried barrels blew and dozens more got rolled inta tha bay. They forget all those tanks at tha factory, slowly leakin away. They forget where Tox-zilla, Boggy and Tha Kraw come from.
Not ta mention our kinda over stacked and under packed graveyard. Coffins float. Even from underground, if tha water gets bad enough. Put all that in tha mix and even tha NORMAL crap ya get in a flood just gets worse. I did a tour befer tha waters rose though. Coven had sandbagged tha Voodoo shop. Good move. The aught ta leave them up, better tactically. At tha Library we had moved all tha supplies, rare and valuables and most of tha books to tha upper floors. Those renovations got finished in good nick.
I did tours of tha Hospital and Shelter, they seemed ta be in good order. Tha Kits were gunna be in trouble though. Same with Haven. Tha Pit is a raised fortress. Tha Den and Continuum Factory are upstairs too. Same with tha K.A. Tha Blood Fountain ain't though. Those dumbasses didn't even put a tent over it. Who knows what fell in there even before it started rainin acid and toxins.
Then tha tide turned, and tha flood came. By tha end of tha first day it was hip-deep like I said. By that night, tha graveyard had puked up its bodies, tha Factors had shat out its toxins and tha waters had washed well over tha Blood Fountain. Folks had awready worked out that that getten dunked meant a fast trip to Hospital, or a float out ta sea. Two of my cousins were awready laid out. Takes a fair bit ta make a Shifter sick.
Hycan was there too. Seemed she had gotten herself Fanger bit, and was starten ta Turn. Eventually I managed ta stop it, and with Coyote's help (awright, alot) I un-Turned her. She was lucky, it was fresh, and a young breed Fanger too. Took ages though, and after, as I waded careful like through tha water back, LadyD and Vish paddled past in a row-boat. It was time ta break out tha runabouts!
We had a few of these made up after tha last floods. Before my time in tha Institute, but well, that’s what sets tha Institute apart from tha other Factions. Watch, Listen, Report, LEARN. How easy is that. Tha runabouts are pretty basic. Little outboard, aluminium seats, kevlar laced rubber body (wont stop a round, but it'll hold against runnin inta debris easy enough) and a plastic embedded waterproof canvas roof and plastic windshield, all stretched over more aluminium pipe. Whole thing, apart from tha outboard, folds inta a big duffle bag.
I call mine "Bruce" after tha shark in Jaws.
Tha OIB Bruce. She's a saucy little thing, drifts a little to tha left. I unpacked and inflated her and set off on a little toodle. As I was cruising at tha breakneck speed of an easy run (what can ya expect from an outboard only as big as my war-form head) i cam across Her Ladyship, standin on top of these long sticks, long, wooden legs! I've never seen that before! She had a pretty, frilly umbrella, and was just stridin over tha water and tha muck. Her Venetian feet, She said. Like it was tha most natural thing ever. I swear. Their ain't much She does that don't make me look about at all tha clods and wonder if everyone in tha past was bigger than life and better too.
Her Ladyship had ta move off, things ta do, mostly ta do with our neutrality agreements, i expect, and just ta survey tha damage. I parked by tha front stair of tha Library, and saw tha Maker there. I called in ta him, but he either didn't hear me, or didn't feel like answerin, hard ta tell with tha Maker. Spirit Gal came out though, and she's by far a nicer person ta share a board on a zodiac with, if ya ask me. I offered her a seat on Bruce, and told them both her name. They both thought it was funny. Spirit Gal, because bruce is a male name, (but boats are girls, im sure thats tha rule, stupid English, don't make no sense) and Her Ladyship thought it was funny that i give tha people i know tha strangest names, and call my boat somethin simple, like "Bruce".
Fleshies, i'll never understand them!
So, Spirit Gal came aboard, and we went fer a cruise. tha Beach, now gone, ta check on tha Sea Wall, which is holdin. We checked out tha Fish Factory, which is a ruin. Tha Pit, and KTOX, which seem ta be ok. Tha Shelter,m which was empty. That was scary, tha streets were so empty, a few folks here and there in boats, or inner-tubes.
We went ta tha Blood Bath. It was a meter under water, and there was a plume of blood washin out from it. Like someone had throated a whale. We went down to tha Church. There was a pile of bodies floatin about, we didn't stay long, Spirit Gal didn't need ta see that, and it brought back too many memories fer me.
Back to tha Library, back inside. Tha ground floor was still dry, but it wouldn't take much. Probably overnight. Don't know much water we're gunna get. Best sleep upstairs. Fire will go out, bit Library will be awright, She's made of sterner stuff. Ha!
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