Darling wasn't a trained runner by any stretch of the imagination. Already her lungs had started to burn, a stitch creeping up her side and sweat causing her hair to stick to her brow, but the prospect of what lay behind her spurred her on, faster and faster. Gods help her if she tripped. However, with the first the mob fast on her heels and someone standing the doorway of the hotel waving her inside, she didn't dare slow down lest she be locked out.
She hauled ass.
Only once she'd crossed the threshold of the building and slammed into the foyer did she come to a stop, her breath coming out in a great heaves. Still, she didn't pause, not entirely, turning to face the person that had waved her inside (quite aggressively too) as she drank in the details of the lobby. The barricades were good - strong furniture blocking both doorways and windows - that would buy them some time, but not much.
Her fingers danced, expression grim despite the flush of her face from the exertion, "This will not hold long. Even if it does, they will set fire to the building to either burn it down or smoke us out." She did not have faith that reason would reassert itself upon the city's populace. Once a riot started only violence or the promise of loot would collapse it.
Aware that he likely would not understand her finger speech (even if she mouthed the words), she pantomimed a number of the actions, greatly exaggerating them.
Out from the openness of the street, Darling's collected disposition reasserted itself, the tall woman immediately moving to help close the door and block it. The furniture was heavy, and she gritted her teeth, lips pulled back into a grimace.
Between the efforts, she continued to sign, "This too room large to defend. Too many openings." She pointed to the number of windows, the various halls leading off from the lobby. The overturned furniture would slow the crowds, but it could not stop them and there were too few people within the hotel to guard every possible entryway. "We need a chokehold for once they breach it."
There was no question as to whether or not the crowd would break into the hotel - they would and likely faster than those trapped within expected - so the defenders needed to change the playing field to their advantage as much as possible.
"The stairs."
She made a climbing motion, her eyes upon the staircase behind her. That would be far more defensible, or at least would help alleviate the problem of the difference in numbers between those trapped and those rioting. It would be possible to continuously fall back upon the stairs, but once they reached the roof… Without reinforcements or some way to break the tide they would die.
no subject
She hauled ass.
Only once she'd crossed the threshold of the building and slammed into the foyer did she come to a stop, her breath coming out in a great heaves. Still, she didn't pause, not entirely, turning to face the person that had waved her inside (quite aggressively too) as she drank in the details of the lobby. The barricades were good - strong furniture blocking both doorways and windows - that would buy them some time, but not much.
Her fingers danced, expression grim despite the flush of her face from the exertion, "This will not hold long. Even if it does, they will set fire to the building to either burn it down or smoke us out." She did not have faith that reason would reassert itself upon the city's populace. Once a riot started only violence or the promise of loot would collapse it.
Aware that he likely would not understand her finger speech (even if she mouthed the words), she pantomimed a number of the actions, greatly exaggerating them.
Out from the openness of the street, Darling's collected disposition reasserted itself, the tall woman immediately moving to help close the door and block it. The furniture was heavy, and she gritted her teeth, lips pulled back into a grimace.
Between the efforts, she continued to sign, "This too room large to defend. Too many openings." She pointed to the number of windows, the various halls leading off from the lobby. The overturned furniture would slow the crowds, but it could not stop them and there were too few people within the hotel to guard every possible entryway. "We need a chokehold for once they breach it."
There was no question as to whether or not the crowd would break into the hotel - they would and likely faster than those trapped within expected - so the defenders needed to change the playing field to their advantage as much as possible.
"The stairs."
She made a climbing motion, her eyes upon the staircase behind her. That would be far more defensible, or at least would help alleviate the problem of the difference in numbers between those trapped and those rioting. It would be possible to continuously fall back upon the stairs, but once they reached the roof… Without reinforcements or some way to break the tide they would die.