OUTBREAK: ZERO is a semi post-apocalyptic pandemic roleplay set in the fictional city of Lethford, USA. Current season: Winter, 20/21.
March 2020. The world is in pandemonium as one month ago, GHNv-20 was confirmed, five months after the beginning of norovirus season. The number of the infected are in the higher hundred thousands, and the death toll is at an estimated 250,000, with about seventy percent of the rest of the population experiencing mild to moderate illnesses connected to the S. pyogenes bacteria.
The fear of the unknown has caused mass hysteria and panic.
In an attempt to provide a semblance of safety and control, military personnel patrol the streets, even here in Lethford City, and the police force is trying to keep up with the rising street violence, assault, and theft.
Welcome to OUTBREAK: zero. Will you survive?
HAYANA
SITE OWNER + HEAD ADMINISTRATOR
Hi! I'm Haya. I'm pretty much your girl for everything! If you have any questions regarding our plot, membergroups, etc. don't hesitate to ask me. I'm also in charge of coding, graphics, anything skin related, and advertising/affiliates.
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CODING
GRAPHICS
ADVERTISING
CHARACTERS
ADDI
ADMINISTRATOR
Hey! I'm Addi. Hit me up if you need help with anything. I'm always for plotting so don't be shy. I like coffee, booze, and working out. I'm back from a long hiatus the dead so if you need anything, best ask the others until I get back into the groove of things!
GENERAL INQUIRIES
APPLICATIONS
THREAD MODERATION
MEDIATOR
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FINNLEY
GLOBAL MODERATOR
Hi hello! My name is Finnley, or Finn, call whichever and I'll be there for you (yes like the FRIENDS theme song). I am in charge of the claims and helping with miscellaneous things. Let me know if you have any questions!
GENERAL INQUIRIES
CLAIMS
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STAFF NAME
OPEN MODERATOR POSITION
outbreak
/ˈaʊtbreɪk/ zero /ˈzɪərəʊ/
a sudden occurrence of something unwelcome, such as war or disease. number, no quantity or number; nought; the figure 0.
[attr="class","dilyrics3"]Your lips feel warm to the touch You can bring me back to life On the outside you're ablaze and alive But
[attr="class","dilyric3"]you're dead inside
[attr="class","dibody3"]
“Of course it’s a stupid idea but someone needs to do it.” Raphael whispered into his phone as he watched a patrol car drive by nearby. His hand hovered over the metal fence, blue eyes peeking around the corner to check for guards. It hasn’t been the first time he sneaked around the quarantine zone but he never managed to made it into. This time would be different. He came prepared - or what he would call to be prepared. “Yes I know there’s no need to do it but what if I’m right? Something’s fishy and the world needs to know… or at least we need to know… okay I need to know.” he continued, trying to keep his voice as low as possible. His roommate tried to stop him but he couldn’t - no one could, except maybe the police. He was going to be in so much trouble if he gets caught but that was a problem he would deal with if it occured. And he really hoped it wouldn’t. “Shut up, I’m hanging up. If I don’t text you within the next two hours I’m either dead or arrested.” he finally said and pushed the red button on his screen before stuffing his phone into the back pocket of his jeans.
Once the patrol squad was out of sight he sprinted towards the small hole someone had made into the fence - for whatever reasons and he really didn’t want to know - and pushed himself through it, ripping some of the fabric of his sweater in the process. His body barely fit through it but it fit. He shot a quick glance over his shoulder to see if anyone was there. With no one around he quickly walked to the next building in sight, moving from one to the other until he was somewhere in the center of it all. He noticed the farther in he went the less lights seemed to be on inside the houses. Weird. Raphael wasn’t sure where exactly he wanted to go until an interesting house entrance with lots of yellow tape appeared in his line of view. A wide grin spread on his face as he rubbed his hands and stalked towards the building.
It didn’t seem too spectacular but the do not enter sign was all he needed to want to enter. He quickly checked the surrounding area for patrols but it was quiet - almost too quiet. Either way he went up the stairs, covering his hand with the sleeve of his sweater before touching the door knob and turning it. It opened with a not too silent squeak. “Dammnit.” he muttered under his breath, hoping no one was nearby to hear it. Opening the door ever so slightly he squeezed through it and shut it behind him as quietly as he could.
The hallway of the five story building didn’t look abnormal… no, it looked pretty much ordinary - just empty and dark. The lights were all off and Raphael squinted in the darkness to see something. Good thing he came prepared though, fishing out a flashlight and turning it on. The windows were all covered by blinds and most of the doors had a under quarantine sign on them as he made his way upstairs. There were two apartments on each floor but unfortunately most of the doors were locked. Once he made it up to the third floor he found one that was unlocked and went inside. He scanned the living room area with a connected kitchen on the right side but it looked like someone used to still live here. There was cooked food on the stove, a recent copy of the Lethford Daily on the desk.
But as he walked closer to the desk an awful stench hit him and he gagged. His fingers immediately gripped his nose close as he looked around. His eyes landed and stayed on the bedroom door. It was opened by crack and it seemed like the awful smell came from inside there. Raphael contemplated if he really wanted to know what’s inside there… but he tried to ease his mind by thinking it might be rotten food or maybe some leftover trash. Surely it wouldn’t be a dead body. Gathering all of his confidence and pushing aside his rational thinking he walked over and pushed the door open just so he could take a look inside the bedroom.
It was a dead body.
“Oh f*ck!” he gasped, a gag immediately following as response and he quickly put his hand over his mouth once he realized he was being too loud. However, he couldn’t stop himself from taking a closer look and instant regret washed over him as the smell hit him once more and he turned away to retch some more. He wasn’t sure what to do with this discovery… call the cops? To tell them he found a dead body in a district and building he definitely wasn’t supposed to be? Trying to explain that he didn’t kill that man lying on the ground? And getting arrested anyway just for passing the fence? Or perhaps he should just leave - tell no one about this - and just leave. But his curiosity wouldn’t make him leave.
He took out his phone to take pictures of the body and the room but when it suddenly started ringing - playing the Spear of Justice tune from Undertale - he got so surprised he dropped it… on the body. He watched in horror as it slid down now stuck between the arm and chest. “Umm… no.”
[attr="class","ditags3"]@shaan - I hope this is okay! >D
[attr="class","k4u-ribbon-post"] It had been a fucking long a boring night. Shaan was half asleep in her car, lights turned off so she pretty much blended in. There was a patrol car doing rounds here but she was stuck here for the night, she had gotten the call that there had been some suspicious activity in the area the past few days and they wanted some extra presence there, she had been on double shifts all this week. She took a sip of the cold coffee she had and was almost ready to fall asleep on the job when she heard the smallest sound of what seemed like chain?
She bolted awake fully as she saw some sort of figure moving towards one of the houses. She groaned softly to herself and took her gun out, checking it and flipping the safety on, she had figured this was more than likely some kid who was curious. "You could be wrong. You could die here tonight Aana. Flip the Switch." The voice in the back of her mind nagged her, that paranoia that was all consuming was asking her to be alert, to be ready to shoot. She choked it down as she silently opened the door and closed it, sliding her way out of the car.
She made her way to the area where she heard the noise first. There was fabric on the chain link, someone clearly didn't think enough to be careful. She took extra care to slide through the chain link without snagging or disturbing anything, then again she was just slightly above five foot and she was small, she slid through easily. She made her way soundlessly to the house, trailing a bit behind the guy since it had taken her some time to actually begin the pursuit.
She saw him approach the one fucking house that clearly screamed do not come in or you're gonna fucking get infected. She cursed under her breath as she hurried her pace a bit, watching him enter it. She was about to beat this guy, why did people feel the need to look at something that was this obviously dangerous and go 'I wanna touch it'. She huffed as she slid under the tape and made her way to following him. The fact that she was dressed in all black was probably a good thing, she stuck to the shadows and she did it well.
She had just reached the door when she heard something inside creek. Oh yeah she was going to actually assault this person. She made her way quickly up the stairs, her boots made louder than she would have liked footfalls but they were still quiet enough. That was until she got to that door, she knew full well it made noise and she decided to just rip the bandaid off and open it one quick motion. The creak was there but probably not as bad as it would have been. She didn't bother closing it.
She heard some noise and followed her ears, she took out the flashlight she had in one hand and pointed it over her gun, raising both. She walked swiftly to the room that she heard the noise from. when she entered the living area she was hit with that familiar stench. She wrinkled her nose and took even breaths trying not to gag from it. She looked around sweeping her flashlight over the area. This place was supposed to be abandoned. Why was there all of this and..A fucking living person.
"What The Actual FUCK Do you think you're doing?" She said the words ripping out of her throat in a mix of accusation and anger. This guy was probably about her age, he looked innocent not like some mass murderer or hardened trespasser. "Ok hands up." She said as she began to take a few steps forward, her eyes settled on the body though. It was too old. There was no way he did this just now..there was more than likely no way he did this period, he left behind so much already now and patrols were pretty constant on this area. That left a logical call of he was innocent.
Though there was the issue with the fence. She sighed as she softly lowered her gun, settling it in her holster. "Wanna explain what you're doing out here and are you alone." She asked as she looked him up and down. She wouldnt need the gun to take him. "Aana what if you do. He could be armed. He could not be alone. Raise your teeth here." The anxiety in her nagged. She was doing her best to push it back but she was still fighting on it.
[attr="class","dilyrics3"]Your lips feel warm to the touch You can bring me back to life On the outside you're ablaze and alive But
[attr="class","dilyric3"]you're dead inside
[attr="class","dibody3"]
Raphael jumped when the female voice broke the silence so suddenly. If he hadn’t already dropped his phone because of the ringtone he definitely would have dropped it this time. His hands immediately shot up at the demand she uttered. “Yes, yes... ma’am. All up. See?” he said, half of a smirk trying to ease the situation a bit. Well, his carefully calculated escape plans were now useless. He would have bolted for the door and make a run but his eyes landed on her gun and suddenly the need to stand as still as possible overcame him. One thing was sure he didn’t want to get shot today. No, not today. Mental note to himself: make a plan B, and C, and D. Just make plans until Z so you can't run out of them.
"Wanna explain what you're doing out here and are you alone."
“I-... I-” he stuttered, unsure of how to explain this very bad situation he had gotten himself into. “I... lost... my... cat. Yes. I lost my cat and saw it running into this building. Sneaky little ball of fur.” he said trying to sound as convincing as possible, lips pursed, shaking his head at the mischief of his imaginary cat. “I’m totally and completely alone. My whole life actually. Forever alone you know? Kind of living by that.” Ha..ha..ha… perhaps it wasn’t the best time to make stupid jokes. But maybe it could work as some kind of distraction if she didn’t have backup coming. Oh gods he hoped not. Pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to win a fight against a cop either way but as soon as the chances appeared to run he would definitely run.
Glancing at the window he tried to guess how high up he was. Third floor… couldn’t be too bad? No. Jumping out of the window wasn’t going to be a good idea. His attention returned to the blonde as she holstered her gun, putting her defenseless - or at least weaponless. Maybe this was the chance he needed.
He took two steps back and completely forgot about the corpse in the room when he stumbled over it, arms flailing as he tried not to crash land on top of it. Somehow managing to throw himself sideways he plopped down with his face just inches away from it. Blue white-ish glazed eyes staring back at him and a fly crawling out from underneath one of the sockets. “Nope, nope, nope.” he blurted, scrambling away quickly as if he saw a spider crawling up to him.
A hand on his chest above his heart - hoping to prevent an incoming heart attack - he tilted his head to look at the woman. “He’s… dead.” he said, nodding and pointed at it. No shit Raffe. He swallowed down another gag making its way up. “It wasn’t me though.” the brunette added quickly, too quickly. In situations like these he wondered how he managed to get into university. Be smart, he told himself - or at least be smarter than this.
[attr="class","ditags3"]@shaan - I don't know what this is /facepalm
[attr="class","k4u-ribbon-post"] You had to be kidding. This was what she fucking got for falling asleep..almost.. on the job? She gave a sigh as she shook her head. "Ok so that was a nice story, cut the shit honestly..I really don't care that you snuck past the fence personally .. ya know even going in this house.. Which by the way if the tape was supposed to give you an idea... Was kinda illegal.. Honestly I get that you didn't do this." She offered.
Now she knew this was pretty heavily a no no but it was obvious this guy had made a stupid mistake and was probably just here trying to get in on the big secret. She understood that one mistake shouldnt ruin a life if it really wasnt gonna hurt someone. She watched however at his freaking out and his falling. She put a hand to her forehead and muttered something in another language as she tried to calm herself down. If she yelled at the wrong time the patrol care would probably come and this guy was toast regardless. This guy was gonna be a fucking mess.
She thought for a second and decided that she knew how she wanted to handle this. She offered a hand out to him to help him up, her hands seemed small and soft, kind of bringing the picture together that she wasn't as intimidating as she wanted to be. ". Now I'm gonna have to call this in about the body.. but this can go one of two ways... I honestly can just tell them I found you snooping here and like you can go to jail.. or you can cut the shit and I can help you clean this up so you werent here? Honestly why are you really here..I'll start. I'm working double shifts.. as well as homicide they needed someone to babysit the zone." She offered in a warm tone, trying to show him she was being honest.
Really if he was caught here it could go one of two ways, she would be praised for stopping another curious person or she would be punished for them even getting this far in the first place. She used her light to shine over the body, tilting her head and going into cop mode for a moment, she was sure something was familiar about this, there was something that was very clearly wrong here but she couldnt place it so she tried to push it away until she noticed a phone on the body. Come on. "Do you need me to get that...?" She asked very plainly.
[attr="class","dilyrics3"]Your lips feel warm to the touch You can bring me back to life On the outside you're ablaze and alive But
[attr="class","dilyric3"]you're dead inside
[attr="class","dibody3"]
He snorted. “What's the catch?" he snorted again, raising one curious eyebrow. "So you’re telling me you’re a cop patrolling the area but you want to help me instead of arresting me? What's the catch?” he repeated the first phrase again to emphasize his question. There was no way she would let him go just like that as if nothing ever happened even wanting to help him clean all the evidence he left of himself. That sounded like the trappiest trap of all traps. And he didn’t buy a word she was saying. He could imagine her escorting him outside with an army of officers or soldiers awaiting him to put him wherever a curious little guy like him belonged in.
When she asked him if she wanted him to get that he stared at her because he totally forgot about his phone stuck between the dead body’s arm. Raphael bit his lower lip, looking over at the body and his phone. He couldn’t help but grimace at the grotesque sight of it and he really, really wasn’t sure if he wanted his phone back or not. Maybe he should just leave it there and get a new one… without dead on it. Yeah that sounded like a good idea. But before he could answer her something moved...
“Zombie!” he yelled before covering his mouth with his hand. Wide eyes watching a mouse crawling out from underneath the arm making it move ever so slightly. “Oh…” he said, realizing it didn’t move by itself, his expression saddening. A zombie would have been, firstly a great distraction, second a dream come true.
His brown eyes slowly wandered to the detective near him. “Do you-” he started saying but paused for a moment, thinking over his words. “Now… before I get arrested or leave… I need to ask you one thing… As a detective-” he continued, crossing his arms over his chest. ”-have you seen something strange going on recently? Like… very very bizarre?” he asked her, pursing his lips and taking a look around the room. “I mean… like… z… zombies?” he finally said and tilted his head slightly, eyes a little wider and expectant as he shifted his gaze back to her.
[attr="class","k4u-ribbon-post"] She couldn't believe this guy, here she was giving him a free pass over just using good old fashioned police brutality and he was looking that damn gift horse in the mouth. She was actually stunned for a moment. "Ok so...wait wait.. I'm here literally tell you Nah I'm not gonna arrest you, it's all good.. and you're here wondering why? I dunno.. You're kinda cute? Really awkward? Wouldn't last a day in prison? Uh.. Do you want me to find more reasons? Oh how about it's kinda bullshit people are getting arrested for just being curious?" She raised her eyebrow at him.
"Ok also to be fair.. I'm homicide not a guard dog. I do not care what happens here unless its that." She said tossing a hand to the corpse that they were just talking casually around. This was a bit of an awkward water cooler. " JESUS FUCKING -- " She shouted as a reaction to him as she unholstered raised her gun back up in a very quick fluid motion. She trained her aim right on the brain...and then she saw the mouse. She laughed a nervous little laugh as she felt her heart pounding against her ribs. That took a year off her life.
"Ok.. Not a zombie." She said with a nod of her head as she went to putting her gun back, she was a little panicked now. She looked up at him as he spoke, and for a moment, she realized someone else was just as fucking weird as she was. "..Ok thats the first fucking question I had and chief almost bit my head off. Now I havent seen any zombie activity but I'm waiting for it. A fucking "mysterious Virus" coming out of nowhere and theres an increase in murders? Nah thats very zombie." She said with a serious look on her face.
She totally did think this was gonna turn into zombies.
[attr="class","dilyrics3"]Your lips feel warm to the touch You can bring me back to life On the outside you're ablaze and alive But
[attr="class","dilyric3"]you're dead inside
[attr="class","dibody3"]
He placed a hand on his chest feeling flattered at her sudden comment of thinking he was kinda cute. It was just a kinda but she still said the word cute. “Aww. Totally get ya though.” he said, nodding along and smirked. He didn’t need to hear more reasons. That was a good one and more than enough for his naive mind. However, he agreed with her about not lasting a day in prison. That was true, so so true. Not that he had been in prison before or was planning on going… which… was now a possibility considering the trespassing into quarantine zone. Raphael shuddered, hugging himself and rubbing his arms, grimacing at the thought of being stuck in prison and… dropping the bar of soap. Another shudder. Nope, not going to happen. Not today, not anytime soon, never would be great.
Raphael mentally crossed his fingers, hoping she had more insider knowledge being a detective. When she told him about her suspicions he just yelled out “YES!”, clapping his hands like a little child. But then he remembered where they were and he dropped his arms as fast as they were up. “Yes.” he repeated, this time a whisper, and nodded excitedly along. “Finally someone who knows what I’m talking about. Viruses appear from time to time but does it make sense? No. Does this one make sense? No. Is it suspicious? Yes, absolutely. Do I think it was created in a secret lab and unleashed onto humanity on purpose? Totally.” he told her, eyes sparkling as he mentioned his theories to her. “Do I think there’s a greater chance of zombies being the outcome of this? You bet! And do I think your chief is stupid? Yeah maybe.”
Pursing his lips Raphael dared to glance down at the corpse, scratching his left cheek before he realized he had touched his face with a hand which was near the possibly infected dude. "You don't happen to have hand sanitizer with you, do you?" he asked a little awkwardly, holding away his hands from his body. Ah, she was right about the being awkward part too.
She noticed the smirk on his face and she almost rolled her eyes, almost. It seemed like men were the same whoever they were, tell em they're cute and they drop their guards. Oh well, he seemed like a nice enough guy that she didn't need to put up all the walls, just some of them. She shook her head lightly/ "Got it so tell you you're attractive and you drop your guard.. Thats totally how people get eaten by zombies." She said with a soft teasing tone.
"I mean right? This is literally the set up to most of the world ending zombie plots and I for one do not plan on dying by bite. Like it is weird.. The virus just comes out of nowhere and hits this hard? I am totally convinced that this is gonna end in zombies. Ya know what, if it does you're welcome to tag along with me.. mostly because I have quite a few guns at home and you're the only other person who totally thinks this is a zombie type thing." She chuckled softly, her voice just above a whisper. She was relaxing a little bit, this was a nice change to what she assumed her evening would be.
She looked at him for a moment and checked her pockets, it was the third one she checked that she pulled out a small bottle of sanitizer and popped the cap, offering to squirt it in his hands so his uh, corpse fingers didn't touch the bottle. She was not however stingy with it. "Of course, I even have...these." She said as she pulled out what looked like a little square. "Wet wipes.. so uh.. once you do get your phone you can wipe that down." She said offering it out to him.
"So now that we've talked zombies.. why are you here really? I'm honestly dying to know what was worth all this."
[attr="class","dilyrics3"]Your lips feel warm to the touch You can bring me back to life On the outside you're ablaze and alive But
[attr="class","dilyric3"]you're dead inside
[attr="class","dibody3"]
“I would rather die getting eaten by zombies than just getting hit by a car or because of a heart attack. At least my friends would have a story to tell.” he said and nodded, listening to her theories about zombies. There was a sparkle in his eyes as she mentioned allowing him to tag along in a zombie apocalypse and having a fair share of weaponry at home. Raphael never got around to buying himself a gun. For one… he wouldn’t need it, and second… he would most likely end up shooting himself in the foot with it. He was not to be trusted with things capable of hurting, maiming, or killing himself and others.
Raphael gladly accepted the hand sanitizer and stretched out his palms so she could squeeze it on. He blinked at the awful amount of clear liquid in his hands. “Thanks.” he said and rubbed both palms them together, trying to distribute it so it wouldn’t go to waste. But considering he had just touched a dead body which has been lying there for no one knew how long, there really wasn’t going to be any waste. Heck, he would even spread it all over his arms if the amount was sufficient. Once he was done with his hands he slapped the remainder on his face where he touched his cheek - just everywhere. If he could take a bath in sanitizer after this he would definitely do it. “Do cops these days switch out their handcuffs and radios with sanitizer and wet wipes?” he uttered jokingly, glancing at her with a wary look in case she might pull her gun on him again.
His eyes wandered to the phone and he really didn’t want to reach down between those limbs and pick it up. Maybe he should just get a new one instead. Maybe insurance would cover it. The call might be a little awkward but it still sounded much better than touching the corpse again. The sudden question about the real reason he was here made him press his lips together, head slowly moving around to look at her.
“Uh-” Raphael glanced around the room, clicking his tongue as he thought of a good reason. He wasn’t sure why exactly he was there. An imaginary light bulb popped up above his head as his eyes found the bedroom door. Just five big steps. “Well, I was-” he began, taking innocent steps around her and playing with papers he found on a desk near the wall. He picked up a pen, clicked it, and put it back to where it was. “-hearing rumors about this place.” the brunette continued, making his way towards the door.
“BYE.” he yelled and bolted out of the room, closing the door behind him with a loud bang and holding shut while leaning against it with all his body weight. “I’m sorry detective. But according to game rule 142, this is either a trap and you will arrest me ooor you’re the zombie.” he explained, scrunching his face together in an apologetic way. “So so sorry but if you just give me a ten minutes headstart we’re good. If we see each other again, hopefully not, but if we do I will buy you a coffee.” he offered and he would do it but for now, he had to run.
He let go of the door and dashed out of the apartment towards the stairs. Just as he was thinking how cool he was his shoelace came undone and he tripped, tumbling down the stairs like an idiot. He hit his head on one of the edges… and once he was at the other end and stopped rolling he wished he would continue rolling out of the building and out of this embarrassing situation. “Ouch.” he mumbled, his hand ruffling through his hair. “That...was a test! You passed! Congratulations. You’re worthy of your rank.”
