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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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!
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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!
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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.
This was not what she had planned nor wanted. Life was initially supposed to go differently, be different, and yet, here she was trapped. However, this time it was all out of her hands. Her mother had always had the belief that everything happened for a reason, and perhaps there was one. Maybe this was a test. Maybe this virus was supposed to not only test her as a doctor but as a person. Her time as a resident doctor was supposed to go differently, and yet, she had been thrown headfirst into the unknown. Of course, she was also supposed to be planning her wedding, yet she was working all the time. She wasn't the only one; Miles was in the same boat.
He wanted to get married sooner rather than later, wanted to bring the wedding up and do a spur of the moment thing. Did she want that? Had that been her dream since she was a young girl? No. She wanted what she wanted, and if that was selfish, then she could be selfish. Whoever was calling the shots, putting her through these tests, needed to calm the fuck down.
Heels clicked against the ground, white lab coat swaying as she moved, revealing bits of her black slacks and floral blouse beneath. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and a clipboard in her arm held the pen between her teeth. She knew that she shouldn't do such a thing, but this pen never left her sight. She was the only one to touch it, but with the odd glances that she got, it was quickly removed. Still looking down at the clipboard, she entered a room. "Okay, Mr. Jackson, your vitals are looking stronger..." she trailed off, having looked up at that second and noticed that there was no one in the bed. Her eyes slowly grew wider as she quickly stuffed the clipboard into the holder outside the door and headed for the reception in that area.
"Did someone take Mr. Jackson out of his room?" she questioned, getting questioning glances as they began to look for any information. Everyone shook their head, and she groaned, "Page security. One of the patients has gotten out. We need to find him; he just had surgery for god sakes!" she called out, spinning on her heels to search for the missing patient. Telling one of the nurses to grab some help in searching that area, she swiped her keycard and headed out into the rest of the hospital. God, if he had gotten mixed with someone that was sick - he had no chance of surviving after the type of surgery he had.
Brynlee groaned as her phone went off, it was simply too early for her to be getting calls. Her hand snaked off the bed as she grabbed the old alarm clock from the side of her bed and peeked at it. The red lights reading that it was just after 8 o’clock in the morning. A curse left her lips as she tried to bury her head under her pillow. She had only left work five hours before, meaning by the time she got home and showered, skipping eating, she had been asleep for a little over three hours. Though as her phone continued ringing, she let out a frustrated snarl as she grabbed her phone.
She didn’t need to look at the name on the screen to know who was calling her over and over again. “Okay, okay! I’m coming in. Just… give me like an hour.” She snipped into the phone before she hung up. The red head thought about falling back into her bed and going to sleep. She was utterly exhausted. Pulling doubles back to back, and then expected to just continue picking up when they needed her. She was going to talk to them today. She needed at least twenty four hours off. She had to get some sleep or else her body was going to start breaking down. And her mental stability was going to take a major tumble. Well, more than it already has.
She shot out of bed as a text went through, knowing it was boss lady texting to make sure she was up and ready to uphold the statement she had made. She ran to the kitchen, got her coffee ready, and in under 15 minutes dressed and out the door. Her hair pulled into a messy bun as she jumped into her truck and made her way to work. She sat in the parking lot longer than she’d like to admit, just sipping on her coffee as she death glared the front of the building. This wasn’t her usual look, the happy go lucky, overly friendly girl was usually the one who walked in. But today it just didn’t feel like it.
As she dragged herself through the doors, she shot an unamused look at the nurses at the front desk who only returned the look with chuckles. They knew she didn’t mean any offense, but she also wanted to get a full eight hours of sleep as well. As she rounded the corner to go drop off her bag, she almost bumped into a patient. “Oh, sorry!” She beamed a smile at him as she steadied the both of them with soft hands. Ah, there was the Brynlee everyone knew. “Where are you supposed to be?” She said with a slight teasing voice. He seemed out of it, the back of his hospital gown flashing his back side. She tossed her bag back towards the nurses station, which thankfully one tucked it behind there for her before they rushed off, busy as always.
“I’m Brynlee, how about we get you a seat?” She offered him, which he just shook his head in agreement. She wrapped her arm in his as she guided him easily to a room where she could get a blanket to lay under him and place him on a wheelchair. “What’s your name?” She asked as she went to place another blanket on him, which he gave her his name. “Alright Mr. Jackson, how about we take a tour through the halls? I’ll show you around.” It was her way of getting him to relax as she tried to see exactly where he had wondered away from.
The fact that she had practically lost a patient had her panicking. She was only a little bit into her residency, and here she was, losing a patient like that. Of course, she wasn't the only person to blame. The nurses and even the receptionist for the section hadn't even seen him leave. And no one freaked out when he unplugged himself, because no one said anything about that room coding. So what was happening? She knew a pandemic was going on right now, but that didn't mean they couldn't pay attention to other patients.
The sound of security being paged was what she heard just before she left her section; thoughts about her marriage dilemma enough to be lost as her attention changed to finding her patient. If he ended up hurt or pulling something, or worse, it would be on her head. She pushed through door after door, going to different parts of the hospital and talking to nurses that she could find. No one had seen the man she had described, but they all knew they had to find him.
Just as she pushed through another, she drew in a sigh of relief. There he was, seated, a blanket wrapped around him as a woman spoke to him. From the looks of it, she was a nurse. She thanked whatever God was looking out for her and drew closer and closer to the two. "Here you are, Mr. Jackson...you gave us quite the scare." she breathed out, smiling at the male as if she had found a rabid dog and was scared he would bite. With all the drugs currently in his system, plus only just waking up from being put under, it was a surprise he was even functioning. And who knew what he was going to do.
When she was in medical school, one of the teachers had told a story about being punched in the face by someone just waking up from surgery. Her attention turned towards the woman, "Thank you so much for finding him..." she trailed off, unsure of her name.
Brynlee laughed lightly as the man mumbled to himself something about having a young woman worrying over him. She patted his shoulder lightly as she started pushing him down the hallway. “Now now, Mr. Jackson. That’s the best part of your stay here! All the attention you could want.” She laughed, a few strands of her bright red hair falling out of the messy bun she had thrown it in. She started pushing his wheelchair down the hallway with ease.
As she pointed out a few different areas to him, she was headed straight for the main nurses station to see if she could get some information on him. Where he was supposed to be and what exactly he was in the hospital for. She reminded herself to scrub herself down well, and get herself with the face mask on, she could never be too careful now a days. With everything, cases spiking, more people showing up in a panic to the hospital over the smallest cough, she was exposed more than ever to people.
Her head turned as she heard a voice draw closer, calling out to Mr. Jackson. Ah, here is who is supposed to be in charge of him. Clearly from her coat, she was a new resident. She remembered being there. She felt her cheeks lift as she smiled at the brunette. “Mr. Jackson seemed like he really wanted to come visit the front desk. Found him on my way in, and we’ve just been having a lovely little tour of the first floor. But I’m sure that he would love to get back into his bed, right Mr. Jackson?” She said, patting his shoulder lightly and leaning forward to look at him. He nodded tiredly.
As the other woman looked to her, thanking her, Brynlee waved her hand in the air in a dismissive way. “Just helping out. First year?” She asked lightly, giving her another bright smile. Brynlee was beyond friendly and was known for making people feel comfortable around her easily. “Dr. Brynlee Valentine,” She introduced her. “Lethford’s biomedical engineer who also apparently helps fill in on all other duties when people call out. No matter when I had left last.” She said with a small laugh, though clearly she was tired. “And you, doctor...?”
While she had graduated from medical school two years ago, it wasn't until a few months ago that she had started up her residency. It was right before this pandemic started that the hospital had hired her, and now, with everything, she was gaining more responsibilities. It wasn't anything she couldn't handle, but Mr. Jackson disappearing from his room after surgery was a huge scare. If something bad happened to her, it would fall on her - and she wouldn't have been surprised if the family sued. She did not need that in her first year of residency. Thankfully, she found him, and luckily he wasn't alone. He was with another person, someone that she had never met before that looked like she worked at the hospital.
'Mr. Jackson seemed like he really wanted to come visit the front desk. Found him on my way in, and we've just been having a lovely little tour of the first food. But I'm sure that he would love to get back into his bed, right Mr. Jackson?' The man nodded his head, tiredness in his features. He was on some pretty heavy-duty drugs; she wasn't surprised he was growing tired - especially if he walked around the building. She smiled at the man, her attention returning to the woman.
She nodded her head, "Yeah. I've only been here for a few months. Started just before everything went to crap," she said, nodding her head. She laughed at the woman's joke - at least, she hoped it was a small joke "Isobel. Dr. Isobel Dunham. It's nice to meet you, Dr. Valentine."
Brynlee laughed lightly at her comment of 'before everything went to crap. Yeah she could say that all again. But with a different word. If this wasn't a professional setting, Bryn would probably have corrected her to saying 'shit'. Because that's truly what it had all gone to. Not poop, not crap. Straight up shit. It just wasn't the time for her to say something like that. Not with a groggy patient in between them. She nodded, "That's quite unfortunate for you really. Starting to regret picking Lethford yet?" She joked.
At times, Bryn had thought that she had messed up by picking Lethford and not a larger hospital in a big city. But she had fallen in love with the place before all the madness had happened. She was overall glad for it. Just not so happy that it was now the epicenter for the pandemic. That put a big damper on the idea of the place. But she met a lot of her friends here. And some other interesting people. One's that would risk their life to save yours.
"Please, call me Brynlee. I earned that degree but it isn't wholly me." She laughed, knowing that a lot of people took pride in being called Doctor. It wasn't that she didn't like it. She worked hard for her accomplishment. And introduced herself as such to show off her accomplishment. But she preferred her first name. It just made things easier really. And her name was not common enough for there to be a lot of Brynlee's running around a hospital floor that calling it out would get 4 different people there. It was just her.
"Why don't we get you back to your room. I'm sure that Dr. Isobel here would appreciate you getting some rest." She spoke to the man in the chair as she wheeled him towards the elevator. Though he seemed to have fallen asleep before they even got to the doors. "I'm sure this was a fun, panic moment this morning." She laughed, looking over to the younger woman with her. A light tease.
Isobel found herself chuckling before shaking her head, "I don't mind it. My family moved here a few years ago; I set up roots here, so leaving wasn't really in the cards. It's my home, so there was no doubt in my mind that working for the hospital until I open up my own practice was a bad idea," she said. She very rarely talked about opening up her own medical clinic, let alone to a colleague. But it had come out, slipping between pale pink lips.
She looked at the ginger, "Are you regretting picking here?" The words came out with a hint of curiosity. She wouldn't blame her if she did; it seemed that Lethford was a hot spot and not the greatest at keeping the virus at bay. With how many people were coming in sick or dying, she probably should have thought about abandoning Lethford. After introductions, it was Brynlee that asked to be called by her first name, stating that her degree wasn't all that she was. A smile fluttered onto her face, "Another humble person, finally. I felt like I was the only one that dropped the doctor part, it just seems too formal. Almost cold, like rubbing into someone's face that you have a doctorate."
Many people did that; a few doctors who worked at Lethford were known to correct if you didn't call them formally. Isobel wasn't like that; some of her patients even called her Isobel when they came back for follow-ups. She rather people be comfortable than pushed away and felt alienated. They made their way through the hospital floor, Brynlee pushing the patient into the elevators. From the look of it, he had fallen asleep. She finally let out a sigh of relief once the door closed, leaving the two of them and a sleeping patient in silence. She let out a soft laugh, "You have no idea. I thought I was going to lose my head like some Alice in Wonderland shit," she breathed out, her eyes going wide as she looked at the ginger. "Sorry, should have said crap..."
Brynlee found the light smile resting on her face. It was almost as if she had a resting smile face, instead of a neutral one like a lot of other people. The smile was just always there in some small form unless there was a reason for another look to be there. "Your own clinic? That is quite the task there. Not a bad one by any means, but takes a lot of drive for someone to want to run their own." She mused out loud to her. She knew there had to be pros and cons to that. Pros being that you could do things your way, but cons being that you are the one it falls completely on.
She paused a moment to think over the question that Isobel had asked her. Then she turned her freckled face towards her. "No. I think it's unfortunate that this is the hot spot. But I picked Lethford for a reason. And I'm glad I did." There was no regretful tone to her voice. The situation sucked, absolutely. Hands down. But who was to say that if she picked another hospital, it wouldn't have ended up being the middle of the hot spot there? She didn't control how things worked, that was for sure. Or else she'd be rich, laying on her private beach and sipping a margarita right now with an attractive cabana man.
Brynlee chuckled lightly at the humble comment. "Don't get too carried away thinking that. I just think Dr Valentine makes me sound old. And I am not quite in that mindset yet." She teased. Watching the lights on the elevator lower down until they reached their floor. "I'm sure once I get older I'll want to be the 'Doctor' part. But you know, in a casual way." Did that even exist? She wasn't sure but it was fun to pretend. She wheeled their sleeping patient in with them and once the doors shut, she glanced over to the dark haired woman.
She laughed as the cuss word slipped out. Her head falling back on her shoulders, releasing the laugh high into the air. "Oh you are fine. Trust me. I am not the best." She laughed a little bit more. "I've been known for threatening doctors who break equipment because they are being reckless. Or they are just being idiots. So trust me, it's quite alright."
