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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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"]
Stupid idea number three emerged from the pits of his brain on a seemingly normal Thursday morning. At this point, Raphael had completely lost it. With each day he would venture out more and more, leaving the city and the suburbs behind. With the help of his roommate who was basically forced to help him with every stupid idea. His ideas started out small, very small but as time passed and the virus seemed to progress further and further, claiming almost half of Lethford City’s population, Raphael started having grant vision - of stupidity. First, he sneaked into the quarantine zone and then a rebel hideout in the suburbs of Lethford Heath... no one stopped him now to sneak into the military base.
It took the whole day to prepare, and finish the game he was playing before he left his apartment once the sun started to set. He took his normal route - walk, bus, bus, walk - until he was in Lethford Heath, where he managed to arrange a bicycle waiting for him because there were no busses who could take him to the base. He jumped on the bike and stepped into the pedals with all his might.
Raphael knew the base itself was located underground but he was sure some of their warehouses wouldn't be. It wouldn't make sense, wouldn't work. He arrived at a chain-link fence circling the base and got off his bike, hiding it behind some bushes nearby. He started looking for cameras aimed at the fence and spotted some. Thinking he could avoid all of them he tip-toed past them, playing James Bond, as he walked until he spotted one of the bigger warehouses.
"Easy." he said, smirked, and proceeded to climb the fence, only to fall off after the first attempt... and the second, the third, the fourth. Raphael grumbled, rubbings his palms together for yet another attempt. Fascinated and proud at the same time he managed to get over it but not without ripping his shirt on the spiky ends. Eh, at least it wasn't his favorite. With a thud, he landed on the ground, head flipping to the side to check if anyone was there. "Whew." he let out, wiping away imaginary sweat off of his forehead before moving towards the door of the warehouse.
He listened for voices but couldn't hear anything, pushing the door open as quietly as he could and squeezed through. Leaving the door open because Raphael doesn't always think of everything and gets distracted quite easily, he spun around in awe at everything inside of it. It was huge. Huge enough to hide supplies lasting for years.
Raphael heard the footsteps of someone approaching and a clicking sound, thinking it's a gun his arms shot up almost immediately. "I'm innocent!" he shouted, with his back still towards the stranger. "I... I lost my way to... uh- my D&D group meeting. This is not 27th Willowby Street, is it?"
Brooke stood beside the desk, a hand resting on the back of the rolling chair that the private was sitting in. He was on watch, manning the cameras that surrounded the approach, the perimeter, and the interior of the warehouses. The area was off-limits for any unauthorized personal. And she had to admire his guts to push right through it. As he tried to climb over the fence and fell she smirked, shaking her head and sighing, ”Oh he has no idea.” She bent and watched him try to scale the fence again, mumbling, ”Come on, buddy, you got it.”
Her encouragement earned her a glare from the two men in the security room and she stood back upright, giving a little shrug, ”Sorry I’ve always cheered for the underdog...and look at him.” Motioning to the screen, they watched the man gather himself and start to make his way from the fence across to the warehouse. One of them moved to get up, grabbing a flashlight and his gun but she put her hand out, ”Stand down, soldier.” There was a drip of sarcasm to her words and she stepped back, ”Stay here, I’ll intercept.”
Without another word she turned and left the small surveillance shack. It opened up to the outdoors and she found herself moving between building that held much of the same things found in the other buildings. It was all emergency supplies that they would distribute if things got dire. For now, though, the economy was failing but holding. For the most part, the famine and plague hadn’t caught up to them to the point that they needed it. And she knew that if people knew that it was there they’d lose all restraint. Something about hoarding away supplies for when things got worse was a comfort to the public, but they didn’t do so wisely. There was no rationing or sanctions about who needed what. That’s what the government was for. Or that’s what they touted to the people lower in rank.
He was in one such warehouse and Brooke followed easily, entering from the far side and making her approach as quietly as she could. But she was in uniform, the boots not made for stealth, and when she was within earshot she pulled out a pair of handcuffs, tapping them so that they clicked. It pulled out of him exactly the reaction she was going for and when she came around the corner to face down the cowering man Brooke’s features were hard and her posture threatening, ”D&D? Really? That’s the one you’re going with?” She held up the cuffs so that they swayed, hanging from two fingers, ”How about I give you a chance to check your slight of hand for real, huh?” She motioned for him to get against a stack of crates. ”Hands behind your back, sir.”
[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 was thinking about all the stupid and foolish choices he had made in his 23 years of living this life. Did he regret a lot of them? Maybe. Did he regret the one where he thought sneaking into a military warehouse was a good idea? For sure. Did he have a plan to get out of this mess? Not really. He wasn’t even sure he could make it this far and yet here he was standing in the middle of a warehouse, surrounded by military properties on military ground.
And considering that he sort of expected a whole group of soldiers to appear but… to his relief it was just one. Not that it helped him much because he wouldn’t be able to handle one no matter who it was. Raphael would be the easiest target to capture, to arrest, to scare into wearing those handcuffs and he would probably end up putting them on by himself.
Nervous, he glanced at the handcuffs he was swaying in her hand. Raphael held up his hands slowly to the sides of his head. "I- I come in peace." he said, in response to her, throwing her a peace sign with one of his hands up as well as an awkward, teeth-showing grin. When she asked him to put his hands behind his back he swallowed hard. Was it really going to happen this time? Was this the day he would get arrested?
He looked at her, eyes wide, nose scrunched up, lips pressed together. There were a lot of thoughts that ran through his mind at that moment but of course, Raphael being Raphael called for the dumbest one. "Uh... those cuffs look very uncomfortable." he let out, grimacing at it. "You don't happen to have the ones with plush around the wrist things? Preferably in black." the brunette teased, maybe, maybe he was serious. Lots of maybes in his cases.
"Umm... about the whole getting caught issue... ROLL THE DICE." he blurted out, hoping it would somehow work as a distraction. She only held up the handcuffs. She didn’t have a gun pointed at him yet. If there was a slight chance of escaping… he would take it. So he screamed at her and sprinted towards a row of big, wooden containers.
It probably would have been a thousand times smarter to just surrender and either get kicked out or go wherever they would have taken him. Although, that idea scared him a little. Raphael pressed himself against the container, trying to stay out of sight as he attempted to step around the other side.
Brooke did like her job. She liked it a lot more when she felt like she was changing the world instead of managing it. In a combat zone there were days that felt like nothing at all happened, but then sometimes you’d liberate a small village from insurgents and turn back on the running water and the whole place would turn into one big water fight in the hot desert. Even in 20 pounds of gear, there was nothing better. But then there was the ambush, the demotion that they framed as otherwise, and back home in Lethford things were anything but exciting. She was a glorified security guard. The police didn’t like having them there, the civilians saw them as looming enforcers...and then there were things like this.
The young man she’d watched tumble over the fence over and over was just as scrawny as he’d been depicted in the CCTV footage. And when he raised his hands over his head she snorted and tilted her head, ”Are you claiming you’re an alien now? Just so I can be sure I’m following the narrative right.” She was relaxed. This young man wasn’t any sort of threat for an experienced soldier. And there wasn’t exactly anything in the warehouse that would cause a stir. It was all relief supplies for if things got worse. He asked about cuffs and she laughed, ”I keep those ones in the nightstand, sorry.” Brooke waved a hand then pointed a finger and motioned for him to twirl, ”Come on, if you resist it’s a lot more paperwork.”
But then he screamed, did exactly the opposite of what she had asked him to do. And his stupid phrase worked. For a second her mind was busy trying to process what the hell that could have meant. She decided it was some sort of attempt at following her d&d joke through, but was this his dice roll? Because if this was a check of her agility against his she had to guess that she would win. Brooke tucked the cuffs back into her waist and took off, ”The paperwork!!” She called after him, her heavy boots echoing through the warehouse as she took off to follow him. Her weapon at her hip remained holstered but for a second she considered pulling it out. She hadn’t fired a weapon outside of a range since the ambush, though. And she wasn’t certain that even if he threatened her life she’d be able to do it.
There was no threat, though, just a chase, and when she saw the man cut around a crate Brooke dashed the other way so that when he popped around the side she was ahead of him. She gave him an excited grin and winked, ”I could do this all day, my dude. Where are you even gonna go? Give it up.”
[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"]
Confused eyes stared at her in even more bewilderment. "What? No, of course not. This isn’t Area 51. Pfft." he started, before tilting his head to the side. His lips formed an O as he thought for a moment, wild thoughts running through his head as always. "Or I mean… would that help? If I was an extraterrestrial being? Would I still need to surrender?" he asked, scrunching his face together into a very, questioning grimace and letting out a series of nonsense words and strange sounds. Not resisting would make this way too short lived. This whole great conversation about aliens and handcuffs.
As he made a run for it he heard her calling after him about the paperwork. "Have fun with that!" he yelled. He did feel sorry for her. Paperwork sucked. But that wasn’t his problem. For once something wasn’t his problem unless she caught him and made him do the paperwork about himself. That might be a small problem.
Usually when someone said they jumped because they weresurprised by something or someone they just say it and do nothing more but flinch, however, Raphael literally jumped when the soldier appeared on the other side forcing him to throw himself against the container. "Son of a dorito! Holy cheeto." he screamed, yes, screamed, high pitched voice and all. His hand immediately went to his heart and he could swear there was a tear trying to make its way out of his eye. He took a couple of deep breaths, perhaps being a tiny bit overdramatic but that’s just how he was if he wasn’t being an idiot and a fool.
"I hope you know CPR because I think I’m about to have a heart attack." he told her, blowing out air through his deep breaths. Raphael nibbled on his lower lip when she asked him where he was going to go. He did believe her that she could do this all day. He couldn’t. The sprint from his starting point to the back of the container was already too much for him to handle. Exercise? What’s that? But did that make him want to give up and surrender? Nah.
Slowly holding up his hands in an act of surrender he nodded towards the container, giving her a small shrug and puppy eyes. "I was going to merge into this container, enter through the walls. You know since I might be an alien and stuff." Raphael joked,giving her the most awkward wink ever. Sometimes a human could be just a little too curious and these days it’s so boring sitting at home during this lockdown so when you have nothing to do you kinda get those stupid, foolish, dumb ideas like… let’s say breaking into a military base. That was one of them even though Raphael was most likely the only one stupid enough to do that or even think about doing that but here he was really doing it.
Well, crap. He realized he couldn’t get away from her or escape. And perhaps if he gave it another shot, running away, she might end up shooting or taser him. Or maybe he would just trip over his own feet and end it himself. Yeah, the probability for that to happen was definitely the highest.
Standing there, he looked at her, pressing his lips together. He pulled in his arms closer to his body but still keeping them raised beside his head. Taking a deep breath he slowly moved his right arm forward, straightening it into her direction, index finger pointing at her. "E.T. phone home?"
She had to give the guy credit, he was particularly chill considering she was ready to arrest him and stick him into a military holding cell until one of the superior officers got around to signing the paperwork that would let him out. He joked about Area 51 and she narrowed her eyes, not at all cracking a smile despite the fact that this sort of behavior was exactly the kind he might have gotten up to if she weren’t in the Army. He asked if it would help and she considered, ”It might involve a lot more probing, so I guess it’s up to your preference.”
And then they were off, the kid running and Brooke giving chase. It wasn’t every day a civilian snuck into the warehouses and, if she were honest, she might admit that she was thankful for a break in the mundane. There was no sense of foreboding or anticipation of death in a city like Lethford, pandemic or otherwise. Not like what it had been like in Iraq. At least there even on the slow days spent around basecamp there was the concern that it might be the very last slow day of your life. He screamed, she scoffed, and when he turned back around she shook her head, ”It’s almost mean to restrain you.” But his hands were going up and she was pulling the cuffs from her waist.
He exposed his plan to her and she gave a nod, ”I wouldn’t even be mad, I’d be impressed. Let’s see it, space boy.” It only gave her time to stall, to shift the cuffs between her hands. But nothing happened and she tilted her head as she motioned for him to give her his wrists, ”Don’t worry, you’ll get your phone call. But I have to know..what was the point? What did you expect to happen here?” If he complied she would be gentle with the cuffs, glancing up at one of the cameras in the warehouse and motioning that it was all under control. ”Are you one of those conspiracy theorists trying to prove that these warehouses are full of virus and it’s really the government controlling the world with it? Because sorry to disappoint, it’s just emergency rations.”
