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
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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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CLAIMS
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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.
With the recent riots, Malcolm had been taking as many hours as the chief would allow him to. He was on hour ten of a sixteen hour shift when the call came through and the alarms began to ring in the station. And just like every time he went out on a call, his heart began hammering in his chest. This one was a four story apartment building - grease fire gone out of control. There were still people inside, so of course every available body was immediately on the move, suiting up and hopping onto the truck.
Because of the extra hours, Malcolm was working some of his first shifts without Cam by his side - and with other firefighters whom he didn’t know very well. The shifts spent without Cam were definitely less exciting, but maybe better for his heart. This was one of those shifts. Malcolm got into the passenger seat of the firetruck, his door barely closed when they took off at a fast clip. The first few times he’d ridden in a fire truck on the way to a fire, he’d felt queasy. Now, it was almost like they didn’t go fast enough. He felt the anticipation of the task ahead. The weight of it on his shoulders. They had lives to save.
It took minutes for them to happen upon the apartment building, but Malcolm saw the fire long before they got close. There was a glow in the night sky, a darker plume against the navy backdrop. As they drew closer, he could smell it on the air. Pulling up to the fire, he saw police already doing crowd control as looker-ons stood in groups on the other side of caution tape, mouths agape as they stared at the burning building.
The fire was already pretty big - many windows spitting flames already. There were two ambulances already here along with the police, and Malcolm knew by the time they were done, there would likely be more. Still, there should have already been so many more - maybe even another firetruck. But resources were stretched thin. Malcolm was out of the truck the moment they came to a stop, along with the rest of the team. His job was to go inside and find survivors, while others would work on the flames.
He was trying to decide who to bring with him when he caught sight of a familiar face emerging from the crowd of onlookers, passing the police line and heading his way. Malcolm almost rolled his eyes, but he suppressed the gesture and gave out a hefty sigh. Meeting his brother halfway, Malcolm gave him a hard, questioning look. ”What are you doing here? It’s not your shift.” Malcolm greeted, trying to sound as serious as he looked. He wasn’t all that surprised to see Cameron, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t give him a hard time.
A voice shouted his name, and Malcolm glanced over his shoulder back at the truck. The rest of the firefighters were scattering like ants, already getting to work. A few of the rescue pairs were standing by the truck, clearly waiting to see who was going to be paired up. He didn't have time to argue with Cameron, and the numbers were odd, anyhow. Plus, Malcolm knew that deep down there wasn't a single man in the crew who he was more comfortable working with. He trusted all of them, but none in the same way he trusted Cam. Sighing, Malcolm turned back to Cameron with a defeated look. "You've got two minutes to be fully suited up. There's supposed to be somewhere around ten people unaccounted for in there." He told him, turning to head back to the truck, knowing that Cam would head that way. He couldn't help but feel slightly relieved to have his brother with him.
[attr="class","dilyrics3"]two paper moons hanging on the night ceiling sometimes to be seen, or unseen
[attr="class","dilyric3"]as it please
[attr="class","dibody3"]
Pop. Pop. Pop. The apartment filled with the scent of freshly, microwaved, popcorn. As it announced the end of the timer, Cameron excitedly strolled over to the kitchen, rubbing his hands eagerly to start a movie marathon. He hasn’t had a day off in such a long time it felt forever. Opening the microwave door he grabbed the brown paper bag, blowing at it as it was still super hot to touch, before throwing it onto the kitchen counter. A bowl was already prepared next to it and after carefully opening the bag, letting the steam leave, he poured the popcorn into the bowl. It was already salted but Cameron was being extra and added a little more salt to it, the shaker offering a little too much than he would have liked though.
Not caring and shrugging it off he walked back to the living room, jumping on the couch, scattering pieces of popcorn all around him as it fell out of the bowl on impact. Cameron pursed his lips inward, looking at the mess he made. Mental note to himself: clean it before Malcolm comes home. He turned on the TV, the remote covered in bits of salt, and turned on a movie he had wanted to watch for such a long time. It was probably outdated already.
Half-way in the movie, he fell asleep, napping on the couch. However, his neighbors slammed shut their door and he woke up, groaning as he lifted himself from the not-too-comfortable couch. He kept forgetting how awful it was to sleep on it - remembering the many times he did so whenever he felt too tired to actually move to his bedroom. Not that it was that far away but the couch was just so convenient at times.
He turned off the movie and switched through channels, pausing on the local news channel. It was airing live footage of a building on fire, quite a big one, reminding him of the calls he received. He quickly scrambled off the couch and checked his phone: no calls. A little sad he threw it aside and stared at the TV.
A moment later he was up on his feet, throwing on a pair of jeans, grabbing his phone, car keys, and wallet and headed out of the apartment but not before stuffing another handful of popcorn into his mouth. He jogged down the stairs, faster than the elevator could be, and to the underground garage to get to his car. Luckily, traffic was great these days as no one was around and he arrived at the scene in no time - maybe because he went over the speed limit too.
Moving through the crowd as fast as he could he started grinning once he caught sight of Malcolm. A police officer tried getting a hold of him before he ducked under the police tape, flashing his fire department ID at the officer. He greeted Malcolm with a little wave of his hand and a nod, eagerly rubbing his hands just like he did once the popcorn was done, ready to throw himself into the flames. “I saw it on the news. Thought you could need a helping hand.” he shrugged, looking at him innocently. When Mal told him he had two minutes to get ready he sneered. “I only need a minute.” he answered and run off towards the fire truck, climbing up inside the cabinet to get dressed. It took him a minute and ten seconds before he jumped back out, giving his helmet a soft knock on top and pulled over his mask.
“In we go!” he cheered, giving Mal a small pat on the shoulder before heading off in front of him and straight into the building without hesitation. The door had already been knocked down so the entry was free. He ducked inside, his sight immediately blacked out by smoke, debris fell down in front of him, burned off wood what used to be part the floor above. “Fire Department! Is anyone here?” he yelled as he marched through. “Mal! Let’s go check upstairs!” he called out to behind him, gesturing with his arm to go upstairs. Cameron didn’t wait for an OK before heading up the stairs, making dangerous noises as he climbed up.
“I saw it on the news. Thought you could need a helping hand.”
Malcolm might’ve shook his head in response to this, but Cameron was already proclaiming that he only needed a minute and rushing off to the truck to change. Meanwhile, Malcolm finished completely suiting up, which was just to add his helmet. When he first started as a firefighter, he struggled with being fully suited. While the uniform protected him from the heat of the fire, it also made him feel trapped. It took him a while to feel as if the suit was simply a second skin, but even now he usually came out of it drenched in sweat. Already, he could feel sweat building at the nape of his neck.
A rueful smile broke out over his features as Cam reappeared, fully dressed, and patted his shoulder before taking off into the building. Like many times before, Malcolm followed hot on his heels, his gaze flicking from Cam to their surroundings as they stepped into the burning building. As Cam called out for survivors, Malcolm did his best to see through the thick smoke and falling debris.
“Mal! Let’s go check upstairs!”
Head jerking back to where his brother was, Malcolm hesitated a moment, making sure the stairs would hold Cam and allowing some distance to grow between them before he followed him up. The only thing worse than one part of the team falling through burning wood was both parts of the team falling. Once they were on the second floor, Malcolm found that a long hall stretched out before them. They could either continue up, or check this floor. Looking back at the stairs, Malcolm frowned. If those collapsed, they’d have a much harder time getting anyone out of the building. ”We gotta hurry.” Malcolm called, though he knew it was unnecessary. His brother had been in this business as long as he had, so he knew that even reckless Cameron knew that time was not their friend in this situation.
”Hello?! Call out if you can hear me!” Malcolm called, heading down the hall after Cameron. Thankfully, the other teams would be also entering the building and spreading out. This meant that Malcolm and Cameron weren’t solely responsible for all the people trapped inside. They just needed to focus on two. If there was enough time to go back in, they would.
A faint cry sounded from further down the hall, nearly drowned out by the roar of the fire all around them and the sounds of the building slowly losing stability. An eerie creaking sound created the base undertone of the entire soundtrack. As he shifted his weight, the creaking grew louder, the wood beneath his feet groaning. ”Hello?” Malcolm called, focusing intently as he listened for any kind of response.
Another cry came from further down the hall, this time stronger and closer. Malcolm patted Cameron’s shoulder and pointed at a door a few feet down on the left. Smoke was coming from beneath it, but Malcolm was pretty certain that it was the right one. Malcolm peered back down the hallway, the glow of fire accenting the scene. Thick black smoke obstructed most of his view. The urgency of the situation was not lost on him, and he turned back to his brother and the apartment in question with a renewed sense of determination.
On the other side of the door could be anything. Malcolm had seen it all - even those unlucky souls that didn’t get rescued. All he could do was head in and hope that they could get everyone out safely. But sometimes that isn’t what happened. Malcolm took losses hard. So the rush of adrenaline pouring into his veins right now was to ensure that he could put his best effort forward in order to hopefully save a life. It was all he could do.
[attr="class","dilyrics3"]two paper moons hanging on the night ceiling sometimes to be seen, or unseen
[attr="class","dilyric3"]as it please
[attr="class","dibody3"]
Careful but steady and fast steps carried him upstairs, the staircase fortunately staying mostly intact. There was a moment when he hesitated and paused as it felt like the wood was giving up on him before he even put his full weight on it. Cameron rolled his eyes playfully at Mal as he told him they have to hurry. „Duh.“ he said in response, the small light mounted on the front of his helmet bobbing up and down the same time he moved his head.
Listening to Malcolm doing the same he did, yelling to grasp anyones attention if there were still people inside the building, he continued to do the same. „Fire department! Is anyone here?“ he yelled, as loud as he could, his lungs burning not only from the smoke and heat but from the screaming.
He felt Mal tap on his shoulder to signal something. Turning his head into the direction he pointed at, blue eyes met a closed door. He glanced down at the smoke escaping through the gap underneath and as he hovered his hand around the door knob he could feel the heat ready to burn through his glove. If it had already reached that point it would be risky to open the door but Cameron knew Mal wasn‘t just going to let it be.
Cameron waved his hand at Mal, signaling him to duck, before he slammed his axe at the door to open the lock and then kicked it open. A wave of heat and a cloud of smoke greeted them and Cameron ducked himself as fast he could, one gloved hand holding on to his helmet. There was a brief moment where he couldn‘t see anything, worse than the part they already moved through, and he waved at the smoke in front of his face. „Fire Department! Anyone here?“ he called out as he slowly moved inside the apartment, again waving at Mal.
He waited for him to follow inside and fell back so he would be standing right beside him. „You found it, you get to be the boss.“ he joked, motioning him to go first. „I‘ll check the other room.“ he continued before leaving Mal‘s side and moving towards another part of the apartment. It only took a few steps when the floor underneath him gave in and suddenly he was hanging through the ceiling of the apartment underneath that one. Fortunately, Cameron was able to hang on to the edge, his axe stuck deep in the floor. Good thing this apartment didn‘t have tiles.
„I got this!“ he called over, a strained but mischievous grin playing on his lips while he tried to pull himself up. „Go ahead and find whoever is in here!“ Trying to get a better grasp on the handle of his axe he moved his right hand but slipped, losing his overall grip on everything and dropped through to the floor below.
A moment of silence followed before his voice appeared again through the hole. „I‘m fine! Landed on a bed. Very comfortable. Man, if this building wasn‘t in the middle of burning to ashes right now we should have moved here.“
Malcolm was glad that he had Cameron here, truly. The two of them, despite being of different personalities, worked well together. Cameron was reckless enough to charge ahead with any plan Malcolm came up with, no matter how dangerous. And because he was so confident, it meant that there was no hesitation. No accidents - only close calls. Sure, Cameron stressed him out sometimes. And sure, Malcolm’s stiffness probably grated on Cam’s nerves. But when they were working, they worked like a well oiled machine. Malcolm nodded at Cameron’s signal, ducking down and watching as his brother kicked the door in.
For a moment, the smoke blinded him. Even still, when he heard Cam call out, he lifted his head and caught sight of the wave to move onward. Following him into the apartment, Malcolm’s gaze roved over the space they entered. Smirking at Cam’s words, Malcolm nodded his head. ”As if I’m not always the boss.” Malcolm responded jovially, moving ahead of him as Cameron moved in a different direction.
„I‘ll check the other room.“
Famous last words, those were. Malcolm heard the splintering and groaning of collapsing wood, his head jerking in Cameron’s direction. Malcolm could only watch as Cam plunged through the resulting hole, just barely catching himself. Reflexively, Malcolm gave a shout and started towards him, his heart racing suddenly in his chest. Fear. Worry. But no hesitation.
„Go ahead and find whoever is in here!“
Malcolm paused, frowning. Glancing over his shoulder in the direction of the hallway that likely led back to bedrooms, Malcolm suddenly felt torn. He knew Cam was capable of taking care of himself, but there was a reason firefighters worked in pairs. Because sometimes even the best of them needed some help. Just as his gaze turned back to his brother, lips parting to argue that getting him safe first was the most important thing, he watched as Cam fell fully through the whole. ”Cameron!” Malcolm hollered, taking a few more steps towards the hole. The loud groan of wood had him retreating a step back. Relief washed through him as he caught the yell that came from within the hole in the floor.
”Man.” Malcolm groaned, his tone relieved and disbelieving all at once. ”You’re gonna put me in an early grave. I’m going to go find whoever’s in here. You be careful and head for the stairs.” Malcolm called back, shaking his head as he turned back to the bulk of the apartment. It didn’t feel right, walking away from the hole. But he’d only end up falling through, and whoever had been calling out to him would probably die.
”Fire department! If you can hear me, call out!” He was yelling as he entered the hallway, stopping and listening intently for a few beats. Malcolm had reached a t-junction in the short hallway, two doors on either side of him and one in front of him - open. Bathroom. Empty. A cry emanated from the door on the left, so he turned in that direction and walked up to the closed door. Knocking off the handle with his axe, he pushed the door open, but it was stopped halfway. A beam from above had fallen through the floor, blocking the door. The beam was on fire from above, though the room he was peering into was fairly untouched. Smoke billowed from the hole in the ceiling, filling the room. ”Hello?” He called into the room, frowning.
He caught sight of the survivor then - a young boy in the corner of the room, clearly terrified. As Malcolm caught sight of him, the little boy also saw him past the smoke. The little voice that called out to him broke his heart. The little boy was probably five or six. Where were his parents? ”Stay there, I’ll come to you!” Malcolm called, raising a hand to the boy. Gripping his axe, he glared at the door. It had to go.
[attr="class","dilyrics3"]two paper moons hanging on the night ceiling sometimes to be seen, or unseen
[attr="class","dilyric3"]as it please
[attr="class","dibody3"]
The blonde let out a loud snort at Malcolm’s comment. “Yeah, me or our job.” he retorted back. Cameron looked around, eyes seeing nothing but darkness. He adjusted his head lamp, scrambling back up to his feet. “Sounds like a plan. See ya at the staircase or outside.” Cameron never failed to keep his positive attitude during work. Even if he was stuck in the worst-case scenario á la raging fires and collapsing buildings. It probably annoyed others or was concerning to them but in between all those pessimists someone had to choose the other side.
He carefully took a step forward, testing the floor he was standing on to check if it was safe to walk on. It seemed sturdy enough, but he guessed it wouldn’t be for much longer. The heat creeping in from the fire blasting through the apartment building was slowly but steadily making it more difficult for the firefighter to move around.
Lifting his head to look up at the ceiling he somewhat spotted the hole he fell through, glimpses of light from Malcolm flickering through it. He listened to his surroundings, catching the sound of Mal’s boots moving through the upper floor until the sound was gone. “LCFD! Anyone here?” he called out, tightening the grip on his ax, all his focus was on trying to hear someone or something.
And there it was: a quiet whimpering. So quiet he almost didn’t catch it. “Hello?” he called out once again as he moved through the apartment. As he crept closer and closer towards the source of the whimper he pointed his light underneath a bed. Cameron carefully crouched, poking his head underneath to see if there was someone when all of a sudden something leaped at him. And before he could react something started licking his helmet. A small chuckle erupted from his throat as one hand reached out to pat the dog's head.
“Come on buddy. There’s no time to play now.” he laughed, standing up with the dog at his side. As much as he liked seeing it there was something else that now bothered him… where was his owner? Part of him hoped they already made it outside but another part of him knew that most dog owners wouldn’t leave their pet behind just like this. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for Cam to spot a moveless body nearby, slouched against the kitchen counter.
Cameron narrowed his eyes at the body, moving in its direction. He let out a sigh, removing his fingers from the person’s throat as he couldn’t find a pulse anymore. He glanced back at the dog, smiling at it from beneath his helmet. “Sorry, buddy. Guess we need to find you a new home.” Cam said, looking from the dog to the cracking ceiling above him. He needed to hurry, and he hoped Mal was already out.
He grabbed the dog and quickly but carefully made his way out of that apartment, running into another firefighter and shaking his head at them to signal there was no one alive where he came from. Passing over the dog to his colleague Cameron would have run to the staircase if he could have, but the collapsing building forced him to move slow. Too slow for his taste. “Mal? You there?” he called out, on the lookout for his brother. “Hey, what are your opinions about dogs?”
