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.
Tyler Avery Haven. A woman who grew up knowing not a lot of hardships in the traditional sense. There was never a time that she had to worry about where the next meal would come in. Or if her clothes could be replaced when she out grew them. She never had hand me downs. She never worried about if she broke something that she would have to go without it. She could have it replaced within hours with the best and newest model. Not that she was that careless. The point was, that Tyler has never had to steal from someone. Ever.
Trick them? Possibly. Talk her way into or out of things? Absolutely. Its what she did for a living basically. Especially when she got older. But the point of talking about all of this, is that it really really bothered her when someone stole from her. The girl who had everything she could want, was a bit possessive of the things that were hers. Even something as silly as some documents. Which is what happened to be the case here.
She had been at work, mask on, tall in her red bottomed heels, a black office dress on that came to her knees. It had been a simple enough day, long after the raids that happened and the city hall was finally starting to look normal. Normal for a time of pandemic. The work to reconstruct the building was pretty much done. A few painting tasks here and there still to be completed. Which meant government employees like herself could go back in after time off. She placed herself in front of her computer and started going through the hundreds of emails that had piled up over the past few weeks. Opening the documents from official employees and looking them over before writing them back.
She spent her morning like that, breaking briefly for lunch, in where she walked to a restaurant that was doing carry out only. She had placed her order as she walked and when she arrived, it was waiting for her. She gave them a small wave and smile before turning and heading back. Tyler ate at her desk, where she normally ate before the pandemic, and once she was done, her manicured hands were flying over the keys of her computer once more. It was shortly after lunch that something strange happened. All of a sudden her mouse was moving on the screen, yet she wasn’t touching it. She stopped typing when suddenly things started opening.
A curse left her lips as she tried to shut down the computer, but not before watching documents, private documents that had been given to her, were added to a random file she had never seen before and then disappeared off her screen. She was able to snag a quick IP address but it was all she got before her computer shut down and when she restarted it, the documents were gone from her computer as if they never lived there in the first place. She felt hot rage run through her. Who the hell would be able to get into a government computer and take things like that!? It wasn’t like she browsed the internet or did anything that could have allowed access to the computer. She only had opened documents from official employees. Her email address was not public. So she was livid.
And then she was on it. She called up a family friend, a long time private investigator that she trusted. She had briefly thought about calling up her new detective friend, Jack, but had decided he would be step two if the family friend failed her. She gave what she had and let them get to work. Four days. Four painfully long days before the PI had anything she could actually work with. And it was all a possibility. It seemed that the IP address had popped up several times in a public area. A coffee shop. Smart, cover the tracks by being mixed in with hundreds of others who would hook up to the public WiFi. She had to give it to whoever it was.
The harder part was the PI going to the coffee shop during the times the IP address appeared and waiting. Watching. Seeing who looked familiar and who seemed to be the consistent. After almost two weeks, the PI had narrowed it down to two people. And Tyler scanned both pictures of the men that were on her phone, sent via text. She dressed casually for once. A pair of denim jeans, a black tee tucked into them though still loose and not form fitting, a pair of sandals, and a pair of designer sunglasses resting on her face. She memorized the faces once more before she entered the store, ordering her usual coffee order and paying for it before she found herself a spot along the outer tables. Once that’d give her the better oversight of the place.
The PI family friend wasn’t far. Sitting in another corner of the place. She placed her stuff down and flicked one of the waves of blonde hair over her shoulder as she waited for one of those faces to appear. The moment one of them sat down, she’d collect her coffee as casually as she could before she would slide into the seat opposite of them at the table, seeing as they all had two seats.
Kit had done smash and grabs in the virtual world before. Where stealth didn’t really matter, because there wasn’t much someone could do when control of their entire system was suddenly hijacked. It was honestly kind of amusing, thinking of the person sitting there, watching as their world gets flipped upside down. Of course, Kit liked to target corrupt government officials, and he always tried to work on the side of the wronged. With today’s atmosphere, working alongside rebels and gangsters was definitely the right call. Plus, he and city officials had never gotten along much in the past.
So when he’d done similarly not but a few weeks ago, he hadn’t honestly thought much about it. He’d collected the documents he’d been paid to gather, and he might have skimmed a few more that seemed interesting to him while he was in the system. Either way, he’d transfer the documents to his employer and use whatever he’d gotten on the side to do what he thought was best. Sometimes it was junk, but sometimes he was able to milk a little more cash out of the deal. Kit wasn’t stupid - he knew how to avoid suspicion. He knew that doing his work in a coffee shop hid him but also made him vulnerable. There were always pros and cons to any decision made in the criminal world. It was simply that, in all the chaos lately, he hadn’t expected anyone to actually hunt him down. He’d grown too comfortable. And that was how he found himself sitting across from potentially one of the prettiest girls he’d ever met, having no idea why she was there or what she was doing as she took a seat.
His coffee - venti, black, with a touch of sugar to soften the bite - was still steaming and he’d barely taken a seat, preparing to take out his laptop, when the woman took a seat across from him. Kit gave her a look of surprise, his mask hiding his mouth - but if she could see it, she’d see utter confusion as his lips parted, trying to figure out what words to string together. Sitting back, Kit glanced around, before re-focusing on the blonde before him. ”Sorry - ah, ma’am? This is...my table.” He said hesitantly, his tone questioning - as if it weren’t obvious that she’d come over and sat at his table. ”Can I help you with something?” Kit asked quizzically.
Tyler easily slid into the seat across from him, her sunglasses still on her face as she sat down and clearly made a show of making herself comfortable in the seat. She was not a tiny woman by any means, at least when it came to height. Without heels, she stood at five foot nine inches tall. And in heels, well she could easily reach six foot status. Though she was just as confident flat footed as she was with a deadly pair of heels on her feet. And today, she was only wearing a pair of converse that went with her outfit (because those things mattered to someone like her). She set her coffee down on the surface between them, and unhooked the mask from one of her ears so she would be able to drink her coffee in a moment. Which of course, was a cold brew with lots of cream and fancy flavoring in it.
"Sorry - ah, ma’am? This is...my table."
Ah. Ma'am. So he had manners now, but none when it came to actual personal, secure documents that were on her work computer. Interesting enough. She reached up and pulled her sunglasses from her face at that point. Folding them slowly and placing them on the table next to her coffee before she hit him with her ocean colored eyes. She really got a good look at him then, though his mask was covering the lower part of his face, his dark eyes captured her for a moment. Only a moment before she gave him a small coy smile. One that didn't quite reach her eyes, but was there to try and reassure him in a way. Though it would be a lie if he believed it.
"Can I help you with something?"
"Now that is a fascinating question." She responded quickly. Her legs crossing at the knee as she snagged her coffee in one hand and casually sat back in her seat. Bringing the straw to her lips and taking a few sips of her coffee as she studied him for a moment. "Do you come here often? I feel like I've seen you in here before." She with an innocent smile, her tone light as if maybe she really was just trying to carry on a light conversation with him. She was pretty sure this was the man that took the documents, but she couldn't just sit down and accuse him right out the gates of a felony. No, she'd have to do what she did best. Light chatter, flirt a little, gain perhaps a bit of information.
Though this was all subject to if the man took the bait that she was dangling in front of his face. "My name is Tyler." She offered. Surely he would not remember who's computer he had snagged folders from a few weeks ago. And her name, while unique on a woman, was not a name that was uncommon. There were plenty of Tyler's in the world. And who knew how many things he ran across when he illegally hacked into government systems. To be at his skill level, to get through that many firewalls and safety procedures meant that he was not doing this for the first time. Nor the last. She just wanted to make sure it was the last time he stole from her.
Kit was surprised, but not necessarily upset at this turn of events. If a beautiful woman wanted to sit herself down with him and invite herself into his personal space, he wasn’t going to complain. But there were alarm bells ringing in his head. He wasn’t that good looking, especially not having been hitting the computer more in the past week than he has his bed. He didn’t say anything yet, just staring back at her expectantly, waiting to see what she’d say next.
"Do you come here often? I feel like I've seen you in here before."
Now his brow did quirk up questioningly, wondering if he was about to be on some new form of punked. He did a quick sweep of the cafe, as if she might be speaking to someone else, before deciding no - she was definitely asking him that question. ”’Bout as often as anyone looking for overpriced coffee and free internet.” He replied, his tone breeze and casual, but his words clearly meant as humor. ”I’m certain I’ve never seen you in here.” Kit added, leaning back in his seat and giving her a long look.
Tyler. She even had a cool name. Kit felt his mouth twitch beneath the mask, a lopsided smirk softening his visible facial features. Reaching up, he tugged the mask down, so that it rested just beneath his chin. ”Dean.” He responded, crossing his arms in front of him. He wasn’t sure what was happening here, but he wasn’t about to give a stranger who approached him out of nowhere his real, more traceable name. His actual identity wasn’t connected too much to his online handle, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to continue being careful.
Tilting his head slightly, Kit looked at her for a moment before continuing. ”And you definitely don’t look like the type to run in my usual social circles. I’d have noticed by now.” Yeah, he was flirting - she’d sat with him, and if he was picking up what she was laying down, she had been the one to start the flirtatious mood. Harmless fun, in his opinion. Kit picked up his coffee, watching her over the rim as he took a drink from his cup. The coffee was still piping hot, but he preferred his coffee rather hot.
“’Bout as often as anyone looking for overpriced coffee and free internet. I’m certain I’ve never seen you in here.”
As his eyes bounced around their area, she wondered if he was looking around because he was nervous. That someone would be watching the two of them or somehow documenting this interaction. He’d find no one looking in their direction really if he was that paranoid. And her eyes remained on him as his gaze returned back to her. “Adrive thru customer as of lately. But I used to frequent this location a lot.” She offered simply to him. It wasn’t really a lie. She’d conduct simple exchanges with people here. Figuring she might as well get a good cup of ‘overpriced’ coffee while she was at a it.
“Dean.”
She was glad that her little lift in her voice and casual demeanor was paying off. She knew she wasn’t bad to look at either which seemed to only be assisting in this situation. As he finally uncovered his face, she knew for sure that he was the man that she had the picture of. And judging by his cautious behavior, this was the man she was looking for. She had no doubt about it in her mind. “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you Dean. “ A small smirk was quickly hidden by her need to draw more of the coffee into her instead of continuing her questioning. She knew she had to ease into that step. If she jumped into it now, he’d be out the door before she could say ‘hey wait!’
“And you definitely don’t look like the type to run in my usual social circles. I’d have noticed by now.”
Now this made her eyes light up, instantly curious by what he meant in that simple statement of his. “Oh is that so? And what sort of social circles do you hang around? They sound quite dangerous when you say it in that way.” The easy flirtation continued from her end.
She figured he meant criminals like him. Who just wanted to steal from those who had worked hard for what they had. Her father was one of those men who built a company from the ground up and provided for his family. He made sure that if Tyler never wanted to lift a finger, she could live in luxury on her own. Every wish she wanted, granted. She just happened to like working. It gave her something to do. So she didn’t just wither away between nail or salon appointments. Which is why she was also choosing to do the dirty work right now of actually questioning him. Trying to see what in the world was so important about the documents she had that he would need them.
Well, this was certainly turning out to be a different kind of situation, wasn’t it? Kit wasn’t sure why she was sitting with him, but she was painfully, obviously, out of his league. Years of breaking the law had made him suspicious of most newcomers, which was why he’d lied about his name. If it turned out this wasn’t just some lucky break, and she wasn’t actually interested in him - at least not in that way - then he’d have a layer of anonymity. Plus, it wasn’t a total lie. Dean was his middle name, after all, but he never used it.
“Oh is that so? And what sort of social circles do you hang around? They sound quite dangerous when you say it in that way.”
The way her eyes lit up was both quite attractive, and an immediate red flag for him. Was she a thrill seeker? Tired of spending her father’s money so she was looking for some danger? Kit almost laughed. He wasn’t all that dangerous. Nor were any of his friends, as long as you didn’t get in their way, at least. If she was looking for him to puff up, preen his feathers, and brag about his criminal activity, whether it was for a thrill or for some shadier reason, she was going to be disappointed. ”I just mean that you don’t seem like the type of girl who goes to LARPs and plays tabletop D and D.” He responded, his tone carefree and joking. It was easy to fall back on the stereotypes applied to computer ‘geeks’. He was just a loser, a burnout, a nobody. A seedy little basement dweller, if you would.
"I just mean that you don’t seem like the type of girl who goes to LARPs and plays tabletop D and D."
She pursed her full lips lightly, and nodded her head in a 'fair enough' way. "Tu m'as là." She slipped easily from English to French in that moment, telling him that he had her there. Sometimes it happened on accident. Her head ran through a lot of languages when she spoke to people. Sometimes she even absentmindedly started using her hands to sign what she was saying in her lap when she had casual conversations with others. It was more out of habit than anything else. She blinked those blue eyes at him for a moment as she realized she had responded in French before she gave him a slow grin.
"I may have not spent time rolling dice to know what my damage on cleric would be for a bridge troll, but I spent plenty of hours studying over books and audio." She told him. Not quite diving into what exactly that meant on its own, but hinting that she was a bit smarter than just some blonde who looked like she could easily spend her father's money without growing tired of doing so. People often times thought that's where she stopped. Stereotypical blonde girl who came from family money always seemed to mean that they thought she was Cher from Clueless. In a way, sure. But she was wicked sharp. There was a reason that her father had her apart of sealing deals for the family.
He was not her usual type. Absolutely not. Tyler liked the men who dressed well, clearly had some sort of sense to present themselves as someone who actually thought more than two seconds on their daily wardrobe. Handsome in a traditional way. But Dean here, sitting across from her, was stirring something that was foreign to her. He was rugged, he was handsome in a different sense. In a dangerous one. One that said she had nothing to gain from him, nothing that he could offer her except maybe a good time. And normally, that was never something she entertained. Simply because why waste her time. Except now, she had a reason to focus on a man like him. Because he had something of hers. She leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table as she got closer to him. Faux innocence on her face. "What is it that you do Dean?" She could make this all about him.
The next words out of the blonde’s mouth meant absolutely nothing to him, but he liked the way they sounded nonetheless. Kit gave her a intrigued look. ”That sounded like French, but I’ve no idea what you just said.” His tone wasn’t off-put though. If she wanted to sit there and speak words that curled off her tongue like a purr, he wasn’t going to stop her. He’d be just happy to sit there and sip his coffee and listen to the sound of her voice.
"I may have not spent time rolling dice to know what my damage on cleric would be for a bridge troll, but I spent plenty of hours studying over books and audio."
Kit gave her a slow nod, looking as if he were put in his place. ”Fair. But my argument stands. Being educated is different than being a geek.” His tone was one of reasoning, as if he were really going to sit here and argue whether or not she would run in the same circles as him. Just one look at the two of them told him she most certainly did not, so it was a moot point. But just because she was out of his league didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to enjoy this little interaction. Whether her supposed attraction to him was falsified or not didn’t really matter.
"What is it that you do Dean?"
That easy smirk on his face was firmly in place as he leaned forward, mirroring her posture with a little upturn of his brow. He gave her a curious look. ”I’m more interested to know what it is you think I do, Tyler.” He used her name, emphasizing it even, as he stared boldly right back at her, as if she were the only person in the room. His gaze was steady, unbroken. Kit was starting to feel like she was playing at some kind of game, but he still couldn’t decide what it was.
She smiled lightly at him, an actually ghost of a real smile when he nailed what language she spoke. Though it wasn't like a lot of languages sounded like French on its own so it was an easy guess. "I said, you've got me there. And yes, it was French." She said with an amused lift to her voice. She wondered if he'd react the same way if she switched to Russian, or Italian, or German. One of the man other languages she knew. But that would be too easy to sit here and taunt him with her words. Hell, she might be able to lean forward and say something really interesting just to see what his reaction would be.
She considered him for a moment. Her blue eyes looking him over, before she glanced casually around the coffee house. Not really lingering anywhere in particular but noticing that the PI had taken the hint that she didn't quite need help at the moment and had busied himself with scrolling through his phone. Though she knew better than to think that he was unaware of the two.
As she leaned slightly towards him, she almost expected this 'geek' to shy away. Her boldness being taken as aggressive. Sometimes men liked that in her, the fact that she was not afraid to grab the bull by the horns and steer things the way she wanted them to be. Other times, it was intimidating that a woman was so sure of herself, so sure of the situation that she could command others into it. But Kit was seeming to eat this up. So for another moment, why wouldn't she continue to capture him. Before she dropped the bomb on him that he had crossed the wrong woman. Then she reached across the table, almost touching his elbow but then using her finger tips to brush off some 'dirt' that was there. "What do you think I do?"
Kit gave her a genuinely interested look, tilting his head as if he were looking at a problem to solve. So the lady had layers. He gave a little smirk. ”Are French and English the only languages you know? Or are there more?” His gaze flicked from her eyes down to her lips, wondering what she sounded like in other languages. He quite liked the way she talked, the cadence of her voice.
He didn’t back down as they leaned towards each other - he wasn’t necessarily a brave person, but when it came to flirting, he was definitely assertive. Even if this was just a little game between the two of them, he was going to enjoy it. His gaze flicked down to follow her hand, a brow quirking as he looked back at her. Gave her a thoughtful look as he considered her question. And then he tilted his head, gaze narrowing. ”Mmm. Smart, pretty, and she knows more than one language.” He reached up to tap his chin, looking skyward as if thinking very hard about this. ”I’m going to guess you’re either a lawyer, or some sort of business woman.” He was only slightly joking, having actually given it some thought.
His gaze fell back down to her, and he offered her an innocent smile. ”Am I close?”
Tyler took another sip from her coffee, her blue gaze never leaving him as she thought about telling him how many languages she actually spoke. Should she just drop the number of how many? Or should she list them off? Or just respond a little bit in between each one? Either way, it wasn't like it mattered most. She already felt exposed to him because he had hacked into her computer. Which just meant what else could he hack into and find of hers? Was she willing to take that risk? Possibly. "Well, I graduated college speaking seven languages. American sign language, Spanish, Mandarin, French, German, Japanese, and Russian. Eight if you include English. And that was..." She paused to reflected on the time since she left college. "And that was about five years ago. And I've only learned more since then." She said, giving him a smug smile. "Italian, Hindi, Portuguese, and Arabic. Just to name a few more. Sei in sopra la vostra testa." Italian, if he could even tell. 'You are in over your head'.
She had a few others, but she was still learning them so she didn't feel confident to say that she knew them yet. And it was a proven fact that once you understood and knew more than two languages, it was easy to learn others. Because ones mind already knew how to learn and adjust. So she took her time and learned what she could. And it really only benefited herself, her employers, and her family.
"Mmm. Smart, pretty, and she knows more than one language. I’m going to guess you’re either a lawyer, or some sort of business woman."
Her smile grew on her full lips as she stared at him. The hacker across from her guessing her job. Lawyer, no. But she did work with them regularly. Business woman? Only when she was working for her father. Part of her way of keeping up the money that he freely let her have access to. And the fact that technically she was a business woman for the government. She did whatever task was given to her when it came to translating or standing on the side of city hall announcements to sign as needed. Her eyes looked at his hand as she brushed her finger tips against his wrist before she placed her hands down on the table, folding them neatly between the two as she leaned even closer to him. "I will give you points for business woman. I am in a way. I know a lot of languages for a reason, Dean. I have been apart of many business deals, interrogations, court cases, you name it. I am even sent files to translate on the regular. And recently I found myself missing some files from my computer."
She didn't stop there, her sharp gaze suddenly on him. Her head tilting lightly to the side. "So tell me, Dean. What exactly is it that you do?"
Kit’s brows raised as she described all of the languages she knew, genuinely impressed. Kit knew multiple different computer languages, but as far as actual languages? He could recognize a fair few, but he definitely couldn’t converse in anything but English. As she spouted off with the Italian, Kit chuckled, shaking his head. ”That’s….quite a resume, I bet. I’m afraid I’m not sure what you just said...sounds almost like Latin.” He gave a little shrug of his shoulders, just the tiniest bit intimidated. Sure, she could run circles around him when it came to the spoken language department, but everyone had their own skill set. His just happened to involve technology.
He was expecting her to brag about what she did, or maybe just not tell him what she did at all. What he wasn’t ready for was that little graze of a touch along his wrist before she leaned in even closer, but Kit didn’t retreat, his gaze locked on her, brows pulled down in concentration and intrigue as she spoke.
"I will give you points for business woman. I am in a way. I know a lot of languages for a reason, Dean. I have been apart of many business deals, interrogations, court cases, you name it. I am even sent files to translate on the regular. And recently I found myself missing some files from my computer."
Kit felt ice building in his gut as he started to put things together. Now he understood her interest in him. She was the one he’d stolen from only a few weeks earlier. He wouldn’t have ever recognized her name, but he never forgot a job. Kit’s expression didn’t change at first, and when it did it was controlled - he let a confused expression take over, sprinkled with cluelessness. She might have actually figured him out, but that didn’t mean he was going to just confess. He knew better than to start bragging about what all he’d done. Knew she couldn’t possibly have any solid proof to get him arrested, or she probably wouldn’t have done this little play. If she wanted to play games, then he’d play them right back.
She still used the name he’d given her, so she didn’t know his real name. She didn’t know who he was. Kit tilted his head, as innocent as could be. ”That sounds stressful. I’m sorry to hear that.” A falsely sympathetic smile lit his features. ”And me? Oh, nothing as interesting as you. I just do some IT work here and there for various companies.” It was...moderately true.
Tyler shook her blonde head at him. A flirty smile on her face. Keep up the act. Break down that wall a bit more before she moved in and tried to figure out exactly what he wanted with those files. "Italian." She corrected. Of course she knew her resume was strong. She was not some simple blonde air head, no matter how much she looked like one to others. She was smart and talented and overall wicked with her mind.
And then it was the waiting game. Watching what she said sink in to the rugged man across from her. He didn't give away much and the fake innocent look was taken almost as an insult to her. She hadn't dug all the digging, or paid for it to be done, for him to just wave her off as if he had not just broke a bunch of laws by hacking into a government system. "Simple IT work. Sure. And what exactly was it that you needed from those files then, hm? Or who did you get them for, perhaps thats the right question there." Her foot hooked the back of his calf from under the table. It could have been a bold move, a flirt, had anyone seen it who were observing the two. But she did it to keep him from trying to bolt out the door.
