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.
Tatia had been told the day before that there would be a tour group that was going through the next day. Mr. Monroe asked her to blend in and walk around with the tour, keep an eye on people, and make sure that no one snuck off. To keep everyone in check without coming off as an employee. She didn't see the need, seeing as they had a tour guide walking around with them, but he was pretty persistent. Sadly, she agreed - not that she had any real say in it, she was simply the president's secretary, so she had to do what he said.
Even if she didn't entirely agree with it - again, she didn't see the point. But there was an upside to it; she could sleep in and arrive in the afternoon for the group, dressed slightly casual. Her only job that day was to come in with the tour group. She had arrived a few minutes early, following the protocol laid out for the group that was going to tour, and eventually, they all were gathered inside and begun the tour. She found herself bored with the tour guides talking by the time they made it down a particular corridor, and then, her phone beeped.
She stopped for a second, pulling it out to see a text from Mr. Monroe; he needed her promptly. She texted him, reminding him of the tour, which he quickly told her to leave. So, that's what she did - with a quick look around, making sure that none of the participants were watching her, she made her way down a different corridor once they started walking, slipping away from the group.
Her one day off in weeks and she was spending it at Prism Biotech. Masochistic? Maybe. Nosy? Definitely.
Elea stood with her hands in her pockets, the mask snugged as tight on her face as she could stand it. It would be bad press to get the one tour group they’d allowed in the place sick but she wasn’t about to take any chances, not even if the thing permanently pancaked her nose and gave her the worst breakout she’d had in a decade. She could feel it getting damp against her lips as the person leading the tour continued to drone on. Not her mom, although that really would’ve been far too easy.
Blue eyes tracked sideways at each figure that passed, stared without trying to hide it at any room they passed that wasn’t shut up tight. The information she’d scraped from some six month old website was that her mother was working for the Biotech company. It might’ve been out of date, it might have been a case of mistaken identity but when she’d found it last week that little flame of hope had reignited in the pit of her stomach in the midst of a whole crap ton of dark.
The others in the group didn’t seem to care as much about who and what they were passing as they did the line of bull they were being fed by the persistently vague guide. Elea tuned him out, glancing over her shoulder as a woman who’d been trailing around with the group reacted to her phone beeping. She’d supposed devices weren’t meant to be used in here … confidential purposes and all.
Turning more fully, Elea watched her pull it out and shoot off a text. Then the woman was peeling off from the group. Glancing back, Elea watched the tour guide gesturing them all on again. Nope. If someone else was making a break to dig deeper into this facility then she wasn’t going to just let them wander away, she wasn’t about to go and report them either. She took a step back, lingering as the group headed around another corner instead. Elea waited until the guide was out of sight and was then turning away herself.
Holding her head up high as if she was meant to be there Elea walked after her at a rapid clip. She flipped the lapel of her jacket back, hiding the stupid badge they’d been given. ”Wait up,” she called out, taking a hurried couple of steps after the woman. ”Not a fan of the whole dog and pony show thing?” One blonde brow winged at the woman as she turned her shoulder so that a man in a white coat that passed wouldn’t get too good a look at her.
The brunette had slipped away, and she thought she had done it so well. She had never been the type that was good at lying or even sneaking away. Even as a child, she failed at hide-and-seek; her brother always found her. Though it was her fault - she hid in the same spot each time. But since working at Prism BioTech, she felt like she was in a web of lies. She wasn't exactly sure what those lies were, but she got a weird vibe from the place, especially with how Phoebe had been acting these past few weeks.
She had only taken this job as the secretary because it was the best thing at the time. But she knew that she wanted to do something more with her life. But this deadly virus was not going to make it easy to leave for a new job. So, where was she? She was stuck. But it was good money, even for such a position. She was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of someone following behind her, and then someone called out. She stopped, the sound of her heels going silent as she turned to the person. It was a blonde, one of the females from the tour. She bit her lip, looking from side to side as another person walked past them both.
Great, just great, she thought in her head, letting out a sigh. Mr. Monroe was not going to be happy that she hadn't made a clean getaway. She bit her lip, closing her eyes for a moment before she smiled; she decided to play along. "Dog and pony show?" she questioned, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, "I was getting tired of her going on and on. It felt like that tour wasn't going to show us anything."
Was there anything much more suspicious than a member of the tour group slipping away as they were being led around somewhere some saw as the super secret lair of those behind what was going on? Hell no. She wasn’t a paranoid conspiracist herself but Elea knew that there was more going on with this whole thing than the press was letting on and the fact that her mom was perhaps tied into this somehow left that little voice in the back of her head far more active than it usually would’ve been. She’d come today to try and catch sight of the woman who’d given birth to her and had given her up.
Maybe trailing the brunette away from the group would get her a step closer to it, maybe it would get her in the sort of hushed trouble that would result in security leading her out of the building. Maybe the two weren’t mutually exclusive but Elea did know that she wasn’t going to find anything out by staying with the group.
Trying to act as inconspicuously as possible Elea had allowed herself to fall off the back of the tour group as the guide took them around another corner. She couldn’t hide the visitors badge pinned to her chest but she could walk with enough swagger that nobody stopped her immediately. Elea got herself past a scientist or lab worker, then as soon as they were out of sight called out to the woman who pulled her little ninja move first.
Her faint smile was hidden beneath the cover of her mask but her lips twitched anyway, her hands tugging free of her pockets for her arms to cross over her chest. Elea tipped her head back in the direction the tour had taken. ”The tour,” she explained. ”You know, acting like they’re putting on everything in display when really you’re just getting to see the glossy tip of the iceberg.” She gritted her teeth, winced faintly as she realised it made her sound just like one of the conspiracy nuts who’d been claiming that Prism Biotech was behind the entire virus.
The smile was still hidden but lines sprung up at the corners of Elea’s smile as she beamed under the mask. She wasn’t the only one then. ”That makes two of us. It’s exactly the same stuff they keep spouting on TV.” Tipping her chin up, she studied the door behind the woman, the one she’d been headed for. ”You think you can get through that thing? There’s probably all sorts of stuff going on back there.” If she couldn’t this whole thing would likely be over pretty quick, cause this wouldn’t be looking dodgy on the CCTV right now at all.
