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.
Luca leaned over the reception desk on the third floor of the Lethford PD. He had been flirting with the pretty receptionist for a little over fifteen minutes now. She was cute, shy, and very susceptible to all of his cheesy moves which worked out great for him of course. He knew that this was his brother's floor and he knew exactly which desk Liam occupied, but this floor was for SWAT and that meant it was inaccessible to anyone without clearance and a badge. Fortunately for him, that had never stopped him before.
"I could get in trouble…"
Luca nodded his head empathetically, "I know, it's awful of me to even ask. It's just that his wife is out of town and he has no one else to celebrate his birthday with and I was going to get all of his squad members to say something nice on my phone about him. It would just cheer him up. You guys work so hard up here, you're heroes." Blush number two reddened her cheeks, "I just wanted to do something, I know it's not much…."
He shifted his eyes to the floor, his features pulling in sadness as she reached forward and placed her hand on his. Bingo. She leaned in, a small smile on her lips, "Okay, but just this once." Luca nodded and met her eyes, "I'm going to owe you Amanda." She blushed even more furiously and looked away with a small grin as he winked at her, walking through the door she had coded green for him.
Luca made his way across the floor to his brother's desk, pulling his chair out and sitting down. Liam's birthday was months ago of course and all he had sent was a text as his only birthday surprise to the older Ford kid. He was certain it had gone unanswered. Bro bonding wasn't something they did. Luca leaned back in the chair and kicked his feet up on his brother's desk. He hoped he wouldn't have to wait too long. He had a date that night. Unfortunately he needed his brother's assistance in a little matter that wouldn't go away.
[attr="class","CONTENT"] Liam ran his fingers through his hair, massaging in the shampoo as the water from the showerhead hailed down on him. He just returned from a tactical training session with his team. One out of two things they were doing whenever they weren’t sent out on patrol duty - the other being sitting at his desk and doing paperwork. Although he wasn’t a big fan of patrol he would choose that over paperwork any day. There was nothing worse than sitting around and twiddling your thumbs while waiting for a call. While there was still a steady need for the SWAT unit, the military had taken over part of their work.
He let the water rain on him until it turned cold. Sliding a hand over his face to get rid of the water in his eyes he grabbed the towel next to him and wrapped it around his lower body before stepping out of the shower into the men’s locker room. Once he dried himself off, he changed into his long-sleeved uniform but without the tactical vest and gear.
Grabbing a cup of good ol’ vending machine coffee Liam made his way to the third floor, approaching the front desk and giving Amanda a quick nod as greeting. However, her sheepish grin at him made him feel a bit queasy, his eyebrows pulling down in confusion. He wasn’t sure if she was just in a good mood or if there was something she wanted to tell him. But he would find out soon.
The door to his unit’s office opened and he walked through, the confusion in his face disappearing instantly as soon as he spotted the back of his brother’s head. He sighed, a deep frustrated, and annoyed sigh, as he stepped over to his desk where he had taken a comfortable seat. That must have been the reason why Amanda had looked at him that way. He made a mental note to have a talk with her about letting visitors through those doors - especially unwanted ones.
He walked around him, but not before slapping him against the back of his head. "Feet off my desk or you’ll lose the privilege of walking on them for the rest of your life." he threatened, rolling his eyes and shaking his head at this rude brother of his. Leaning against his desk he crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at Luca. "What do you want?"
Luca drummed on the desk with his fingers. Bored. He was already so bored. He pulled out his phone and checked his Insta. A cute girl had sent him a message and he scrolled through her pictures. One with a dog, another with her friends. He wondered where she lived. He had just started replying to her message when a firm smack to the back of his head alerted him that his big brother had shown up. "Ow," he remarked while rubbing the back of his head. He put the phone back in his pocket.
Liam threatened bodily harm and Luca rolled his eyes before doing what he said. A snarky remark came to his lips but he quickly remembered that he indeed needed his brother's help and smarting off to him would only lead to Luca being thrown out the door, possibly literally.
His brother crossed his arms, asking what he wanted and Luca feigned a hurt look. "That is hurtful. I came to hang out. You know…plan mom and dad's anniversary and stuff." He didn't know when their anniversary actually was, but figured it was the most likely event that he might be able to get away with. He continued on, "How have ya been? You're looking good…steroids treating you well I see." He grinned at his little joke. Had his brother not been scowling he might have tapped him playfully on those giant arms of his, but again, he didn't want to be thrown out. At least not yet.
He sat back in his brother's chair, a grin still on his face. He held his composure for all of five minutes before his hand went to his jacket pocket, pulling out a speeding ticket. "I mean…if you were busy though, I get it…I just need this ticket cleared." He continued on, knowing his brother wouldn't likely be in the generous mood to wave off a ticket for him for no reason, "Look, before you say no…it was with the motorcycle and mom said last time that if I got another one, she'd take it away and I already told Rebecca we would take a drive this weekend. Please man. Just one little ticket and I'll be out of your hair." He held it up for his brother to see. It wasn't even one of his worst ones, but it was number seven on the motorcycle and he didn't think he could charm his mom into letting him have chance number eight.
[attr="class","CONTENT"] Liam’s expression didn’t change as he watched Luca put down his dirty feet from his desk. He glanced over his shoulder, looking to see if any of his coworkers were bothered by the presence of his brother. Liam was probably the only one. His head turned back to the annoying presence sitting in his chair, fingers lightly tapping his biceps.
He let out the fakest of fake laughs. As if. Even though Luca might be a good liar, his older brother knew better than to trust those words. Rolling his neck, cracking sounds erupting from the movements, he snorted. After shifting his weight he freed one of his arms, holding it up and resting his chin on a fist. "Mhm. Since when do you care about their anniversary? Let alone feel the need to hang out with me? While I’m at work?" Liam questioned, clearly not believing anything he said. His eyebrows were drawn together and slightly lifted upwards in a more than simply skeptic look.
The officer gestured towards the room, looking over his shoulder at his fellow SWAT members. "What does this look like to you?" he asked Luca, eyebrows raised in mocking expectation as he shook his head softly. "This is not the traffic enforcement division. If you want to get that ticket cleared, go to the department of finance and pay for it. Maybe ask Rebecca if she wants to split the bill." Shrugging, he dropped his arms, one hand running through his still slightly damp hair, tousling the light brown strands as he aimed the droplets of water at his brother. Serves him right, he thought. For one, appearing at his work wasn’t just unprofessional behavior for both of them but also very much irritating.
Liam walked around him, to stand behind the chair, grabbing it by its headrest and turning it around on its wheels, shoving his brother away from the desk and towards the door he entered through but would also leave through now. "Just so you know their anniversary was last month. And If you flirt with Amanda again I’ll make sure to have her file a harassment report against you. I’m pretty sure that would be worse than a speeding ticket and will cost you more than just the motorcycle or a date." he said, pushing the chair over all the bumps in the floor he could find.
As they reached the doors Liam let go of the chair, fumbling around in his back pocket and taking out his wallet. "How much do you need? $100? $150?" he asked, scanning the contents of his wallet. Unfortunately, cash wasn't much of a thing these days and the lack of bills in his wallet proved it. He sighed, great, he would need to get to an ATM first. His hopes of getting rid of his brother quick just seemed to decrease with each passing second.
Luca's eyes wandered around the station as his brother droned on about being at work. "Oh come on, you can't honestly say my presence isn't at least a little more exciting than this place." He looked around, pointing dramatically with a flourish to an overweight guy in the corner eating a doughnut. "The real crime is happening right here with how cliché this all is. Cops eating doughnuts, place smells like old coffee. I mean would it kill you guys to put in a foosball table?"
He was grinning fully now, especially when his brother asked him what this place looked like. He was well aware that the question was rhetorical but he couldn't help himself, "The waiting room to hell? No, wait…the room before the waiting room at the DMV." His mood was utterly joyful as he made jokes at his brother's expense. It wasn't as if that always happened, Mr. Perfect rarely made mistakes so when an opportunity came about, Luca was more than happy to jump on it.
Liam pointed out that he was in the wrong department and that if he wanted to get it cleared he should pay it downstairs and Luca groaned, letting his head fall back in annoyance before speaking again, "No. You don't get it. It can't be paid for, it needs to be cleared. If I pay for it, it'll still go on mom's insurance and she'll see that and then I'll be out of my awesome ride."
He knew he was swinging for the stars in asking his brother to relate to something like this but it was his only shot. He didn't think Liam had gone on more than two date in his entire life. "Come on. You remember being young right? Dating? Look, if you can get it cleared I'll let you borrow it sometime…for you know…dates or…whatever." He didn't know anything about his brother's marriage other than it being non-existent. Liam had never seemed like he wanted to talk about it and that was fine by him too.
His brother began pushing the chair towards the door and Luca tried putting his feet down to stop the movement. Liam then threatened him with a lawsuit and Luca dug his feet in harder, a grin on his face. He wondered if his brother realized how absolutely ridiculous they looked right now. "I wasn't harassing her. I like Amanda. She's the only one here with a personality."
He realized he was quickly losing the battle of the rolling chair as his brother got him all the way to the door. Luca stood up and saw Liam digging around his pockets for cash and he shook his head again. "It's not about the money, I can't have it on my record. And by the way, I have cash." He spoke with annoyance before the realization popped into his head. "Oh wait, you didn't know I got a job?" He now mimicked his big brother as he reached into his back pocket, pulling out an ID card.
Their dad had pulled some strings and gotten him a nice position working at Prism. He was thankful, he supposed, in a way. It was a good gig that didn't require much and paid well. There were worst jobs out there. The brunette grabbed the ID and held it out for his brother to see. "Pretty sweet right?"
[attr="class","CONTENT"] "Your presence is the kind of excitement that makes me wanna puke." Liam snorted back in response, rolling his eyes at him. He chose to ignore his next comment about the doughnuts and old coffee smell. He preferred that over blood and rotten flesh any day. Perhaps it was cliché but it had to have some truth to it somehow.
Letting out a bit of a dramatic sigh he looked at his coworkers and then back at Luca, lowering his voice a little. The two of them were known to argue ever so often and while no one really wanted to pay attention to them knowing Liam he still decided to try and keep it down a notch. For now. "Look, I don’t care if I get it or not if it can’t be paid for or not. Your mistake, your turn to solve it. Maybe try to act like an adult for once Luca." he told him, stretching his neck and rolling it around.
His eyes fell on the paperwork that needed to be done by the end of his shift, a groan escaping his lips at both the thought of the deadline and his annoying brother. "I don’t even know why you thought of coming to me for help. And no thank you, I don’t want your bike for dates or whatever." he retorted, rolling his eyes once again. If this continued his eyes would most likely get stuck at some point. It wasn’t like they never tried to get along, well, maybe they didn’t… but something about his brother’s mere presence made him feel the need to argue and fight. Maybe it was something he picked up from his dad.
Throwing his hands in the air and shaking his head he looked at Luca as if he just told him he was pregnant. Pure nonsense. "What?" he let out, feeling the need to laugh at him and his presumably bad joke. A job? Did he hear right? Flipping close his wallet and putting it back in the pocket and clapping his hands once. "Right and I just won the lottery. Surprise. It’s not April Fools, duh. And if you like Amanda that much maybe ask her if she can get it cleared for you." Fortunately, she might not have the authority to do it because otherwise, Liam was pretty sure she would fall head over heels for his brother and actually do it.
Liam leaned forward, squinting at the ID his brother held up for him to see. "Well, whoever made this did a good job faking it. Mind introducing me so I can get him arrested for forgery?" he said, giving it a nod of fake approval. Luca and a job? Those were two words that did not match, especially not used in one sentence if it wasn’t a negative statement. Luca getting fired from a job. Now that sounded more likely than getting a job. Upon closer inspection of the ID, he noticed the Prism Biotech logo printed on the corner.
Raising a suspicious eyebrow he looked back at Luca. "Did you lose a bet or something?" he wondered, a chuckle leaving his lips. "Yeah right. You and work? That’s like a match made in hell. How long do you think you’ll last? A week? Maybe two?" he continued mocking him. Liam wasn’t the type to cheer on his brother, congratulate him for his achievement whether or not it was done with his own efforts. He was aware of their parents being part of the scheme to have Luca achieve something even if it was against his will but he never paid enough attention to it to know what they were doing these days. He had too many things to worry about himself. Too many things on his own plate that he rather not have.
And one thing he couldn’t care less about was worrying about his troublemaker brother. He gave him a quick wave of dismissal with his hand. Liam wasn’t planning on fixing their relationship with each other. He honestly had no reason to do so. "If you really got a job, well, great. Go bother your coworkers then. I’m sure it doesn’t smell like donuts and old coffee there." Liam couldn’t sound any less enthusiastic as he visibly rolled his eyes at his brother for a third time.
It seemed like at least one thing was hereditary, as Luca gave a very audible, very dramatic groan. He let his head fall back, chin to the ceiling in pure frustration. He, of course, should have known better than to seek his oh so wonderful big brother's help for something like this, but he had thought maybe the guy would drop the Mr. Golden child act for just once in his life. No dice.
His head was still leaned back as Liam told him he should act like a grown up. Luca scoffed, tilting his head back forward, meeting his brother's glower. "Oh yeah, because you make it look like so much fun. Can't wait to pay my taxes and balance my checkbook." He did sarcastic jazz hands before giving another fake look of happiness, "Maybe treat myself to a new dish scrubber. Really go wild." He picked up the nearest thing on his brother's desk and tossed it into the air, catching it before tossing it from hand to hand.
His big brother asked why he had bothered to come to him for help and Luca felt just a tad bit of irritation rise up. Normally he was a pretty chill guy, but his brother was one of the very few people who knew how to get under his skin. "You're right. Definitely my mistake. I should have known Mister Perfect wouldn't think of bending the rules for anyone." He didn't like being mad, even just a small amount. He didn't like the way his body got hot and his heartbeat picked up. Being mad was a pointless feeling, but his brother never failed to make it happen one way or another.
Clearly frowning, he gave his brother a deadpan look as Liam went on and on about him joking around. He waved his hand in the air, "Yep. Go on. Get it all out." His brother mentioned Amanda might be able to get it erased and he glanced in her direction. He had a feeling his brother was lying, but he also knew he didn't have anything left to lose in asking either. He made a mental note to swing by her desk before leaving. Keeping out the whole thing about needing it for a date of course.
Luca turned his attention back to his brother. Liam was looking over the ID as if he expected it to suddenly burst apart with glitter flying into the air. Okay, so he had done that once. But this time it was a genuine ID, straight from his new place of employment. "Sure, first floor of Prism Biotech, security department. Name was Gerald or Gerrard. Something with a G. I'm sure you would just love him." The guy had been a straight-faced, no-nonsense dude just like his brother. Didn't even crack a grin when Luca asked if he could do his best blue steel pose. Luca had been more than happy to leave the man's small office when his ID was done.
His brother moved from doubt to criticism and Luca found himself smirking instead of getting angry. There really wasn't a point. His brother would always see him as the family screw up and he had no desire or need to prove him wrong. Plus, when you were the family screw up, things could only go up. The bar was set low and that was just fine by him.
Luca rocked back on his heels, hands in his pocket, smug look on his face, "I've been there for two weeks already thank you very much. Had to sign a hella lot of disclosure agreement stuff though. That's been the worst so far. Well, that and the hours. Not that you would understand that. Do you still make your bed every morning?"
He was grinning as he grabbed the ID back from his brother, tucking it back into the small sleeve of his wallet. A chuckle escaped his lips as Liam gave him the closest to a congratulations that he would get. "Definitely not, but they frown upon goofing off so it's a lot less fun than you might think. Plus my boss is the CEO so I've got to be all professional and stuff. Hey….." His mind jumped from thought to thought, a grin spreading across his face. "I think I have more security clearance than you do now."
He knew he was comparing apples and oranges, but there were places that his brother could definitely not go where he would be allowed entry and that was more than enough to make him do a mocking little dance, "I've got more clearance than you, I've got more clearance than you." His face turned into one of mock concern, "Does this emasculate you? Just a bit? Family dinner is going to be really awkward now isn't it?"
