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
GRAPHICS
ADVERTISING
CHARACTERS
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!
GENERAL INQUIRIES
APPLICATIONS
THREAD MODERATION
MEDIATOR
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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!
GENERAL INQUIRIES
CLAIMS
DIRECTORY
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STAFF NAME
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.
[attr="class","CONTENT"] The Critical Response Command was dispatched after the mayor received an alarming threat. Their van came to a quick halt in front of his home, the bomb squad right behind them. Lucas stepped out of the vehicle first, followed by his team of officers. They went through a quick briefing on the situation as they marched through the gate and towards the building, flanked by their own security guards who added their knowledge to the briefing. If he wasn't there for work he would have taken his time to stare at their mansion in awe. It was big, perhaps a bit pompous, and he couldn't imagine how much work it would take to keep it clean.
Of course, a public person like the mayor received threats on a daily basis these days, and even though officers were always dispatched to check it out most of the time those threats were bluffs, false alarms - but they had never threatened his own home. The detail about one of his employees accepting a suspicious package and leaving it in the kitchen area was only given shortly after their arrival.
Taking a good look around the hallway they were all standing in he turned in a circle as he spoke. "We need to get everyone out but make sure to keep them together. It’s possible that it might be someone from the inside." he ordered, glancing over his shoulder at his team. As they dispersed and started gathering everyone, Lucas turned his focus back on the mayor himself. "How many people are currently here?" he asked him who started counting his employees. "Sir, it would be helpful if you could provide us with a list of everyone who visited today. Wait outside, give it to one of my officers once you’re done." he added, gesturing for his bodyguards to escort him out.
Lucas was going to be the last one to leave. He walked through the ground floor of the building, checking every room to make sure everyone was outside. The radio clipped on the front of his vest crackled, an officer proceeding to tell him that everyone but the daughter were out. He nodded, giving instructions to stand by as he made his way up to the second floor where her room supposedly was located at.
He knocked on the door - once, twice. "Everyone needs to evacuate the building." Blue eyes stared at it, narrowing slightly, one hand reaching out for the knob when the door suddenly swung open.
Aelin had her headphones on. Her favorite ones, with the black on black trim and total noise-canceling capabilities. They locked out every single thing that she didn't want to hear and replaced it blissfully with her music and only her music. She had her laptop open and an image on her screen. Her head bobbed lightly to the beat of the sound, her fingers moving carefully.
She had uploaded some of the shots that she had taken two weeks ago. She had slipped her charge and gone to one of the protests in the city. She had been dressed all in black, hoodie included, to blend in and it had been every bit as exciting as she had hoped it would be. There was a thrum of energy in the air. People were chanting, police were stone-faced. It had made for some excellent shots.
She had been pleased with herself for braving the event and had just packed up her camera safely in her bag when a protester had launched something at the police line. All hell had broken loose. People began pushing back, everyone was shouting, bodies were falling and running. She had taken off at a run as well, going two blocks down before she pressed herself against the brick wall in an alley. She hadn't been the only one to do that.
A guy had done the same thing, ducking next to her a minute after she had gotten there. He was about her age and utterly handsome. They had spent the next hour talking quietly, laughing softly, and making out shamelessly until it was safe to go back out on the streets.
She messed with the image curve on the screen and pushed him out of her mind. Not that she had thought about him a lot since then. Only a little, and almost entirely because he had ghosted her out of nowhere. Ignoring her like she wasn't anyone worth talking to and as if they hadn't shared some exciting night together. Aelin's song moved to the next and she heard a loud banging on her door in between the silence. She took off the headphones and sat quietly for a moment, wondering if she had heard right.
"Everyone needs to evacuate the building."
A male voice called out and she moved off of her bed and towards her door. She opened it quickly and surprise lit her face as the guy from the protest stood in front of her. "What are you doing here?!" The question came out immediately as she crossed her arms. Her eyes glanced over his "uniform" but dismissed it. The boy who she had met was definitely not a police officer. "What's going on? Do you really expect anyone to believe you're actually with the police?" She looked around, wondering how he had even gotten inside. "Save whatever idiot thought you have and leave. I mean it, the guards won't be long and you're not going to get any pity from me." She turned sharply on her heel and moved back into the room, going back to her laptop.
[attr="class","CONTENT"] Standing there, in front of her and being bombarded with nonsense and… was that a threat? Was she threatening a police officer? Lucas stared at her, eyebrows raised, as he waited for her to finish whatever she was talking about because he didn’t understand a single thing. He looked down at his uniform, lifting an arm to look at the sleeve, at his badge, at his radio, at his tactical vest. He was so confused.
Lucas looked at her in utter confusion, those raised eyebrows drew together instead, biting his lower lip. He looked up, then to his right and his left. Was she even talking to him? It surely looked like she was but the nonsense that came out of her mouth didn’t make sense to him. Sure, people could be confused at the sudden appearance of the police requesting them to evacuate but… she talked to him as if they should know each other - as if he should know her. He tilted his head to see if she had wireless earphones in but nothing.
He obviously didn’t. He did see her in the newspaper or some online news articles and pictures considering she was the daughter of the mayor after all. However, other than those he had never personally met her even once in his life. "Doing my job?" he replied, his tone slightly raised as if he questioned himself. Clearing his throat he straightened his back, hand moving up to the top of his vest.
Pushing the confusion aside he stepped forward, but still leaving an appropriate amount of space between them. "You-" he started, lips parted to continue speaking, but before he could even begin the sentence she turned around and stormed back into her room. The brunette pressed his lips together, nodding as if he understood the whole situation and wasn’t completely taken aback by her weird reaction.
‘The Bomb Squad is ready to go in.’ A voice announced over his radio. One hand reached for it, pushing to button as he spoke into it, telling the other side to stand by. This seemed to take longer than he expected and they couldn’t do anything as long as the two of them were still in the building. He walked inside her room, ignoring the fact he was trespassing. The situation was a little urgent to care about personal spaces.
"I’ll be saving all my questions regarding those idiot thoughts you mentioned for later but you need to leave the building now. The others are waiting outside. Your father and the guards too. Is there anybody else with you?" he told her, making sure to enunciate the part about the guards she talked about taking him to escort him out.
He was cute and that only served to make her more irritated at him. Guys who were attractive and clearly knew they were attractive thought that they could get away with anything. One smile or one sweet compliment and they thought they were off the hook for whatever bad behavior they did. His odd appearance here brought up the question of their meeting in her mind. Had it been chance? Had he been seeking her out to somehow gain entrance to her house for whatever plan he was now acting out? It made her want to slap him. Instead, as she entertained his horrible job of acting confused, she rolled her eyes before making her way back into the room.
As if her life wasn't complicated enough, now some guy was trying to play vigilante or Robin Hood or something. On top of conveniently not remembering making out with her. The damn audacity. He spoke into an earpiece like he was James Bond and she sighed in annoyance, moving back to her computer.
She became aware of him following her in and she stopped, turning back to him. Suddenly the situation felt less irritable and considerably more frightening. She didn’t know the guy, other than the fact that he was at an anti-government rally, which clearly didn't work in her favor. She wasn't near her phone so she did the only thing she could think to do and that was to call out to Casey, "Casey!" She didn’t elaborate. She never called for his presence so she assumed he'd realize the situation wasn't a joke. And if he wasn't on duty, surely someone would hear her call.
The guy began speaking calmly, calling her idiotic and the anger made another re-appearance. She crossed her arms and leveled a glare at him, ready for this stupid charade to be over with. She wasn't sure what kind of tactic he was trying to pull with her, but whatever it was, it surely wasn't working.
He spoke about her guards and her father being gone and as the seconds ticked by with no appearance of anyone at all, she felt her heart drop as she realized he wasn't bluffing. He had actually somehow taken the guards off the table. Now it was her turn to talk in a calm manner, "Look, I don't know what you think this is going to accomplish, but it's not going to be worth it." She edged closer to her bed, where her cell was. She wasn't kidding herself, she knew that she probably wouldn't have time to call the real police before he was able to grab it away, but she had to try something. She had taken two steps slowly back and as she angled her body away from him to grab the phone, she saw him move from her peripheral vision.
Aelin acted instinctively and grabbed the nearest thing to her, the laptop, and threw it in his direction as she abandoned the phone and instead made a run for the door. If she could get outside the room, moving fast enough, she could make it down the stairs and if she could do that, she could reach the wine cellar. If she could make it there, she could reach the iron clad safe room that held their antique guns and other hidden things that her father didn't trust out in the house.
[attr="class","CONTENT"] Lucas let out a sigh at her calling for someone, resting his hands on his hips. He dropped his gaze for a moment before fixing it back on her. "I already told you they are all outside. No one will hear you. Just… follow me out please? Please." he said, an almost pleading tone in his voice, lifting one hand to gesture towards her door, his hand balled together with his thumb sticking out.
He didn’t really understand why she was being so difficult and fighting against him as if she knew him and had only had bad memories left. For all he knew he never saw her before in person. His grandfather might have been friends or at least acquaintances with her father the mayor but that’s about it. He’d hate to have to use force on her. He opened his mouth to say something, try to persuade her to go with him.
Opening his eyes he was greeted by the sight of a laptop being thrown at him and into his face.
His eyes were open wide, he didn’t move. Lucas dropped his gaze to look at the laptop on the floor right in front of him, lips parted in disbelief. A scoff left his lips and he shook his head, lips arching up into an irritated and frustrated grin. Lucas, who usually was like the sun, bright and bringing warmth to others, couldn’t believe what he was going through at that moment. "Resisting and assaulting an officer. Noted." he mumbled under his breath. If she weren’t the mayor’s daughter he would have already arrested her. The pain followed later, a throbbing sensation revealing itself on his forehead.
"Do you really want me to call your dad just to get you out of the house?" he called after her as she made a run for the door. Now that would be embarrassing for both of them. For her, because she was acting like Lucas wasn’t a police officer and maybe acting a little bit, just a little bit, like a brat. And for him, because he couldn’t manage to get her to evacuate the building. "Having some complications over here. Give me five more minutes." he said into his radio, notifying his unit they couldn’t proceed.
Lucas looked at her laptop one more time, which was probably broken now or at least damaged before turning around and heading for the door himself. Maybe if he was lucky she would just run straight into another officer, although they are most likely all outside waiting for him to join them so the bomb squad could continue with their part of the job. Just keep running, turn left, and then out of the big doors. That’d be great, thanks!, he thought to himself and he stepped after her.
Turning around to face the door he called out once again, "I just want to get you to a safe place because right now this house isn’t safe. If you could just do me a favor and come with me... Or you know, if you could at least explain to me why you're this upset at me and what I could do to make you less upset so you would come with me that'd be awesome. I don't mind negotiating. We just need to hurry a little bit."
He could have tried telling her about the possibility of a bomb in their kitchen downstairs but since she was already acting like this he didn’t want her to panic even more. Hey, it would be great if we could leave because right now we’re both in danger of either getting blown into pieces or the building collapsing and burying us under so we suffocate to death… Yeah no. That was definitely not an option.
The guy in the stolen police uniform was a very good actor. In fact, his tone and the way his eyes almost implored her, made her pause for half a second. He genuinely looked as if he was a police officer escorting her to safety. Alas, she knew better. She had seen him throw something over the line of civilians into the group of officers. She had heard his voice shouting along with the crowd against the PD's presence. She had spent two hours, a few of those moments in his arms, as he had gone on and on about rioting and taking control of the city back. She had listened with her heart beating wildly in her chest at the sheer thrill of him. He was passionate and a revolutionary and every bit the direct opposite that this guy was trying to be.
So when it was clear that her guards were no longer available to help her, she bolted. He asked about calling her dad before she had exited the room and she didn't let herself entertain that illusion. As if he was an officer of the law here to escort her to safety. A knight in tactical gear, riding in on a white squad car to save her from some mythical dragon. No thank you. She was not that naïve.
She was running, down the stairs, her mind halfway in shock that he hadn't tackled her or something. She cleared the stairs, turning to the left and intended to race across the foyer towards the wine cellar. However, as she made the left, her front door was in view. Wide open. The sight of what lay on the outside of those doors causing her to stop immediately.
Patrol cars with flashing lights and a line of policemen a few feet away, crowding around the front driveway, all in clear sight. She could see the guards, the vans, the staff. God even the media with cameras. All safely outside. Waiting on her. Aelin moved backwards immediately, out of the site of anyone on the outside.
The realization dawned on her like a ton of bricks. He wasn't lying. The shock and embarrassment fully took hold as his voice came to her. "I just want to get you to a safe place because right now this house isn't safe." She closed her eyes, mentally cursing herself. And him. And her father. And him again. Then herself once more for good measure.
She took a steadying breath, trying to force the want to jump off a very high bridge to go away. It was unsuccessful. She opened her eyes, her cheeks incredibly hot. She cleared her throat, trying to summon any of the dignity she had left, smoothing the edge of her shirt before speaking to him, refusing to meet his eyes. "I…apologize. I thought…" Her hands messed with the edge of her shirt for a moment before straightening it again, finally meeting his face. "I didn't know you were with the police department. You said a lot that night about defunding them and rising against them, you can hardly blame me for doubting what you said up there."
She had to look away again, the embarrassment only adding fuel to the fire of her being irritated at him. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised, you clearly don't have high marks in the integrity department but whatever." She crossed her arms, fully intending on letting it go and getting the hell out of there, hopefully never to see him again. Her mind though had gone back to that night, his lips on hers. Playing her like a fool. She spoke up again, unable to help herself as she got another word in, "You know, just for the record, making up a vigilante hero persona just to get a girl to kiss you is pretty pathetic."
[attr="class","CONTENT"] As Lucas followed Aelin to the stairs he watched her run down, taking those steps a little faster than he anticipated. Nevertheless, he hoped she would find the exit herself and not get any more stupid ideas. Maybe if she saw everyone outside she would start to understand how dire the situation was. The bomb squad wasn’t able to start until the two of them were out of the danger zone and to be frank, Lucas would prefer not to get blown up today.
He jogged down the staircase, closing the distance between them when she came to a halt at the open front doors where surely she was greeted by the sight of multiple police officers, their staff as well as her father. Lucas expected him to be pacing around, to see a relief on his face when they finally emerged from the inside but to his surprise… he didn’t. His gaze wandered around the premise, spotting a good handful of reporters with camera crews having arrived but were kept outside the fence by the guards.
Lucas moved beside her, looking over his shoulder back inside the house to see if the bomb squad had taken their positions. His hand reached for the radio to let them know everyone was outside now. The moment he finished delivering the message and receiving a quick status update Aelin spoke to him. Lucas found himself grinning when she started apologizing and he turned around to face her just as she did the same. "Apology accepted but-" he started, wanting to lead her to a safer distance away from the entrance when she continued her nonsense from earlier.
Shaking his head as he listened the brunette looked around him before carefully taking her arm to lead her away from the groups of people scattered around. "Stop it." Whatever she was talking about it seemed to be about him and he wasn’t too eager to risk anyone overhearing her weird accusations. When he looked up to make sure no one would be capable of eavesdropping in on them he met eyes with one of the guards, offering him a quick smile and a nod. Lucas removed his hand from her arm, scratching his cheek before a sigh escaped his lips. He removed the earpiece, letting it dangle down the side of his face.
"Look, I really don’t know what you’re talking about. Defunding the police? Which makes no sense considering I get paid by them. And what?" Lucas began, his eyes slightly widened at the earlier mention of a kiss. He blinked at her in confusion and disbelief, shaking his head once again. His arms moved to cross over his chest, his eyes finding their way to the crowd every now and then. "I… I honestly don’t know what to say. Vigilante hero persona? To kiss a girl?" He scoffed and then laughed, lips arching up into a smile as if he suddenly knew what she was talking about. "That sounds like a great movie. What’s the title? Maybe you shouldn’t watch tv before going to bed."
He looked at her to watch her reaction but for whatever reason, she seemed so genuine about it all as if it all made sense to her despite it not making any sense to him. "Okay so, it's okay that you think these strange events happened but maybe it would be better if you don't mention them around anyone else." he told her, hoping to make a point.
The police officer with, apparent multiple personality disorder, touched the side of his radio, speaking into it and verifying everything was clear to proceed. She was absolutely certain that this was the most embarrassed that she had ever been in her life thus far. She tried telling herself that his opinions on her didn't matter. She had been with him, her lips had met his, there was no denying that. He was clearly not admitting to their encounter and acting like a total reversal from the boy who she had met. That wasn't on her. Whatever actions she had taken because of that shouldn't bother her, but as his stupidly handsome face broke out into a grin as she apologized, she wanted to both punch him and go die under a rock.
He graciously accepted her apology but began looking around, gently touching her arm and moving her to the side of the house, away from the prying eyes. She pursed her lips in irritation but moved with him. She had begun to at least attempt to make an excuse for her actions when he told her to stop and she responded indignantly, "Me stop? You stop. You're the one acting like Jason Bourne." She let him lead her away, not that she was particularly looking forward to spending any more time than necessary with him, but she was even less excited to see anyone over where her father was.
He sighed and removed the earpiece, Aelin crossing her arms in front of her chest. He brought up the fact that he was the police and she gave a sardonic laugh, "Oh really? I missed that. Thank you for reminding me." He then scoffed at her vigilante hero comment which she personally felt was quite accurate. "Look, you were the one who-" The boy then laughed, suggesting that their meeting was all some sort of a dream she had and Aelin leveled a glare at him. She thought, for just a moment, about slapping him, but figured that might be pushing it, especially since he was clearly not in his right mind. The reasonable side of her head told her to let it go and leave, to just be done with him because none of this mattered. But she had never been great at letting things go.
She let him continue his little speech as he tried gaslighting her into oblivion before she spoke, taking time to breathe deeply and compose herself. "Two weeks ago. The rally for social reform. The protest turned violent and I found an alley to hide in. You showed up almost immediately after me. You were wearing a dark green hoodie and a black ballcap. We hid together for over an hour." She had a moment of doubt, of wondering if she had mistaken him but as her eyes moved over his face, lingering just a second on his lips before she looked away, she was sure. With absolute certainty. She met his eyes again, no wavering shakiness in any of her words. "We made out. I know it was you and I remember everything about that night, I'm not making any of this up. If you don't want to admit to it, whatever. I don't care. You weren't even that great of a kisser anyway, but don't try to act like I'm crazy."
Aelin let out an annoyed sigh wishing more than ever one of her security guards would come over and interrupt them. That maybe someone would message him over his stupid radio and make him leave her presence so she could be done with this whole ordeal. Then another thought came to her, causing her to give a self-assured leveled gaze, meeting his eyes again. "I can prove it. You're in one of the photos I took that night." Let him try to talk his way out of that, she couldn't help but think smugly.
