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.
GENERAL INQUIRIES
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
CHARACTERS
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.
HEY, I KNOW WE HAVEN'T SEEN EACH OTHER IN A DECADE
BUT CAN I MOVE IN WITH YOU?
Ten years.
It had been ten long years since Maggie had seen her older brother. She had only been fourteen, a freshman in high school, when their dad had died. Then mom couldn't handle it, couldn't stand to look at Mick because he looked too much like his father. She took Maggie away and they moved to Chicago, leaving Mick to fend for himself. Maggie had hated leaving him, the guilt still ate away at her all these years later, but she had been too young to really have much of a say even though she had protested. They had stayed in touch for a while but it became harder and harder. The last time she had heard from Mick was when he moved to Lethford and had sent her his address.
Life moved on, the world kept turning.
And then it stopped.
Or at least it felt like it did. The virus hit and around that time Maggie was having relationship issues. In fear for her safety she had run. She left Chicago and headed for the only place she could think of, Lethford.
Her phone was on a mount in her car and she was looking between it and the road, following the GPS. The folded up letter with Mick's address sat on the passenger seat, the edges were worn and ragged, on the verge of falling apart as she had read the letter so many times since getting it. She was nervous to see him, would he even recognize her? She had been blonde when she was fourteen and now she was twenty-four with blue hair and a nose ring. What would she even say? She had been thinking about for the entire drive and still wasn't sure.
Finally she pulled up to his home and parked on the street. She put the car in park and picked up the letter, opening it again to check the address for the millionth time. Yep, this was the place. She bit her lip, took a deep breath, and forced herself to get out of the car. She wore a simple black fitted tee and blue jeans with her yellow purse slung over one shoulder and her blue hair in curls. She walked up to the door, wringing her hands together and rapped her knuckles against the door three times.
[attr="class","CONTENT"] Mick couldn’t really remember the last time he had an entire day off. Sure, they would call him if an inevitable emergency occurred but until that happened he had time to spare. Free time. Time to spend at home, go out to buy groceries, cook a nutritional meal. But the first thing he did after waking up was to brew himself a fresh cup of coffee and for the longest time in forever, he was able to just sit down and enjoy it.
As he stood in the kitchen, fingers drumming the counter, he looked around, taking in the sight of his own apartment. He had been living there for years, ever since he moved to Lethford but it suddenly felt unfamiliar after spending most of his time at the station, inside the ambulance, or at the hospital. He was barely at home and he had to admit it looked just like that. It was a mess.
Mick was a bit of a messy person to begin with, organization really was one of his biggest flaws. Blue eyes wandered around the kitchen area and the living room, laundry lying around all over the floor and several chairs, comforters, and the couch. Welp. Guess that’s where he should start. After taking a long sip of his coffee he clapped his hands together, letting out a motivational shout.
And after picking up a couple of clothing items he fell asleep on the couch. By the time he woke up he didn’t even remember how it happened. Exhaustion hit him hard. Understandable considering the amount of work he and his coworkers had.
Rubbing his eyes the blonde swung his legs over, forcing himself up in a sitting position. He had to blink several times, gaze moving from one shirt on the floor to another. Right. He was trying to clean. That apparently didn’t work out as good as he thought and the almost full cup of coffee was now cold.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
With a groan he got up, lifting his arms to stretch as he stood. He didn’t expect anyone. Ruffling his hair he walked over to the door, turning the knob and opening it. He couldn’t help the big yawn, covering his mouth with his hand before they moved to his eyes, rubbing over the lids once again. "Yeah?" he said, stifling another incoming yawn.
It took a moment before he was out of the sleepy and groggy state to register the person standing in front of him. His gaze moved up and down, taking in the appearance of the woman. The blue hair threw him off but there was something about her face that looked too familiar for him not to recognize and even though he wasn’t entirely sure if he was right, it was her name that left his lips first.
HEY, I KNOW WE HAVEN'T SEEN EACH OTHER IN A DECADE
BUT CAN I MOVE IN WITH YOU?
As Maggie waited for the door to be answered she bounced a little on her toes, chewing on her lip. It had been so long since she had seen her brother. She really couldn't even guess as to what his reaction might be to see her. Would he happy? Just surprised? Angry that she had left him, regardless of how young she'd been at the time? Would he even recognize her? Would he toss her out?
It felt like it took forever for him to answer the door, though it really could have only been a few seconds, she was just so anxious. Maybe he wasn't even home or maybe he had moved since he had sent her this address. Her mind was reeling and when she heard the handle finally turning she held her breath.
It was Mick. The familiarity of his face washed over her in a wave of emotion and joy. "Hi Mick," she said in a shaky breath. "Long time no see."
[attr="class","CONTENT"] "It really is you." Mick whispered, not believing his eyes. He rubbed one of them, just in case. He also considered slapping himself to make sure he wasn’t still dreaming, asleep on the couch. But he wasn’t. She really was standing there right in front of him.
If it weren’t for the pandemic he would rush to give her a hug. However, he was just standing in the doorway and even though he was in the midst of taking a step forward he stopped himself. It was difficult, oh so difficult, to not reach out and embrace her after all these years. Years where he hadn’t even hear her voice, hadn’t seen her face, hadn’t even known where she was.
Shaking his head as if to toss out the confusion he felt at that moment he stepped aside, opening the door wider, and gestured for her to come inside. "Don’t mind the mess. I spend a lot of time at work. Didn’t have time to clean… or the energy." he said, clearing his throat and peeking outside, past her.
"You want coffee? Tea? I don’t know what’s left inside the fridge.. maybe orange juice?" he asked her, scrambling over to the kitchen. Upon opening the fridge his eyes caught the orange juice - expired. "Never mind about the juice." Mick commented, grimacing at the juice carton but left it untouched inside the fridge, making a mental note to throw it out later. The excitement of seeing his sister again was rushing through him so fast it didn't take long for it to be overrun by shock.
Wait a minute. Turning around he looked at her, stepping back into her direction. "You're here... how come?"
HEY, I KNOW WE HAVEN'T SEEN EACH OTHER IN A DECADE
BUT CAN I MOVE IN WITH YOU?
There was the tension of being unsure of herself in her smile as he whispered to her in disbelief. She gave a little one shouldered shrug. "Ya...it's me," she said in a guilty, nervous tone. She was definitely struggling with saying anything more and was glad when he seemed to come out of the shock and stepped aside to let her in.
He hadn't moved to try to hug her so she didn't either. She wasn't sure if it had to do with the virus or just because he didn't want to but she refused to think too much about it...at the moment anyway. She was sure that by the time she was in bed tonight she'd be replaying every moment of this interaction in her mind over and over again.
She stepped inside, getting a good look at his cluttered house and found herself smiling at it rather than being disgusted by it. It reminded her of how he kept his room when they were growing up. "Oh, don't worry about it. It doesn't bother me," she replied. "What is it you do for work?" she asked.
She followed him as he moved towards the kitchen and smiled when he took back juice as an choice. "Coffee sounds great if you have some, or just water is fine too," she replied. With one hand hanging at her side, her other held onto the opposite elbow as she watched him. It was unreal to see him after so long and she found she couldn't help but just look at him.
At his question she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and gave him a smile, it wouldn't be hard to see that there was something else behind her eyes- worry, but she was trying, and failing, to hide that. "Can't a girl just come see her long lost brother? I missed you." That, at least, was the truth.
[attr="class","CONTENT"] The blonde brushed off his hands on the pair of joggers he was wearing, his palms began to sweat for whatever reason. It was his sister standing there, not a stranger. Although, he couldn’t shake off the mild feeling that she was indeed a bit of a stranger after all these years of not seeing her. It was an odd moment… probably for both of them, he assumed at least. "Cool, cool." he replied, a wave of relief washing over him that the mess didn’t bother her. He really needed to clean up before having to go to work again.
Mick swallowed hard when she asked him what he was doing for work. He wasn’t sure how she would react if he told her he was working for the Fire Department. He couldn’t even remember what made him choose that path. Was it a random ad? Was it at school? Was it his dad? Any thoughts of stepping into his father’s footsteps and becoming a firefighter were abandoned the moment his family received his death notification. Mick will never forget the moment the uniformed men were standing in front of their door, with the news playing on the tv in the background reporting about the fire.
Clearing his throat he moved over to the coffee machine which still had some cold, leftover coffee in the glass jug. "I… uh-" he began, slipping it out of the machine and tossing its contents into the sink. "I’m actually a paramedic." he finally spat out, nodding as he bit his lower lip. He only glanced over his shoulder to avoid looking at her to see her reaction. Refilling the jug with water and pouring it into the back of the machine he set it up to brew fresh coffee.
In the meantime he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, of course, it wasn’t from the brand that had issues. He twisted the cap open for her as he brought it over, holding it out to her. "Coffee will be ready in ten." he said, his lips curving up in the usual, welcoming warm smile he was known for. "How about you? Ha, it’s a bit embarrassing but I don’t really remember what you wanted to be as a kid… feel free to punch me for that." he admitted, ruffling through his bed-head hair.
"Sit wherever you want. Make yourself at home." Mick told her before taking a seat himself on the armchair, opposite the couch. The moment he sat everything seemed to drop with him. Feeling the need to slap himself he shifted positions on the armchair, interlacing hands and breathing out slowly. "You’re really here…" he mumbled to himself, blue eyes gazing up at her through a curtain of thick lashes. Long lost brother, he repeated in his head. It wasn’t like it was his choice to leave her and cut off all contact back then.
"I missed you too." he said, giving her once again that warm smile of his. Being the person that would smile at everyone even in the worst-case scenarios Mick never found it hard to do so. Maybe that’s why he chose his job. He just had a knack for it. "But how did you find me? I was trying to look for you but…" he said, glancing over to the coffee maker as it dripped, one drop after another. "I tried reaching out to you so many times but there was never… an answer. How.. how’s mom?"
A paramedic? She immediately thought of their father but the two jobs seemed quite a bit different. There was no rushing into flaming buildings as a paramedic. She had no idea that he worked out of the fire station so it didn't make her too worried. Once she found that out then she might feel a bit differently about it.
She smiled when he told her when the coffee would be ready. "Great," she replied with a little hop of her shoulders. "Oh, gosh, I barely even remember that. It changed so often over the years. I've never been great at being decisive," she said with a little chuckle. She moved to sit on the couch, choosing the middle of it rather than one of the sides, facing him. The couch sunk in a little and she decided it was kinda comfy. Or it would be if she wasn't feeling the tension between the two of them at their unexpected reunion. It had been so long. "I'm a performer, actually. An aerial dancer. Though I haven't been able to perform since the start of all this."
She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as he marveled that she was really there, "Yeah."
At his question she moved her legs, sitting with her knees together but her feet spread out a little and resisted the urge to bite her nails. "You sent me your address when you moved here. Not long after that I moved out and I guess mom just never...gave me your letters," she gave a little shrug. "That one was the last I received. Mom is...fine," she lied. "Well, last I heard she was living with another new boyfriend and was addicted to Vicodin and peppermint schnapps." She gave another shrug. "I haven't seen her in a while."
[attr="class","CONTENT"] “I did?” he let out surprised, drawing his fair eyebrows together as the question was more towards himself than her. “I guess I did,” Mick added, eyes looking up at the ceiling of his apartment as he tried to remember. It was just then that he realized all the memories that were lost to him. He turned his gaze and attention back to Maggie, running a hand over the back of his head and finding his smile again. “Now I just feel old,” he said, followed by a chuckle.
Mick clapped his hands together, his jaw dropped ever so slightly. “A performer?” His mouth formed a silent whoa in astonishment. He expected a lot of ordinary jobs but not this. But he couldn’t have guessed it right anyway, the year gap since their separation was too wide. He offered her an understanding nod of his head about not being able to perform. These days sucked, not just for him and his shitton of work but also for those who didn’t have any work anymore. “You don’t mind if a google what an aerial dancer is, do you?”
When Maggie mentioned their mom, Mick’s shoulders slumped, the smile was gone, the corner of his lips arching down softly. A hint of concern covered his features usually bright and delightful. A shadow loomed over them. It wasn’t that he was too shocked or surprised by it but then again, he was so young when they left, and he could barely grasp the memories of Maggie and her dream occupation that she certainly couldn’t remember what his mom, their mom, was up to or used to be up to. “That makes two of us,” he said jokingly, adding a short-lived sarcastic laugh at the end. Maybe it was best to just drop the topic. It was toxic and only brought sad memories to resurface, memories he didn’t want to remember or think about. He gave the topic a dismissive wave with his hand even though it was him that started it but it could be him that ended it as well.
He wrung his hands, glancing over his shoulder to discover the light had switched off. Coffee was ready, and he was glad it was. Jumping up from where he sat he strode over to the kitchen, pulling out a mug from the cupboard above the coffee machine and filling it with the steaming hot beverage. “You want sugar? Milk?” he asked, already in the middle of gathering the small jar filled with sugar. “I hope I didn’t leave the milk I bought at the fire station…” He didn’t pour a cup of his own, instead, he grabbed his old one filled with the coffee he made in the morning and just popped it into the microwave.
