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.
Mumbled words escaped her lips as Brooke drove the little pickup down the back roads. She was convinced that she had gone the wrong way. Laws were broken as she picked up her phone and checked over and over again the text message from Thomas that explained the way to the secluded picnic spot he had found. The woods were large and looming and she was pretty sure that she’d taken a wrong turn somewhere. The plan had been lunch but unless a road opened up on the left she was pretty sure that it would be dinner. Or they’d have to send a search party out for her.
It was kind of pathetic how bad she was at navigating. Even years overseas wandering the desert and she could only figure out the compass if she stood completely still and tried to make herself perpendicular to the sun...and even then she had to check her watch a few times to see if it was going up or down. Their picnic in the open spaces behind the lab would be done by headlights instead of noonday sun. Never in a million years did she think that Tommy would actually want to see her. It had to be as intense for him as it was for her. He was the exact copy of Charlie, the man she’d watched die in an ambush. And she was the third part of the trio that made up his childhood with his twin.
But it would be good to do something normal and civilian’y. She cursed out loud, slowing the truck and looking down at her phone again as she read out loud, ”Two miles south and then there will be a gated road to the left…” Was she going south?? With a frustrated sigh she tried to motivate her phone to connect to the network for anything more than a text message but it simply blinked back at her to indicate the increasingly more frequent carrier disruptions. Thats when the truck was pulled over and the brunette climbed out of the driver’s seat with her eyes up on the sky, ”South for two miles. Who says south anymore, Thomas Daniel?!” The sun wasn’t visible, not with the trees there, and so she scanned the woods for shadows. That could help her position it.
Brooke stepped off the road, taking a couple quick steps down the rise that met the rose and stepped into the damp woods grumbling under hear breath as she now had her eyes on the ground to orient herself with the tangle of shadows. But it wasn’t the shadows that caught her eye. It was a hand. She knew as soon as she saw it. Brooke had seen dead bodies before. She stopped moving, didn’t take another step, and instead closed her eyes and made a wish for her phone to work before calling 911.
A little while later the crime scene was established and Brooke was standing on the edge of the road, her hands on her hips and a message to Thomas that his sandwich and soda would have to wait because she had an emergency. The patrol officers that were the first to respond and secure the scene took her statement, not bothering to dismiss her when she pulled her Military personnel card. An unmarked car pulled up and she knew, that would be the detective. She just watched, speaking up after the detective was out of the car. ”I’m getting the vibe this isn’t the typical sort of body in the woods situation. That beat cop wasn’t nearly as surprised as I thought he would be.” She approached and offered a hand, ”Staff Sergeant Brooke Hastings, I discovered the body. I’d like to accompany you on this investigation, if that’s ok. Something feels...weird about this.”
The police station was surprisingly slow for the day. She knew if she spoke that out loud, everything would change. That the universe would hear her and laugh, and say 'oh yeah?' and then she'd be so overwhelmed with calls that would effect her that she'd have to work overtime. And overtime was the last thing on her list for the day. She had done that the past two shifts she worked. For once she wanted to head home and be in bed when she was supposed to. To get a full nights sleep. That's what she truly wanted.
She was flipping through some old cases, things that had been passed down to her and yet were still open. Willa had found some where she had to scratch her head and blink at the screen in surprise. The answers, and solves, to the case were all right there. She had even closed a few of them recently where she went and questioned other detectives. Just wondering what in the world they were actually doing when they were reading over all the clues in the case. All the interviews and information that was right there. In front of them. The entire time.
Another detective passed her desk, and as he did, he said "Slow day huh?" A groan left her mouth, her eyes glaring up to him. "Why would you say that?!" And as if the universe heard him, her phone went off. She stared at it for a moment, shooting another glare towards him before she accepted the call and pressed the phone to her ear. Hearing that there was a dead body that was found along the outskirts of the Hearth forest. She let out a small sigh, looking at the clock on the wall. She was thirty minutes away from being free. But that didn't matter now. She was now the detective on the case.
She arrived not too long after the call was made to her, pulling up in a dark sedan. Her suit was clean and pressed properly, deep navy in color as she approached the yellow tape that was up around the area. Though she was stopped quickly in her tracks as someone approached her. Willa did a once over on the woman and almost chuckled at her words. Yeah, this wasn't the first. This hopefully would be the last, but something inside of Willa told her it wouldn't be. "Pleasure is all mine Sergeant Hastings. Detective Traver, or Willa is just fine." She told her, trusting that the others had looked over her credentials, she lifted the tape and offered for her to duck under it. "Nothing quite feels right about it when this isn't the first body to be found on the outskirts."
Her long legs started down the path to where she could hear the chatter of the crime scene investigators. "How did you come across this body?" She asked, her eyes moving over to the other woman.
She’d been escorted out of the yellow tape once her statement was taken, but Brooke wasn’t going anywhere. The body looked unmarred, whatever had caused the death wasn’t physical, or not obviously so. Even asphyxiation would leave post-mortem bruising. She had seen that before first hand. Flexing her credentials and her position didn’t get her far with the patrol officers who were really only concerned with securing the scene, though. They all reassured her that the detective that held the case would make the call as to what her involvement would be there.
Really, she just wanted someone else to say it was weird. Brooke approached with all the posturing she’d learned from her years in the military. Shoulders back, chin tilted up a touch, but not so much that she might appear to believe herself in greater authority over the detective. It would be a delicate balance of submission and confidence. And she didn’t catch the way her eyes moved over the soldier. Distaste was clear. The detective wouldn’t be thrilled the military was there. It twisted her stomach up a little bit and Brooke refrained from pointing out the look and reminding Detective Traver that they were all on the same side. But it was easier for the world to make the military the bad guy, even others in public service roles.
”Thanks, Detective.” she touched her chest as she went on, ”You can call me Brooke.” she offered a half smile and ducked under the tape, stepping forward and wincing when she said that it wasn’t the first body found in the woods. Brooke shook her head, sighing, ”And they’re all like this? Relatively unscathed, as far as obvious physical injuries go?” She frowned. Her next question would be to internal damages. And if that, too, proved fruitless then maybe stomach contents? Puncture spots? Poison or overdoses? She thought through all of that, almost missing the question pointed to her.
Brooke glanced over again, ”I was lost. Looking for a spot in the woods to get a good view of the sun and the shadows to try and reorient myself. The cell service is spotty everywhere, but out here it’s almost nonexistent, at least for civilian carriers.” She knew that the radios and frequencies that the police and military worked with had a little more juice than the lines and services offered to the general public. And that day, she was just another civilian. She followed to the edge of the spot where the CSI were working to collect evidence and take pictures and stopped there, waiting for permission from the detective to approach any closer. ”So is it like the other ones? Does Lethford have a serial killer and a pandemic happening?”
Willa didn't have a problem with the military. Not at all. What she had a problem with was more people on scene than there needed to be. More people to possible contaminate something and then make her job harder. She didn't like it back in her earlier days. She certainly didn't like it now. But she wasn't going to shoo the woman off. If anything, maybe having a military personal involved could help her out. She wondered what kind of clearance she had, though had a feeling she didn't have more than herself in some ways.
"Welcome to the scene, Brooke," She said with a small smile, trying to ease the earlier tension that had lingered there. The two of them walked side by side, though Willa made a conscious effort to not use her long legs to take her downhill faster. "Assuming that they told me on the phone remains true, yes. It remains consistent with the others. It appears they are being dumped but no obvious signs of death when we arrive." She confirmed. Her hand raising to pull her hair back so that the chanced of her hair landing on the scene would be reduced.
She looked over to the woman as she spoke the next time. "In the coroner's reports it seems to remain consistent as well. And depending on what we see here, well, I might bet money on the fact that its probably the same as the others." A soft sigh left her. She didn't hope it was. She was hoping there would be more this time that would give them more of a direction to go in. That there would be more evidence to point her towards one thing instead of another. Instead of her just listening to her gut without anything to actually back up her thoughts.
Willa nodded at the explanation of why she was out in the woods and ran across the body. They came to the edge of the scene and Willa let her eyes roam over the scene in silence. Her mind connecting the pieces that she had seen in the folder that had been given to her. Brooke's voice was enough to break through her thoughts and have her attention turn back to the woman. "There is similarities but truly, I need to take a closer look. Here," She waved in front of them, letting her know that she was welcome to enter with her as Willa did herself. Approaching the body and crouching down when she was about a foot away to start taking in the details of what she saw.
