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.
The light from the neon sign that flashed in the window was the only things the girl could focus on as she twirled locks of champagne coloured hair with her fingers. The streets remained as empty as when she first arrived and the longer she remained at the counter, the less she hoped that someone would come walking in the double wide front doors. Danielle had gone home for the evening, leaving the diner in Riley’s care and to say she was bored would be the understatement of the year. The counters were spotless, the chairs free of any and all dust and this is the third time that she had wiped down the entrance doors. There was no more for her to do and so she passed the time by staring at the neon sign that lit up the street, blinking “Come on in, we are open” over and over again until the phrase was burnt upon her retinas.
The cheery music above her only did to fuel the frustrations that lingered around the forefront of her brain, her lack of understanding as to why they remained open during a pandemic being the first of inquiries to appear inside her bubbles of thought. The woman sighed as she pressed her palms against the counter, the pressure behind them turning her knuckles white and etching lines along her skin. Pale azure eyes spied the empty streets outside of the diner, the suspiciously quiet road the housed no cars and no people. It was eerie to say the least, the ramifications of such a disease spreading so quickly and widely made a shiver rip throughout her spine and goosebumps arise along her skin. It was one thingnwhen all this started. Rampant news reports that felt as if the media was doing what they always do and embellishing the story. Panic ensued almost immediately but with those who are extra cautious come those who care very little. The diner was still functioning well enough, seeing enough customers within a day to keep them afloat but it didn’t take long from the lock-downs to begin, for people to confine themselves in their houses and relinquish the world outside their windows.
If only Riley could be one of them, instead she remained here at the counter of Danielle’s Diner, counting away the minutes until her shift ended, praying that a mandatory lockdown would take effect so she wouldn’t have to worry about getting sick. She reflected upon her Mother who would have no doubt gotten the disease and for the first time since her death was thankful that she wasn’t around to see the state of the world. Who knew where her Father was, he could be dead in the street for all she knew, a needle in one arm and a bottle of alcohol in the other.
Riley closed her eyes against such thoughts and ran a hand through her hair, marigold locks were strewn about her face, a mess of tendrils that did as they pleased despite her intervention.
The clock on the wall read nearly eight in the evening and that meant several more hours before she could lock the door and head home for the night. Her eyes scanned the empty space and it was then a sigh was let loose from her mouth.
“Why the hell am I even here?” She mused aloud. She moved slowly from behind the counter and took a seat at one of the booths by the window. Her uniform cinched as she sat, wrinkling around her waist. Cool air flowed in from the double wide doors, they sat open just a crack but even that was enough for raw night air to seep in and Riley basked within it.
Movement from her peripherals caught her attention, a sudden flash that made her turn her head toward the street. The neon sign glowed ever bright, and in it’s iridescence she saw no one.
Firstly, Carson would like to say that he had no say in his lifestyle. Well, he could possibly change how he lived, but this was by far the easiest way to survive. It needed nothing more than his skills: quick-thinking, quick fingers, and quick getaways. It was hard work all on its own; hell, thievery was its own career field, one that Carson had grown to excel in. There had been a few close scrapes, and Carson knew he and his brother were pushing their luck and would undoubtedly be caught sooner rather than later, but until that happened, the Graysmith brothers were going to survive how they knew best.
One of the most important rules when it came to Carson's chosen work was that he needed to space out his targets, the days, and where he stole from. His little stash from one of the closed groceries down by Sheffield Street was dwindling - he was down to his last two granola bars and a small pack of chips - and he knew he needed to make a run tonight. Probably not another grocery; Conor may survive on dehydrated and heavily processed food for months at a time, but Carson craved something cooked.
A flash of memory from when he and his brother had ordered pizza after a track meet, maybe just over eight months ago, had Carson's stomach rumbling. If he'd known then that that was probably the last slice of pizza he'd have, he would have savoured it: the smell of the hot melted cheese, the sauce, the comforting warmth of the pizza base on his fingertips... It was a happier, more care-free time, one that he'd taken for granted.
Gritting his teeth, Carson decided he had to risk it tonight. Something, anything, that was warm and filled his belly. He'd gone on for long enough without cooked food, eating only to survive and keep his body moving, but tonight he needed proper food.
His hands were in his pockets as he walked along the deserted street, keeping his head down and his eyes peeled for police or military personnel. It was dark out, past curfew if you weren't required to still be at work, and most of the places he passed were closed or closing, most everyone wanting to get home before the patrols started fining people for being out and about after hours.
Hunting at this hour had its pros and cons. The cover of the dark helped Carson - and others like him - to move somewhat invisibly, but if they were spotted or caught, most of them had no excuse to be outside. This hour also meant most businesses were closed, so stealing was a lot easier, but in Carson's case where he needed to actually order the food, that meant there would be no one else to provide a distraction. Of course, not very many people chose to do something as ridiculous as what he was about to do. Most everyone preferred just your good old-fashioned B&E, but Carson was damn hungry.
A flickering neon sign caught his attention - a diner was still open, and from what he could see, empty and dead as a doornail. The pretty waitress was sitting in a booth by the window and gazing out on to the street, looking for all the world like she'd rather be anywhere but there. Carson figured it would be as good a place as any, and as he crossed the road, his left hand reached out to open the door, while his right hand slid reassuringly over the creased bills in his pocket. It wasn't like he didn't have any money on him. Sometimes grocery runs included getting into the cash register for whatever change they had in there. He had a few bills in his pocket, and Carson reassured himself that he could pay for a small meal if he absolutely needed to.
Schooling his face into one of charm and looking a bit unsure, Carson poked his head into the diner but didn't bring his whole body in. He wasn't here to cause trouble, he tried to convey through his body language. A friendly smile was on his lips as he asked softly, "Hey, are you guys still cooking?"
The moments ticked by in hours, each one longer than the last. Had there been an hour glass in front of her she was sure that the sands of time would have ceased any and all movement and had the neon sign quit flashing she was positive she would be stuck in this moment for the rest of her life. It was occasions such as this where she knew she took for granted how busy the Diner could get and despite all the nasty customers, the yelling adults and screaming children, the spilt soda’s and dropped forks, she would kill for the place to be busy right now. At the very least busy meant that the night would pass, that when she returned to her apartment, tired and achey, that it had gone by quickly or for that matter, gone by at all.
Riley sighed to herself, the sound was the loudest thing in the diner, crashing into her eardrums and deafening the girl. Every shop outside on the street had been closed, all the people had gone home to their families and every one of them was smarter than her and Danielle. She couldn’t hide the frustration that built inside her azure eyes and just as she was about to call Danielle and tell her that this was stupid and she was going the hell home the twin bells above the double wide doors made a sound. Riley was taken aback and there was a simple moment where she thought that she had not heard it at all. Quickly she turned her heard, running her stare across the ugly checkered flooring and up toward the doors that now sat slightly opened, a man’s head poked in between.
At the young age of 22, Riley had her fair share of relationships. She had a boyfriend in high school that lasted all of two months, another man in college that lasted perhaps another month longer and sporadic relationships in between but none of the men that she had dated before compared to the face that shoved his head inside her Diner at nearly nine pm. She blinked in the wake of him, took a second too long to answer the inquiry that parted his lips and then stood from the booth, straightening her uniform subconsciously.
“I...uh...” Riley couldn’t tame the tongue inside her mouth, it lacked coercion with the thoughts that ran through her head and it took a fill minute for her to be able to tame them, to make them work in unison.
“Of course...” She supplied taking a tentative step toward the door and blushing as she did so. It was not often that she lost her speech in the wake of a stranger, and even less so that she became nervous but as it was now the butterfly’s arose in the pits of her stomach, a horde of them that fluttered against her insides and inspired the urge to vomit. Her cheeks had become flush, so much so that blush would not have even been required for her daily routine and her eyes could focus on nothing, flitting between the man in the doorway and the checkered parquet flooring.
“Please, come in.” She gestured to a booth as if the options were not plenty, motioned for him to sit despite him remaining in the doorway and moved behind the counter to grab a pad and pen to take his order. She found that her fingers shook, that her movements were clumsy and it was such an odd contrast to how Riley usually was.
Get a hold of yourself! She chastised internally. Perhaps it was the first customer of the evening or the state of the world that had her so out of sorts but the fact remained that she was neither graceful nor couth in this strangers presence, and it irritated her to no end.
Riley took a deep breath in an attempt to pull herself together. She smoothed her uniform and grabbed her pen and paper. Her hair was wild about her face, having mostly fallen from her loose pony. The tendrils danced along her jawline, tickled the tips of her collarbone as she tilted her head to the side and smiled at the man.
“So...” She began, tapping her pen upon the paper quickly, an action that did nothing to soothe the ball of iron inside her stomach.
When the girl turned and Carson had a good look at her face, he found himself briefly distracted from his little mission. She was prettier than when he'd glanced at her from across the street - now that he could see her eyes clearly, he noticed that they were a striking blue, her lips pink and looked softer than any pillow he would ever have the hope to steal, and her hair framed her face, accenting her cheekbones and her chin. The waitress was striking, and Carson didn't even feel bad for being caught staring when her face was so open to him in that moment.
To his pleasant surprise, she seemed as surprised by his appearance as he had been by hers. In fact, if he wasn't mistaken, that looked a bit like a blush on her cheeks as she answered him while taking a step in his direction. The encouraging smile on his face was more genuine now, and not just because he'd planned to charm his way through his dinner and hope it came for free. Hell, he would damn pay for his meal if it meant he could come back again and see her. Maybe he wouldn't try his luck to score himself free food tonight. Not if it meant he'd lose any and all opportunity he might have with the waitress.
In his life from before, Carson hadn't had too much trouble with girls. He and his brother weren't horrible-looking, and combined with their careless attitude and reckless love for all things adrenaline-pumping, they had both exuded a devil-may-care persona. Throughout high school they had the ease and charm to deal with girl-related things, but both Graysmith brothers also didn't have to deal with too much drama precisely by avoiding anything serious or emotionally investing in romance. They had both been fine living their adventure-seeking lives, and if they got themselves a few admirers along the way, neither of them had minded a bit of attention.
With his life now, Carson didn't exactly have any time to entertain any ideas like that. This was the first in a long while he'd actually stopped and smelled the flowers, as it was. Luckily for him, the flower in particular was a beautiful, stunning rose, and he was more than happy to stop what he was doing to just enjoy a brief break from reality. He could pretend tonight was just another normal night: him exhausted and ready for food, probably meeting his brother later at their parents' house, and maybe they would play a board game while he and Conor had a beer and his parents had wine. Carson couldn't help the quick, sad smile, but shook himself from the idea. Nothing was going to change reality.
Cautiously, still trying to convey a peaceful, I-am-safe vibe with his body language, Carson carefully stepped in through the double doors of the diner. Belatedly, he noticed the sparkling clean floors - she probably didn't have all that much to do and not all that much traffic to clean up after - and he grimaced as his work boots left dirt marks. "Sorry," he said sheepishly, looking up from the floor to meet her eyes. Again, he found himself enchanted and at another loss for words. Dumbly, he followed her invitation for him to sit in a booth, flashing another smile at her as he did so. When she asked him what he was after, Carson instantly thought of the pizza he'd almost drooled about earlier in the evening. "Have any pizza?"
Most restaurants and fast-food places didn't allow dine-in anymore, so Carson was a bit hesitant about getting comfortable in the booth. Hey, if she was going to let him actually sit here and enjoy his meal and pretend like the world wasn't going to hell all around them, then he wasn't going to fight her, but he was going to make sure just in case she'd forgotten curfew rules. "Are you sure I'm okay to eat in?" he checked as he gingerly moved in his seat, also aware of the spotless booth, trying not to touch anything more than he absolutely needed to.
A moment passed whereas neither of them spoke, where the silence that passed between them was exchanged not only in stolen glances but at the flick of an eyebrow or twitch of the lips. The flashing neon sign outside caught the tendrils of his messy blonde hair, colouring them red and the way his eyes found her made a tingle arise along her skin, touching first her spine and then making a slow decent down her body. His eyes appeared blue under the industrial lights the hung from the ceilings and to say that she momentarily lost herself within them while he spoke to her would be an understatement.
Riley had always been a conscious girl, from the day she was born and right up until this moment she remained guarded and alert, her assumption of people was usually correct and even when she was at her most naive she still knew what she was doing, knew that ramifications of her actions and those around her. That much had been true when she spent time with her Father, a man of whom was riddled with addiction and betrayal. She knew that spending time with him would lead her places she did not want to go, she knew that the man she called ‘Dad’ did not have her best interests at heart but that didn’t stop her from playing his games, from standing behind him while he purchased drugs on the street and drinking with him when he told her that he just didn’t want to be alone anymore. Riley was not stupid, but in these continuous moments where she stood facing this new stranger she felt all her qualms of trusting the man slip away like water from her back. The brevity of which it took her to make such a decision scared her, especially now in a time where trust was not to be handed around.
Perhaps it was the perfect arrangement of his features that allowed her walls to come crashing down, or the way his eyes slid over her frame that allowed her to take another tentative step toward him and brought forth a brighter, wider smile. Whatever the case, Riley could tell that should this stranger ask, she was likely to give him whatever he wanted. Blinking Riley tore herself from the thoughts that played on loop inside her head and focused on the words that broke from his perfect lips.
“We certainly do.” The words that left her mouth felt confident, unshaken in their departure off her tongue. She went to turn away, moved her ankle an iota away from the man before stopping and turning to look at him again. When he spoke again she softened visibly, tilting her head to the side and smiling her warmest of smiles.
“It’s kind of you to ask. Of course. We haven’t been shut down yet so I assume that everything will be fine...” Riley took a moment to raise her gaze from the man and peruse the streets outside. The sheer emptiness of them made shivers travel along her spine but it was good news for the Diner. The Police in this town likely had their hands full enough what with quarantine only a few districts over from here, it was unlikely that they would give any amount of notice to her neon open sign that flashed by the door.
The girl tapped her pen on her paper.
“So....what kind of pizza would you like?” Was it odd that she felt excited to be making this stranger food at nearly nine thirty at night? Was it strange that before his entrance she had been wholeheartedly wishing that she would be sent home for the foreseeable future? She had been seconds away from calling Danielle and telling her to shove this job where the sun doesn’t sun when this stranger stuck his head inside and sent the entire night on it’s head. She was thankful that the phone-call had not been made, thankful for the mere seconds it took to make a split decision and thankful that she stood here now, in the midst of a handsome stranger.
A wry smile appeared upon her lips. A softening of her gaze as she slid her eyes over him and relished in his appearance. Inside her stomach a wrought iron ball, in her chest a hammering heart, aching to escape and leap across the table toward him as she spoke again.
“Oh...and what is the name I can put down for the order?”
The waitress smiled at him and he felt this weird rush of heat go through his skin. It wasn't butterflies in his stomach, because Carson never got butterflies, but it was the same feeling that ran through his body when he was about to jump off a cliff or fall out of the sky in nothing but a backpack that hopefully contained a working parachute. It felt about forty degrees warmer than outside, and Carson knew that it was all him, and it was because of the pretty blonde that stood by his booth telling him of course he could eat it. He wasn't going to say no to that - not when she was as pretty as she was. He didn't want her to get in trouble, of course - he'd sat in the booth a bit hunched over so it shouldn't look too obvious from the front - and he would have ordered takeaway if she'd said they only did takeaway. But Carson was quite grateful she was letting him stay.
A soft tapping sound distracted him from his study of the dirt marks he was leaving all over the pristine booth, and Carson looked up. Again, he was trapped by her eyes, and his mind went clean blank, completely forgetting about why she was there, just that she was. A slight pink tinge appeared on his cheeks when the waitress asked her question, and Carson wondered if she'd had to repeat herself. Gods, that was embarrassing. "Just a cheese pizza, please," he said, wincing internally as he did so.
Anything with just cheese was probably the cheapest version of that food, whether it be grilled cheese, cheese pizzas, cheese bread. It was a horrible thing to be ordering when this girl had probably sat in this restaurant, open all day and well into night waiting for customers - and here he was, ordering a cheese pizza. It was a new feeling for Carson: humiliation. He found he didn't really like the bitter tang of it, like tasting blood, but that was all he could afford. If this had been any other restaurant and it had any other waiter or waitress, Carson would have ordered his tummy's fill - burgers, fries, a shake maybe - then just scarpered at the end of it with only the slightest twinge of guilt. After all, he had to survive, too. But it didn't sit right to do it to her.
Idly, Carson wondered when he'd next get a chance to come back for dinner here, if he did want to. It had taken a few well-planned raids to scrape together the change in his pockets; it would take a few more probably better raids to get another meal. And he would probably need to get more money. If he ordered another cheese pizza next time, it might dawn on her just how broke he was, and Carson felt that might be one of the more embarrassing things to have happened in his life. His family had never really been poor, and it was a jarring experience to have to scrounge for food, to steal, and to choose what to eat based on what he could afford. He'd probably have to ask his brother for money if he wanted to come back here sooner, and that was another shameful idea. He'd never asked Conor for anything in his life.
Carson pulled himself together, reminding himself he was living through what felt like the beginning of the apocalypse. This wasn't a normal life, this wasn't the ordinary story of him meeting a girl at a bar, where he would chat her up and flirt his way around her, then offer to take her home. This was his new life, he couldn't afford to chat her up and buy her drinks, and he couldn't take her home because he had none. How was that for sobering? He was just hear to eat proper food, and if he had pretty company while he was there, he would take it. But he couldn't take it beyond the restaurant. He would just have to enjoy this little slice of paradise, right here, right now.
She asked his name, sounding almost shy, and Carson's eyes crinkled in the corners as another warm grin appeared on his face. He didn't even hesitate to tell her the truth - after all, he would be paying for this meal. He didn't need to hide who he was. "Carson," he replied. His water blue eyes flicked over to the name badge that flashed in reflection of the overhead light as the waitress moved. Turning his gaze back to hers, he tasted her name on his tongue. "Riley. Thanks."
The ambience between them was rendered null and void the moment he spoke, breaking any semblance Riley had of every forgetting the man and continuing on with her life and it was strange to feel this way after such a long time. Even stranger was how quickly she became enamoured with the speech that fell from his mouth, with the tousled blonde hair that sat atop his head and the bright and piercing blue eyes that followed her movements.
Be still, my beating heart. The ethereal voice conquered all other thoughts as she managed to control the block of nerves that had taken up residence inside her chest. This wasn’t like her, this was not her and the more she played with the locks of golden hair that fell to her shoulders and raked her eyes against the man the more her resolve began to waiver. Riley was mere moments away from being a puddle of goo in front of him and it took all her strength to half turn away from him. Her pursuit of movement was ceased however the moment he spoke her name. In the seconds it took her to steel herself, to collect the fibre of her being that was being whisked away by nonsensical fantasy, Riley lost it again because the parting of his lips and the wrapping of them around her calling was perhaps the most beautiful sound she had ever heard. Her legs felt weak, her stomach had turned inside out, spilling the remnants of acid all along her insides and burning at her intestines. Despite the unpleasantness of such a feeling, against the rush of all her internals turning to mush at the sound of Carson’s vocals, she smiled. The rush of emotions that flowed alongside her veins in that moments were plenty, highlighted only by the flushing of her cheeks and the constant peak of her lips.
“Coming right up.” Although speech had been momentarily forgotten in her mind she managed to speak freely, confident tones slipping from rosey lips that could do nothing else but moisten themselves against the desiccation of the room. The neon light against the window flashed in concession with the rhythmic beating of her heart and it did not stop until she was out of sight and in the back area. It was there she allotted herself a moment to catch her breath, to slow the heaving of her chest cavity and unburden her head of thoughts.
“Get a god damn grip, Riley.” She chastised herself outwardly, exhaling a breath along with the words and got to work making the man’s pizza. Had it not been for the lovely arrangement of his features perhaps she would not be toying with the idea of giving him her number, and if it was not for the gentle tones that spilt from his mouth and flowed ever so softly into her ears than perhaps she would have told him, politely, to go home and leave her alone in this abandoned place. As it stood however Riley would do none of these things and instead focused on kneading the dough for his pizza. The action did well to settle the nerves inside her stomach and it was with great relief that by the time she stuck it inside the oven she was feeling much more composed. From the back room she snuck to the side of the door and eyed the man sitting at the booth through the small gap the door provided. Upon watching him she remembered that they were in a state of global pandemic, that behind him and past the windows outside was empty and the people were on quarantine. Her silly girlhood crush suddenly seemed much less important in the grand scheme of things.
Behind her the oven beeped and Riley nearly jumped from her skin. She let the door shut and rushed to get his pizza. Crusted around the edges and doughy in the middle, the pizza was cooked to near perfection and she was proud of the work she had done, never mind that she had been doing it for years. She placed the food on a large serving plate and headed out toward Carson who waited patiently in his booth for her return. The food was hot, the steam nearly fogging up the restaurant and she carefully carried the tray to his booth and gently set it down in front of him.
“Here you go.” She smiled pleasantly but when the moment came for her to go behind the counter and wait for him to be done she found her feet frozen in place. Would it hurt to have a little chat with him? It wasn’t like their were other customers to serve. Riley gestured to the seat across from him.
“Do...do you mind if I sit?” The implication of such a request was innocent in and of itself. After a boring evening and having been alone in this place for so long it would be nice to have a conversation with someone besides her reflection in the bathroom mirror.
Carson smiled at Riley as she took his order and walked away to get it sorted for him. At least a cheese pizza wasn't horribly difficult to make. If he worked in hospitality, he would have hated for his last customer of a long night to order something ridiculously complicated, even without the pandemic going on. Then again, Carson would never have had the patience to work in hospitality, so it was a bit of a moot point. Get him in anything adventurous and possibly death-defying and he would have no troubles strapping on his harness or whatever safety gear was required and he'd gladly fling himself off the tallest tower - give him people and having to pretend to like them and having to pretend to be cheerful all the time and he might have offed himself.
He didn't know a lot about their daily plight at work, considering he'd never really had a job of his own, but he'd had friends in university who'd done part-time waitressing or retail jobs. The ones who weren't cut out for it but desperately needed to keep their jobs, Carson watched as they became sullen or retreated to their rooms after shifts to escape the world. The ones who actually somewhat enjoyed their jobs, Carson watched as they smiled through the rude or crude words and be grateful for the meager tips they received. He couldn't imagine being treated like crap and smiling through the pain. He and his brother had always made the effort to treat their servers with respect and tip them like they deserved.
When Riley was out of sight, Carson's earlier euphoria began to fade a little. He looked around the diner, tapping his finger absentmindedly on the table he'd forgotten was so clean. It was a decent place, the type that looked homey and comfortable and welcoming, but not downright shoddy and shabby and unkempt. It was a workplace of pride, kept well clean by its workers and owners, and Caron's lips turned downward as he surveyed his surroundings, rather impressed by the diner. He'd lived in Lethford most of his life so of course he'd seen this diner around, but for some reason he'd never stepped foot in it.
He had to crane his neck a little to see out of his booth and onto the streets, but Carson idly realised that he and his brother never usually came to this part of the city. It wasn't like they explored every nook and cranny of Lethford - to be honest, both brothers preferred to find their thrills in other cities. Lethford wasn't exactly a hotspot for adventure-seekers, so the Graysmith brothers had had to explore outside their hometown to find things to do that were dangerous and exciting enough for them. The few 'thrilling' things the city had to offer (escape rooms, indoor skydiving that wasn't as fun as the real thing, amongst others), Carson and Conor had already tried, and none of them were around this area, which was why neither of them had found the diner after their outings. Carson realised he didn't even get to see the name of this place before he'd entered.
His attention was brought back to the place where Riley had disappeared to, and he found himself smiling again at the sight of the very pretty waitress carrying his order. This was pretty much any man's dream, he thought: a pretty girl and some damn good food. For Carson, it was all that much more; Riley was the first person outside of his own brother that he'd even interacted with in a couple of weeks, and this pizza was the first warm, cooked food that wasn't instant ramen in about the same amount of time. He might have died and gone to heaven.
"This looks amazing," he said warmly, genuine in his praise of the pizza as Riley set it down on the table in front of him. The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled brilliantly up at her. "Thank you so much, it looks really good." To Carson, it looked more precious than gold, and he was going to take his time and savour every last warm and cheesy bite. He found himself doubly grateful to be able to enjoy it in the diner - it wouldn't get cold on his way back to his hideyhole, and the ambiance of the place only helped him enjoy the pizza all the more.
He had just reached forward to grab a slice when he noticed Riley was still standing by his table. He flushed with embarrassment, suddenly realizing his slight crush on the waitress had been pushed aside by the promise of pizza. It had almost been like a narrowing of his vision when the food arrived, and Carson worried that he might have forgotten something. To his relief, it seemed she had only stopped because she'd wanted to ask him if she could sit, and Carson's returning smile was even wider. "If you don't mind me making inappropriate noises," he replied, grinning at her even though his eyes were slightly apologetic because he was being truthful. "This pizza looks so good and it needs to be well-appreciated." A short burst of laughter preceded his next words. "Would you like some?"
The space between them was idle at best, stroking the line of divergence and welcome and yet despite the jitter of her leg begging her to turn tail and run away, Riley remained set behind the circumference of her inquiry. The moments in between the thread of sentences leaving her mouth and Carson’s reply felt like an absolute lifetime but when he spoke every muscle in her body began to relax. Gelatine tendons wrapped around confiture bones, it was a good thing the man had obliged her for she melted into the seat regardless of his words allowing nothing between them but the smell of freshly cooked cheese pizza.
Neon illuminate danced in through the windows and flashed all across her face, colouring her facade in shades of red and orange, highlighting the back of Carson’s hair and dying the roots an astonishing shade of crimson. She found herself focused on how easy this moment seemed, how quickly the conversation flowed between them and how facile the words came to her mouth despite being ill-practiced. Carson made the entirety of the diner feel smaller somehow, the walls closing in around them until it was them and only them. In reality it might as well have been this way given the state of the world at this given moment. Given the lack of people who roamed the streets and the absence of other patrons in the diner with them. Perhaps it would have been the same with anyone else who entered in the throes of late evening as well but Riley would have no way of knowing. She teetered upon the edge of knowing exactly what he was going to say and having absolutely no idea what words would relinquish his mouth. It infuriated her and excited her all in the same, this guessing game she played with herself, an attempt at reading the lines that etched upon his face or the way his lips moved in the seconds before speech parted from his lips.
She felt a giggle bubble along the insides of her throat before she could stop it, and in the wake of it she felt the flush of her pale cheeks. She cupped her hand to her mouth and leaned back in the booth while remaining eye contact with the man. It was impossible to hide the smile behind the thin veil of her fingers and she was positive that Carson could read all over her face that she was nervous in front of him. Despite the confidence she attempted to exude it seemed impossible not to falter under his gaze.
“Collect yourself.” A soft voice in the back of her head gently loped forward and it was with this thought that she lightly placed her hands in her lap and took a deep breath.
“Thank you.” She spoke. The tones were soft and even as they left her mouth, which surprised the girl considering the amount of jittery strain that slid across her skin and made her bones feel like they were jello. Her heart had slowed however, which she figured was a good enough sign.
Perhaps it was the lack of customers that had her nerves bundled inside her stomach like an anchor or perhaps the enforcement of social distancing was playing a factor on her mental status but whatever the case she felt it now and it echoed inside her had and all across her face. The pony at the back of her head throbbed, recruiting her attention and in absence of herself Riley moved and pulled the elastic from her hair, letting the marigold tendrils fall all across one shoulder and frame the side of her face. It was perhaps the best feeling in the world to take out that pony tail and the accompaniment of a refreshing sigh was not to be denied.
“I do make good pizza.” She expressed, reaching out a hand and taking part in his offer. It was rightly quaint that they shared this meal together in this empty diner with the streets as quiet at Christmas Eve. Not a soul in sight but the two inside the booth and as eerie as it felt it was also quite charming in a way. Riley would have it no other way. She was quite glad she had managed to come into work tonight, managed to stick it out through the shit storm that had collected out through the districts. Perhaps she would even come in again tomorrow night.
She tore her eyes away from Carson then and managed to gaze out onto the streets. The lack of cars was apparent, and hers was the only open sign on throughout the entire block. The businesses had actively shut down weeks ago and it was still a surprise that they were running without being fined or forced to close. As much as she tried not to focus on the events of recent, as soon as one single thread was pulled the whole structure of her ignorance was unravelled. As such she was curious and more than a little worried about what was going to happen. The girl touched her chin as she slid her gaze back over to Carson.
“There is a lot of shit going on right now.” The murmur of her words were accompanied by another, louder inquiry.
“Are you worried, Carson?” Could he see the apprehension clouding her vision, or the uneasiness that accompanied the syllables?
Carson's clear blue eyes watched as Riley seated herself in the booth across from him. It was probably a complete lack of female company, as well as the fact that said female company wasn't exactly hideous, but Carson found himself completely arrested by every word from her lips and every move of her fingers and every twitch of her eyebrows and lips. If he wasn't careful, he'd have to pick his jaw up off the floor a few more times tonight and probably make an utter fool of himself. Especially the latter, if he wasn't mentally prepared enough - there were only too many opportunities this night could end completely pathetically.
To distract himself from his dining companion, Carson gingerly picked up a slice of the warm pizza. It smelled glorious, the grease from the cheese glistening under the diner lights. His stomach rumbled in anticipation, but he barely even heard or felt it enough to be embarrassed. The base was stiff under his fingers, comfortably familiar, and a rush of warmth spread through his body at the simple food. He'd missed this. He'd missed the normalcy of having pizza with his family on Friday nights, or when the game was on TV, or just whenever he and his brother were home with their parents. It was a comfort and comforting food, an ordinary piece of normal that was now extraordinary in his new life. Really, Carson could wax poetical about pizza, he missed it that much.
Briefly he closed his eyes to toast his parents. They had kept the tradition of pizza nights throughout the boys' teenage and adult years, getting them to come home at least once a week just to have some family time together. It had stopped when they'd gotten sick, and then when they had passed it was just too much for the Graysmith brothers to do it on their own. Pizza nights no longer felt right or complete when half of their usual dinnermates were gone. As he bit into the still-steaming pie, though, Carson thought he might get his brother to join him and reinstate pizza nights again. No longer just about family; it would be about toasting every week they survived.
Carson's musings on the pizza was paused when Riley pulled at her hair tie and the blonde strands came loose, framing her face and her cheekbones and her eyes. He watched as her lips parted in a sigh and her face relax somewhat. She was probably the most beautiful person he'd seen in a couple of weeks, and Carson found himself staring, the pizza slice suspended on its way to his mouth.
It was only when she spoke about the pizza that he came crashing back to Earth. Hastily, he pulled the slice in his hand back to his mouth and took another bite, lowering his eyes to the pizza between them as he nodded at her words. His head tilted slightly to the side as he chewed and swallowed, his eyes warm as they turned back to her. "I think you're being a bit modest," he answered. Pointing the half-slice at her as he gestured, Carson continued, "This is one of the best pizzas I've ever had. And it's not just because I've been in isolation for a couple of weeks."
Technically, he wasn't lying. He had been in isolation for the last couple of weeks, but it wasn't entirely by choice or by command of the government. It was also because he had nowhere else to go and no one else to be with. It was a way of mourning for him, and he hadn't wanted to be out and about anyway. His hidey hole wasn't a house either, and it wasn't his choice to stay there.
Polishing off the rest of the slice in his hand, Carson was reaching for his next one when Riley spoke again. Unconsciously mimicking where she'd looked earlier, he turned his head to look out of the diner and onto the empty streets beyond. There was definitely crazy going on out there, and he had an uncomfortable feeling that it was only going to get worse. Even if Advotex was confirmed a suitable vaccine and worked on the virus, the rebuilding of society after the pandemic was going to go on for months, and that too wouldn't be easy. To be honest, while Carson didn't see himself surviving that long, he didn't really know how he would function and what he would be doing after the pandemic. Too much had changed for him.
"Mmm," he agreed, turning back to face Riley while taking a bite out of his new slice. He didn't know how to reply to that. While the cloud of the apocalypse outside threatened over every conversation, he didn't want to scare her off by saying exactly what he thought of the new world. So instead he remained silent, his eyes watching her kindly and carefully. When her gaze met his, looking straight into his soul when she asked her next question, Carson swallowed heavily. Honestly?
"No," he replied softly, lowering his pizza slice as he answered her truthfully. "I'm not." He had nothing left to lose, really. He went through the machinations of fighting to survive, but that felt more automatic than from any real will to outlive the pandemic. Even if he caught the virus, he didn't think he cared all too much if he died. His only wish then would be that his brother wouldn't be around to see him in pain.
His eyes were fixed on his fingers as he brushed crumbs and grease from his hands, before flicking back up to meet Riley's in a soulful gaze. "Are you?"
A certain calm had washed over her now while she sat within the presence of Carson, breathing in his scent and allowing nothing else between them. Being across from him, watching the contours of his face move as he smiled and spoke in her presence made fireflies alight inside her stomach. Riley had to physically restrain herself from smiling.
Keep calm, you idiot. She admonished herself. It was funny how often she seemed to chastise herself while he sat in her diner, eating the food she made and parting his lips with perfect conversation. She was unable to focus on anything else, would another customer entered they would promptly be ignored for Riley was lost inside the eyes of Carson, beyond the galaxies hidden there and her intense desire to get to know the man more. Perhaps she should have been hanging off every word he spoke however she got lost inside the words and it took her a moment to collect herself, to rearrange them and filter them to fit proper sentences.
She sat back in her seat and blushed at his compliment of her food.
“Thank you.” The girl gave a warm smile, allowed her flushed cheeks to darken as she hid her face from the light. She never had taken compliments well. Honestly it was a miracle she say ‘thank you and’ not ‘happy birthday!’. Riley managed to run a hand through her hair again, something that seemed to be happening more and more she was around the man. Upon meeting his eyes again, Riley was astonished all over. It took no time at all for his gaze to make herself falter, to put her on the edge of her seat, a feeling that made her feel as if she could fall at any moment whilst lost in the sea of his stare. It was impossible that this person she had meant a little over half an hour ago could charm he so readily, swift her from the cemented stance of her feet and toss her right onto her head. It astonished her and exhilarated her all in the same and perhaps it is what drew her to sit with him in the first place, admiring the way the lights bounced along his hair, or the shadows that touched the very tip of his collarbone. Maybe it was the way his hair gently touched his forehead, falling free from the careful appearance and acting untamed in their arrival upon his face. Most likely though it was the blue of his eyes, the deep and concentrated beam that focused upon her as if she were the only woman in the world. He made her feel ethereal, as if she could float from this very seat in which she sat and fly high above and it was this feeling that had her moveing an iota closer to the man, had her flying as high as the hard drugs she used to do with her Father in the back alleys.
The girl sighed, remembered she had asked a question of him and them promptly balked when he answered her. She was surprised at his response and as if to lament such a feeling she tilted her head to the side.
“Really?” She caught his gaze again and softly smiled.
“That’s interesting.” Riley mentioned while tearing her gaze from his face and focusing on the the jittering of her hands in her lap. How could one not be worried in a situation such as this? The girl blinked and leaned forward.
“Of course I am worried.” She waved a hand to the empty streets that lay outside the diner, the lack of cars and people there on her list of concerns.
“It’s not just getting sick. It’s coming to work every day and wondering who will be infected and transfer it. It’s wondering if I am an asymptomatic carrier and giving to someone I care about, or...” Riley looked up from beneath butterfly lashes.
“Or even a stranger.” It had not occurred to her that perhaps they were both putting each other in danger. Although the thought was there she didn’t move away from him, she remained with her arms perched upon the table and her hands fidgeting just out of view.
“I am worried about Danielle and the diner, too.” Riley motioned to the space around them, the fluorescent lights that shone over them and highlighted the severe lack of patrons. His lax demeanour to the pandemic around them had her questioning what he had to lose, if anything. The inquiry was there but she dare not speak it, she didn’t want to offend the handsome stranger however the curiosity was apparent all across her face. Riley allowed the silence to sit between them for a long moment before biting at her lips carefully.
“Aren’t you worried about anyone?” She asked, after a long moment of silence.
The way the two of them sat across from each other, alone in the deserted diner with the empty streets outside, felt like they were in their own world, like they existed within a bubble that was far removed from the chaos outside. It felt intimate but also comfortable, and for the first time in a while, Carson let his guard down. Nothing bad could happen, right? They were just two strangers sharing a moment, the diner was considered essential so it wasn't like they were breaking any rules - and even if Carson was breaking curfew, he was at least somewhat hidden in the booth. They could both pretend like it was just the two of them with no worries or cares.
Of course, their conversation still belied their reality. Carson watched Riley as she first ran her hand through her hair, then leaned forward as if their conversation was drawing her closer to him. Of course it made sense that she was worried - him not being worried made less sense, and he got why she was unsure about it. But this girl probably had friends and family of her own; she had something to live for. Carson was never really a depressive type of person, he didn't really do a lot of thinking of mortality or feelings or anything like that. But that was before his parents died and the world went to shit.
The entire time Riley was talking, Carson remained quiet, opting to continue munching away at the pizza while it was still warm. He wasn't a complete arse about it, though, and made sure to keep eye-contact with the girl sat in front of him so he could show that he was paying attention to her. As if there was any chance that he couldn't - Riley filled his whole vision and his every sense. He was hyper aware of her every move, every word, every fidget. Really, he reckoned he needed to look at her less, because he was starting to feel a little bit like a creep.
At that thought, Carson awkwardly cleared his throat, using the excuse of reaching for yet another slice of pizza to not look at Riley. When her voice lowered as she mentioned that she could be passing the disease to a stranger, Carson was startled enough to look up and meet her gaze. He hadn't thought of that. He should have, considering the disease was their new normal and everyone needed to be a specific distance away from each other to avoid passing it on in case they were asymptomatic carriers. He'd just been so hungry and distracted by Riley that he'd forgotten to distance himself from her. At least the virus wasn't airborne?
While she also seemed equally startled by her own words, Riley also didn't make any move to put distance between them. Carson wondered if that was a good idea. "I'm not infected," he told her, although he hadn't been tested since the week after his parents died. The test had come clean then, and he hadn't shown any symptoms since. GHnV-20 became pretty obvious after two to ten days, as per the information provided to them, and he'd been fine so far. That's what he was basing his health status on. He sincerely hoped he wasn't an asymptomatic carrier. Maybe he should have gotten checked before he'd gone out to get dinner. Carson just hadn't expected to stay for dinner.
"That's fair," Carson nodded at Riley's next words about being worried for her boss or coworker - at least, Carson assumed Danielle was related to Riley's work, just going off the matter-of-fact way Riley said the name and 'the diner' being tacked on after it. He'd be worried about coworkers, too, if he had a job and was considered essential enough to still be going to it. When she turned the question to him, Carson paused mid-chew and looked at Riley to try and gauge how much he should tell her. He didn't want pity, he didn't want her to ask any more questions, because it was still difficult for him to talk about his parents and a bit more difficult to explain what he was doing and where he was staying since then. "Just my brother," he answered softly. "He's pretty much it for me, but he's doing his own thing these days."
An admission, and yet they made no movement to stray further from one another. It was indicative of the connection they shared and yet the appearance of the words made her uncomfortable. Who was she really worried about? Herself or the man who sat opposite her? She supposed if neither of them were infected that it did not matter but how was he to know that she wasn’t a carrier? She could unknowingly be infecting every person she came in contact with and that thought alone was absolutely terrifying.
She made no movements however what would be the point? Instead Riley moved her hand toward her chin and rested it upon her palm, listening to the man slither sly tones from his mouth. There was no denying the attraction she felt toward him, she found herself wanting to move closer, to share the space with him by sliding closer and invading his personal quarters. The clock on the wall read well into the evening, they would be closing soon but that point remained moot while she shared a booth with the only remaining customer. She could stay here all night if she wanted too, granted Danielle would be upset come morning when nothing had been turned off and the lights remained on. Honestly though, who cared about such things anymore? The world as it was, appeared to be on a brink.
Why was she wondering what his brother looked like? Was he anything like the man that sat across from her now, bathed in the fluorescent lights of the diner? Did he share the same personality? Were they close? Inquiries that appeared and then fell off from her train of thought, she didn’t want to pry and scare him away, this was not a date after all. She was his server, a waitress who was forced to be here during quarantine. Suddenly, uncertainty was upon her. Was he simply entertaining her? Had she forced her presence upon him?
The girl sighed, a clipped sound that followed the pursing of her lips. She grabbed another piece of pizza and shoved the contents into her mouth, enjoying the greasy, cheesy substance that exploded aboard her palette.
“A brother, eh?” Riley eyed the pizza in her hand, picking off the strings of cheese that fell toward the table.
“I don’t have any siblings.” The musing was tossed from her lips as she grasped at dialogue. Riley perused the table, first eyeing the pizza and then allowing her gaze to move across to the gentleman that sat opposite her. The feeling that arose in her stomach when she met his eyes was akin to the nights in which she used, where the entirety of her life was stripped to bare bones and precisely nothing was left but euphoria. The first time is always the most exciting and it wasn’t far fetched to believe that physical attraction could be compared to that of hard drugs. She wondered if he could see such inside the galaxies of her eyes.
She continued to pick at the pizza, her fingers devouring the toppings long before they made it to her mouth, perhaps an attempt at distraction from her lack of speech. There was a desire to ask more questions but they sat as useless items upon her tongue. Instead, Riley leaned back in her seat with the pizza in her hands and eyed him carefully. There was little more to be gleamed from him while he ate his pizza. He didn’t seem worried about the events around them, perhaps he knew something that she did not. That didn’t change the fact that she was very worried but his calmness seemed to placate her, at least for the moment. It occurred to her however that maybe he had already lost something he had cared for and such a thought only brought with it more questions. Riley had asked enough of him though, the conversation had turned sour, an underlying amount of removal from what he said and what laid beyond the blue of his eyes. The girl shifted again, crossing her legs beneath the table and placing her piece of pizza down.
“You know...” Her hands were in her hair again, evocative of nerves.
“If you have nowhere else to be, I have something behind the counter that we could get into.” Riley held his gaze, her brows furrowing and her lips turning upwards into a sly smile. Danielle always kept a bushel of alcohol beyond the counter. If he was into it perhaps they could drink the night away and forget about the show-show that was going on around them.
Carson's contemplation of his pizza was interrupted by Riley telling him she didn't have any siblings. He could have slapped himself in the face when he didn't ask her about her own family or loved ones, after she'd asked about his. It was usually only common courtesy to do so, but Carson had been so hungry - and so out of touch with social niceties - that he'd completely missed on that conversation cue. Riley probably thought him an idiot or an uncaring bastard for not asking about her life. Man, he was just hopeless these days. Although to be honest, Carson was very much a male and would probably have missed it completely even without the added stress and antisocialness brought by the chaos outside.
He wanted to ask her about her family, but the thing with the current environment was that it could be like stepping on a minefield. One never knew what topics were safe or not, what topics were easy and a way for them to pretend everything was fine, and what topics triggered emotional distress. Really, Carson was just trying to navigate the conversation as gently as he could. As it was, he appreciated not being asked about more of his family, even if Riley didn't mean to avoid the topic. It wasn't like Carson was going to erupt into tears over it, but it was still difficult to talk about, and despite the fact that he quite liked Riley and he liked talking to her, sometimes some things were just too raw to talk about to anyone.
Catching sight of the clock on the wall, Carson realised it was getting very late - too late for him to make it back to his hidey hole without it being classified as 'breaking curfew'. Feeling himself tense up again at the possibility of being caught by military as he was heading home, Carson didn't know if he wanted to make this evening last, to make his capture worth it, or if he should be quick and try to get home before all the patrols were out in full force. Riley also seemed to be out of conversation - probably his fault, he wasn't exactly in top form tonight - so Carson had just decided to finish off the rest of the pizza and start making sounds to pay, when Riley fidgeted as she spoke.
His eyebrows rose and a grin appeared on his face. He didn't know what the hell she had behind the counter, probably nothing that was actually illegal considering they were in a licensed establishment, but the order of her words and the sly tilt of her lips were just too inviting to pass up. "That sounds promisingly kinky," he teased, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. Carson pointed the last bit of crust between his fingers at her as he continued, trying to gauge what exactly she had in mind. "Is it something you want to be seen doing in this place through the full-length glass windows?"
There was something beyond the overtness of his stare, an ignition of flame that alit the moment she spoke the words and it tantalized her entire being. What was it about him that had her stomach tied into knots? Her cheeks flushed, for the thousandth time that evening as he spoke velvet words that crossed into her ears like liquid honey. Marmalade sentences that were so sweet she could devour each character. She had to compose herself in the wake of scandalous dialogue and it was much harder than anticipated. Her heart leapt from her chest the moment he spoke and her breath hitched inside of her throat. It took an entire minute for her to gather the puddle of her psyche that had melted upon the floor and once she did she steadied her eyes upon him. Sapphire optics that narrowed in the wake of Carson, in the presence of his bright hair and firm brow, the slight smile that twinged at his lips and the halo of red illuminate that backdropped him.
“Nothing so imaginative.” She replied softly as she got up from the table and wandered behind the counter. From here she could smell the burners from the stove, the grease that sat just beyond the strange area and the pies that laid within their shelves. None of this is what she wanted though, what he hands grasped for what the bottle of liquor that laid just beyond the cabinets, with two crystal glasses beside it. It wasn’t vintage but close enough, from a good year and tasted as such, not that she knew much about liquor. When he fingers snaked around the bottle she felt a tingle spread through the base of her spine and spread to her toes.
Danielle was going to be pissed.
Riley found it hard to care though, especially while in the presence of Carson who did something to the inside of her chest that she couldn’t quite explain. Around him she wanted to be dangerous, she wanted to feel alive reckless and it made very little sense. Despite this however, she jumped headfirst in the persona of a rebel and went back to the table; alcohol in hand.
“I really hope you drink.” She said as she twisted the cap and poured two glasses.
“Otherwise this wont be nearly as exciting for you as it will be for me.” Riley chuckled to herself and slid the glass over to him. She eyed him from across the table, meeting his gaze and holding it for a microsecond before raising her glass and smiling. It was a kind smile, a genuine one that stretched from ear to ear and unearthed the dimples along her cheeks.
“Cheers.” She allowed and waited for the moment he was to meet her glass with his.
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