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
CHARACTERS
STAFF NAME
OPEN MODERATOR POSITION
outbreak
/ˈaʊtbreɪk/ zero /ˈzɪərəʊ/
a sudden occurrence of something unwelcome, such as war or disease. number, no quantity or number; nought; the figure 0.
[attr="class","CONTENT"] "Almost there buddy." Wesley tried to reassure the guy lying on the park bench in front of him, though, he was lying. He looked over his shoulder to the gun pointed at his face. There were pros and cons of working for criminals and despite being more of a criminal himself, practicing medicine without a proper license and helping other criminals, trusting each other was always an issue. Wes was somewhat used to being threatened to have various weapons pointed at him even though he usually had his hands deep inside someone’s guts so either ending was never going to be pretty.
Most times Wes was always able to save the situation or the patient but this guy here? Eh. Pretty low chance of survival. He took a knife to the chest and everything would have been fine if one of those idiots wouldn’t have pulled said knife out, resulting in causing even more damage. Seemed like they failed their first aid class. Wes ignored the guy behind him yelling to hurry up.
One hand was placed tightly on the guy's wound as he tried to apply pressure to minimize the bleeding. Wes shook his head which just made the other guy yell more at him. "He’s not going to make it. There’s not much I can do for him here." he told him, gesturing around him. They were at the river surrounded by nothing. Transporting him somewhere else where Wes could actually do something would be risky and pretty much useless by now.
He pushed himself up into a standing position. As he turned around he was met with the rear end of the gun, hitting him against his face. Wesley stumbled a step back, legs hitting the bench. Before he could speak up he only heard a 'Grab him!' before he was surrounded by the thugs, each one grabbing him and dragging him over to the edge of the sidewalk.
'There’s not much we can do for you either.'
And with that, he was tossed into the water like a pebble.
Although the cold of the water was more than just shocking Wes managed to make his way up, his head popping out from under the surface. The current fortunately wasn’t too strong but still dragging him away. Taking a swim in this nasty water wasn’t how he wanted his evening to go. After some struggling, he finally managed to get a hold of something helping him out of the river. He dragged himself onto the bank, covering his clothes in mud and dirt.
Lexi had spent all morning researching microwaves. It was incredibly boring, but unfortunately necessary. The one that she had been using for, well, forever had decided at last to stop working last night. So she found herself both popcorn-less and set on the task of getting a new one. She had thought it would be simple. Go to Amazon. Add to cart. And done. Amazon had been out of them however, backlogged for months on out. So she had looked elsewhere. Every website she had gone onto was either incredibly overpriced, had a ton of negative reviews online, or were simply out of stock for months. It was not looking to be as easy as she had originally thought. Apparently she wasn't the only one out there with a high-dependency to that particular kitchen appliance.
So her next step was to shop locally. She called the big-box store and of course they were also out. Though, they did say a new shipment should be there in a week. The only appliance store in town wanted more for one than she'd make in a month. Then finally, there was a smaller shop where her mother had suggested she call. Miraculously, they had one in stock and at a price she could actually afford.
So Lexi had asked them to reserve it, got her jacket and purse, and took off. She had left her apartment and began walking near the park. It was the closest direction to the little store and she hoped with how cold it was today, it would also be the least busiest. She had just made it near the edge of where the river was when something caught her eye.
A man was half-in, half-out of the water, covered in mud and clearly not meaning nor wanting to be there. She stopped and looked around but there didn't seem to be anyone else near them who could help. Lexi ran over, dropping to her knees on the ground to help pull him away from the water's edge. At least that's what she had planned. Unfortunately, as she dropped down, the area was already slick, causing her to slide and slip into the same icy river. On instinct she grabbed him as a yelp left her lips, the rescue attempt quickly going south in a hurry.
[attr="class","CONTENT"] Wesley was trying to catch his breath, hands digging into the dirt as he tried to drag himself out just so his legs could be out of the water too. He was already starting to shiver, his lips turning a soft shade of blue and purple mixed in with the warmth of his natural rose-tinted lips. There wasn’t much surface to grasp as the mud kept just dissolved in his hands. He ripped out a bunch of browned grass, feet kicking against the water. The weight of his jeans and the rest of his clothing didn’t really help. If he wasn’t going to get sick with the virus he would definitely be down with a severe cold by tomorrow.
Feeling the need to take a very brief break from the struggling he planted his face against the ground. Alright, he got this. Just swing one leg out and then the other. Once more he gathered the strength to wiggle forward when suddenly someone came running in his direction. By the time he lifted his head to look who it was, his eyes barely having any time to adjust to the darkness, hoping it wasn’t any of the thugs from earlier ready to throw him back into the water, the only thing he was able to see was long, blonde hair before the person slipped on the mud.
If he had a chance to let out a frustrated groan he would have done so but before he could really think about what he wanted to do his hands shot up to prevent the person from slipping into the water next to him. Unfortunately, the slippery ground got him too and as he pushed them forward he fell backward into the water. He didn’t try to so instead he dipped his head underwater, a series of bubbles leaving his lips one after another, floating towards the surface before popping and disappearing into the water. Wesley opened his eyes but it was difficult, the dirty and cloudy water stung in his eyes and the darkness was even greater than the one above the surface.
He broke through the surface once again, spitting out nasty river water immediately after, and stretched his arm to get a hold of the bank. Rubbing his hand over his face and then through his hair to push it out of his face not so gracefully - or perhaps as graceful as one could do while freezing and stuck in a river - Wes pulled together all of his energy, the adrenaline giving the last bit of a push he needed to overcome the cold and tiredness that slowly started to convince him to give up.
As he grabbed the riverbank, being once again in the same position he was earlier, his eyes found the blonde hair he spotted earlier. The person didn’t look like one of the thugs. Letting out a resigned sigh he raised his arm and wiggled it at them. "A little help perhaps? Be careful, it's slippery."
Lexi had one time taken a ski trip with her parents when she was a teenager. It had been her first ever foray into a recreational sport that involved snow and ice. It had not gone well. She had not only fractured her own elbow but also managed to break a rack that had been holding skis and built in the 1920's. She had never ventured into anything of the sort before. Until now apparently.
Her feet went out from under her and she landed solidly on the side of her thigh. She had begun to slip even further down the small decline, her feet dipping into the ice cold water. Thankfully, for her at least, the guy pushed his hand out and prevented her from falling into the water. Which of course made him fall back into the chilling waters. Lexi got on her knees, panic filling her features as she watched bubbles appear instead of the guy.
She looked around but there was no one in sight. She was about to scream for help when he thankfully broke through the surface. He sputtered out some river water and hauled himself towards the edge, holding his hand out to her. He made a joke and as she grabbed his hand, she found herself giving a short laugh. Maybe it was the fact that he could still find humor in a really crappy situation or maybe it was from the sheer relief that she hadn't killed him. Either way she grabbed his hand firmly, hauling him up as much as she could onto the bank and away from the water.
She didn’t know how long he had been in the freezing water before she, well, pushed him back into them, but she doubted he could afford the time it would take to get him all the way to the hospital. "My place is only a block away. Lean on me okay?" She leaned with all of her bodyweight to help pull him up, sliding his arm around her shoulder so she could better brace him to walk. She didn't spare time waiting to see if he was okay with everything before beginning to make the slow trek back to her place. "What's your name?" She knew she needed to keep him talking, to keep him awake and focused. Normally, in her career she would ask about dinosaurs, but she doubted he'd respond well to that. "I'm sorry by the way. I didn't mean to push you back in." She figured that was obvious, but figured it was also worth mentioning. "Do you have a death wish? Or was this some sort of Tik Tok challenge gone horribly wrong?"
She focused on getting him to her place, with about half of a mile to go. She figured they would have been stopped by now by some concerned citizen but no. No one made any attempt to ask questions or detain them as she half dragged/half hauled him the rest of the way, all the way to her apartment building and then up the elevator to her place. "Almost there. Just stay awake…please don't die okay?" She risked a glance for just a moment, her face hoping that he could register the joke and that he hadn't passed out on her.
Her hands were shaking as they finally made it to the door. She tried to put her keys in, missing the lock one time before finally getting it in and turning. "Okay. Here we go…" She stepped inside her place with him, moving quickly to the couch. The second she was able to carefully set him down she ran to her thermostat and pushed it to the warmest setting. She then ran to her room, grabbing the heavy, soft, comforter she had on her bed. She jogged back to him with it in her hands and paused.
He was completely wet and if he stayed in those wet clothes it was going to take much, much longer for him to get warm. "You need to take your clothes off." She felt her cheeks instantly reddening at the words that came out of her mouth, but she continued on, "I can get you a cup of coffee...or maybe some tea from the kitchen if you'd rather that? I don't think I have anything that might fit you but the blanket is really warm if you want to….uhm…wrap it around yourself?" Yes, her cheeks were entirely on fire. She never would have thought, as she had set off to buy a microwave…that in a few mere moments she would be asking a complete male stranger to take his clothes off and cover himself in her comforter yet here she was.
