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.
"And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons." -Abraham Lincoln
On January 1st, 1863, the 16th President Of the United States declared slavery illegal. In December, 2020, though the law still stood, a truckload full of human trafficking victims were rolling their way to the privately held company, Prism Biotech. This was the price of the freedom of no masks and the ability to openly walk in your own city; stealing the sovereignty of free peoples. These were the unwanted population of America: the undocumented immigrants, the runaway teenagers, anyone that wouldn't be looked for. Bound and gagged in the back of a moving truck, this was the way the world had become. And Louis Price himself had become complicit. After all; he had seen far worse.
It had been a job. A friend of a friend had said,
"You wanna make big bucks on a transport? Don't look, don't tell. That's it."
Louis was for the most part out of that line of work. He had enough night terrors to last a thousand lifetimes- he needn't any more. His disinterest showed. Until Prism Biotech was mentioned. The 'job' was accepted.
***
In exactly two hours, the latest shipment of human traffic victims were expected to arrive at Prism Biotech, where they were well needed. Except that there had been a hiccup. The truck had been lost.
Or so was the story Louis was about to spin. He had been given a contact number, and he was taking a gamble here. Either this would go in his favor, and he'd get an eye and an ear in Prism Biotech, or....
The alternative could get messy.
Luck had it though, Louis was a man who enjoyed a good gamble.
He held the throwaway phone to his ear, it was ringing. A pickup.
Here was the moment of truth.
"I want ya to listen real close. See, this delivery ya be expectin'? Well, there's been a problem with it. We gotta talk."
The burner had been placed in his palm. There was nothing to it that screamed it was bad or different. It was just a phone. It was a tool to be wielded. It was up to the owner to decide what it became. He had heard of burner phones in spy movies and television shows. He had never thought one would be placed in his hand, orders coming with it. There was a shipment coming in, the guy who usually handled it was off sick, having to quarantine.
At least that’s what they had told Thomas. The reality of the other mans whereabouts was so much worse. He had no idea the man would never return to work again, the company email would state he had been lost to the virus or fired. Nothing more.
He was given a date and time, he was to receive the shipment. Catalogue it, and process it into the company. He had asked what it was he was receiving, he was naive enough to assume that it was supplies. Paper, penciled, beakers, supplies the company needed to run.
What he hadn’t expected was for it to be humans. People. He was supposed to accept a shipment of people. He had known better than to question the order, Thomas knew what happened to people who questioned the operation, who put up an ethical stand against what they were doing. How else was the trial supposed to get participants? How else were they supposed to conduct their research? Puck brought in one person a week, it wasn’t enough for the whole department. Thomas had never considered it before, never asked where the others had come from. He had just assumed it was other men and woman like Puck bringing them in. He hadn’t anticipated this.
He had lost his ability to focus. Waiting on the shipment in the restricted docks of the building. It took a high level of clearance to be down here, there were a couple of workers with him. Ready to accept the shipment and help him to process it. But they were looking to him. He was the one who had been given the burner phone, he was the one who was in charge of it. There couldn’t be any screw ups. He needed to make sure that this happened seamlessly.
A buzzing in his pocket caused him to fish out the phone. Well aware that it was the burner. The number Unknown across the screen. Thomas picked up the call, allowing the silence to eat at the connection. The last thing he wanted to do was screw this up. The man on the other end of the line spoke first, an almost drawl to his voice as he spoke. Thomas listened as ice water filled his veins.
”What kind of problem?” Thomas spoke the words as he walked out of the room, into open air and away from the other workers that lingered. ”We’re talking now, aren’t we?” He couldn’t help but say to the man as he walked, needing to move. ”Just tell me what’s going on, what happened to the shipment.”
