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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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!
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APPLICATIONS
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MEDIATOR
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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!
GENERAL INQUIRIES
CLAIMS
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STAFF NAME
OPEN MODERATOR POSITION
outbreak
/ˈaʊtbreɪk/ zero /ˈzɪərəʊ/
a sudden occurrence of something unwelcome, such as war or disease. number, no quantity or number; nought; the figure 0.
[attr="class","CONTENT"] Art didn’t like the bulkiness of the ambulance, nor did she fancy the uniform. It had been a few days but still, she felt more than just uncomfortable. Her hand grasped the side of her door, her back pressing against the seat as her more experienced partner, who was also a senior paramedic, stepped on the gas pedal once more. Her body flung into the passenger door as they made a sharp right turn and she couldn’t help herself but glower at him. If this continued she might need the ambulance for herself. Once she was done thinking that thought they made yet another sharp turn, sending her into the door once again.
As the only option was to go straight down the main street she relaxed - a bit. Dropping her hand to her side she adjusted the strap around her chest, holding her radio in place. Dark green eyes, the color of old jade, shot the person beside her a glare but before she could say something her partner let out a small gasp which then made her look back at what laid in front of them. Despite the closed windows of the vehicle, she could smell the smoke, the fire, something burning. It stung in her nose and she knew it would be even worse once they got out.
The brunette’s eyes widened at the sight. The past few days of working as a rookie EMT all she saw were minor cases. This… this was something she would have never imagined seeing so fast. A building on fire, half of it already collapsed. The street around it was covered in ash and smoke as black as the night rose from the roof. The fire trucks had already arrived, spotting firefighters scattered all around the premise.
Swallowing hard Artemis opened the door, jumping out of the passenger side of the car after they came to a halt at a safe distance. She surely was nervous, but the moment her feet touched the ground all she could do was let out a sigh. The world they lived in was already chaotic enough. If this was going to be the result of some careless leaving a candle unattended situation she was going to be more than just annoyed. Casualties like this could be avoided so easily but yet humans thought of ways not to.
’Get the stretcher from the back and the supplies. I’ll check with the chief.’ she was ordered and oh boy did she hate that. With a mocking salute, she moved over to the back, opening the doors and pressing the button to have the ramps go down. Jumping into the ambulance Art grabbed all necessaries including the emergency bag containing all sorts of bandages and wound dressings as well as some medication, the defibrillator and monitor, and whatever her list from school told her to use. In her mind, she ran down the points she was always reminded to not forget at all cost.
Making sure she got everything loaded on top of the stretcher she walked next to it as she moved it down. When she was out of the ambulance Art turned to the left, her eyes fixed on the stuff on top of the stretcher. The defibrillator was wiggling as she moved, making it seem as if it would fall. Not paying any attention to her surroundings, because those supplies would probably cost her a whole monthly paycheck if not, even more, she didn’t see the person standing nearby whom she ran the stretcher into.
Upon impact, her gaze flicked up, a veil of annoyance covering her face as she looked at whoever stood in her path. "You’re standing in my way. Move!" she let out instead of apologizing.
[attr="class","dilyrics3"]where did I go wrong? I lost a friend, somewhere along in
[attr="class","dilyric3"]the bitterness
[attr="class","dibody3"]
Artemis let out a small sigh, her gloved hands in the process of wrapping up the patient when she glanced up at Cass. "You just can't wait to finish your tacos, right." she teased, rolling her eyes at him in a playful manner. "I’m almost done... aaaand-" she started, working on patching up the wound some more so he would at least survive the trip to the hospital without bleeding all over the ambulance and worst-case… die. “Done.” Art said, glancing up at Cass one more time. "Let’s put him on the stretcher and get him in."
Art took off one bloody glove to reach for her radio so she could notify the nearest hospital about their arrival and the status of the patient. Once she was done she took off the other glove to, swapping the dirty ones out for a fresh pair. One hand grabbed the stretcher next to them, pulling it down so it could drop to the ground for easier transfer. "One, two, three!" she breathed as they heaved the guy up on the stretcher and pulling it back to the top, rolling it back to the ambulance.
The brunette shook her head in disapproval as they made their way back through the crowd and the police officers. "Sometimes I really want to punch someone in the face." she muttered under her breath, hoping no one but Cass could hear it. She could swear she heard the sound of cameras taking pictures and someone taking videos of it as if they were vlogging the whole scene but she tried her best to ignore it. That always had been a problem and will never stop. Humans were just trash in general - pre- and post-pandemic. Sometimes she wondered if the new virus also killed off brain cells because it for sure seemed like that.
[attr="class","dilyrics3"]where did I go wrong? I lost a friend, somewhere along in
[attr="class","dilyric3"]the bitterness
[attr="class","dibody3"]
Artemis shook her head softly at his words, chewing on her taco. “I don’t know how you survived so far. You know I could order these without veggies but I won’t even if you ask me to.” she said, nut-brown eyes staring blankly ahead. Sometimes men were like children. You just needed to force the good things on them or in this case into them. Or maybe you could compare it to pets having to take medication where you try to sneakingly hide the pill inside a treat. Art snorted at the thought, wondering if it would work to hide fruit or vegetables inside a meatball or something.
She couldn’t help herself but glance over at her partner, slightly rolling her eyes the moment she spotted a piece of meat drop down. But just then she started to choke on her own food, instantly reaching for her drink in the cupholder, setting aside her taco on a napkin spread out on her lap. Patting her chest she took large sips from the straw stuck inside the cup, flushing down any remains that were stuck in her throat. Once it was clear again she coughed, turning her head away from him and towards the window of the passenger’s door.
Ah, the joy of working as a first responder or basically any job. The moment you get yourself a nice, hot cup of coffee or some food there’ll be a call or a customer or whatever business one was working in. Art was used to drinking her coffee cold, eating her food cold, or simply reheating it at home or at the station. Especially these days… there was barely a day she had actually gotten to enjoy a fresh meal or drink. It would always end up sitting there, inside the ambulance, until they returned to the station or were able to take a quick break in between calls.
She quickly placed her remaining food back inside the bag it came from, wiping her mouth with a napkin and then sanitized her hands pre-arrival. The moment she opened stepped out of the ambulance she stripped on a pair of gloves, flexing her fingers to make sure they sat right. Her eyes wandered over to the police cars. They always made her a little more nervous because it was never a good sign if the police had to be at the scene. Following Cas through the crowd of civilians and possibly curious onlookers, she spotted the patient on the ground.
As Cas kneeled down she walked over to the other side of the man. Analytical eyes carefully watched as he cut through the fabric and instantly followed the trail of blood to the wound. ‘You wanna take lead on this patch?’
Art swallowed hard, getting slightly distracted and losing focus as she stared at the abdominal puncture wound. She wasn’t sure what had caused her to have flashbacks at this exact moment. Was the wound itself? Was it the familiar feeling of terror? Was it blood just gushing out? It wasn’t her first abdominal puncture trauma, not at all. It was strange. Perhaps it was the stress that had built up after all these extra shifts they had to work.
Snapping out of her thoughts she looked at Cas, nodding quickly. “Sure.” she replied, trying to hide the slight stutter that came out, and proceeding to take out the supplies she needed out of the kit. Her hands wandered to the wound, the blue gloves quickly turning a darker shade as they touched the blood. The majority seemed to be on his clothing and himself but it slowly made its way to the ground. Fearing he might be losing too much blood soon Art tried her best to bandage the wound first. If it wouldn’t help to get the bleeding under control they would need to apply manual pressure on it.
Her gaze flipped over to the man’s face and for whatever reason, it changed to someone else - a face all too familiar. Her hands started shaking a little as she squinted at the face but then returned her attention to the wound at hand. The bleeding wasn’t stopping so she pressed her hands on it to apply the pressure needed.
[attr="class","dilyrics3"]two paper moons hanging on the night ceiling sometimes to be seen, or unseen
[attr="class","dilyric3"]as it please
[attr="class","dibody3"]
‘I got a call about this one. An EMT friend, said that she’d heard chatter about a commotion down here. It’s- not really official business, right, but we need to do what we can these days.’
Artemis narrowed her eyes at him for a moment. An EMT friend? If she was still working for the police she would be a little suspicious by now but since she wasn’t, and she was a paramedic, it wasn’t really her business to stick her nose into - not that it would keep her from doing it at some point anyway. But the only thing that was important and mattered to her at this moment was the unconscious man in front of her.
Nevertheless, she listened to him and nodded along, trying to make sense of this situation.
‘I found him like this. After I came to the junkyard, I found him on the ground. My first thought was that maybe the EMTs just couldn’t afford to make the stop, divert from their usual route-’
Artemis suppressed a sigh at the mention of EMTs not being able to afford the stop. It was true. They didn't have enough manpower to cover all calls but they tried. “I don’t think so. We received the call and immediately came here. My partner’s somewhere around here too. He could help but I don’t think we have that much time to spare.” she said, brown eyes flickering between the head and the torso of the man. She slipped on a pair of gloves, which she honestly had forgotten to do before touching the man to check his pulse. A grave mistake these days.
She hovered above him, gently opening each eye and shining her flashlight into it to see if the pupils reacted, then looking at his ears and nose for any blood. Mumbling a bunch of words as she went through her mental checklist of things, Artemis then proceeded to cut open his shirt with the scissors she had at hand, her gaze following down the line to his navel as she looked for bruising. A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she was at least 80% certain he wasn’t suffering from any internal bleeding.
“Any idea if he took something? There’s some heavy stuff going around these days.” she asked Greg, looking at him for a brief moment before taking her flashlight and patting down the man’s pockets. She could feel a plastic bag beneath one of them, carefully lifting the fabric and picking out the tiny, clear bag which seemed to be filled with some sort of pills. Nothing she had seen before, nothing she could recognize as official medication but also ruling out known drugs.
Holding it up to further inspect it she held it in front of Greg. “Have you seen this before? You… didn’t take any of this, did you? Look, I’m not a cop. I’m here to help. So feel comfortable to tell me anything you know, otherwise it’ll make it more difficult to save this guys’ life.”
[attr="class","dilyrics3"]two paper moons hanging on the night ceiling sometimes to be seen, or unseen
[attr="class","dilyric3"]as it please
[attr="class","dibody3"]
Artemis wrinkled her nose at the slightly disturbing smell of garbage rotting away in the summer heat. But it wasn‘t like she was unfamiliar with it. In fact, she had smelled worse... especially during her time with the police force. Rotten trash was nothing in comparison to rotten corpses. She was about to make a call on the radio to ask dispatch if there was a possibility of this being just some kind of prank call because unfortunately, those happened quite often. Kids thinking it’s fun to call 911 with no real emergencies happening and wasting precious resources for anyone who could need real help. It was awful and horrible at that but maybe she just needed to search the place some more… there still was a chance someone really needed help.
And it didn’t take much longer until she heard someone answer her.
“I’m over here! He’s breathing, no sign of blood loss or head trauma, but we need an ambulance, stat!”
She looked around to see where the voice was coming from amidst the piles of metal scrapes, rusty things and trash. As she pointed her flashlight into the direction she thought was the right one her chocolate eyes caught sight of two figures on the ground. Rushing over to the brunette kneeling beside someone she reached for her radio to make a quick call to Cass who was most likely somewhere on the other side looking.
Looking over her shoulder there was no sign of her partner and Art didn‘t have much with her as they would usually find the other again once needed. She was hoping the radio was working and that he would be nearby. A drop of sweat rolled down her temple. Lifting her upper arm she wiped it away with the sleeve of her shirt.
“Are you the one who called? What happened?” she asked the guy who had called her over, before looking back at the one on the ground. “Sir, can you hear me?” Her fingers went to his throat to check his pulse, her eyes glanced over his body real quick before she unsnapped the stiff-neck to put around his neck. Unresponsive. Her head whipped around, scanning the area in the dark. Even the small flashlight couldn‘t help as she tried to figure out if there were any indicators around as to what happened to him. „Were you with him or did you find him like this?“
[attr="class","dilyrics3"]where did I go wrong? I lost a friend, somewhere along in
[attr="class","dilyric3"]the bitterness
[attr="class","dibody3"]
Brown eyes scanned the menu, head tilted back as she looked up at the food truck. Once she had decided what to get for herself and Cass her gaze moved over to the guy standing behind the register, waiting for her order. "Can I get two crunchy and two soft grilled BBQ steak tacos... without guac, two with fewer veggies and double meat, two extra spicy, one side of cheese nachos, extra salsa and two large iced sodas. Actually, make it two sides of cheese nachos. Thanks." she said, ignoring the slightly annoying stare she was given after the guy jotted it all down.
"$23,83." he said, while she fumbled around in her wallet. She handed him her card and watched as he swiped it through the system before handing it back with the same annoyed expression on his face. "Thanks. Do you mind giving me some more napkins? A lot more." she asked, nodding at the small dispenser on the counter, arm reaching out to take the order and her card. She held the paper bag with one hand, trying to stuff her card back into the wallet. Once that was accomplished she grabbed the holder with the two drinks in it and made her way back to the ambulance.
Balancing both the drinks and the food Artemis arrived at the parking lot across the street, the hand with the bag grasping the door latch and pulling it open. She placed the food on the seat before hauling herself up, standing on the edge as she put down the drinks on the front board, and then pulled herself inside, finally taking a seat. "They ran out of carnitas so I hope steak is fine. Double meat and no guac, almost no veggies, just for you."
Before Cass could make a mess she grabbed the bag and opened it, taking out her share of the tacos and nachos, before handing him over the whole bag so he could use it as a plate, or napkin, or baby bib. She shot him a cautious look, dropped a pile of extra napkins she asked for earlier next to him, taking just two for herself, hoping for the best and then unwrapped her crunchy taco, taking a big bite.
Working as a first-responder always meant not being able to enjoy your food hot or moderately warm. It usually ended up turning cold or inedible after returning from a call. It was a curse cast upon anyone in the field. Got yourself a nice cup of coffee? Expect a call to come in. Thinking about ordering that jumbo-sized pizza with the voucher you got in the mail last week? Expect it to be cold and gone, eaten by the firefighters and co-paramedics at the station before you could even get a whiff of the pepperoni and cheese smell.
Art had been looking out of the window while she ate, munching away as fast as she could - barely chewing. She awaited dispatch calling in and hurried to eat, trying to enjoy the taste despite not really tasting much.
[attr="class","dilyrics3"]two paper moons hanging on the night ceiling sometimes to be seen, or unseen
[attr="class","dilyric3"]as it please
[attr="class","dibody3"]
A yawn escaped her lips, eyes staring blankly at the road ahead of her. She was sitting in the passenger’s seat, her partner driving. Small hands were cupped around the plastic container filled with iced coffee. The ice cubes jiggled and clinked against the cup as they drove over bumps. Another night, another shift never-ending shift.
Artemis checked the GPS coordinated given to them by dispatch. It wasn’t even in the city but outside of it in Lethford Heath, the suburbs. She sighed, before taking a long sip of the cold beverage. Even though she was basically surviving on coffee it would never be enough to keep her awake. The days were long, the shifts difficult and hard. Her eyelids felt heavy and she could have sworn she fell asleep for a second.
As they arrived at the address, the junkyard, she unbuckled her seatbelt, placed the coffee into the cup holder next to her, and opened the door. Dispatch wasn’t able to give them the exact location of the caller nor did they know what injuries or issues they had. The call ended before the 911 operator could ask for more information and they had the call traced back to this place. They didn’t even know if it was a serious call or not but taking these times into consideration they wanted to make sure and went to have a look.
Artemis took off her light jacket before exiting the nice, cool ambulance, jumping out of the vehicle. A wave of heat greeted her and she already missed being inside the car with the air conditioning on. It was great that cars weren’t affected by the power outages, not that the essential businesses were anyway. But if they had to drive around in the summer’s heat without air conditioning? It would be impossible.
Her eyes scanned the surroundings but all she could see was junk, huge piles of junk. Trashed cars, all sorts of debris, kitchen appliances stacked onto each other like a game of Jenga - a pile of cars stacked onto each other like a game of death Jenga. Art was sure they would tipple over once someone just breathed into that direction. Just to make sure she took a few steps away from it, better safe than sorry.
The darkness made it quite hard to see anything, even though the headlights of the ambulance were illuminating the area around it a little. She grabbed her flashlight and turned it on.
Shining her flashlight through the trash she called out loud. “Hello? Is there anyone who called 911? Hello? Anyone here?”
Needless to say after leaving behind her life as a rookie police officer which was her dream job from the moment she was born she became bitter. It became such a big part of her that no matter how nice people would act towards her all she would do is to roll her eyes and spit in their faces. She didn't need their happiness. She didn't want it.
Artemis is, to be blunt, quite a bitch most of the time. She's very snappy, rude, and just not the nicest person around. Now one would ask why someone like her wanted to become an EMT, a job where you help people. And it all honesty it's because of the money. They hired, staff was desperately needed, and Art used it as a chance.
A part of her was hoping with a chance like that she could revive her initial want to help others in need. Hoping and perhaps longing to find that part of her after all these years she has made it a personal mission even if it wasn't going to be easy. But Art never had issues with something not being easy. Where was the fun it things being easy? She liked a challenge.
She's very stubborn, head-strong and most likely won't accept a no as an answer. She tends to be a bit of a troublemaker, rebellious even if you want to say so. If her opinion clashes with someone else's, even if it's a figure of authority, she doesn't hold back. Words leave her mouth before she can think about the consequences. And despite not working for the police anymore, not carrying a badge, and having a gun at her disposal she still can be found sticking her nose in trouble. Did she forget she wasn't an officer anymore? No. Did she care? No.
[attr="class","ozapptitle"]BIOGRAPHY
Artemis was born to Matthew Bexley and Adela Bexley neé Zhao in San Francisco, California where she lived most of her life and attended school in. Her early years of life could be described as quite ordinary. Nothing ever happened which wasn’t too bad. Her family had always been a happy one until the birth of her little brother. Artemis was only 11 when she lost her mother after she suffered complications during giving birth. Her brother survived and was deemed healthy and without any troubles but unfortunately passed away shortly after due to SIDS. Devastated by two losses within such a short amount of time her father struggled to get through it.
The Bexley family never struggled with money as both parents were working and her mother had received an inheritance from her dad. But once her mom was gone and her dad unable to work as he tried overcoming the recent events, they had to give up their house, their cars, and everything that had emotional value to Artemis. She lived with her aunt for a while until her dad got back to his feet - supposedly.
At the age of 16, Artemis started working part-time at a gas station to support her dad with money and to save up. Her dad didn’t know. One day she was working an evening shift when two masked men stormed inside the gas station demanding all the money in the register, waving guns at her. However, one of them seemed to feel nervous as he looked at her. The partner continued with the screaming and started messing around with shelves around him. The nervous one suddenly asked his partner to leave and check out another store but his partner refused and they ended up getting into a fight with each other. Artemis, who had watched too much tv and always dreamed of becoming a police officer, had called 911 as soon as they approached the store and they were on the line listening. The robbers run off as soon as they heard the sirens.
Artemis came home that night to her dad in the living room watching tv. He told her he had cooked dinner for her, which was something he had never done before or maybe just on special occasions. A little confused she went to the kitchen part of their small apartment as dug into the food as he started a conversation about how her day was going. Another thing he never did. The two of them barely saw each other, barely met at home, barely talked. Suspiciousness crept up on her and she walked to her dad to confront him about being weird. When she turned on the lights, taking a closer look at him, she noticed the black eye he was sporting as well as some swollen parts here and there. He was obviously beaten up. Before she could say something he ran out of the apartment.
Of course, she wasn’t going to let go just like that. She went into his room and searched for clues, stumbling upon a gun she didn’t know he owned, a mask sloppily hidden under his bed, a stack of cash, and small plastic bags filled with pills. Artemis was shocked, to say the least, and couldn’t sleep the night. So once he returned home in the morning, drunk, she confronted him with the evidence. He tried to play it off, told her it wasn’t his. Feeling as if the roles were reversed, her being the parent and him being the teenager making dumb decisions, she broke out in tears and desperately tried to make him stop doing whatever he was doing to earn money. She had already lost her mother, her brother, and she didn’t want to lose her dad too.
He actually stopped, but not for long. After two weeks he relapsed, went out for another robbery, got shot, and arrested as he tried to flee. And this was going to continue for a couple of times until Artemis decided, once she had her high school degree, to run away from home. She moved to Los Angeles, with the money she had saved up, worked some more jobs here and there until she was able to apply for the police academy at the age of 22.
Her first day as a rookie at the Los Angeles Police Department would be the worst day in her life. She was assigned to a training officer and the two went out for her first patrol. He told her he was about to become a father, his wife pregnant with twins. He was supposed to go on vacation the next day as they expected birth. Artemis spotted two guys who looked like they were dealing, handing something to the other and she requested to stop and handle the situation. It was supposed to be an easy one, a small felony, but it turned out to be much bigger than it appeared to be. It ended up in a shoot out and her training officer got shot in the process. She tried to help him, to save him, but when back up and the ambulance arrived it was too late and he had passed away in her arms.
She blamed herself since it was her who asked him to stop even though he told her to let it go. Her sense of justice got in the way. It was her fault he didn’t get to be a father, his wife was a widow and her children were now to grow up without their dad. At first, she continued working at the same district, training, but the hole she fell into became deeper and deeper. She tried to drag herself out of it, barely managing, but every single day she would wake up and go to work.
A year later Art quit her job, packed her belongings, and moved across the country to Lethford leaving her past as an officer behind. For years she struggled, tried every job she could get but nothing really ever filled that hole that was left after leaving her absolute dream job behind. Then the pandemic struck and things seemed even gloomier. It was just shortly after that emergency medical personnel was desperately searched for and she applied, without thinking about it too much. A source of income was a source of income. In the end it was all about the money. Once she finished the required training she was assigned to the fire department, something she really never thought to work at. Desperate times required desperate measures. She has yet to see if helping others in a different way might fill the hole she had yearned to fill for all these years.
