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"] He awkwardly stood in his own apartment, taking one more look around to reassure himself. Maxwell expected the woman to take her things and leave, telling him it was just a mistake but instead she got up from the couch where she had made herself comfortable – a little too comfortable for his taste considering it was still his apartment and his couch. Curious eyes followed her as she moved to one of the bedrooms and then waved a lease agreement into his face.
Max took the lease agreement from her hands, though he would have rather ripped it away and then tore it into pieces. His eyes quickly read over the words, all the blablabla he already went through when he signed it. He only paused over her name, written right next to his. He never agreed to anything nor did he ever think his landlord could or would do this. Max wasn't up for an involuntary roommate. No. “You can't stay here,” he sighed, keeping the document. “Hang on a second.” He fished out his phone, scrolling through the tremendous amount of contacts until he found his landlord's number. He pressed the call button, holding the phone against his ear. He was hoping for him to pick up but all he heard was the ringing tone until it went to voicemail. He would need to talk to his landlord tomorrow to clear things up because this was unacceptable.
“I can give you the money you paid in advance and the deposit. I didn’t ask to have my apartment shared with another person nor am I in need of it. It’s probably just a mistake,” he told her, folding the paper twice vertically so it would fit into the pocket of his pants. Max let out yet another sigh, his bright smile vanishing from his face. His fingers reached for his temples which he then rubbed, drawing small circles against the skin. The headache seemed to have disappeared but as soon as she spoke again it reappeared in an instant. He flashed her a smile, followed by a soft chuckle. “To move them out? Sure. Take the coffee as an apology for Mr. Hunt’s mistake.”
Tired eyes anchored on her the moment she started walking back to him, moving around the apartment as if she lived there for years. Apparently, it didn’t take her long to make herself a home inside a stranger’s home, in his home where he kept stuff hidden that wasn’t supposed to be found. Things that could get him into trouble if found. He lowered his gaze to meet hers, the corners of his lips arching back up into a smile. “No, I’m a pharmacist actually. But thank you, although I’m not quite sure if that was a compliment or an insult,” he answered, eyes narrowed softly for a moment.
He took the hand she offered and squeezed it, perhaps a little too strong. A talkative one, he figured. A sardonic, short-lived laugh left his lips at her remark. Didn’t want any surprises. Once he let go of her hand he walked over to his bedroom, taking a quick glance inside before shutting the door. He then made his way over the bedroom she claimed as hers and picked up one of the boxes, taking it back to where she was standing. “So, where do you want me to take this? Your car? Do you want me to call a taxi? The foyer? I'm sure they'll let you store them there for a while.” he asked, raising his eyebrows expectantly. Max wasn’t planning on letting her stay, not even for the night. He would even go through the trouble of getting her a hotel room if necessary, just… anything to get her out.
[attr="class","CONTENT"] Even before he reached his apartment door he heard loud music coming from somewhere. Max shook his head at what he presumed were his neighbors enjoying themselves. Being stuck at home there was not much one could do after all these months. It soon was going to be a year in lockdown, on curfew, with a steady rise of people dying each day. Maxwell was perhaps a little guilty of causing some of these deaths in recent events as they had started to distribute the fake vaccine which he personally nicknamed Adfauxtex. All that mattered was that it was bringing him some good profit though, despite the losses made. It wasn’t like he was the type to care anyway.
The pharmacist got off work just a little earlier than usual. One of his few employees took over for him. While his pharmacy ran normal business hours he was always available on call in case of emergency. But his second job took a bit more of his time than usual these days. But it was fine. He had nothing to worry about. Perks of being owner and employer for both businesses. Living his best double life. Loved and adored as the pretty bachelor pharmacist who helped people in need and hated as a drug trafficker, wanted by the police, for bringing suffering and death and using it for his own good.
He rubbed his temples as he walked down the corridor, a headache plaguing him since morning. Oh, little did he know, there was an even bigger headache waiting for him - in the only place where he was seeking peace and quietness.
Max wasn’t really sure what to think when he stood in front of his own apartment door, key slid inside the lock. He had yet to turn it, to unlock the door but the music was coming from the other side of it. His eyes found the small number next to the door labeling it as his but yet he was uncertain if it really was his apartment.
Slightly confused, he turned the key and pushed the door open only to be greeted by even louder music blaring from one of the bedrooms and a brunette he had never seen before in his life… welcoming him… home? All he could do was blink at her in even more confusion before he decided to retreat, pull the door close, and stare at it. His eyes found, once again, the number labeling it as his apartment. But was it really? There was someone else inside and he couldn’t remember knowing her. This was his apartment, wasn’t it?
The thought that someone might have pranked him by switching out numbers on the doors occurred to him but he was positive that the furniture he caught a glimpse of was his own. The couch he replaced last year which still had a faint leather scent lingering to it, the two barstools he bought after they got destroyed in an unexpected fierce argument after some junkie decided to show up at his home demanding more of the substances he needed, desperately wanted but of course, Maxwell couldn’t, or rather wouldn’t, help him. His back had cursed him after that incident.
Taking a breather he touched the doorknob, his hand resting on the cool surface before he pushed it open again. This time he stepped inside the apartment, closing the door behind him. The confusion was still apparent on his face but he was more than certain that this belonged to him - all of it. He put on his innocent, boy-next-door smile the elderly as well as mothers who wanted to introduce their daughters to him adored so much and looked at her - the stranger in his home.
“I think you’re in the wrong apartment.” As soon as the words left his lips he took a look around. Yeah, no, this was his apartment. It smelled of men, in a good way, but definitely men. “Probably just some kind of mistake. I can help you carry out your things to the right one.” Because the sooner she left, the better it was for him. Not to mention there were some things hidden from plain sight he didn’t want anyone to find. And despite those things being hidden the danger of someone accidentally stumbling upon them was making him a little tense.
[attr="class","CONTENT"] A quick glance at his computer sitting next to the counter let him know it was time to close the store. He walked over to the door, turning the OPEN sign to the other side so it said CLOSED instead with a little smiley face and a note saying to please call this number in case of emergencies. However, Max didn’t lock the door as just a moment later a hooded man entered his pharmacy.
The good thing about owning a pharmacy was that it was somewhat exempted from both curfew and power outages. It was essential, a very much needed business, and thus he was given permission to keep his store open longer than others. Although, that didn’t necessarily mean he was going to do that. Just like today, when he needed the space for a different kind of business.
The man placed a small, black box on the counter in front of him. Ah, there it was. His current scheme he was planning for so long since the pandemic began and a vaccine trial was announced.
With a satisfied smile, he opened the box, the sight of the fake medication making him feel a certain twisted happiness. Maxwell held the vial in front of his eyes, pinched between two fingers. Sparkling eyes hovered over the small sticker label as he read it. Advotex. He examined it from top to bottom, each side, twisting it and he did so before he carefully placed it back inside the small box where it came from. "Looks good enough." he said, letting out a delighted sigh. "For now." he added, admiring his new acquisition.
Of course, it wasn’t the real deal. It was fake. False advertisement. A lie. But that’s exactly what Max was going after. He didn’t care about getting his hands on the real thing. He wasn’t planning on helping anyone but himself. And that’s what he wanted by getting a hold of this, small, but powerful vial filled with nothing but deceit. It was just a test run but as far as he was concerned it would most likely work better than he had hoped for.
The hooded man left, the bell above the door announcing the door open and close. But when it did the same a second time Max glanced up from his new toy, taking the box and hiding it in one of the drawers stuffed with pencils and other utensils. His at-all-times-ready friendly neighbor smile appeared on his face before he spoke.
[attr="class","dilyrics3"]Watch me take the wheel like you, not feel like you act like nothing's real like you you need a taste of your own
[attr="class","dilyric3"]medicine
[attr="class","dibody3"]
Nodding along, he glanced up and down between the man’s face and the product he was playing with in his hands. It was distracting and perhaps a little irritating. Nonetheless, a mask of sheer calmness covered his face, making it difficult for others to notice his annoyance.
Max put on his boy-next-door smile, the one all the older women loved, making a follow-me gesture towards the guy. He walked over to the counter, positioning himself behind it. "Hmm. Let’s see." he murmured under his breath, more to himself than to the customer. "Just a minute. I’ll be right back." he then said before disappearing into the back room where the storage and some other new arrivals were.
It didn’t take long for him to reappear with two big packages in his hands. He put both on a small stool next to the register and cut through the tape sealing the boxes with a knife. Twirling the blade around his fingers before he put it on the counter, he gave the two packages an approving nod.
"I’ve got a brand new delivery of Kaopectate and Pepto-Bismol tablets and chewables if you are interested in those. They are very popular these days." he offered, placing a blue colored box and a pink colored box with tablets in front of him, shoving them towards the guy for a better look.
[attr="class","CONTENT"] Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua.
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[attr="class","dilyrics3"]Watch me take the wheel like you, not feel like you act like nothing's real like you you need a taste of your own
[attr="class","dilyric3"]medicine
[attr="class","dibody3"]
He was watching the customer through one of the windows, looking at his slightly hazy reflection. It was a trick he had picked up at some point. Looking at someone through a window, a mirrored surface or whatever was available to avoid looking at them directly. Someone once told it was an assassin’s trick but either way, it worked well. His eyes shifted between the brunette and the shelf he was restocking, carefully placing one package of medication on top of the other. He pushed them all together, making sure they were in one clean row.
Max thought he was behaving a little odd. Nothing too dramatic but something seemed off. For now, it wasn’t worth paying too much attention to though. He was going to wait and see how it played out, what the guy wanted. People were always confused and overwhelmed at the pharmacy. What is this? What does that do? How many would be too many to take? Do I need a prescription? Perhaps he was no exception.
‘I heard you might have just got a new order of my medication.’
The blonde was all ears at his request. Nevertheless, he needed to be cautious. He wasn’t going to throw his second business out in the open for anyone attempting to buy something. Maybe the guy was just plain strange. Maybe he was an undercover cop… well, if he was then he was superb at his role. But people who knew wouldn’t just walk into a dealers’, let alone traffickers’, store and ask away.
Max turned around, leaving the boxes on the shelf as he tucked away one hand into the pocket of his white gown. His lips arched up into a polite smile. “I’m sure we might have something for your needs. We’ve gotten quite a lot of new orders today. Anything specific you are looking for?”
[attr="class","dilyrics3"]Watch me take the wheel like you, not feel like you act like nothing's real like you you need a taste of your own
[attr="class","dilyric3"]medicine
[attr="class","dibody3"]
Max put on a fresh pair of gloves before spraying down the box in front of him with sanitizer. He let it sit for a moment, placing the bottle back on the shelf next to the storage room door. Wearing gloves and using sanitizer wasn't something new to him but with this new virus, stricter precautions had to be made and this included quarantining packages he didn't need immediately or wiping down the ones he did need right after arrival.
Once the required waiting time had passed he picked up the box and carried it to the front, putting it on the counter and cutting it open with a box cutter. Upon opening it, the sight of white, small, individual packages came into view. He dropped the box cutter into the pocket of his pharmacist gown which would be way too hot to wear if the store didn't have a working air conditioner. He took out each box of medication and placed them on the counter, once that was accomplished, he threw the bigger box into the trash.
Dark eyes quickly scanned the invoice and the number of boxes he neatly stacked on top of each other, building two towers. Making sure he received the amount he ordered and was billed for he put away the invoice to a bunch of others.
The outbreak, the new laws and regulations, and the lockdown made his life so much more difficult. Although his client base had not really decreased because addicts were always in need of substance and they almost always found a way to get their hands on something, he had to be more careful as the increasing number of patrols - including the arrival of military patrols - was putting his safety at a higher risk.
He took a pile of the new arrivals and walked over to one of the shelves to restock them. A gush of warm air brushed past him as the door opened, the little bell on top of it chiming as it announced a new customer entering. Max lifted his head, turning it towards the direction of the door, and put on his boy-next-door smile which was oh so loved by his older customers - the moms, the divorced, the grannies.
"Welcome. Let me know if I can help you with anything."
[attr="class","CONTENT"]Max, when he works during the day as a pharmacist, appears to be more on the introverted side. His customers would describe him as friendly, always helpful, and more or less as shy. He's a favorite among the elderly customers and is the kind of guy they want to introduce to their nieces. He seems to be charming, the kind of guy who helps his neighbors with garden work or with fixing something. He has made it a skill to captivate poor, innocent souls with his smile and attentiveness, and making sure to be polite and a gentleman.
However, the truth is it's just an act. Behind the facade, you can find a cruel and cunning human being who is running one of the larger drug cartels, having made himself respectable in the industry. He doesn't mind exploiting the addicted, poor, weak, or elderly. Everywhere he can get money from is a great source. He's smart, good at tricking others, mischievous and devious. If there's one thing he doesn't care about it's other people's feelings. He is very confident in his abilities and having escaped the police quite a few times so far he might be a little too confident. Everyone makes mistakes... it's only a matter of time before that confidence and cockiness get ahead of him.
[attr="class","TITLE"]BIOGRAPHY
[attr="class","CONTENT"]
mentions of abuse, assault, drugs, overdose
Maxwell was born to a single mother who could never tell him who his father was. The two lived outside of Lethford City where he grew up. It wasn't the nicest place but Max never had many issues. His early years of life were normal, nothing out of ordinary. Starting middle school his mother started disappearing from time to time, never telling him where she went. Sometimes he would see her come home in a strangers car, sometimes a cab, sometimes she took the bus. Max never dared to ask what she was up to because whenever he did ask she would laugh at him, drag him into his room and lock him inside.
He learned to sneak out and back in, meeting friends in secret until he got caught - not by his mom but by her new boyfriend if you could call him that. Joel, his name, would pretend to be kind and caring in front of his mom and even take him out hunting every weekend. Little did his mom know those hunting trips wouldn't be about hunting wild like deer, boars, bears. No. Joel would hunt Max, forcing him to run through the woods and getting chased by his dog. Joel would mostly pretend to shoot with one or two aiming in the air but once it didn't miss but hit Max. Fortunately, it didn't hit anything vital or major, just right below his right shoulder blade. But Joel wouldn't even take him to the hospital nor did he tell his mom. He bandaged it up himself, making sure he would stay silent by threatening him. And so he did - until the wound got infected just a few days later. After having passed out in school he was taken to the hospital.
The police started investigating but Joel, being close to the local Sheriff, switched up the story, and in the end, they believed he had shot himself by accident. A year later on yet another hunting trip Max turned the tables, stole one of the guns Joel brought with him, and in a moment of frustration and despair shot Joel. He wasn't so lucky. Max had always been a smart kid and having watched enough television he made it look like Joel shot himself. Two months later his mom would die of an overdose. He was put in foster care at the age of 15.
At the age of 16, he started hanging around the wrong kids. The ones who would turn into the same miserable mess his mother was. The ones who would die before they were able to attend college. Max never did drugs himself or even thought about trying despite having them nearby since his mom would have her pills scattered around the house. He made a vow to himself to never become like his mom. Instead, he turned into the one who would enable people to become a mess like his mom. He would steal his friends drugs and sell them right back to them, would start small and buy from local dealers to sell them for a higher price to desperate individuals he knew would pay.
Once he finished high school he attended university to get a pharmacy degree. He moved to Lethford City, found himself a cheap apartment, and a part-time job at a supermarket. He paused all activities involving drugs because the city was unknown terrain and until he had more information he just observed. However, once he started working at a pharmacy to continue for his degree he slowly started getting involved after collecting the information he needed for years.
Years later he would own his own pharmacy and a respectable sized trafficking business. They would focus on the more difficult to get your hands on substances but also handle a couple of small dealers around the city as a side business. With the pandemic taking over the country and making it more difficult to handle the usual substances he switched over to get his hands on Advotex and other possible cures, something people now are desperate for.
