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.
He hated that he had to go in this far. Puck would have loved to just drop them off at the front door and then disappear. Out of sight, out of mind. He could pretend that he didn't have more of a hand in it than he did. But going inside with them felt like he was the grim reaper walking them to their graves.
As she started to look around the lab Puck crossed his arms over his chest, staying there beside Thomas. She was a pretty girl, it was a shame really. Why did she have to be so nice? He really should work harder on finding people who deserved this more, become more of a batman vigilante, bringing in the bad guys. Except that he was the bad guy here.
He didn't look in Thomas' direction as the man spoke to him, he kept his eyes on the girl while he replied in a whisper. "She was lost actually, happened to ask me for directions. Like a mouse in a mousetrap..." His jaw was tense with discomfort. His eyes glanced towards Thomas as he admitted his feelings about it and after a moment Puck gave one short nod of the head. "Ya, me too," he admitted.
He hated all of it. Every part. But if he didn't do it then he'd be in jail. He tried not overthink about how unfair that was to his victims. It wasn't even a life for a life. It was a life for his freedom.
Puck just grinned at her while she chided him, arguing against all the reasons why he shouldn't need to follow her around. What she said wouldn't make him any less likely to follow her anyway, so he just let her talk. There was no point in arguing with her about it. He would continue to do it regardless. Because she was beautiful, because she was a woman, because she was alone...because he cared about her.
They worked together to open the door and Puck put all his effort into it. He smiled when it opened and swiped his hands together before shaking out his wrists once it was open. He pulled his phone out as well, shining a light around to add to hers in an attempt to help her out.
He looked at them all with curiosity, not sure what was inside of them but sure that if it had to do with Carmen then it was important to the clinic. She quickly confirmed his guess. "Let's find out," he replied. He picked up one box and held it firmly in his grip. "Load me up," he said to her.
He grinned when she said it was good to see him and peeked out from behind the boxes in his arms to look at her. "It's good to see you too. And you know me, trouble is all relative," he said with a chuckle.
When she lowered the flashlight Puck smirked and let his hands fall, leaning his shoulder against the container next to him and popping one foot up onto his toe as he crossed it front of the opposite ankle. He shrugged casually at her question. "Oh ya, didn't you know? It's the new hot thing to do these days," he teased.
He stayed where he was as he watched her move to unlock the the container. At her question he answered without a second thought. "I was following you," he said this was a tone as if it should be obvious and also wasn't a big deal. He hadn't been her body guard for too long but he took it seriously. "You shouldn't have come out here alone, you know."
When she suggested he help her he returned her expression with a smirk of his own. "Eh," he said with a shrug, messing with her. Though as he watched her try to open the door he couldn't help but chuckle. "Alright, fine," he made his way towards her and gripped the door. "Together?" he asked, and waiting for her before they worked to try to pull the heavy door open together.
Puck and the pre-med didn't have to wait for long for Thomas. The man soon was approaching them, looking as casual and nonchalant about all of this as Puck did. They had done this several times by now. Puck tried not to think too much about what they were doing, tried to tell himself it was all for the greater good, or that he didn't know how the trails likely ended. He never stayed long enough to witness anything.
As Thomas approached Puck leaned one elbow against the front desk and looked the man up and down. A slow, flirty grin lifted his lips as he looked at Thomas. Puck at found him cute since they had first met. Thomas was a little older than Puck and though he didn't have the appearance or demeanor of a drop dead gorgeous God-like man, he instead had a very cute and approachable manner and was plenty attractive to catch Puck's, likely unwanted, attention. That had never deterred Puck before.
His attention was soon drawn back to the girl though, he was playing a part here. When Thomas agreed to the tour and began to move towards the elevators she had tossed Puck an excited smile and he returned the expression to her, giving her an excited nod and followed them into the elevators.
Her excitement at something as small as tour of the lab filled the small elevator and Puck caught Thomas' glance. He didn't say anything, just swallowed and dropped his gaze from the other man's. This wouldn't be the path he'd choose for himself if he had a say. He felt like a monster. Puck had plenty of faults, he was far from perfect, but he hadn't been a monster before Prism.
Things were falling apart, even more so than they had ever been. The gang had been together for years and now everything was falling apart. Puck's family was falling apart. All he'd had in a really long time had been the members of the gang and without them he would be completely and utterly alone. He never thought he would mind being alone. Sometimes you never quite know what you have until it's gone.
Before it all fell apart he been assigned to be Carmen's body guard and he had taken to continuing in that role as often as he could. He couldn't be with her 24/7 but most of his free time had been taken up by keeping an eye on her. Sometime she was aware of it and sometimes she wasn't. So on this particular evening he had followed her to the docks. Quietly stalking people was definitely in his wheelhouse and most of the time he had remained unnoticed until he accidently kicked a small pebble and it rolled across the asphalt. It wasn't a loud noise, but enough to be noticed. Damn.
Puck grinned to himself from behind another container as Carmen called out. She had always been feisty. He wouldn't put it past her to cause real damage to someone. He came out from behind the container with his hands up in surrender and the light illuminated him. He was wearing dark clothes, black jeans and a dark grey tee that had been cut into a v-neck with a rock band logo on it, Rush. He had on a dark blue jacket, a black mask over his nose and mouth, and several rings on his fingers.
"I surrender," he said to her with a smirk that was evident in his exposed blue eyes.
Puck had been working for Prism Biotech for at least a month now. He'd been caught trying to foolishly steal from the company. Their words. He wasn't convinced that it was all that foolish...except that he had been caught. Puck had been stealing things for so long now that it was second nature to him. He'd even found himself doing it without thinking, like a reflex. The way that you leave work in your car and suddenly you're at home without much of a memory of the drive itself. It became habit, just something he did.
Stealing from Prism had not been a reflex pickpocket though. He had been trying to get supplies for the underground hospital that Carmen had been running. He didn't actually know for sure if Carmen was the one running it persay, but she definitely worked there, as often as possible. And they needed supplies. He hadn't told Carmen he was going to try to steal from Prism and he never told her about being caught either.
Lucky for him, or maybe unlucky for him, the company had given him a deal. Instead of turning him into the authorities they would give him a job. If he would bring in test subjects for them to try their drugs out on then they wouldn't turn him in...and they'd even pay him to do it. It wasn't ideal by any means. Puck had never done this sort of theft. People didn't get hurt when he stole from them, not physically hurt anyway. But Puck was in no sort of situation to be able to turn down both his freedom and some cash. And the job paid well. Since he started he had been bringing in at least one person a week. He was predictable at least, reliable? Could you call a man reliable who basically kidnapped or manipulated people into being tested for potentially dangerous drugs? Maybe not, but here he was anyway.
Today he had managed to convince a young pre-med student, a pretty little blonde thing, that he could get her a tour at Prism and that she could even get her flu vaccine while she was there. It was that time of year anyway. It was an easy lie and his pretty blue eyes and handsome smile were just the right push for her to trust him. He'd been manipulating people for a long time, this wasn't anything new for him. The two of them walked into Prism and approached the front desk where Puck asked for someone he had worked with before, Thomas Moore.
