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.
Was she baiting him? Maybe. But they were at the point in their relationship where any attention was good attention. This was how they had fallen in love, after all. Wasn’t this what brought them together? Bickering? The fighting that turned into teasing that evolved into flirting and then passionate hate-sex in the bathroom at bars after shift? And then the evolution to pining for each other even when there wasn’t passion and annoyance involved…. Olivia didn’t know how to fix them but it felt good just to feel something wafting off of him. Even if the only attention she got from the man was negative, she’d take it.
Olivia was desperate to be seen, it was what had driven her toward the numb feeling that the pills gave her in the first place. Her parents had died and everything had changed. There wasn’t anyone to call and unload her day on, to confide in, all of the roles that she should have depended on her husband for had been put onto her Mom and Dad. Liam was happy not having to be that person, and she was thrilled to keep that burden off of him. How different would their lives have been if she had demanded he be that confidant and safe place rather than the halfway-there confidence they’d settled on?
He moved to the end of the bed and she watched him as he explained that he wanted to help. She didn’t buy it, though. And when he threw at her all of the experience she had with junkies it stung. That dagger was dug in deep long ago and with his words he twisted it. But what might have pulled tears from her in the past only hardened her heart a little more. And her voice was even as she spoke softly, ”At least you finally admit that I’m no different than any other junkie to you.” She closed her eyes as he continued to snap at her, to fight, and she let his attention run over her like a reward, all while tearing her apart inside. It was self-loathing that made her do this to him. She made him this way, she asked for this with the way she treated him. What else was he to do?
”I’ll get right on that, babe.” The fight deflated out of her. She got what she wanted, he gave it to her. His undivided attention was hers. If only it hadn’t cost her everything, because she knew the drugs had her. She was theirs now. Olivia didn’t have a choice any longer and they would send her there over and over again until someone failed to find her and death finally took her. She shrunk into herself, retreated away from the negative attention as it hit it’s peak. But he was there. At least he was there. She reminded herself that she still loved him, still wanted him. Even more than those seductive little pills, Liam was even more intoxicating...when he was at his best. But when had he stopped being enough? She knew what her loss was, her parents drove her away, but what had it been that pulled him from her and taken him away?
Liam lost a little bit of his fire, too, and she shifted a little bit so that she could look at him as he said what they both knew. She might have bit at him about being inconvenienced by her death, about how her overdose might screw up the life insurance policy, but she didn’t. Her body still ached, and she was still hoping to leave. Olivia’s voice was raspy, barely audible as she spoke again, ”I’m sorry, Liam..You’re right..and I’m sorry, you don’t deserve this.” She shifted a little bit, folding her legs so that she was sitting cross-legged on the bed and laying her hand beside her face up as though to offer it to him, though she didn’t extend it too far so that his rejection wouldn’t have as significant a blow. He would have to move closer to her in order to take it. And if he didn’t, well, then they could both pretend he hadn’t seen it.
He offered help, tried to give her options, and she kept her eyes on him, ”I don’t want to be like this anymore. I don’t but...but if I just quit, if I just snap out of it that could kill me too, you know. Send my whole system into shock.. She sighed and shook her head, ”I need to work, and I need to have a life...those places won’t work, not for someone like me.” Olivia frowned a little, ”I just need...a slow wean, a system to get off of it over time, to rebuild my life and wean off the drugs all at the same time…” She shook her head a little bit at him, ”That kind of place doesn’t exist.”
Her insecurity and trepidation at seeing Luca dimmed as his enthusiasm grew. He was excited that he’d guessed right and that was infections, the blonde chuckling a touch and shrugged a little, ”PI stuff. Investigating cheaters, it’s not nearly as exciting as it sounds. Most of it is spent eating garbage and sitting in cars alone for hours.” The talk of work relaxed her and the tension in her shoulders lessened just a touch. He was so casual, so confident, and it was as though it hadn’t been a year since they last saw each other. Sometimes, she was baffled at how he was actually related to Liam. With Luca, the apple fell far from the tree. And she was glad for it.
He explained that he was up early, something about a new job, and she crossed her arms casually as she gave him a nod, ”Wow, I mean, that’s great! That’s a big deal, Prism is huge. Especially now, with everything..Anyone with stock in that one is going to come out of all of this in good shape, so at least you’ve got job security.” She scrunched up her nose, though, as he explained about the early start time. ”Be honest, how many of those days are you coming in straight from the night before with no sleep in between?” Liv was teasing, her tone light and a smirk on her face. It felt unfamiliar and foreign to be joking.
Did he not know? He couldn’t have known. People who knew treated her with gloves, as though any sudden movement or word would cause her to shatter and spiral back down toward an overdose. If he didn’t know...that meant Liam hadn’t told him. It hurt, but also flooded her relief all in one motions. It was a strange sensation. On one hand, her husband had spared her dignity. On the other, she hadn’t even been important enough for anyone to check on the absolute radio silence from the woman for the last year.
God, she missed her parents. They were the only people in her whole life to have ever really seen her.
But Luca was doing a good and she smiled, encouraging him, ”Wow, you went and grew up, I guess! Don’t go and get stuffy on me, Luca.” She winked at him and he changed the subject to roommates and Olivia went still. She’d been bouncing between spots, sometimes sleeping in her car, and trying to keep all of that a secret from her husband so that he’d keep supplying her with the pills she needed to stay straight. But a steady place? With someone stable like Luca? Sure, he was a party animal but he was family. He wouldn’t try to sleep with her or take advantage of her or rob her. She shifted a little bit and went on carefully, ”Actually….I am..” She eyed him, ”Liam had to tell you...right? About the separation, all that? What all did he tell you?” If she was going to really entertain the idea of staying with him she needed to know what he knew so that she could keep up whatever appearances it was Liam had sold to his family in order to keep them off his back.
Maybe it was cruel to deliver that kind of news to someone’s place of work...but that had been the agreed-upon meeting place and the woman had said she was prepared for the news, be it good or bad. Clearly, that had been the wrong call to make. But with the pictures out of her hands it wasn’t her problem anymore. And the quicker that she could get out of there the better. She muttered an apology to the person behind her (running into a stranger during a pandemic was probably everyone’s worst nightmare. But the blonde appeared unfazed.) and tried to make her retreat before anyone could say anything about what she had done.
Already, though, someone was following after her. Liv cursed and pushed the door open with her forearm, stepping outside but he followed. And after a moment of panic his voice broke through and she recognized it. The slowed, twisting but still walking forward as she spoke, ”Luca?” She was stunned to see him, eyeing him with uncertainty. What had Liam told him? And what did he think about all of that? During her year-long bender there had been moments of clarity with the Ford family crossed her mind, particularly Luca. He was such an odd black sheep, the mirth in an otherwise stiff group. And with her own family extinct, he was a refreshing addition to her world.
Then again, he was apart of a world she had run away from. He didn’t seem hesitant to chat with her, and he didn’t scold her for her swift retreat from rehab...so did he not know? It wasn’t that surprising, maybe. The brothers weren’t exactly close. She slowed and glanced toward the door to the coffee shop when he mentioned money, mumbling, ”Well actually I collect the fee up front so..” It was strange to admit that people paid her to make them cry. Her hand went up into her hair and when he moved in to hug her she was surprised. But she didn’t stiffen away from him, instead welcoming the gesture. She was living in a glorified, her health and safety were threatened there every day...she could handle a hug from her brother-in-law during a pandemic.
People gave them a wide berth as they chatted on the sidewalk. When the hug ended she gave a little bit of a laugh and nodded a little, ”Yeah, a little while huh? I’m the worst as keeping in touch..”And I’ve been bouncing between hovels surviving on pills and bodega food, she thought to herself. She gave him a once over, stepping back to make a show of assessing him, ”Are you up early? Or still up from last night? Because I can’t remember you ever being vertical before 2.” Her arms hugged around her middle and she tried, in her assessment, to read him again. ”I’ve been alright. But you look great! What are you…” She paused, almost as though she wasn’t sure how small talk should work, ”how are things? Tell me about you.”
The ache and fatigue that consumed her was a feeling that Liv was used to. It was too familiar, it was pathetic how well she could call exactly how the next few days would unfold. Unless she could end the detox before it really ramped up. But that would involve getting out, connecting herself with one of the dealers that she hadn’t burned her bridges with, and filling her pockets with those little pills that made the world blur at the edges and all of the mental pain go away. It would all start leaking back in at the edges of her mind if she stayed sober for too long. And even when she was high sometimes it got in. And when it did she end up making big mistakes, like the one that had her waking up in the hospital and Liam there staring her down from the door.
She hated him right then. She hated the disappointed way he looked in on her, the pain in his eyes. He was so controlled, so in charge and contained. Se could remember fighting with him, the intensity that he pulled out of her and the times she would scream at him to just let it all go and go crazy!! But he wouldn’t, not really. There was always control. Liam had to have control. Maybe that’s why his wife ran to something that made her spiral so violently out of it. Then again, that would be shifting the blame of her addiction to him and for the few days she had been in rehab she had heard that was a common practice of addicts: shifting blame. All he could do was scoff at her in that way that made her insides twist and warm. She was glad she hadn’t been looking at him when he stepped into the hospital room and closed the door behind him.
Liv still didn’t look at him, simply shaking her head when he explained that she shouldn’t be there. ”Oh you’d prefer I was left for dead, huh? You’re sweet, Liam.” She mumbled it, shooting back darts about the lack of care he took for her. It wasn’t true. But a lot of times the things that she spat at him in a fight were just off center, hinting at some sort of truth but never landing right on it. She usually aimed to hurt him, not make sense. He was getting worked up already though and his questions of why weren’t answered. Instead, she folded in on herself more, curling up into a fetal position on her side and lowering her eyes in shame. At the end of the day, she knew exactly what she’d done. And she knew he was right, but it would take a lot more than his bravado to make her admit it.
This was hard on him, she could see that as he unloaded on her and accused her of running off to rebound back into a hospital bed. But the moment he said she should be somewhere safe she glared, pushing up on an elbow so that she could shoot back at him, ”Somewhere safe?? Like that facility? Is that it? Olivia has issues, she’s sick, so just put her up somewhere she can’t see anyone, can’t talk to anyone that knows anything about her. At least there she isn’t your problem, right?” There it was again, the half-truth. It had been awful there, and she had been left feeling abandoned. She pushed herself up, looking him over as he crumbled up the paperwork and frowning at it there on the floor.
”I can’t go back to that place, Liam, it’ll kill me faster than living on the streets will.” The inflammation in her voice was gone, replaced by desperate sincerity, ”You don’t know what it was like in there. They kept me so isolated..And with this virus...those kind of places are a breeding ground for disease and..” She pulled her knees up to her chest, keeping her eyes on the floor where the papers were, whispering, ”I’m sorry, please don’t make me go there. I can be better, I just need...I-” But liv lost steam and rested her forehead on her knees as she whimpered, ”I can’t go back..”
Light filtered in through her closed eyelids and Olivia groaned. Her body ached in the familiar way that it did when she had come down too hard. Her head swam, her arms and legs felt like they were filled with lead...but the bed beneath her felt just a little scratchy. And when she turned her head there was a sound like the pillow was wrapped in paper. That's when the smells invaded her. It smelled like copper and cleaning solution and lemon. The smell is what brought her to her senses. "oh God, no!" Liv shot up, trying to pull at the IV in her arm as the need to get out of the hospital became urgent.
Somewhere a nurse was calling for aid and then there were hands on her shoulders as two of them pressed her back down onto the bed and explained that she was at the hospital, she had overdosed, but that she would be okay. Liv grit her teeth and cursed at them, trying to fight back but far too weak to do much. Instead it left her flailing a little bit and giving up after a moment when her vision blurred and dizziness forced her to press her head back against the pillow with a paper case. Her arm was bleeding from where she had pulled out the IV and the two nurses that had held her down were strapped her arms and then feet down so that they could place the IV again in a new spot.
Olivia refused to look at them as she spoke, asking how long it had been and when she could leave. They explained that it had been 12 hours since she was found and that they had called her husband.
The thrashing began again.
She started to cry and hated herself for it. "He didn't need to be called! You didn't have my consent for that!" they said that he was her emergency contact and that it was procedure and she shook her head angrily until the iv was back in and then jerked against the restraints to be released. They made a deal, she promised not to touch it, and then they released her. She rubbed at her wrists, where they were red from her pulling, and then laid back as the nurses set out to leave her be. That's when the dread settled in. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly and not at all hearing the movement at the door. Only when Liam spoke did she realize he was there.
She stiffened a touch and opened her eyes. For a second she watched him, not even really believing he was there. Any lesser of a man wouldn't have come. She wished he hadn't. Olivia curled her knees up, a subconscious attempt to make herself appear smaller so that maybe he would overlook her, and spoke, "I didn't ask them to call you. They shouldn't have called you." she reached up and pushed at her hair, suddenly very aware of her appearance, likely dishevelled and shameful, "but if you're here...maybe you could help me get out of here? I'm fine, it's all just a misunderstanding."
Standing on the curb, Olivia slipped her hand into her pocket and felt for the tin that had once held mints in it. She turned it over in her fingers, felt the little impacts of white pills against the sides. It was a small comfort, a nervous tick that helped her deal with the anxiety of her life, of her job situation, of her dwindling bank account. Those little pills were her fallback. If it got to be too much she could sell them, and if that wasn’t going to work she could swallow all of them and drive away. She had to hope that the next time no one would find her. She’d slip into the familiar comforting fog and go to sleep and that would be that. No one would have to deal with Olivia Ford ever again.
Across the street was a coffee shop. Inside was a woman that got there early and brewed the coffee, pulled the baked goods from the freezer, and then served way more customers than was appropriate for a pandemic such as the one they were in. Two weeks ago she had emailed Olivia and asked her to check in on her Fiance. He was a paramedic and he was working long hours, which Liv had reassured her was customary given their situation...but she’d insisted and when she pushed a couple hundred dollars in her hand Olivia couldn’t say no. She’d taken the money and her camera and found the man.
It was true that he’d been working long hours. But he spent even more of those hours with his partner parked behind a shutdown Dairy Queen canoodling. And it was those photos that Liv had blown up and printed and shoved into a manila envelope to deliver to the barista. It was the worst part of her job. She felt sleezy following people around, it wasn’t the same as when she could do it with a badge, and every other day was like an episode of Cheaters. But the woman had paid and as much as she hoped to run away and disappear some days, Olivia was no flake.
Adjusting her mask, she walked across the street and into the shop. There was a line but the barista’s eyes went to her right away. Only a couple of tables had chairs around them to prevent patrons from lingering and she got in line to wait for her turn with the woman. Two people ahead of her, one ordering a hot chocolate and the other ordered a complicated ‘skinny’ drink that had the barista running from one spot to the next behind the counter. Liv felt people in the line behind her and shifted her weight when it was her turn. At the front she slid the envelope to the woman and spoke, ”I’m so sorry. They work together.” The woman wasted no time in opening the package and when she pulled out the first picture immediately started to cry.
Olivia winced and glanced around awkwardly, ”Everything you’ll need is right in there.” She waited for a coworker to relieve the woman and dismiss her to the back….but there was no one else. ”I should..” With panic rising, Olivia turned to leave, colliding with the person behind her and holding her hands back as she apologized and ducked her head, ”So sorry, I think maybe she needs a break? There’s a starbucks..somewhere.” And with that she started toward the exit, hoping to make her retreat.
