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
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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
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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
DIRECTORY
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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"] Christian stared at the door, clearly hearing footsteps on the other side of it. He lifted his hand to knock once more when the steps grew louder and louder. The lock clicked, giving away someone was about to open it and the officer readied himself for whatever was on the other side. It could be just a harmless citizen but he couldn't shake off the thoughts that it could also be someone annoyed by their arrival, waiting behind the door with a weapon, ready to attack.
He tensed as the door opened, his hand resting on his taser. A woman's voice, sounding mature and noticeably older than him, emerged as the door opened.
'Can I help you?'
The young officer cleared his throat, his hand dropping from the taser to rest around the collar area of his vest. "LCPD." he announced, giving her a quick up and down before glancing past her shoulder to peek past the door and inside the apartment. "We received a noise complaint supposedly coming from this unit. Would you mind if we take a quick look to check?" he continued, sticking with being polite for now. There was nothing wrong with asking nicely was there? But giving a fair warning was also not wrong even if it did feel wrong the moment the words left his lips.
"Unfortunately, if you don't allow us entry we are given permission by the government to check without your consent." Christian added. He could see his partner biting his lip out of the corner of his eye. Christian himself took a breath, adjusting his pose, and stood straight, lips pressed tightly together as he waited for the woman's response.
Never did Christian feel as uncomfortable as today. With all the holidays inching closer and closer the probability of people illegally gathering and going against the regulations was growing with each day and thus the government decided to take what they called a precaution to prevent mass gatherings, parties, even family dinners. The police and military were given orders to check on citizens in their own homes. A home was supposed to be a safe place, a private space no one should ever barge into.
But there they were, standing in front of a door to do their raids. It wasn’t necessarily a raid per se but it sure felt like one. Christian let out a long sigh before adjusting his mask, pinching the wire embedded in between on the bridge of his nose. There was an anonymous call about someone throwing a party or some sort of event but Christian couldn’t hear any noise, no music, nothing. It was pure silence around them.
He knocked on the door again, this time more forcefully and louder. "We have the right to come in if you don’t open the door." he announced, his own words leaving a bitter aftertaste in his mouth as he uttered them. It just felt so wrong and the danger of just entering a stranger’s home who could have a shotgun pointed at them the moment the door opens... Oh, fun.
[attr="class","TAG"]@open; notes: open to police or military if you want to be the partner, open to anyone else if you'Re the person on the other side of the door
[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"] Christian checked the handcuffs on the man’s wrists, making sure they were secured right before he proceeded to do a pat-down search on the man in case he carried anything dangerous with him. Dark eyes glanced at the woman who looked more suspicious and definitely more of a threat than the suspect in custody. He saw her tactical vest, her weapon, but there was no badge, no identification he could see in plain sight. For all he knew she could be some sort of crazy self-elected security.
Gloved hands retrieved a wallet out of the man’s pocket. Plain, simple, nothing fancy. He flipped open the wallet which not so surprisingly held no cash or any credit cards but it had his ID. The officer slipped it out and held it in front of the man’s face. Similarities were definitely there but the person in front of him appeared much smaller, thinner, sickly. It was a sad sight. And he knew it was going to be something he would see more of once he brought him back to his housing.
With a sigh, he put the ID back inside the wallet and placed it back right where he found it. Grabbing the guy with one arm Christian turned his attention back to her, raising one curious eyebrow. He ignored her little tease about the handcuffs, although a reply was sitting on his tongue, eager to get those words out but he held himself back. "Security or not, this is a restricted area." he responded, in disbelief, someone would just walk into the quarantine zone as if it was an amusement park. It was restricted for a reason.
Not only were the infection rates abnormally high, but they also built the quarantine quarters here so any encounters could mean a higher risk of getting infected yourself. Everyone hated patrolling this area for exactly this reason. Christian himself didn’t necessarily care because it had to be done.
Drawing his eyebrows together as she continued her playful remarks he looked at her in slight confusion. Christian wasn’t the type to immediately get if anyone was joking, flirting, or doing anything similar to that. Sometimes he bore similarities with a stone. So unless someone was outright blunt he wouldn’t notice - or maybe he just didn’t want to notice.
"I will need you to come with me to the car so I can get your information. I will let you off with a warning. However, if I see you again in this area I will have to arrest you." he said, voice stern as he looked at her. He shifted his weight, grabbing the man a little tighter. "But first this one needs to get back to where he escaped from. Unfortunately, you will have to accompany me. Since you like sneaking into dangerous areas I’m sure it won’t be an issue, right?" Christian continued, before giving the man a shove into the direction they would need to walk into. The guy struggled slightly, apparently feeling the need to bitch about going back to where he escaped from but Christian just gave him another push and ignored it.
[attr="class","alibitext"][break] NAME: open[break] AGE: 24-27[break] MEMBERGROUP: police department[break] JOB: patrol unit, open rank[break][break]
Meet Christian's new partner! Her character is pretty much open. She's going to be working for the Patrol Unit either as a rookie officer or maybe someone who got demoted back to the streets. Ha. The two of them might have a rocky start but I'd love them to become very close partners in the future <3 Christian's someone who needs a little while before he warms up to someone so it either might throw her off from the beginning or she'll just ignore it and annoy him to death.[break][break]
FACE CLAIM
[break] I picked Willa Holland for the images but it's totally negotiable.
[break]
[attr="class","alibipanel"]NEW PARTNER this year, we lost more than we can count
Meet Christian's childhood friend! Her character is pretty much open as well but these two are close, although she just recently returned to Lethford after maybe traveling the world. She's originally from Austria just like him, however, whether or not she was born there or moved there at some point in her childhood is up to you. [break][break]I liked the idea of her being some sort of internet blogger who likes to stick her nose into corrupt government doing/exposing corruption on her blog? But I wouldn't mind if she's something entirely different either.[break][break]
FACE CLAIM
[break] I picked Lee Ji Eun aka IU for the images but it's negotiable! Gender is totally negotiable too.
[break]
[attr="class","alibipanel"]OLD FRIEND this year, we look up towards the sun
[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"] What did he get himself into? Hunting down an infected person who broke out of the quarantine quarters wasn’t on his to-do list for the day, or the week, or the year. Everyone was always scared of accidentally puncturing themselves with a used drug addict’s needle whenever they had to check on those or the homeless. But this was worse. This was just throwing yourself recklessly at the risk of infecting yourself and despite wearing a mask for protection no one knew how much it really helped.
Dark eyes darted back and forth as he stared at the young face he was pinning against the wall. As the plead left his quivering lips, a whisper barely audible, Christian wavered. He definitely wasn’t one of those heartless cops who just arrested people for fun or pleasure and treat them like they are some sort of lowlives. However, he also wasn’t necessarily one of those who let go of everyone begging for freedom. The number of criminals and offenders getting away with that was too damn high.
‘On your six!’
For a brief moment, Christian had hoped his partner finally found him but the voice sounded different - and female. Dark eyes flickered to the movement he spotted in the window, showing the reflection of a body quickly moving towards the two. Christian wasn’t exactly sure what was happening. The scene that unfolded in front of him seemed surreal. He jumped to the side, just in time before the guy fell over right into the spot where he was just seconds ago. Scrambling back to his feet he used the shop window to hold himself against, to steady himself.
His gaze dropped to the man kneeling on the floor, a wail of pain emerging from him. He then turned his head to look at the stranger, narrowing his eyes at her as he gave her a quick once-over before nodding. “Thanks.” he said, holding the right arm of the man as he reached for the set of handcuffs secured on the back of his belt. He twisted the man’s arm, putting on the handcuffs and closing them with a satisfying click click click as they snapped shut.
“I can take it from here.” he added, yanking the man up to a standing position. “Civilians aren’t supposed to be in this area.” the officer assessed as he gave the brunette yet another once-over.
[attr="class","CONTENT"] For a third time, he repeated the word. “Out.” He looked at the wing mirror on his side and the rearview mirror, checking for traffic he might stop by driving so slowly but of course, given that the government ordered everyone to stay at home unless they were essential workers, the streets were almost empty. The handful of cars that were on the same lane as he was just passed him without any efforts.
“You know what’s ridiculous? Your sense of direction and your memory. We’re at Forsythe Street. There’s an upcoming intersection three miles ahead and if you turn right you’ll get into Watts Street, which is basically the middle of Chinatown.” Christian explained, knowing the route, and more important the city, by heart. He wasn’t born in Lethford, nor was he raised here, but yet he could drive around without the help of a map most of the time. Not always… but usually.
Christian snickered softly, more in a playful manner though, one hand having a steady grip on the steering wheel. The other reached out, over the laptop, to open up the small compartment in front of the passenger seat. He had to lean a bit to the side, but once he accomplished to get a hold of what he needed he returned to his initial position. His gaze turned back to Samara as he held out a set of papers to her. “Old methods never fail.” he told her, dangling the map out of his window.
“Look, I offer you a deal. If you can name the best place to get pho and wontons from I’ll let you back in.”
[attr="class","CONTENT"] Since he had it all planned beforehand he expected her to stop the car abruptly. He grabbed the door already to hold on to and steady himself. Definitely wasn’t the first time he pulled this. Christian looked over at her, eyes wide in expectation. He held up his arm, one finger tapping the watch on his wrist. "Tick tock, you’re running out of time. You need to make a call to dispatch, ask for backup, and an ambulance. Officer Parker, where are we?" he asked, once again, getting a little bit impatient.
The dark-haired officer turned his head to look at her, still attempting to figure out coordinates. "Too late. I bled to death. 10-55. Coroner’s case." Giving the side mirror on his side a quick glance he stepped out of the vehicle, making sure there’s no traffic behind them. He closed his door, walking over to the driver’s side. The officer knocked against the window, signaling her to get out herself so they could swap seats. "Out." He waited patiently for her to exit the car before sliding inside the driver’s seat. Christian wasn’t a fan of driving but that didn’t mean he couldn’t, obviously.
Pulling the car door close, he stepped softly on the gas pedal, letting the car roll slowly down the street before pushing the button to roll down the window fully. "You can get back in once you figure out where we are. If you’re letting yourself get distracted by a simple conversation and not pay attention to your surroundings how am I supposed to let you help others?" Glancing back and forth between the road in front of him and his new partner next to him. The hint of a satisfied smirk crossed his face for a brief moment. Christian poked his head out of the car, looking up at the sky. "It’s supposed to start raining soon. You better hurry."
[attr="class","CONTENT"] Nodding along as she talked he glanced over at her from time to time. He was already somewhat relieved when she agreed to his no restroom requirement. That quickly earned her a bonus point - for now. "We’ll see about that." he shrugged, his gaze following two teenagers crossing the street. "I’m sure you’ll be able to learn some things from me but the more important lessons will be those situations where you find yourself in all alone with no backup nearby." Christian averted his gaze towards the passenger side window, resting his elbow on top of the door panel.
He thought about it - his reason to work for the police. To be frank he wasn’t really sure why. It just… happened. It was always something he wanted to do since he was a child. He had asked himself the same question a bunch of times and he was never able to answer it - not even for himself. Did he want to help people? Did he want to fight crime and seek justice for the innocent? Did he want to protect those who couldn’t protect themself? He honestly didn’t know why. It was just… there. The feeling to want to become a police officer. "I don’t know." he told her, unsure about what other things he could have said. He could have lied, tell her the basic story blablabla but he decided not to. They needed to work together and trust each other to protect each other so honesty was a must.
Christian turned his head and looked at her. "I got shot! Where are we right now?!" he yelled, asking out of nowhere.
[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"] Christian jumped off of the wall, focusing on rolling his feet so he wouldn’t end up hurting himself. He landed safely, brushing away some dirt off of his pants. He turned around partly to take a look at the wall, giving himself a satisfied nod before turning back to make his way to the runaway. Today was one of those days where he just really wanted to get off work, go home, grab a bottle of wine and just do nothing. Ignore everything and everyone. Forget this chase ever happened. Ah, and maybe take a long shower to get rid of the garbage smell surrounding him.
He almost didn’t believe his eyes as they watched her going for yet another run. He was so done with her, so done with this chase. His hand moved to his side, flipping open the holster of his taser once more, gripping it tightly as he pulled it out halfway. Christian intended on using it - for real this time - if she wouldn’t have stopped. He wasn’t planning on chasing her to the other side of town. This was it. She better surrender now or he wouldn’t be that nice anymore. Letting her off with merely a warning was never going to happen now.
But then he watched her fall back on the ground, releasing his grip on the taser and letting it fall back in. A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he moved towards her, carefully observing her every movement. Reaching for his radio he switched the channel from his direct line to his partner to the official dispatch one, letting them know about an upcoming arrest. He shook his head as he approached, snickering softly before lending her a helping hand, slightly leaning down. “Do you need medical assistance? An ambulance?” he asked her, tilting his head a little to see her ankle better, the corners of his lips lifting upward into a small smile. “Can you get up?”
[attr="class","CONTENT"] Shutting the door of the cruiser he adjusted the seat slightly to sit more comfortably, glancing at the laptop in the middle and turning it into his direction. He typed something on it before leaning back into his seat and putting on his seatbelt. His eyes moved between the side view mirror and the rearview mirror, not entirely trusting her driving skills just yet. His old partner was a horrible driver, always stopping every five minuted for a restroom break, always going too slow during a chase which most of the time led them to losing the suspect or with Christian having to get out of the vehicle for a foot chase. Needless to say, he was in top physical condition.
Once they were out of the parking lot he moved his hands to his west, grabbing the collar area of it. It was such a police thing to do. Walking with their hands grabbing their west, standing doing it, sitting doing it. He wasn’t exactly sure why but it was just the most comfortable position while wearing the gear west and belt because flinging your arms at your sides wasn’t really possible unless you wanted to constantly get stuck on your flashlight, your taser, or your gun. "No restroom breaks for the first two hours." he randomly said, just to make sure and perhaps to test her bladder capacity.
He thought about her question… because he couldn’t remember the exact time he began. Time seemed to have passed so fast but also very slow. "I think around… six or seven years now?" he said slowly, narrowing his eyes at the road ahead of them. "Funny. Usually, the first question rookies ask is Why are you a police officer? So Parker-" he paused, putting his arm on the edge of the window. "Sam. Why did you choose to become an officer?"
[attr="class","CONTENT"] Finally. The day Christian had been waiting for such a long, long, long time had finally arrived. His partner was gone and he was assigned a new one. He didn't know much about them except that he was assigned a rookie, fresh out of the academy. Usually, they would be paired with a training officer, one holding a higher rank, but desperate times called for desperate measures. The call came in this morning and for the briefest moment of moments, he wondered what had happened to his former partner. Did he quit? Did he get fired? Most likely - for being such a pain in the ass. Or did he die? But was that something Christian really wanted to care about? He was just glad he was finally gone. Heck, he didn't even know he could hate a person as much as he hated his partner.
The car was already parked outside, popping open the trunk he put the gear for the day inside and closed it again. Adjusting his uniform and checking everything on his belt was where it belonged he moved up to the driver's side. Keys jiggled in his hands as he looked at them. He didn't drive for the past few months and he had no intention to do so. He preferred sitting in the passenger seat, although, letting rookies drive probably wasn't the best idea.
The officer lifted his gaze from the keys, brown eyes looking at a brunette heading towards him. He checked her name tag, making sure it was the name he was told. "Officer Parker." he greeted with a nod before tossing the keys over to her. "You're driving." he said, and with that walked around the patrol car to the passenger side, "You can call me Christian." he called over before sliding into the car.
[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.
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. 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.
[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.
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. 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.
[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"] One side of his lips twitched in response to her snort. Scrunching his nose at the smell coming off from his uniform. It wasn’t too bad but it was still bad. The summer heat just worsened the rotting process of the trash and thus the smell was worse than usual as well. “Once I get my hands on you I will make you take a dip in the trash just so we’re even.” he replied, his taser aimed at the fence.
Christian didn’t want to pull the trigger on the taser, so he hesitated, only to watch her climb to the top and jump down. “No!” he shouted, moving forward and slamming his hand against the fence. The metal rattled in response and he watched her land on the other side. “Do us both a favor and just stay there!”
Muttering something under his breath he put away his taser and took off, making his way around the buildings. It was an endless wall of buildings before he finally reached a small alleyway which looked like it could lead to the bigger one he needed to go to. His radio turned on as his partner communicated with him. “Where are you?” he asked, just as Christian made it to the end of it but it was a dead end.
There was a wall, a wall he couldn’t possibly climb but he spotted the fence she just climbed over, nearby. Christian, out of breath from all the running, bent over for a very brief break, one hand resting on his thigh while the other got a hold of the radio to answer. “Still chasing the suspect. Are you nearby yet?” He raised both eyebrows in disbelief when he was told his partner was still waiting where the car was parked.
Dark eyes scanned the area and paused on a larger trash container, the kind where you could dispose of a body of. Maybe a good place for his partner’s body to throw in when the time would come - which seemed to be soon. Christian could not wait to get rid of that dumbass.
But there was no time to think about that now. He walked over to the container and started pushing it to the wall. If he climbed on top of it he should be able to make it over but he needed something else to get on the container itself without climbing into it first. He quickly found a regular silver, trash can and placed it in front of the container, using it to get on top of the other lid. The smell emerging from that one was even worse than the smell on his clothes.
He hauled himself up the wall and looked down. His eyes found the female he was chasing earlier and as he half-sat on top of the wall he held out a hand. “Stay. Do not move. You’re already in deep trouble. Don’t make it worse.” Christian warned her, swinging himself over the wall.
[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"] The summer heat was definitely slowing him down a little even though it had cooled down significantly. He was still sweating through the uniform, strands of his dark hair sticking to his forehead. It was about time for a haircut. Too bad all stores were closed. He was still on her trails, closing in as he reached the corner she just turned. Christian was about to call out once again when the sudden appearance of a trash can in front of him threw him off, barely managing to avoid falling over it as it rolled into his direction, by jumping. However, he couldn’t avoid stepping into some of the trash, grimacing as he looked down at his shoes for a brief moment.
He scrunched his nose at the sticky feeling underneath his soles and the smell, his fairly content face expression quickly turning into an annoying glare. Foot chases were the worst especially if the suspect was fit enough to keep running like this. Another trash can was thrown into his direction and unfortunately, this time he wasn’t able to avoid it in time as he ran straight into it.
His foot got caught before he could lift it high enough and he dove into the ground, digging his face into some trash that spilled out. Growling and muttering under his breath he pushed himself back up with his hands, reaching for the gun which had fallen out of his hands before impact. As he scrambled back onto his feet he wiped at his face, his face contorting at all the things he had stuck on it. He made a mental note to wash his face with sanitizer later.
By the time he was ready to continue running, even though it was just a moment, she had already vanished around the corner. Christian turned around the same corner, expecting her to be gone when a rattling noise caught his attention and his eyes moved up to see her attempting to climb a fence. His hand reached up to grab her but she was already too high up for him to be able to get her from the ground, but Christian had no intention of following her by climbing up the fence as well. The sound of fabric ripping made him do a double-take before he let out a short-lived laugh. Lifting an eyebrow he cleared his throat.
He quickly switched out the gun for his taser, holding it up as he aimed at a spot next to her. Plan A was to get her down by her own will, plan B was to get her down with force and plan C was to look for a way to get on the other side without climbing it. "One last warning. Get down or I will make use of this. Electricity and metal don’t mix well." he warned, raising his voice so it would be loud enough to hear.
[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"] Christian looked at the travel agent store, adverts to different destinations hanging on display in front of the window. His flashlight was aimed at one in particular - Paris, France. If the pandemic didn't happen he would have been on a one week trip to Paris now. His vacation was overdue but chances of taking it - or ever getting around to actually take it - were suddenly so low. He had already paid for everything too and had yet to receive all his refunds because apparently a global pandemic isn't enough reason to cancel flights and accommodations and thus everyone pretty much had to wait for their refunds - if they were going to get one anyway.
His partner's voice emerging from the radio dragged him right back to reality. The harsh reality with no more vacations and trips. The only trips he would take were the ones to and back from the Police Department - and perhaps the hospital. "You found anything yet?" his partner asked, the voice muffled as he spoke through the thick fabric of the mask, and Christian turned off his flashlight, putting it back into its place. He turned around, away from the store, and looked around the area. They received a call about suspicious movements at one of the malls inside the quarantine zone along with a flyer of a missing person - someone escaped the quarantine quarters despite the strict patrols and tight security. Christian shook his head at the military who were supposed to be oh so superior to the police in Lethford City. Didn't seem like it to him.
"No. Not yet. The second floor is clear." Christian said, gloved hands hovering over his own mask as he played with the thought of slipping it down just for a brief moment to take a breath. However, considering he was inside the quarantine zone where most infections took place it might not be the smartest decision to make, thus he decided against it. Just a couple more minutes until they were out - he hoped. His eyes searched through the second floor of the mall as he climbed up the steps of the escalator which was not operating. He turned around, thinking he heard a sound coming from downstairs, but saw nothing. A sigh escaped his lips and he returned to face the top of the escalator - when someone appeared in front of him.
Christian's eyes widened and he instinctively started to go for his gun at his side but before he could even open the safety button to the holster the man jumped at him, the two tumbling back down the escalator. He could feel the spiky ends of the steps digging inside his back but the adrenaline pushed back any pain he could feel. Once the two were down Christian immediately grabbed the guy by his shoulders, trying to pin him down. He checked his face and was sure it was the missing one, the one they were looking for. Great. Now he was grateful to his common sense that he didn't take off his mask just to take a breather.
The officer struggled to keep the man down. He was strong, stronger than expected for someone who was supposedly sick. Maybe he was just diagnosed? Either way, he put up a fight. His leg went up and pushed Christian off of him, and he stumbled away. A few attempted blows here and there as the infected man tried to haul himself at him. Christian let him come closer, and the moment he went for him, the brunette grabbed him by the collar of his ripped shirt and pushed him back until they hit the window of a store. He pressed his lower arm against the man's collarbones, trying to reach for his radio to call for backup, but he failed. He called out to get his partner's attention but if he was going the way he told him to go, he would be in the basement right now. Christian had no other choice than to use all his strength to keep the man at the wall, hoping that either someone would come to help or the man would get tired and give up.