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.
“Jeffrey. Now I know whose butt I need to kick if he messes a call up again.”
Jeffrey probably meant well, and Arlo thought that perhaps in another job he would thrive. But dispatch is not where ‘meant well’ goes over well when you are the person who could mean life or death by reacting too slowly to something by even 10 seconds. But she was surely Jax understood that in his own way as well. If he or anyone on SWAT responded too slowly that could be their own lives or others on the line. They needed to make a decision quickly and with purpose. She looked over at the man next to her and pictured him dressed in his SWAT gear. Wondering if the man who clocked in at work was different than the one who was walking down the street with her, carrying coffee’s that he just paid half for.
As he agreed to computers for her, she gave him a solid nod. There was a reason why she did what she did, and he did what he did. As he held out his phone for her, she gave him a small smile and started to punch in her information to the phone. “I have a twelve hour shift ahead of me, so whenever you are ready to have a visitor let me know. Break is around three if that helps.” It was still his place, and she wasn’t going to push any certain time on him unless he became too indecisive. Then she would push it. To be fair, she did warn him about that trait of hers. Some called it impatience, but she just would brush that off.
She saved her contact as ‘Arlo the Great’ in his phone, with a little pink octopus emoji next to it. “Don’t disappoint me and change that back to just bland ‘Arlo Espinosa’. At least top it.” She said as she handed the phone back to him, leaving it unlocked so he could see what she saved herself as in his phone. “And I’d be more concerned if I didn’t get memes from you,” Arlo gave him a light laugh as she reached out a hand and offered to take the coffee tray back from him.
“Oh yeah? You know of some good shows I can binge watch?"
With a light shrug, she walked on. “Binge worthy yes, but I’ve got two words for you Jax: Chamomile tea.” She said confidently. “It helps take the edge off and you have some right before bed and pop on an old sitcom? You’ll be sleeping like a baby.” She said with a smile. Trinity had a hard time sleeping, and after Arlo walking out multiple times to find her wide awake just staring at the TV, she started to try different things to help her roommate sleep. Why not share that bit of useful information with someone who could probably use the help, from the way that he seemed to think a bit too hard before he cracked his joke. She felt like she needed to say something, and whether it made him uncomfortable or broke just enough ice for them, she wasn’t sure.
“Jackson, I am not going to try and fix anything, or change anything you don’t want changed. But just know, I don’t like people close to me suffering or hiding behind false ‘everything is fine’ BS.” There was the blunt girl that he father wanted. “So you don’t need to sugar coat things for me. I am able to handle silences and just know, its okay to not be okay sometimes. We are human. I have my days.” A simple shrug of her shoulders dismissed the rest of that, without her feeling the need to warn him about her bad days. Hopefully he will be on duty when she has them. But she wanted to be upfront with him about this friendship thing. She didn’t want people she held in that category to feel like they needed to force out false emotions for her sake.
She scoffed at his girl scout comment. “No, though I would have dominated at being one. Except for the outdoors stuff. I am about clueless when it comes to survival outdoors. I survive best with technology.” As she spoke she laughed a bit. “So I guess actually that would make me an awful girl scout. I just like to be prepared for small things.” Like spills that she didn’t want down the front of her shirt or over her denim jeans.
“Yep. Sure did. I was trying to do that thing where you burn the top of sugar with a flame you know, but we didn't have one of those torch things so I had to improvise.”
At that, a full bellied laugh tore out of her. Somehow she pictured him trying to hold the pie upside down to try and get the flame to torch the top of the pie. Him innocently standing there thinking “wow look at me, I’m a real life MacGyver.” Meanwhile the pie would just slowly come crashing out of the tin and all over the oven. Like a damn child, she thought to herself. She meant it in the best of ways while thinking about him. “Well I think your rate of success for surviving might have just gone up with me coming along,” She thought out loud to him. A small smile still dancing on her lips.
With the promise of poker nights ahead and him asking about her booze of choice, she thought about how this was going to be a nice thing. He was easy to get along with, and she felt like she was talking to an old friend as they walked along. There was an easiness to this friendship. And it made her truly happy. “I’m a hard cider kind of gal,” She had gotten a lot of crap from guy friends about that but like come on, it was delicious. And it was like having a beer, its a casual drink that was nice to get drunk off of.
Arlo stumbled out of the townhouse that her cousin lived it, rushing a little down the steps to start heading back towards the road. Her hands reaching up and securing the handmade mask back over her nose and mouth behind her head with the ties. She was glad that her cousin had made her a few, which were tucked in the canvas bag that was almost empty in her left hand. She had brought supplies out to her cousin and her small family. Their local shops were either closed or had no supplies thanks to a lot of people evacuating the city and flooding the area. Which is what prompted the text to the one person in the city that they trusted, which was the twenty two year old dispatcher. Her cousin had a compromised immune system so her leaving to the city was not an option.
And in return to bringing out a few basic supplies, her cousin had made her a few face masks now that things were starting to take a turn for the worse. Arlo was able to bargain a total of five masks out of her, with the idea that she would keep two to rotate and give away the other three to those closest to her. She felt ridiculous wearing it but knew that this was a good way to take an extra step to protect herself and those she cared for. Her curls were pinned away from her face which was a good thing, so that way she could see clearly over her mask. She requested just plain colors, no need for prints. And somehow she ended up with a printed one. And though she wouldn't admit it, she found it cute and was going to keep it for herself.
With the yellow, orange, and white floral print mask in place on her face, she set off to a brisk pace as she headed for a corner, ready to call for a car to take her back into the city. And that's when she caught a load of the time. "Damn," 8:05pm. It was just past the curfew that was put into place not too long ago. She thought about going back to her cousins, but she had planned on finishing up some more packing tonight. With her moving soon, she wanted to make sure everything was good to go beforehand, not last minute. Hopefully there would still be a car around to answer her page for one.
What she really hoped for, was that she wouldn't run into any trouble, with the military vehicles passing through every hour on the hour. She'd rather not have to answer as to why she was just 5 minutes past the curfew.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Your services are best rendered to the call lines. If I get that one guy who takes five minutes to answer one question again I'm going to have to visit him personally. Think of the fun though. I mean the honor and glory are perks too of course, but on Fridays we get pizza parties."
She laughed, her head actually being thrown back as she let out the laughter to the sky above them. "Oh Jeffery... he is like that in person too." She said with a laugh. That man, she didn't have words for. She used him as the bottom mark, if he hasn't gotten fired yet, she was safe. Because there was plenty of reasons for him to be fired before her. So he was her benchmark. Once she settled her laughter down, she gave a thoughtful ponder on the rest of what he said, "Pizza parties. Well that is very tempting... but I am sure that before many Friday's, you'd be rolling me around the office." She joked. But then turned to him, "Better yet, I would become the new and improved battering ram for the department. So I think for safety reasons, I'll stick to the computers."
Besides, she now knew someone who she'd be potentially saving their ass on the line. Part of that thought had her falter for a moment. God, this was the reason that she didn't make the time to go over and meet the voices. It was easier to keep emotions out of it if she didn't know them. If she didn't have to picture their face in panic when they paged into her on those tough calls. Her heart sank a bit and she sent up a silent prayer that she would never have to known that fear for him. Because she had a feeling, their friendship would make her either a) perform better for him than anyone else, or b) she would choke up. She hoped it was the later.
"I would almost make it a requirement. Haven't slept much lately."
She held her face passive but commented on that. "Well, we will work on that then." She figured that the wound was still too fresh and probably left him wide awake because he saw her when he closed her eyes, she figured that would be something that would happen. Hopefully she could offer a good distraction with her new habits and different personality to learn. Maybe just enough of something to help him, if he wanted it. She certainly wasn't going to force anything of any kind on him. He would heal when he wanted to, she was just there to maybe aide him now.
Her lips curved up as she brought her coffee to her mouth as he cursed her name for her joke. "You've got to warn me before you throw a curveball like that." She took another drink of her coffee and gave a quick glance down his shirt. "I've got a tide to go pen in my purse." She offered. Even though her purse was small, she kept several small things in there. Her phone, tide to go pen, chapstick, and a thin wallet that had her ID, 1 card, and a bit of cash in it. It was about all she needed to keep near her. She had a water tumbler she kept at work as well as a mug that was specifically hers for the extra coffees she had during her long shifts. And a jacket she kept in her locker for the days that the air conditioning was working in overtime for no reason.
"Well then consider me your student Obi-Wan. Though I have to warn you, I tried making a pecan pie one year and I caught a stove on fire so good luck with that. If you visit the fourth floor's kitchen there's a sign on the wall that bans me from touching the stove. I am not kidding. It's been two years."
She shook her heard. "You caught the stove on fire... making a pie.... oh young Padawan, you have much to learn." She wasn't a Star Wars super fan or anything, but she has seen the movies at least once. Well the original ones, not the newer aged ones that didn't have Han Solo or Darth Vader in them. They were interesting, and she had to say that Harrison Ford looked mighty good back in the day. Something about him just did it for her. And suddenly it hit her what he said last. "Wait you caught the stove on fire at work?!" She said, brown eyes wide and an amused smile on her face, that clearly said 'please explain this to me'.
Arlo dared a look at him when she finished, and she felt like his face was too passive for a moment. The whole father thing didn't sit well with others. It could have been a lot worse with him. He thankfully didn't leave her broken at the bottom of the stairs or anything. Just definitely wasn't even in the top million for father of the year in the states. But she was glad that he didn't bring it up. Maybe when they got to know each other a bit more, she would tell him. Or maybe that would just be one of those things that went without having to say. Only time would tell on that. She she was glad when she got to 'pft' at him when he doubted her bluffing skills. "Etter, you better watch it. I'll make you eat those words, I am a fantastic bluffer. You better keep me on your side." She said with a wicked grin.
"Wait no, actually I do have a rule. No country music. I mean it Arlo. I will revolt."
She faked a hurt face, her free hand falling into place over her heart as she gasped. "But good sir, however shall I live without that?!" She didn't mind country music, it just wasn't her go to. But if she heard it, she could enjoy it enough. She dropped the hand quickly, while bringing up the other one with the coffee to sip again. "Guess that means the dancing you do is not line dancing." Arlo said with a shrug. Which was actually a relief, that looked way harder than her just swaying her body to the music with any other genre of music.
As he went on answering the questions that she asked, she nodded along, taking note of them. There were reasons she asked those questions because sometimes they showed something that would be important in the future. "Chicago, cheesy foods, partier on the weeks, and Australia." She didn't feel like mentioning they shared having deceased moms would be something worth noting. Or the fact that she was pretty sure he was going to talk about his fiancé. So she kept the conversation light. "So first meal together will have to be something cheesy. I'll cook, that way I don't have to worry about our kitchen the first night together." she joked.
" What about you? Where would you go?"
They were getting closer to work, and her coffee was getting smaller and smaller. He was good company, whether he believed it or not. She thought about his question for a moment, not entirely sure because she never really had big dreams of going anywhere, they never seemed like something she would actually get to go do. But she had an image run across her mind as she wondered. "Greece," She said, her voice sure and the faintest of smiles reaching her lips, "I heard the sunsets are amazing."
TAG: Jackson Etter | OOC: I am so sorry right back at you.
"Hell yes you have to dance with me. I'm not going to dance alone here. If you've got a boyfriend or something bring him along, I'll make him dance with me too.”
Oh imagine that now. Full on SWAT over here dancing with anyone, like really anyone, who would give him the time. Arlo was already picturing going to an outing with him and her having to hide away from him, just so she wouldn’t get dragged out to the dance floor where she would truly just stand there, awkwardly shifting until she was ready for her next drink. Because after being forced to dance, she would want another drink, shot, something. She would have to be good and drunk, or at least in a really really good mood to willingly dance around. Especially if there were other people round to see her.
“Put your money where your mouth is Espinosa, sign on the dotted line. I'll be your personal mentor of course.”
The laughter he had was contagious and caused her to burst out with her own laughter. Oh was he calling her on her bluff, because there was no way she could do what he did. So instead she just waved a hand in the air, “Etter we both know you all would be screwed if dispatch had one less competent people. But I think we can both agree you being my mentor would be a bad idea. Because nothing would ever get done with you trying to convince me to fold your laundry as part of the job.” And not to mention that she’s never shot a gun on her own but it was something she hadn’t needed to do. Nor did she have anyone she trusted to bring her. That wasn’t a trip she wanted to take alone nor with someone who was a complete idiot.
She nodded as he admitted that it sucked about her situation with her roommate. Honestly, it was a good match when everything started out. Trinity and Arlo were perfect wing women for each other. Trinity preferred only females, where Arlo just found the people who she found attractive to take home on the rare occasion she was up for something like that. She wasn’t picky. Or maybe she was greedy. But once Trinity started regularly seeing Ash, it shifted a lot. Ash fit in of course, and the three would do movie nights or eat dinner together. But there is always this part of growing up that happens.
“Hey, move in with me.”
Brown eyes shot over to look at the man beside her. As he went on his rant, and kept his gaze away from her, she studied him for a moment. But what hooked her, besides the benefit of living with someone who undoubtedly would be safe to live with, was that he needed the company. And as much as she wouldn’t admit it to her current roommate, Arlo sort of hated the idea of living alone as well. Jax would be a safe bet, she wouldn’t have to worry about him being a creep. Clearly he had background checks done before joining the force so he didn’t have skeletons deep in his closet. He just lost someone insanely close to him, so it wasn’t like he was going to try crawling his way into her pants the first night, if she agreed.
“I…” She started and stopped. Only to take a deep breath and ask, “If I say yes, are you sure you are okay with late night baking?” The last thing she wanted was for him to be asking cause he felt bad for her. Though considering they’ve officially met off the radio for the first time, he really didn’t have any reason to feel that way. He could have just offered some ideas of places that were renting. “Because if you can handle that, than I think that’d be awesome.” She gave a grin. Sure there would probably have to be house rules and such but she felt like she could deal with him on a regular.
“Had it removed last week, thanks for noticing.”
“Oh, well might I add, you look great for only a week out! Barely can tell by the way you walk.” She gave a solid approving nod, as if she was one of those soccer moms approving of another soccer mom for looking as if she hadn’t just pushed a bowling ball out of her lady bits a week before. She always felt so bad for them, and those standards put on them. ‘Here have your body ripped apart and shifted to something you’ve never had to deal with before, push this bowling ball out, and you better hurry up and bounce right back or else you let yourself go’. God, she pitied the women who got treated like that. God help if any of her friends, herself, or hell if she wound up with a woman instead of a man down the road, god help the person who breathed a word of hate towards them. She would rip them apart.
She made a fake hurt face as he told her he didn’t understand her talk of buttercream. “Oh Etter, what a pitiful life you have lived if you haven’t gotten to know the differences between buttercream and regular icing. You are in for a treat.” She said while shaking her head, as they started on their way towards work. Easily falling in step beside him as they walked. She hoped he wasn’t a fast walker, because she would have to shift gears if so. She definitely could hustle, but today? Nah, she was liking her morning so far. And considering he mentioned it was one of his first days back, she would imagine he’s not exactly in a rush to get there either.
“So Arlo where are you from? Any bad habits I need to know about before we go any further into this whole friendship thing?”
She shook her head slightly. “Grew up just outside of Lethford. Came here when Trinity got into school and I needed to get out of my father’s house.We are not close and had a lot of bad times growing up.” Without much hesitation she continued on, “As a friend? My bad habit is that I can be a bit bossy if you get indecisive. Sorry, its a bad habit that my father basically beat into me. But outside of that? I am a damn good wing woman and as mentioned before, I’ll bake you about anything if you ask nicely enough. And I am pretty good at playing poker.” Well there was a random bucket of information about her. “As a roommate, all of the previously stated, I am good about keeping things clean and being considerate of quiet time, and I rarely bring home anyone from the bar. But if I do, there will at least be a heads up of some sorts.”
Yeah she definitely didn’t want him to think she was going to be a bad roommate, but the worst part was probably her getting tipsy after a rough shift and sitting in the living room watching bad TV drama while devouring popcorn. It was her go to and Trinity plenty of times had to cover her with a blanket for passing out in their shared space instead of her own room. “What about you Etter? Any skeletons in your closet if I go digging? What is your favorite home cooked meal?” As they came up to a cross walk, she waited for the light to turn to signal it was safe to walk. Well, somewhat safe. “If you could travel anywhere, where would you go and why?” Now she was just being ridiculous, but she genuinely wanted to know. She enjoyed his company and wanted to know what he enjoyed. For one reason or another, she felt like this would be a good friendship between them.
" “Deal. Though I've got to warn you, I tend to do a lot of dancing when I'm inebriated.”
Arlo looked at him with an intrigued look, raising one eyebrow slightly as she tried and imagined him drunk. His cheeks lightly colored red, a boyish smile on his face while his blonde hair was all over, she imagined that it would be sticking out at odd ends because his hands would have racked through it several times as he was slowly moving his body to the beat. She was still debating on whether he would actually be dancing along with the beat of the song playing or kind of just going with whatever movements he wanted.
“Tell me Jax, when you say you dance a lot, does that mean by yourself? Or, if one was to be with you, like myself let’s say, would I be expected to dance along as well?” She mused at him, her head cocked slightly to the side as she tried to picture him reaching out and dancing with her. She couldn’t even think about what music was playing. Just the look of joy on the males face. He would be a fun drunk, that she had definitely landed on.
“I mean look, if you were assigned to do training for SWAT and some guy said you started by learning the discipline of folding laundry would you have believed it?”
She shrugged her shoulders, “Listen, we both already know I would put the boys in your department to shame if I came over to SWAT.” Except on the obstacle course. But that was the reason why she didn’t dare think of trying out for something wild like that. That took lots of training and muscle. And while she could crush some yoga, that wasn’t exactly going to get her to chase down a criminal with thirty pounds or so of gear on while hopping fences.
“Where are you moving to?”
“Just out of my current place. My roommate, Trinity, you might know her, she’s a crime scene tech. Anyway, her and her girlfriend are getting pretty serious. The girlfriend is moving in soon and even though they won’t say it, I know they don’t want me to be the third wheel.” Actually Trinity hated the idea of Arlo moving out, but it was more of a concern for where she would go, and the fact that they had been living together for so long. “But its proving to be a harder task than I could have imagined. No one wants to show off places after like 12pm. Because apparently you are more likely to catch the virus after lunch.” She scoffed at the idea but it was the reality of the situation right now.
“You don't have to tell me twice. I think it's almost standard for guys on the force to have a stick up their butt.”
Arlo was in quite a good mood, one that was making her funnier than she normally was. Or maybe she was just in good company but she leaned back and did a quick scan over his backside. “Odd. I don’t seem to see a stick poking out your rather toned behind. Something wrong with you?” She couldn’t hold back the laughter that spilled from her lips when she finished the question.
She shot him an amused look as he claimed he was no gentleman, and in the next breath was offering to hold the coffee’s for her. “I am certainly no gentleman,” she dropped her voice the best she could to try and mock him, as she handed him the coffee holder, shy of one coffee as she took hers and gave it a small sip. It was hot enough to almost burn her lips but the espresso was perfect. As he went on to tell her his favorite flavor and to layer up the icing, she cracked a grin and lifted her brown eyes up to him. “Done deal. But I only do homemade buttercream icing, so you better be okay with that.” Which why wouldn’t he be? That was the best kind of icing out there.
Arlo heard her phone chime in her pocket and she took a quick look at the time and the text from the girls coming through. She let out a sigh, not ready for their time to be up. She was enjoying his company too much. “Are you walking to work? Because if you are, I’d love the company.”
"Yeah right. You don't strike me as a sad drunk. I bet you do crazy stuff, get tattoos and dance on tables."
Oh man, was that the vibe she gave off? The idea of her being the one who was dancing on tables made her snort. She didn't have enough grace to actually stabilize herself on a table even when she was sober, let alone if she was several drinks in? She felt like her recent stunt with the coffee was enough to prove that. It's also why she didn't wear heals, she chose flats or sneakers. "Well tell you what, you can be the judge of that one day. But I might disappoint you. No table dancing or tattoos. But if I can get my hands on some baking stuff? Forget it. You will have sweet snacks for days." She could bake. And she had days where she had to come to work with trays of goodies a few days in a row so it wouldn't go to waste.
"Lack of recruits. Not a whole lot of people can do what we do."
Her immediate "Damn right." probably came out too harsh. But damn was it true. Was not for the weak. She just knew it was a good in after working dispatch for taxi drivers and that she would have a good retirement if she could get in with a city job. Sometimes you have to plan for your future, even if you personally don't know much about where you will be in a few years. And what did you know? She wound up being pretty damn good at it. The laughter that fell from him made her smile. Kept that up, and her cheeks would be hurting her for the rest of the day. She liked the easiest of this back and forth with him.
"Nah, they won't let me near new recruits since I got them to do all of my laundry and apartment cleaning for a week."
She could only imagine the trouble that he was to his chief. A constant worry of 'what did he do today' in the sense of mischief. She was sure that once he had a task at hand, he would be focused and probably damn good at what he was to do. But back at the office? Or apparently with the new recruits, he was a handful. "Ah, abuse the power and someone will come along to fix it." She joked, "If you have any in the next coming weeks, tell them part of their initiation is to help me move," Well, if she had a place by then. Cause damn, was apartment searching hard. Especially when the landlords were not wanting to meet people to see the places. So she was having to go after work hours to scout them out. Which didn't give her a real life look on the inside, but she got the idea of the area surrounding.
As he nodded to her offer, she didn't feel the need to give more on it. If he wanted to talk about it or open up to her, the offer had been extended. And she truly meant it. Arlo could only hope that he knew that too. It wasn't some empty words that she put out there because she wanted to fill a silence or give him fake comfort.
"Ah, a fellow optimist huh?"
She liked the way his mouth turned up into a smirk of kinds. It meant, even for a moment, he was eased out of that state of mind. No one deserved to frown all the time. And Arlo certainly didn't want someone to be like that around her. "Better to be around someone who was happy than miserable all the time, I say." She was not perfect, she had her days. Mainly those days would be the ones where her father reached out to her and started on his whole BS. Those were the snippy days where she was just fried emotionally and didn't have a lot of patience for other people. She knew a day like that would be happening soon, it had been weeks since she heard from her father. Which meant his usual check in was coming soon.
As Jax stepped up to make his order, she kept a respectful distance from him. She was never one to just cozy up to someone or start invading their personal space. Even her roommate who they have known each other all throughout high school, it was Trinity who was always invading into Arlo's space. It wasn't because she didn't want to touch people or anything of the sorts, she just never wanted to overstep her boundary with people. But as Jax went and started to pay for the whole order, instead of his agreed upon part, she instinctually went towards the card reader and stepped into his space. "Hey!"
"Too much trust Arlo. You made that way too easy."
God damn was he right. She should have kept her station at the window and had him order over her shoulder. He wouldn't have tried to pay around her, considering one hand was still balancing the other drinks she had to bring to work. The smallest of pouts hit her lips as she took a step back, noticing the transaction going through. Well, now she needed to figure out a way to pay him back. "I thought we had an agreement Jax," Arlo said as she looked up at him, shifting the coffee carrier in her hands. "You know that just means I still owe you a coffee." Because he wasn't going to get away with that. Not even in the slightest.
"I guess coffee preference is a stupid thing to have an opinion on. Doesn't really make any difference in the end does it?"
His laugh at her small joke had her smile lightly. She wasn't exactly the comic of her friends but she had a bit of wit behind her on a good day. "Yeah, but cheaper than booze or therapy. Gotta pick your poison I guess." Poison was right, coffee was bad for health, drinking as well. Therapy. Well it helped some but also could make things way worse for others. They say talking it out and figuring out the meaning behind things was supposed to help. But she disagreed, if you didn't want to believe it'll help, then it won't help. "I've heard therapy is the most expensive of them all. I'll stick to the booze and coffee. Sometimes the willing poor soul who lends me their ear after one too many drinks." Though she normally didn't just rambled on to anyone. That normally was just saved for her roommate who she grew up with.
"That's where you're wrong. It's a partnership. I've had two missions that completely failed because of the operator. One accidentally tipped off the target and one froze mid-operation. Trust me, what you do is nothing small."
Arlo had a feeling she knew which of her coworkers those were. She let a small eye roll and head shake happen. "How some of them have jobs still is beyond me," She knew she wasn't the best one. She wasn't the top dog who could handle everything flawlessly. But she was damn good at it and learned from her mistakes. She tried not to make them twice and each mistake was looked at as a learning experience instead of a failure. "But thank you," she meant it. Unlike some officers, being a dispatcher just meant that she never got that thank you after a call. It normally went to the one person who the caller could physically see.
"It isn't good to think about past missions, or ... calls. You did your best. You did what was needed. If you dive too deep into what happens next, it'll just bog you down. You aren't responsible for people and how they act. You can't change the choices they make or the things that happen to them. You're not God. Trust me, you can't save everyone and the world isn't your burden to save."
Well wasn't he a good little therapist there. Well, perhaps not little, but it did sound like something you would read in like chapter three of a therapy book. "Do you practice that in the mirror before you talk to new recruits?" It was in a joking manner, something to keep the mood light and easy. He was right, she couldn't control the outside world. Other people, things that they do to one another or the bad choices that they make. "I suppose you have a good point though, probably why we have a good decompression room in the dispatch center." It was meant that if you needed to go bawl your eyes out or scream after a call, it was a safe space for you to do so. Thankfully Arlo hasn't needed that one too much.
"Yeah, uh. I took a small leave. My fiance, Emma..."
She could already feel the tingle in the back of her neck. She shouldn't have said anything. The sadness was palpable in the air and she had a hard time finding words suddenly. To tell him he didn't need to tell her. She wasn't expecting this.
"She passed away. But pandemics don't respect time off. I got called in to help out with everything. First day back actually."
Arlo bit her lip as she tried to not spill out the "oh I am so sorry for your loss" bull that normally comes out of people. It's more a social habit, but those words never meant anything. Unless you truly have gone through the same thing, which she has not, it was empty words. Arlo let out a breathe she didn't realize she was holding and she hoped that her reaction to him didn't upset him. "I can't imagine. And I have never felt what you are probably going through, but if you ever need to just... scream, talk, just be.... whatever, I am a good silent friend." It wasn't much, but it was what she could offer.
"Think this is a bad omen?"
Her brown eyes met his, not wavering or giving that ashamed quick glance. She was there and serious about what she offered before. "Only if you let it be a bad one," Arlo said softly. She let there be a pause and she wanted to say more, but she heard someone call 'Next' in front of her. They were up. Well that line went way too fast. With a quick step up of the window, she ordered the insanely long one, before turning to him and offering him a soft smile, "What's your poison Etter?"
"I guess coffee preference is a stupid thing to have an opinion on. Doesn't really make any difference in the end does it?"
She pursed her lips slightly and did a little bob with her head as if saying 'meh' without actually making the noise. "Not really. We all are entitled to our opinions. And a difference in the end, well you can definitely tell the difference in your wallet that's for sure, coffee wise that is," She wasn't one to get all philosophical on someone but it made her laugh at the thought. Coffee could get expensive when you start adding in syrups and fancy things. Designs, forget it. She used to hate this one girl growing up in high school. Just couldn't stand her, their personalities just didn't mesh at all. So it made sense that one day she caught sight of her at a coffee shop in senior year wanting them to make a design in her froth so she could post some BS filled social media post.
"Sorry. I don't mean to be a buzz kill. It's...a weird time."
Arlo watched him shuffle his feet, clearly not wanting to dive further into the subject, and she certainly wasn't at the liberty to pry into it. She gave him a small, reassuring touch on his forearm, just light enough to catch his attention hopefully. And the touch was there, and was gone just as quickly. It hopefully went across the right way, "We all have weird times in life. No need to apologize." She was always that one friend in her group that was kinda the 'hey we don't need to talk about it, I'm here if needed' one. She didn't like pushing people to open up. How damn rude right? Especially to nosy strangers. Though they weren't quite strangers now were they?
She almost laughed as he was taken back by her saying his name. Instead she smiled without showing off teeth, making her eyes crinkle slightly at the corners. Watching as he put two and two together on her job and name.
"Yeah, right, Arlo...Espinosa isn't it? Nice to meet you face to face. You're a hell of a dispatch officer."
His hand was warm when it connected with hers. She applied a gentle but firm shake before letting her hand fall back to her side. She never really ventured outside of the dispatch center, unlike her coworkers who constantly were popping into the actual police station. She just didn't want to get in the way, which is why a lot of officers didn't go over to dispatch. They had to run through three to four different screens, catching all the details possible before coming up with the best plan of action. So it was sort of odd but nice to actually know the face behind the voice. "Well thank you, but it's not my life on the line literately. So nothing compared to what you do out there." She wasn't the one who stopped the bad guys. She just dispatched the right men for the job. And Jax was definitely one of the better ones.
"So do you enjoy it?"
That took her a bit by surprise. Her brown eyes widen slightly as she takes another step forward in the line. Does she like it? "In a way, I really do." She started, she felt her eyes lose focus as she thought about. "I get some funny calls, I get to chat with officers who have some wit behind them. And I like the fast pace, constantly moving a thousand miles an hour part." She said, but her face fell a bit as she finished off her thoughts, "I think the hardest part is not knowing how some of the calls end. Like were they okay? Did help get there in time? Was I fast enough or get the right information quick enough to make that difference. I don't quite get that feedback at the end to know," as the words fell from her lips, she suddenly felt her cheeks heat up a bit. Well that was an unexpected word vomit.
Now she was slightly embarrassed and wanted to change the subject. Her father raised her to be tougher than that sounded, not that she appreciated all his tactic, but it made her job easier to just hold those thoughts in. She refocused and looked back at him. "I feel like I haven't heard your voice in a while though. Been busy?"
"I don't get that. I mean coffee and cream, espresso and steamed milk, all okay. I get those. But getting all that whipped cream, extra cream, double syrup, topped with foam junk just kind of seems a little pointless to me. Like, wouldn't you just be better off ordering a milkshake or something."
She agreed in many ways with that. Though of course, the inner girl in her was the one who spoke up. "Ah, but sometimes the sweeter things in life need to be enjoyed. Just from time to time. Or for the experience of it. Whatever that means." She had been told that once from her roommate, that its an experience. Though that was when Trinity had made quite an odd dish that required oysters, mushrooms, and something that she honestly thinks that Trinity picked up in a dumpster. It smelled awful. Arlo almost threw up the moment her lips wrapped around the fork full of whatever it was. Running to the kitchen sink and spitting it out before diving for the closest drink. The two stared at one another for about thirty seconds after Arlo was able to calm the dry heaves, before they burst into laughter. It was the experience that she will always remember. Though she was sure that taste would also be burned in her tastebuds memories for the rest of her life.
She easily waved off his taking the blame again. She wouldn't hear anymore of it. Their fault. Not his alone, nor hers. Call it a joint effort if you will. And she was glad he didn't harp on it, and handed her back the saved coffees as she regained her footing. She thought about the girls down at dispatch and how each of their orders were so fitting in a way. Each one having their own idea of a good cup o' joe. Like he stated earlier, might as well get a milkshake or something equivalent. Maybe next time she will offer to get milkshakes for the girls before she headed in, and see what they would order. There had to be an ice cream shop doing take out somewhere around.
With him agreeing to the coffee for coffee price, she smiled lightly. It was the best deal she could think of on the spot and he seemed to like that idea as well.
"Ah, gotcha. Are you the newbie?"
There was that familiar way of speaking again. It was going to drive her up a wall.
Curls bounced as she shook her head. "Nah. I've been around for about.. a year or so now? Honestly it feels like so much longer. But it's not exactly a job for the faint of heart." Arlo knew that not everyone could handle having to talk to a five year old child on the line telling them that their parent wasn't waking up after giving themself a shot. Or hearing the screaming mother on the line as her child was choking in the background. Or hearing an officer crack through the line yelling for backup or hearing shots fired as they were speaking. No, not for the faint of heart at all. She had her father to thank for that mind of steel when she needed it. It came to good use in her line of work. She would never tell that man that though, he didn't deserve that praise. And her softer side, ability to talk to people? She had her aunt to thank for that, before she left her alone.
Arlo found it easy to fall into step behind him as he headed for the back of the line, her one knee stung a little, making her realize that perhaps there was a nice scuff under that rip in her pants. She let out a small hiss between her teeth but didn't say much else. No need for anyone to fuss over her. She looked up at him as he looked over to her. Blue eyes meeting her brown, she listened to him speak again.
"So where do you work?" with the briefest of pauses before he continued, "I'm Jax by the way."
Jax... short for Jackson. At least, that was her first assumption. Her head tilted for a second. Before she could even think about what he had asked her, she felt her eyebrows draw together and her head tilt slightly to the side. "Jax... Etter?" She said slowly, as if she was still running the voice to the name. It was definitely similar, the only difference is there was no radio interference or static. Anything of the sorts. If this was him, well she knew what she thought she knew him in some way. She had definitely had times where she was communicating calls through to him over the radio, though quite rarely. Considering he wasn't just a usual officer if she remember correctly. She cleared her throat and looked ahead of her as the line moved slightly, and realized that he had asked her a question. "Ah, I work for dispatch for emergency services." She turned back towards him with a small smile on her freckled face, "Arlo." with that, she offered her free hand to him for a handshake.
TAG: JACKSON | OOC: Bring it on! Arlo isn't afraid. Haha.
Arlo did a quick scan of the coffees in the holder in her hand. Of course, not only was the contents of her coffee running towards the drain currently, so were the one that had way too many steps involved in making it. She made a mental note to make the rule going forward that if it can't be made in their dispatch center, than she wasn't going to be getting those orders anymore. She definitely was sitting on the ground way too long, a small sulking thought of standing in that line again.
She was so caught up in that thought that she didn't notice someone kneel in front of her until their hand reached out. It seemed to snap her out of that thought and she dragged her gaze from the hand to the person, well man, it was attached to. Arlo blinked once as she took in his face and then her eyes hit his clothes. Well, that would definitely be the man she collided with. The colors and slight edges matched what the corner of her eyes saw.
"Nah, it wasn't your fault, I'm the guy that started the jam. Let me buy your replacements."
She actually wasn't expecting him to try and take the blame. Most people just would have either cursed her and walked away or demanded that she buy them a new coffee as they pinned the whole thing on her. Boy, would they be in for a rude awakening if that'd what happened. And this man not only stopped to check on her but was offering to replace the coffee that was spilt. She realized that he was offering to hold the coffee that was saved, which she gave him a small smile and handed it to him.
"Trust me, you don't want to replace the one. Trying to order it alone put that person in serious debt to me." She told him as she stood up to her full height (of 5'4" but hey, its the tallest she's ever been) and did a once over while brushing her hands off on her thighs. The black silky shirt thankfully hid any coffee that might have splashed onto it, the jeans wet at her knee with a small tear in the fabric. Nothing a quick bandaid and some thread/needle combo wouldn't fix. Overall, totally fine. Once her visual inspection of herself was done, she looked him in the eye.
"Your turn to bring in the coffee huh?"
She gave a small nod, reaching out to take the cup holder back as she pushed her hair away from her face the best she could (mostly it fell back into place). Her brows knit together for a second though after he spoke. That voice sounded familiar. Arlo, eyes still locked on him, took in the edges of his face as she tried to place where she might have known him from. He didn't look familiar, but that voice. "The others were a bit picky today with coffee, and since I was the next heading in, they kind of forced it on me." She explained.
She took a deep breathe and looked at the line. "How about I'll replace your coffee, and you can replace mine, that isn't filled with eight sentences to order? It's the least I can do," She offered, she didn't want to be in debt to anyone. "Besides this line would move faster if I had some company." Which was true.
Coffee duty. That was her job this morning before she headed to the station. She knew the other girls in dispatched were particular with their coffee so her Keurig at home wasn't going to cut it. Not where one of the orders sent to her phone required 3 shots of espresso and some caramel flakes that she definitely didn't have in her cupboard. Her unruly curls were as out of control as usual, and even as she tried to tuck a piece behind her ear it just popped back out. She went to her room, putting on her holeless skinny jeans and a black button down silky blouse with the top few buttons undone, because lets get real. If it was buttoned all the way up, she'd feel choked. Her staple silver necklace peeked through the top of her shirt, the sun charm resting just below her neck. A quick swipe of chapstick and then slipped into her black closed toe sandals, grabbing her small purse with the essentials and she was out the door. Her room mate was already gone, so she made sure to lock the door before she headed out. Four coffee's in total, so hopefully the small coffee shop had one of those cardboard holders so she could carry those drinks with ease.
She stood in line patiently, her eyes scrolling her phone as she slowly shuffled her way to the front as the people in front of her moved. She had long ago lost interest at noting how many places were closed on that street. If they were retail, closed. No sign of reopening anytime soon. Food places and little coffee places like this were take out only, no doubt to keep people from standing around in there too long. Her freckled face looked up as she finally was to the window, her chocolate brown eyes narrowing slightly as she smiled slightly at the figure behind the glass. "Hello, I have a complicated order..." Arlo started, knowing that she should give them the heads up before she rattled off the list of three coffees that took way too long to say. "And last, just a double shot espresso in a medium cup over milk." Her own order. She had a full shift ahead of her and she didn't quite feel like setting herself up for failure by just ordering a regular coffee.
She stepped back from the window as she waited for her coffees, only stepping forward when she was handed them, as well as that wonderful little cardboard drink holder. One by one, she got her drinks as the line continued to move. She secured the last one when she went to step forward on the sidewalk. Only to have a man back into her. She fumbled slightly with the handful of coffees, sent up a prayer as she hit her knees to catch it from splattering all over the sidewalk. Down to a quick hit on her elbow and she managed to save two out of the four coffees, but the other two (one of which was hers), hit the ground and painted it with the dark liquid. "Son offa..." she said under her breath as she looked up.
"You've got to be kidding me."
Arlo looked up at the man who had, she now realized, lost his coffee as well. Dammit, that wasn't good. She couldn't quite say it was her fault, nor completely his fault either. More of a joint movement that cause the two to collide. "I'm sorry, I wasn't quite paying attention," She said, as she pushed her arms off of the ground, sat on her knees and butt, and took in the damage around her. Well, today's coffee trip was about to get expensive.
█ NAME ARLO MARIE ESPINOSA █ ALIAS N/A IF NONE █ SEXUALITY PANSEXUAL █ MEMBERGROUP POLICE DEPARTMENT - 911 DISPATCHER █ HEALTH STATUS NOT INFECTED
PERSONALITY
Sound - In her line of work, it's all about being calm. She needs to be confident in her words and sound. She cannot panic or let it be heard in her voice when she has someone screaming through their tears to her on the phone. Outside of work, she is self confident. Able to hold anyone's eyes as they speak to her and doesn't have to break away to continue a conversation. No matter how uncomfortable it is. Blame it on her upbringing, but she knows how to take in the situation and remain absolutely calm (even if its chaos in her mind).
Quick on her feet - So to speak. She is a 'do-now, ask questions later' kind of gal. Not in a panicked way, but she can definitely hurry through a process to try and come to a solution. Though it might not be the best one if that time, she has always been the friend who makes the decision when no one else would step up. Even down to 'where should we eat?'. And if they complained on her choice, well she just told them to speak up next time instead of making her speak up.
Stubborn - Not easily one to back down when she is met head on with her choices. She understands rank and the power of different positions, but she also knows that they are just human and don't have any right to control her/push her around. If she disagrees in a professional setting, as long as it isn't something that will eat away at her at night, she just keeps her mouth shut. But out in the real world, she will let you know all about it. She thinks things out before speaking, and has been told that even though she is about as stubborn as a mule ox, she does listen rather well.
Friends? - She tends to be the one that is the peace keeper. Able to hear out both sides of a story before she plays devils advocate for them or the voice of reason. Whether they take the advice or not, she gives them her honest opinion. She isn't immune to being pushed over the edge, and when she is, then she blows her lid. Never good at slowly releasing thoughts, hers come on in an explosion of frustration when it's built up too high. Give her some time and a vent session and she will probably back to normal... probably.
BIOGRAPHY
Arlo Marie Espinosa, born to Marie and Victor Espinosa at the stroke of midnight about an hour outside of Lethford. Sadly, her mother didn't make it through the delivery. Only long enough to look at her daughter and give her the name Arlo. Which left her to be raised by her father and his sister, Carolina. You would think since they were siblings, that she would be raised by similar thinking and same moral people. But that wasn't the case. Both of them saw different things for her. Her father wanted her to be touch, not a push over and able to hold her own in the world. Her aunt however, wanted her to enjoy the little things and learn how life was a beautiful ride. That people were all different and that should be embraced.
It cause a lot of fights in the house growing up. Arlo learning to stay quiet and out of them, just listening to the two siblings argue back and forth about how the other was going to raise either a robot or a push over. By the time she was through grade school, Carolina couldn't handle the fights anymore with Victor. Arlo didn't blame her for leaving, she was exhausted from the fights as well. But she did blame her for leaving her behind. Only getting to see her during a family get together which was only about twice a year.
She went through the roughest years with her father during high school. Puberty and not having a soft parent to run to when she was going through all the feelings one does during the time made her bottle it up. Her father didn't want to hear it. He told her to suck it up, get over it, and that it wouldn't matter in a couple of years anyways. But of course, as any teenager, she couldn't see past the next day. She slowly learned to just bottle it up and hide it away. Keeping observant eyes and only standing up when she felt that burn in her gut that told her to. The times she stood up to her father were never ideal. And would usual end with a back hand to her mouth and being sent to her room, lip bloody and all.
The moment she graduated high school, she bolted to Lethford with her best friend, Trinity. Trinity was her saving grace during the tough times. She always opened her arms to Arlo and never pried too hard, which made their friendship work out in the best way. Trinity got into a local college that had campus in Lethford, and Arlo found herself a job working as a dispatch for a taxi service. She made just enough money to cover her half of rent, and to buy boxes of ramen noodles in bulk, and provide just enough money left over for a gym membership and streaming service.
Trinity made many friends at school and Arlo learned to like a few of them. Suddenly finding herself with a small group of friends that would always find their way to Arlo's shared apartment on Friday nights. Game night or movie night. They seemed to flip between the two regularly. When Arlo turned twenty one, she decided that she needed to move somewhere she would have a bit more growth opportunities with her newly multitasking skills that she picked up from the cab service job. She searched and searched, and cried once by herself at the fact that nothing was seeming to pan out for her. Until Trinity dropped an idea on her over breakfast one more. The police department, they needed dispatchers with quick thinking and able to keep cool under pressure.
Trinity knew this because she was going to school to be a crime scene technician, and she was earning credits by interning at the local station. Arlo left the table quickly to do a good once over her resume before printing out a few copies. She handed one to Trinity, then headed out the door to go to the station herself. After hanging around the station a few days, popping in to inquire more, they finally gave her a shot and looked over her resume. She went into an impromptu interview and field test. She believed she passed with flying colors when the department lead gave her a small smile and shook her hand, telling her to show up the following Monday with all the paperwork that the front desk would give her. She was beyond happy for the opportunity and the pay raise as well. The raise was good enough that she has now been saving up to try and move out on her own. Trinity had found a girlfriend, and Arlo knew that they were getting to the point of wanting to live together.
Ever since then, she has passed training and has taken on the role as if they were old friends. Though when the panicked phone calls started due to the virus, those took a lot of energy to figure out who was over reacting and who actually needed help. She had lots of calls that were definitely not emergencies, but she had to handle each one with a bit of grace and perhaps a few eye rolls. Which she was always glad that the other line couldn't see her face during it. Arlo had gotten used to the voices of the difference officers and a few might make her crack a smile when they patch through to her during their shift. Perhaps one day, she will gather enough confidence to actually go inside the station and pair the faces to the voices. A lot of officers didn't pop in to the dispatch side because, well, they knew how busy they were.
And frankly, she was always eager to get home and change into her favorite sweats and grab a bag of popcorn so she could browse some of the open listing for apartments.
█ NAME