epidemiology | [EVENT POST] I FEEL STUPID, AND CONTAGIOUS.

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[EVENT POST] I FEEL STUPID, AND CONTAGIOUS.

CHARACTERS: Open to all!
DATE: 3/11-3/12, ICly
WARNINGS: Zombie attacks? Violence? Shopping???
SUMMARY: Lockdown at the mall! Grab your CDs and your soft pretzel, it's about to get bad.

LET'S GO TO THE MALL

LOCKDOWN

Business has been rough for Woodhurst Shopping Center ever since riots and unrest about the Bristol Virus have shunned most to their homes. Perhaps ill-advisedly, in attempts to draw a few more customers back into the polished halls of the grandest shopping experience Woodhurst has to offer, a weekend of big sales, great bargains, and fun family activities was widely advertised in the Woodhurst Watch. There was even a scheduled public concert, performed by the University Choir.

The turnout was smaller than hoped, yet the air was quite optimistic. Shoppers enjoyed the day of activities and fun, and the sense of security was bolstered by the increased security detail. There was even some members of the press on hand to document this return to normality in a troubled time. Everything was going well, until a scene broke out in the food court.

Security tried to quietly remove members of the choir that suddenly seemed to snap, plowing into one of the food stands and starting to feed on raw meat. However, a good handful of them escaped instant confinement, and while many of the visitors fled the mall as soon as they could, soon Police Detail arrived and put the entire building on lockdown. Nobody in and nobody out until the situation was resolved.

18:00 TO 23:00 HOURS

Anyone unlucky enough to be trapped in the mall is left to their own devices, with very little knowledge to go on. This includes many civilians, as well as a small number of Audentes agents. This also includes a small number of infected, more than just the university choir. There's a voice over the loudspeaker imploring people to hide in stores, barricade doors, and stay put until help arrives.

The majority of the infected seem to linger in the Food Court especially. Bad news for anyone trapped and starting to get hungry as the hours pass by, without any obvious assistance from the outside. The members of ALASTAIR have a choice, help protect or just do their best to avoid the infected themselves. Characters can get into the Security Office for a camera feed on what is happening in the mall, and potentially use it as a base of operations to work from.

00:00 TO 02:00 HOURS

It becomes apparent that the number of infected in the mall are somehow increasing, despite the lockdown. It means that those that have squirreled away into stores and outlets are growing less and less safe as infected numbers multiply and they begin attacking barricades. To make matters worse, anyone that hasn't found cover will find the infected extremely reactive, and willing to give chase around the mall.

The security feed indicates the infected seem to be coming in from the Parking Garage. Investigation will reveal a sewer outlet on the bottom floor. Characters will have to decide whether they should utilize the tunnel as a means of escape, or if sealing it off would ultimately leave the remaining hours of lockdown a little less violent.

04:00 TO 09:00 HOURS

It's been an agonizing 12 hours, and with surprisingly little aide from the outside. With time to make preparations and put plans in place, now it's time to end this lockdown once and for all. Audentes is tasked with neutralizing the remaining infected as well as escorting any remaining civilians to safety, by any means they decide on.

It is up to Audentes to decide how the end of this event plays out, be it removing or otherwise drawing away the lingering infected, or putting them down once and for all. There are plenty of civilians that have been bitten and attacked, leaving the question in the air as to whether they are infected as well. What should be done with those that could be bringing the virus back to their families? The team is going to have to decide on the answer to that.

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[RIP, is right. Wylan looks even more embarrassed, ducking his head sheepishly. He hadn't meant to be so obvious in his curiosity.]

You don't mind talking about them?

[As far as first conversations go, it's a personal one. Wylan would understand if Giorno would rather not discuss them, especially with someone who's only a little more than a stranger.]

Well, share it! [There might not be much time between Joseph's complaint and when he reaches the store but let it be known: Fugo always has the time and the breath to complain.

Well, maybe not always. The little breath he has gets straight up knocked out of him when he's dropped and then slid underneath the grate. But he's fine. That's what he tells himself, as he scrabbles to find purchase with one hand on the ugly carpet tile that someone decided was a good idea to cover the floor with. His vision swims as his eyes hyper-focus on the ugly pattern, then abruptly out-of-focus.

This is unfortunate. But he has to get up, he has to help, he has to stand--]

[Fugo's arm wobbles as he too-slowly pushes himself up off the floor. His breathing is the pained, exhausted wheeze of someone who has pushed themselves beyond their limits-- and yet, keeps on pushing. Stopping doesn't even cross his mind. He can't stop. Not when Giorno needs him to stand, even if he can barely push himself up to an unsteady crouch.]

Edited 2017-04-13 04:26 (UTC)

[Fugo is not fine. And because he's not fine, something in the room is off. He isn't standing up quickly enough; his breathing is wrong; his movements are wrong, his heartbeat is off.]

[It was never a question, honestly. Never ever. Giorno would rather take a knife in the back a hundred times over than let Fugo get hurt again. He can heal himself, physically, but losing one of his people again is just--he can't. He can't do it. Not again. He'll fall apart.]

[The stiletto tumbles from his fingers and falls to the floor. It's not a loud sound, but it's probably a surprising one--not in the least because of how little Giorno attends to it. Just like that, his priorities shift a full hundred and eighty degrees and so does he, turning on his heel to catch Fugo in his arms before he falls.]

Fugo, [he breathes, panicked, and digs his fingers into the other boy's shoulders, steadying him. He reaches out with Gold Experience, presses his phantom fingers against Fugo's vital signs, checking, terrified.] Fugo? What happened--

Not really. At least not in broad strokes.

[There are some secrets he's going to keep. But then again, there are some things he's happy to share. The flashy things, the things that all of Audentes already knows.]

[Maybe he just likes to show off, okay.]

Besides. If you were going to hurt me, you already would have. Hm? With your bag of bombs. So I'll give you a little benefit of the doubt.

[ She has no idea what the shell he's talking about, but he seems so eager, and if he's being a little condescending, she doesn't notice.

She's done worse. ]

I don't know if I want to be a human forever, but it is kind of fun! Still, I don't know if I like looking in the mirror and not seeing any horns or fins...

[ That's it, that's her big problem. ]

Well... if everything is all set here, I should probably be on my way. There is bound to be someone who needs my help!

Water-based...?

[ It takes a moment for it to sink in that she's talking about humans and not seadwellers in particular. Her fins perk up and then go right back down, and she smiles and laughs. She reaches out her hands. ]

It's so creative! I bet you'd love alchemizing things. To be honest, I should have thought of this ages ago!

Alchemizing...? [she hands over the weapon, and brushes off not knowing what that is... because she'd rather brag about what she can do.] I am a technician. Weapons aren't my niche, exactly, but I do deal with repairing and building a lot of technology. When we're not in the middle of a dangerous situation, remind me to tell you about the time I built a drill out of spare parts that was capable of penetrating the Earth's mantle.

[she had help, but... Feferi doesn't need to know that.]

Oh... Uh. [that's a good question. one she knows the answer to, because for all that she is an overly aggrandizing hot mess of a gem, she self-aware about it, which means logically she knows she's in no state to teach anyone.

but she isn't going to admit that.]

I'm just so busy. A gem's work is never done. It would take too much time away from my other projects.

[what other projects.]

You don't need to worry about me, either. Despite appearances, I've got tough skin.

[That might well be a gross understatement.

Haise dusts himself off, pocketing some zip-ties, having no doubt they'll see future use]

I'm all set.

Uhh, yeah. They chased me pretty much all the time, 'cos I was gettin' people outta harms way, and I was around back in the place with all the food where they all got mad the first time. [ He shrugs. ] I'm gettin' kinda used to it though, y'know. At first, when I got here, I almost got eaten a few times but it's gettin' easier to dodge 'em now that I know what I'm up against!

[ Naruto starts to make his way through the sporting debris, lifting a few fallen objects and putting them onto sidetables and counters so the floor is a little less mussed before pushing on. Normally he wouldn't care but.. this is someone's place, you know? He can't just go storming in even though it's already been.. pretty stormed in to.... ]

What about you, Riza-san?

[ Naruto hasn't tried shit with the magitek because he's still not really all too certain how to use it. He's been told a handful of times but he's not the quickest learner or the most capable student, so the possibility of using magitek hasn't even crossed his mind.

Obediently, he opens the box and his eyes widen. He'd been expecting like.. legitimate take out, like the food you get from food stands, perhaps Ban's leftovers from earlier that he didn't want or didn't like and was hefting them off to Naruto under the guise of being a nice guy. Naruto didn't even for a moment think that the contents of the box would be Ban's own handiwork, or that they'd be so nicely arranged and apparently untouched. Ban gets another inch of Naruto's confidence in him for the gesture.

He raises his eyebrows and lifts a piece of chicken to pop it into his mouth with a mere attempt at tentativeness.. but really he's too hungry for that. It smells even better than it looks now that the lid is properly open, and once he's determined that the meal is as good as it looks and smells, he starts tucking in. ]

You made this?? [ He repeats with full hamster cheeks because it's still.. pretty astounding to him. ] You don't look like the cookin' type.

[ Naruto bends down beside Graham to watch with childish curiosity as he starts pulling on gloves and opening the case, but when he looks to the worried little face of the child he suddenly can't care less about the medical performance and instead tells the kid how brave he is. ]

--Ya remember I said I'm a ninja, right? Well, bein' a ninja I sometimes get hurt an' it really stings, but ya know what I do? I grit my teeth an' I close my eyes real tight, an' I think about how brave I'm gonna be so that I can carry on being strong for the people around me.... an' before I know it there's no pain anymore. Can ya do that too? Do ya wanna do it with me?--

[ He screws up his eyes with the kid while Graham applies the antiseptic and the mother smiles at Naruto's "made up" story about being a ninja. It's endearing and she obviously assumes he made it up to make the kids feel better, and that works for him. He can't help but wonder what Graham is actually doing, though, so when the mother comes over to take over in holding the kids hand, he peers at the bottle. ]

What is that stuff, huh? Are ya cleaning it up or what?

[Alas. Not every boy can be Guido Mista. Fugo is but a temperamental accountant.]

The stomach can only expand to hold at most three to four liters. This guy was heavy before he lost his mind and started eating people.

[Luckily for the two of them, where there's a will there's a way. They make it to the sunglasses stand with little fuss, since everyone gives them a wide berth. Fugo gives one last heave, awkwardly propping the guy up in a sweated position.]

Ugh, there.

Well, they'd have to be. Their markers haven't moved from this location. [It's a little frustrating that he can't zoom in further on the map to find them, but whatever.] Yes, we did. Normally I'd be annoyed at them for ignoring texts on the magitek, but considering the circumstances it's understandable.

[He is pointedly making the decision to assume that something else has Giorno's attention right now. Giorno Giovanna can't die. Not won't, not wouldn't: can't. That's what he has to believe, or else he will freeze up. And this is not a situation where he can afford to freeze.]

[As Giorno rushes to be beside Fugo, Joseph ducks under the gate and quickly pulls it shut. The noise of it keeps him from hearing the stiletto as it hits the floor with a clatter, but when he turns to check on ~~the previously precious cargo~~ the two kids he picked up, he spots it on the floor.]

Huh?

[Joseph glances up at the pair of them for a brief second before bending down and picking the stiletto up. Fortunately for everyone involved, he doesn't make the automatic assumption that this was about to be plunged into him, and instead thinks that it was pulled for self-defense against the actual threat in this mall.]

[Joseph steps around them, giving them a wide berth as he comes around, trying not to startle either one of them. Christ, that kid doesn't look so good. He holds the stiletto out to Giorno.]

I'll check around and see if anybody left some water in the back or something.

[When he was running, his whole body was unbearably heavy; his bones might as well have been made of lead, with how much energy it took to move them. But, now-- he feels so light. Weightless, really. So why is it that he can't move his arms? It's so frustrating, he thinks, annoyed by the way his vision goes gray around the edges.

Fugo slumps forward into Giorno's arms, completely slack, unable to keep his balance. His heartbeat flutters and his breathing is quick and shallow; he's exhausted and in no shape to move, but otherwise not hurt. He doesn't hear the knife hit the floor, or register the sound of the shutter coming down. He mumbles something that might be sto bene, but he stumbles over the consonants so much that the words turn into mush in his mouth.]

[All in all, he loses about fifteen seconds to the fainting spell. But he quickly comes back with a shudder, trying to shake off a nearly overwhelming combination of dizziness and nausea.]

Giogio? Where--

[Books are heavy and hard... they make good projectiles]

[Maya's physical strength honestly isn't too impressive, but she can manage weaponizing some textbooks and other hardcopies.]

[She takes the almanac and nods enthusiastically -- yeah, hopefully she hasn't attracted more attention -- and heads off to start scoping out the area]

Roger that! Don't forget to build some book soldiers to guard us, too!

no, i haven't met a lot of people yet. name's joseph, but you can call me jojo

[A gem??]

[Well, Joseph isn't exactly going to pretend like he understands what the heck that means or is, but he'll still accept it. You can be whatever you want to be.]

[He grins.]

I mean, I wasn't all that worried before, but if you wanna take care of everything going on in this mall, I'm sure as hell not going to stop you.

[Joseph manages to maintain his focus more on getting up and over the fence than paying any real attention to what Jin's doing. (A boy's gotta answer a challenge first, okay.) But once he lands on the other side, he isn't quite as invested in being useful right away as it's not every day he gets to witness straight up magic.]

What? [He shakes his head a little to refocus.] Oh. Um . . .

[Joseph refocuses and actually observe the space behind him, taking a few steps further in. He points to the left and looks back over his shoulder at Jin.]

Over there!

We should probably steer clear of the food court.

[Some of the groups that were clumping together there might have dispersed by now, but there's no sense in chancing that with a kid with him. Besides, who's to say the food there's ready to eat anyway? So where to look then?]

You know, I bet some of the bigger stores have their own employee areas. Someone musta brought their lunch and left it behind when all this was going on, yeah?

What the hell are you implying?!

[Joseph. Is now really the time to take offense at something like that? He gives the takeout box the stink-eye before giving it to Ban.]

[ This seems to be common around Audentes, the "tough skin", but Genos would rather not test it. ]

The map is the first objective then

[ He leaves the safe place with unusual slowness, almost expecting his movement to trigger a wave the infected to swarm them but...nothing like that happens. The strange silence continues ]

( omg sans let him live that's so many subtext spider puns

speaking of spiders, he stoops to pick up two of the infected, one on each shoulder. he doesn't seem to be bothered by their weight, frankly he could probably carry more, he just doesn't want to risk hurting them by carrying too many at once. )

Yeah, okay. I think we wanna go this way.

( based less on knowing the layout of the garage and more the spider senses telling him to head in the quietest direction. between the two of them, they can probably manage to get the crowd to a fairly safe place. fairly, being the operative word. )

[He'll start walking, movements fluid and swift, not glancing back to discern the other Audente's position or whether or not he's keeping up, but Genos' question comes easy enough, lets him know that he isn't far behind.]

About twelve, the last time I checked, all rendered unconscious of course. Though I suppose there could be more by now. And some may have woken up. Best to be on guard.

[Not that either of them need concern themselves with being bitten, Giovanni healing as he does, and quite immune to the infection. Still. It would be preferable not to cause the sick people any more harm than has already been inflicted on them.]

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[EVENT POST] I FEEL STUPID, AND CONTAGIOUS.

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cwrystal said to go and now she'll go :V

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wrap here ?

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