[EVENT POST] I FEEL STUPID, AND CONTAGIOUS.

[dishearten]

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.

Comments

[thinhammer]

Bandit Ban, huh? Hah, that's a pretty cool nickname! Ya should use it more often, Bandit-san~

[ He's teasing, being a little shit because he can, while he finishes off what's left of the meal. He makes short work of it... but he's idling and it's obvious from the way he takes time cleaning his face on his sleeve and closing the box again after placing it carefully in front of himself on the floor. ]

Nah, not really any nickname. People called me demon, or monster, or brat. [ His eyes flick up and he shrugs. ] Most of the time they just called me Naruto, though. [ Which, with the way he says it, makes it sound worse than anything else they could have called him. ]

[strictdiscipline]

[does that mean that the sight of the oncoming zombos doesn't fill them with DETERMINATION?

Regardless, Maya seems to be holding her own fairly well, all things considered. (Though really, do friends hit other friends with baseball bats....) With half an eye on Maya - look, she didn't KNOW Maya found her sister's corpse, thanks very much - Riza addresses the zombo closest to her, swinging out one leg in a roundhouse kick in order to sweep the man off his feet (literally). He topples down also, enough to halt a third incoming infected that doesn't move out of the way fast enough to avoid being knocked over.

But there's still a fourth, one arm outstretched in a terribly stereotypical zombie fashion, making her way towards Maya with dogged determination.]

Watch out on your right!

[nextlineis]

That's a good idea!

[Having never worked a day in his life -- at least not in the paid sense -- and not really giving the average worker much thought beyond common courtesy as Granny Erina would prefer, Joseph hadn't really considered the possibility that the employees would bring some snacks with them while they were working.]

You lead the way then, yeah? [He grins.] Consider me your sidekick!

[He figures the best chance of making sure that she really does let him help her out is to let it be her idea, her lead.]

[nextlineis]

yeah it's been a bit of a learning curve

[An understatement. But that is neither here nor there, and as much as Joseph would rather just chat, they both have work that they could and should be doing.]

i'll keep that in mind and let you know if there are any problems

[nextlineis]

Any idea how we're going to get out of this mall then?

[He's not even really being that sarcastic. The sooner they can get the heck out of here, the happier he'll certainly be.]

[nextlineis]

[It's patently true, so there's not much he can really argue about there, which means Joseph's left stewing for a second or two before,]

I'm not going to be crawling through any damn vent!

[nextlineis]

[Once the knife's taken out of his hand, Joseph's off toward the back at a jog. The kid's clearly got a very loose hold on consciousness now, but that's not an excuse to dawdle. In fact, Joseph hops the counter rather than taking his time to walk around. He turns to face the registers, and at first glance, it doesn't look like there's anything. But first glance doesn't mean much of anything with this much clutter behind the counter. Joseph crouches and begins pulling whatever he can get his hands on off the shelves, hoping that he might unearth an abandoned bottle of water, but all he finds are extra boxes of bags, things to write with and on, extra rolls of receipts, fliers, and a few pricing guns.]

[He mutters a curse under his breath and stands up, looking in Fugo and Giorno's direction briefly.]

[He turns, trying the door at the back, and finds it unlocked. Into the break area he goes, hopeful that he has a little more luck there.]

[feytality]

[We can only hope that one day it'll get through her thick skull]

[She's a little reluctant to let go of his hand now that she has it (as childish as that might be, it does make her feel better), so she starts gathering up CDs with her free hand, stuffing some in her pockets. The time to stock up is now!]

They're pretty heavy... I bet they'd come in handy. We can throw them like ninja stars!

[dishearten]

( despite being cursed to a modern world, Graham doesn't necessarily have the most experience with technological advances. he's not sure he's ever touched more than a handful of CDs in his life, and now he's surrounded by them. they don't seem like perfect weapons, and but they are heavier than he might have expected. 90s CDs are serious business, apparently.

once they're both as armed as they're going to get, he eyes the crowd they have to get through. ) Are you ready? Try to be as quiet as you can, and use the CDs to make a distraction. Hopefully they'll chase after it.

( it's about the only chance they have, because he doesn't have enough sedative darts left to dispatch with the entire crowd they're facing. )

[beginanew]

...Squadmates.

[He smiles softly, looking at a wall.]

It's been a while since I heard that.

[keystaff]

Sidekick? Um, okay then.

[Okay, she knows the idea of a sidekick. She's just never thought of herself as having one. Or more. Even if Kero could potentially be considered one, or perhaps even Syaoran.

Still, she does lead the way, pausing at some of the stores to check near the check outs initially.]

There's chocolate bars and gum at least. But we could keep going. We should try find something more....

[feytality]

[what use are you to her, then, Aqua!!!]

[Yeah, if Maya got nabbed, Aqua would hear her screaming from a mile away. AS it stands, Aqua probably made out bits of her conversation -- it looks like she did find some stragglers, and is reassuring them they'll be safe. After a while, Maya comes back to marvel at Aqua's progress -- it's better than nothing.]

Hey, good job! Lemme just fix something for you...

[She gets on her tiptoes and carefully jengas a book away to open it and place it on top as a 'hat'. Apparently, that's what a book person is]

He looks pretty tough, doesn't he?

[feytality]

[did you really play Undertale or are you just trying to impress me rn]

[Friends do hit other friends with baseball bats if they're being ridiculous, which is what these guys are going, since they're obviously trying to take a bite out of two ladies and that's no good.]

[But with Riza's warning -- and actually, watching Riza kick but in general, Maya's inspired, and smacks the guy in the leg. He goes down, predictably, but unlike Riza she doesn't quite get out of the way in time, so he manages to grab onto her fifty feet of hair and take her down with him]

-Aaaah!

[Tag in, Riza?]

[feytality]

[Try to be as quiet as you can.... wow, Graham really doesn't know who he's dealing with, here. Maya nods seriously (don't be fooled, she isn't even capable of being quiet) She stage whispers:]

You can count on me, partner! Let's ninja shuriken these guys down!

[she finally lets go of his hand to prepare her arsenal. Seems like she's a little less scared now -- or is it bravado?]

omg you are a-okay, i've been dead this entire month anyway

[strictdiscipline]

[Ah, what a waste.....! Clearly it's time to find more children to mob Shizuo with.

The mention of lying has her sobering - it's never been an activity she's approved much of either, both in herself and in others - but she merely tips her head to one side, understanding and reassurance settling across her face.]

You gave them hope and something to look forward to. Better than than more hours spent worrying over their parents and their friends.

[When it comes to children, the future generation....she's willing to allow leniency, if it means they'll have one more happy day in their lives. But it's a softness that fades too quickly as reality invades once more, and she straightens back into position.]

We should try and find their parents though, if you don't have someone else you were already searching for.

[strictdiscipline]

[i watched my boyfriend play it, does that count

Also dear lord they're getting Maya a haircut after this. That, or Riza's going to teach Maya the wonders of pinning up hair. Either way, bullying an impressionable young woman is beyond rude and requires immediate punishment - in this case, in the form of a swift kick in the side. The man howls in pain and fury, releasing Maya's long flowing locks just long enough to clutch at his side.

But, just in case that's not enough for Maya to scramble free, Riza grabs a nearby tarp - probably used to cover up the boxes of discount video games at night - and throws it over the fallen infected.

Congrats, they've gone and caught themselves an infected. Too bad there's still the other two still groaning and clambering up from the floor.]

[ex_adept136]

It's what we call our units back home.

[And it sounds like the same may be true for his associate here.

The thought is a warming one, if only because he's found that it isn't terribly common among their ranks]

[fintastic]

[ Peridot won't have to wait long; quick as anything, Feferi ducks in to give her a little peck on the cheek, then rocks back on her heels, giggling. Even her human disguise blushes all the way to the ears. ]

I know it's not much, but... I hope it's okay! Do you want to let me out so I can go try this thing?

[scrap_metal]

[ The map is near one of the corridor junction and where the escalators are located. And because it's a fancy mall, it's a very advanced map, the kind of one that has advertisement and helpful information on a screen next to it, and one that is... almost un-readable because it's built-in lights needs power to work. ]

Right, parts of the mall got power cut-off.

[ How inconvenient for them. He starts inspecting its side, wondering if they can get to a power cord. ]

We could try and search for another one, but maybe we can make this one work...

[scrap_metal]

[ Genos follows, memorizing the way. He might have a need for that corral again later. ]

Good strategy. If most keep being unconscious, that might make it easier to let civilians out of here.

[ The less active infected roaming around, the less risk of someone getting bitten. Or even just panicking. Just one panicking person in evacuation effort could severely affect the success of such operation ]

[slapfight]

You can't leave the mall?

[she's stunned by this revelation, having decided to stay and fight without concerning herself with exit strategies. she just assumed that people needed the zombie hordes distracted while they made a run for it.]

...Um... Well. [stars. she can't make herself look dumb now. think, Peridot. THINK.] I doubt there are infected in the ventilation shafts! You could try there!

[slapfight]

[and Peridot's cheeks turn a nice shade of indigo as she stammers her way through... anything.

any words at all.] Ah... W-wow. Thanks. [she shakes her head, trying to compose herself, but the blush persists even as she raises the grate to let Feferi out.] Go get 'em!

[...while she sits here and stares at a wall for a little while.]

[ex_adept136]

We'd probably have to restore power to the area, for something like that.

[Which sounds a little bit like a side-quest in one of Saiko's games. He understands the gist is that something has to be done in order to take the action that leads to real progress in a story...or that's what he was told, anyway. Some parts were a little involved and abstract when not seeing them for himself.

He hums as he steps around the map screen, and it does seem that they'd have to do some hunting-around. Whatever powers this, they'd have to break it to try anything different as an alternative]

[nextlineis]

It's a good start, [Joseph agrees. Chocolate tastes good and everything, but it's not very filling, and gum only works for so long. But that may very well be the bar they need to shoot for.]

[nextlineis]

Uh...

[Well. She's not wrong. He could try. There's just one slight problem keeping it from be successful. Or rather one very, very large one.]

I'm pretty sure they don't make vents my size.