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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0:00 - 2:00

[ The situation was dire at best but Arima seems to keep a level head throughout all of it regardless. He knows how these infected work so he's trying to keep them off any nearby civilians. With his eyesight returned he seems neigh impossible to hit or even scratch as he weaves in and out of the crowds of infected with his weapon slicing and singing through the air. He tries to keep his attacks nonlethal, and while he does have skill he can't be everywhere at once. At least he has a remote activated trap set nearby ready to go in case anything should go sour. ]

Keep the civilians inside and try to funnel the infected through narrow doorways. It'll be easier to take them down that way.

[ Is what he'll say to anyone nearby helping in the efforts here. ]

4:00-9:00

[ Unfortunately he's not as gentle as he was before and someone might happen across him cleanly slicing his quinque through a group of infected that surrounded a crying child. He doesn't look happy about and the child will get up, a frightened expression on their face, as they run away from their savior. The frown in his expression is deep as he lets out a muted sigh.

There's only so many people he can save and hope that a cure is made. Hopefully the infected they're tying up and keeping here will actually get returned to their families at some point. ]

wildcard

[ Hit me up for any shenanigans you'd like to do! ]

What the hell -

[ Emma can't pretend she's not exhausted by all of this, but there's a flash of anger in her eyes as the child rushes away, almost as terrified of Arima as they were of the infected. She'd get the child to safety if they weren't going for an area she's certain is secure, and while Emma has a few of the infected to fight off too, she's found her own method is to hit them until they stay down, and then to secure them from there.

She hasn't had to put anyone down yet, she's careful. Drained and a little disoriented, but that's from how long this has gone on.]

They're still people.

Edited 2017-03-12 22:25 (UTC)

[ He knows and it was a minor slip up that he had managed to maintain throughout all of this. Of course people happened to catch him doing it. It wasn't the right thing to do, and he'll take full responsibility for it, but he's not going to apologize for doing it. Not when the situation had called for immediate action. The reaper of the ccg mentality is a hard one to change, especially when it came to dealing with beings like this.

He doesn't say anything for a few moments more before he turns around to address Emma. ]

So are those uninfected. I simply used the best course of action available at the time. [ It's not the best of replies, and it makes him sound cold, but he had to protect those he knew weren't infected yet. ]

Did you?

[ Emma will always put children first, she'd never apologize for saving a life. It's a line of logic she gets, honestly, yet the best course of action is a dangerous stance to take here. The best course of action when there's no other way is one thing, but what about the rest of the mall? There are dozens of infected here and the best course of action to keep the uninfected safe would be to arm the Audentes and wipe them out.

It'd be safer, but it wouldn't be right. Not when they're working on a cure, and these people can still be helped. There's no coming back from death.]

If we can do better, we need to try to.

I do what I must to ensure that innocent lives are kept safe. Unfortunately there wasn't much time to formulate a plan to make it so all four of them made it out alive. [ He's just saying it how it is, sorry Emma! ]

I will do so from now on, depending on the situation at hand. But I'll try to use nonlethal methods a bit more.

[ meaning he can't ensure that he won't in serious circumstances outright kill the infected, but he's going to try. ]

None of those people asked for this. We need to do what we can to protect everyone.

[ Even on instinct alone, a kid deserves more protection than any of the infected, yet she can't bring herself to acknowledge that yet - maybe she hasn't been through what he has, in her mind all of this is still preventable.]

Do you need any help?

[Any backup from someone with a talent for hitting things?]

[ He's silent a few moments longer before he looks back at her. ]

If you want. [ Hopefully she can hold her own, but if not Arima is more than capable of handling the infect as they are now. ]

There's more then enough to do. [ So he will continue to help put down infected, non-lethally, as much as possible. ]

[Giovanni's approach, it's something similar. And yes it seems more logical to him to simply put the infected down, to end their maddened misery with a few short sharp shots from his guns-- but things have become complicated, lately. There are the other Audentes to think about, and while it hasn't quite registered for him on a conscious level that he's taking their morals and feelings into account because he's almost (almost) one of them now, their thoughts still ring in his mind each time he ducks and weaves and aims for a thigh or other non-lethal point of entry rather than the kill shot he'd usually take.

Sonia. Haise. Olivia. They wouldn't want him to kill these people. Would maintain that they are still people. And so he's endevaouring not to.

Still, when Arima makes his suggestion it's met with a brighthard smile that says he's enjoying the violence here just a little more than he should.]

If you like.

[And as such, he's aiming to do just that.]

[ Arima nods silently as they both get to work?! Honestly the two of them are pretty inhuman and with their strength together it doesn't take long to knock out the horde that comes crashing into the doorway. Arima's using nonlethal methods however he can by knocking them out via aiming for their necks or other pressure points.

Blow after blow and he dodges them all with ease on top of it. Thanks to Haise healing his eye his physical performance is at its peak again, something he wouldn't have concerned an option ever again. There's only a few stragglers left behind when its all said and done. ]

If you want to take care of them you can.

Gladly.

[Why leave them to roam around unhindered, after all, when in all likeliness there'd only come a moment a little later on when they become a problem for the civilians attempting to take cover here? And so he stands back, fires off a few more clattering shots with an easy kind of indolence, aiming yet again for places that will hurt and disable, yes, but won't kill.

It only takes a moment, and then he's lowering both pistols, glancing back at the other Audente as the infected writhe and snap on the ground.]

Well, that was fun.

[ Arima wouldn't call it fun he never enjoyed this type of work, even if he had done it obediently his entire life. Still he looks down at the infect not knocked unconscious and grasping at them from where they fell with some mild, masked, disdain. Not for what they were but for who had caused them to become this way. ] There's more work to be done. [ The fun just keeps on rolling in doesn't it? ]

Knock them out and then we'll bring them back to one of the quarantine zones.

[ At least they managed to round up a good few together. He'll go ahead and start doing so in the most humane way possible. Quick and without hurting them too badly. ]

[It surely does. Though the fact is Giovanni does derive some level of enjoyment from this, from the volatility, the kinetic activity. It's what he's made for, what he's conditioned to do, and perhaps there's still some level of irritation and disgust in him at the prospect of doing what he considers to be a half-arsed job, leaving them alive, when it would be better were they dead, but it's still something. Something better than inactivity and inertia.

Still, he sighs in a melodramatic way when the other man makes his pronouncement, then moves to begin the process of knocking out the infected who he'd taken down with shots to the legs. A quick, a partially restrained, blow to the head is all it takes, then he's hefting two of them up onto each narrow shoulder, lifting them with surprising ease despite the slim lines of his body.

He starts walking, expects the other man to follow.]

I hope it turns out to be worth it, after all this. That the cure is found, and that it has some effect.

[ And follow he does as he grabs the remaining other bodies and hefts them into his arms with ease. ]

We have good people working on a cure. I'm sure they're capable enough to figure it out.

[ But he's no scientist so he can't really say much more than that. ]

What's most important is to make sure we save as many people as possible.

[No scientist himself, he has no way of knowing how capable their teammates are when it comes to this, whether the possibility of a cure is a realisable or far-fetched thing. His own immunity means that he ought not to care, that it should make little difference to him at all-- but things have been different lately. Slowly but surely, something has been set in motion in him, and like it or not, his hopes are as tightly pinned to the possibility of success here as most of the others.

He keeps moving, seemingly indifferent to the cumbersome weight of the bodies slung over his 5'7 frame. Glances back briefly at Arima over one shoulder.]

If you say so.

[It's not a particular concern of his, these people, but those changes in him-- they'll at least ensure that he endeavours to save them regardless of his feelings.]

[ Arima's word kinda fall flat because honestly? He would have killed most of the infected by now if given the order to do so. He's trying to act and be different from what he was born and created to be, a weapon, but the going is rough for sure. ]

We'll just have to see what happens. [ It's all he says for a time before the finally get to the place where the other infected are locked up. It's hard to imagine that they were once normal people with families and dreams. ]

Once we're done here I'm going to look for more survivors. If you wish to come that's fine with me.

[A point of commonality between them, then, both weapons with a bonedeep expectation of destruction, trying to follow orders - or, at least, requests - that don't fit with their view of the world. Giovanni would merrily kill them all without qualms if it weren't for the expectations of others among their number, newly taken on board.

But here they are, dragging the unconscious bodies of the wounded infected along with them, sparing rather than ending. It's a strange thing.

Giovanni nods, and then when the offer comes he thinks it over for only a moment before expressing his acquiescence.]

Why not? I'd only be doing the same. And if we're going to end up lugging infected around the place, it's a little easier with two sets of hands.

[ It's certainly strange enough that he has a hard time remembering not to just kill everything that's very reminiscent of ghouls, especially with this mission and all the memories and things it brings up for him. In someways not killing them is a closer achievement towards his own redemption for back home. But he knows that he doesn't deserve it, doesn't really feel like he should have it, and yet he's still trying to make amends in small ways. This happens to be one of said ways that he hopes he can help, rather than hurt. ]

That's very true. Alright then. We can probably get to more survivors with our skills combined anyway.

[Then here they both are, unlikely protectors of the civilians, unexpected saviors of the infected who may have otherwise died at their hands. Giovanni nods, flashes a sharp-edged smile.]

What fun.

[His voice is wry, and yet it's clear enough that he's willing to play this game.]

[It's the child running past him as he rounds a corner that twigs Sans to the scene ahead. A splatter of infected blood, a man in the center of it all.

He didn't look too happy about it, but then again, that didn't seem to stop him.]

Y'know, there's talk of rounding them up. [Sans offers, unsolicited, as he steps more roundly from the corner. Engaging a human(?) in this state wasn't the smartest move a monster could make, but in the ebbing chaos of a long night... Sans was simply too tired to care.] Without killing them. Just thought I'd give you the heads up.

Edited 2017-03-14 19:59 (UTC)

I know. [ Is the curt reply he gives before turning around and facing the other. His expression is pretty unreadable at this point as he turns to look around to make sure this area is clear of civilians and infected alike. ]

I've been aiding in the efforts to round them up. [ He just didn't think to go through all of that against 3 of them with a child in the mix. ]

Sure looks like it. [He jokes while neatly side stepping a particularly large pool of blood.] How's that working out for you?

Edited 2017-03-18 23:11 (UTC)

[ He shrugs. Honestly if this were back home and these were ghouls the outcome would be much worse. So any infected he hasn't killed thus far is a step in the right direction in his mind. The mindset of extermination is the harder part for him to get over. Ingrained as deeply as it is into his being his progress is pretty good. ]

The results are acceptable. [ In his opinion, but not everyone is of similar thought, which he understands why. ]

If you're looking for a haven, we've managed to clear a sporting goods store on this floor, and it's currently serving as a base for all those unarmed and unable to fight. I suggest you go there before more infected come.

That's a little presumptuous of you, isn't it? [He's teasing, or at least he's smiling. Kinda hard to tell beyond that.] Don't think I can hold my own?

[Considering his cloak and the general disheveled, overly casual air he puts on... well, anybody would make that assumption. A fact Sans seems to take relish in.]

But if you're worried about civilians, that kid you saved took off that-a way. [He gestures behind them.] Up for a little search and rescue?

Whether you can or cannot doesn't matter. The less people we have running around out here the easier it'll be for us to stop the infected.

[ Less people to worry about getting infected and all that too. But he doesn't force Sans to retreat to safety. He threw out the offer and it was up to the other whether or not he took it. If Sans is capable he'll see soon enough anway.

He doesn't say anything in reply and will just nod his head in acknowledgement. ]

[It might not be the most enthusiastic agreement, but Sans takes it. Nodding back, he turns and gestures for the stranger to follow.]

Well, when you're right, you're right. [Sidestepping more gore, Sans casts a look back behind him.] How d'you suggest we pen 'em in, chief?

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[EVENT POST] I FEEL STUPID, AND CONTAGIOUS.

Arima Kishou | ota!

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