[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

[skelepun]

[The outfit sure was a new one, not that Sans could get a good look at it with all the zombie in the way. Still from his vantage at near the ceiling, Sans' sockets squint in rare concentration.

He was gonna work up a sweat over this, he could already feel it.

One by one, the weight on Peter will get lighter. With the struggle ongoing, it might not be easy to see why until the final infected atop him jerks back with an unseen force, before getting flung effortlessly into the bone pen with the rest of their hungry buddies.

The next thing Peter will see is a (human) man's hand, reaching down to assist.]

You ran down the right hallway, pal.

[webdesigned]

( well, it's hard to tell what is happening in the struggle to begin with. he's downright determined not to injure the infected, no matter how downright determined they seemed to be to injure him. there's a quiet thwip here or there — covering open, gnashing mouths so they can't actually take a nice bite out of him. he's not going to take the risk of a bite if he can help it, yet all the ways he's restricting himself are adding up.

if he refuses to let the infected get hurt, then he's going to have to lighten his expectations on them not gnawing on them. doesn't seem like he can do both.

by the time the last one is dragged away, his head is reeling a little too fast. his senses don't quite like the idea of something being thrown by an unseen force — like a baby staring at something that contradicted their reality, his head apparently chugged at the prospect of magic in front of him, even his spider senses didn't seem to like it. the world didn't work that way, or it wasn't supposed to, and it was impossibly difficult for him to wrap his head around, no matter the circumstances.

in this instance, though, he's at least not stuck chewing on the prospect for long. he breathes a heavy sound of relief, flopping back on the dirty floor to actually relish in the fact that somehow, he made it out of that without losing a hunk of his arm, and without losing any of the infected, either. even if it was utterly bizarre to be the one saved for once, he has no complaints.

he accepts the hand after a moment, whether he needs the help to get up or not. ) Thanks. I wasn't sure if there was webslinging my way out of that one. ( if only he could have, he'd like to see these infected climb on the ceiling— wait no. no he would not like to see that. let's keep all the infected grounded, you hear universe??? his gratitude doesn't last long, as his attention flicks to the ... bizarrely caged infected, some of which were on the ground, apparently bemused as to how they got there. ) They're okay, aren't they?

[skelepun]

[Once Peter was upright, Sans returned his hand to his pocket, surveying the bone cage with a few beads of sweat at his brow. It didn't take much energy to keep them tangible, though Peter might detect a strange blueish flicker in the man's left eye whenever an infected strays too close. Right in time, they're pushed back.]

Should be. [He shrugs, sincere (if noncommittal).] How about you? Think you're gonna make it to the costume party?

[Sans winks, turning what might've been sarcastic in another man's hands into something your uncle might say. The casual air mixed with the magic and swarm of imprisoned infected made for a special sort of dissonance.]

Seriously, they didn't spit in your mouth or anything, right?

[webdesigned]

( Sans isn't the only one left a little winded. Spider-Man lets his head fall back as he tries to catch his breath, tries and fails. sort of odd, considering the superpowered thing... but nah man, he's fine, don't worry about it. he is slow to shake it off, but he does, attention still stuck on the cage of infected above all else. they can't just leave them there forever, right? )

When you go around dressed like me, the costume party never stops. ( sorry Sans, you are so far from the first person to pick on the suit. he is totally used to it by now. red and blue latex doesn't exactly scream subtlety, pretty much everyone has managed a potshot about it shortly after interacting with him.

he makes a face at the question, though since it's covered by the mask, it might be a little hard to tell. ) I am wearing a mask, so even if they did, I think I'd have been okay. I'm more worried about a bite. ( and he's pretty sure he managed to avoid that, too. ) You got a name, or just jokes?

[skelepun]

You can never be too careful, kid. [Sans shrugs, clearing a field of unnecessary bones with a hand. The place was littered with them, and the floor sure had looked better. Ah well. The mall could bill him.] Name's Sans, but you can call me my hero, if you want. I don't get to hear that a lot.

[He sticks out a hand to shake, belatedly. It's an almost comically casual gesture, considering where they are, but there's only one way to greet a new pal in his book.] How about you, slick?

[webdesigned]

( spider-man exhales a breath of something almost like a laugh. my hero. he's actually been saved a few times, and he'll never forget that fact — it's possibly reinforced a little too well, something he won't be able to escape. something he'll likely always consider himself unworthy of, considering the price most of those heroes had paid to protect him.

still, on occasion, even a hero needed to be saved. and when it happened, it was deserving of gratitude. )

Thanks, man. You really are my hero. ( there's not a hint of irony or sarcasm in his tone, either. maybe, maybe, if push had come to shove, he'd have forced himself to extricate the infected instead of giving himself up as a free meal. he appreciated being given the save, though, because chances were good he wouldn't have been able to handle it as delicately as he'd have liked.

as for his name, he brandishes mildly at the symbol emblazoned on his chest. ) They called me Spider-Man back home. Spider something works. I'm not picky.

[skelepun]

Well, you've got a brand and you stick to it. I can respect that. [He flicked the side of his own skull, winking. Of course, with his cloak, the joke isn't very clear.] Tibia 'onest, I got a thing for themes myself.

So, Spider-chow. [He peers over at the horde.] You seem like a guy who'd know. Where're we keeping the ones we catch?

[webdesigned]

( you can't see it, Sans, but he's squinting a little at that joke. yes it doesn't make much sense with the cloak. just wait until Spider-Man realizes he was saved by a magical font skeleton... )

They seem to be coming from the garage, there's an outlet to the sewers there. That's where I've been taking them.

( it's not exactly the best place, but it's better than nothing and it's at least going to protect the people still trapped in the mall. that might be the best they can hope for right about now. )

[skelepun]

[We've all gotta come to terms with the cosmic injustices in life. Font skeletons among them.]

Got a rough estimate on where we are in relation to that? [He's already walking, sizing up just how many people are encased within the bones.] Off the top of your head?

[webdesigned]

( damn don't call him out like this normal people don't have distances catalogued in their head!! )

Two and a half blocks from here, off the south side?

( let's just pretend that he knows that because he flies through the skies so often he's a good judge of distance, not even Peter wants to be that much of a nerd. ) Wait, why? ( don't ask questions you don't want answers to, Spider-Man. especially magical answers... )

[skelepun]

[well EXCUSE HIM spincess.]

I can work with that.

[In the first moment, Sans lets the bone wall surrounding the zombies disappear, leaving only crumbled floor tile behind. In the next, everything goes black. There's no real warning, aside from the brief sensation of falling.

But it is brief, and in the next moment Peter would see... the southside. Not exactly beside the garage, but about what his vague estimate could afford. As if an afterthought, Sans erects another wall around the disoriented infected. A few beads of sweat start at his forehead.]

Whaddya know, guess it was closer than we thought.

[webdesigned]

( you'd really think he'd be accustomed to unusual methods of travel, considering everything. honestly is teleporting even that weird compared to flinging himself through the sky with only a whisper of webbing to support him?

actually, no, it really kind of is. he blinks and even his enhanced senses don't have time to react or give him any warning, though they blare like car alarms after it's already too late, and the spider stumbles on nothing as his body tries to react to the impossibility of what just happened. )

I— what? ( absolute coherence personified, tbh. ) How... How did you do that?

( he's a smart kid. he can recite physics equations without batting an eyelash. still, he can't quite wrap his head around being one place and then being another; even after his time in ALASTAIR, that's a bit too much for him to just quietly accept. )

[skelepun]

[For Sans' part, the adjustment is nil. He steps into the new location as if walking through an open door, hands still shuffled in his pockets. Peter's surprise isn't enough to throw his relaxed demeanor, though there's a glint to his grin that says he just might be enjoying it a little.

A look of surprise on someone's face was always worth celebrating, after all.]

Know much about quantum mechanics, kid? [He gestures to the parking garage entrance, as if for confirmation that they were in the right spot.]

[webdesigned]

( does he know much about quantum mechanics? don't even go there, of course he does, yet living it? that's a whole different ballgame. theoretics will never be the same as actually living it, and back in his universe, quantum physics did not super include teleportation. )

I must have skipped that lecture, ( he muses, pressing a hand to his stomach like he's mildly worried that he might have left it in the mall. he does turn to look at the garage, bemused and slightly alarmed yet unable to deny his curiosity at the possibility of someone explaining their ridiculous abilities scientifically for once. )

Maybe you can fill me in sometime. ( he genuinely means that; in the meantime, their focus has to be on something else. ) Let's get these guys somewhere a little safer. ( you don't have to do all the work, Sans... Spider-Man is good for some heavy lifting, at the very least. )

[skelepun]

Not much of a lecturer. [It's not without a note of irony, but Sans moves past it quickly enough. He might actually enjoy it, that process, teaching someone, talking about theories and thoughts that he hasn't dedicated time to in ages. Long enough that those corners of his skull had cobwebs over them.

Spiders dug webs though, didn't they.]

You lead the way, kid, I'll give you some ground support.

[That's one way to put it, anyway.]

wrap here ?

[webdesigned]

( 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. )