[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

[keystaff]

[Her pursed lips and frown betrays her conflicting feelings in this. Yes, of course she agrees and understands that she can help in such a way with using the Shield card. But she also wants to help Graham.

Still, if she can at least get something set up and then figure what to do next from there. She looks to the group she has helped gather in the store, looking back up to Graham.]

Alright. I'll do it. But you promise to be careful.

[dishearten]

I so promise.

( he does not relish the fact he must lush into danger, though he has little choice. hiding in safety won't do anything to rectify the situation. there might not be any amount of safety to be had in the mall, so long as it was full of infected. he had to do something, dangerous or not.

and he would be careful, because believe it or not, he wanted to survive as much as anyone else. he could be a little impulsive with his own health, yet no part of him wanted to die a second time. he would be more than careful, and he would do what he must to survive.

With the promise to protect the store granted, he tugs her hand slightly to wrap her in a hug. it can't last long, yet with the mind it could be the last time he sees her safe for some time, he wants to say goodbye with the reminder he cared for her. )

You be careful too. ( his voice is quieter now, worry clear. )

[keystaff]

I will.

[Even if she might eventually wander in order to find supplies to help them get through this. Knowing there's only so long they might hold out in one place like this. In one store against all of this. But she does return the hug, tightly, her smaller fingers clutching at his shirt for a moment when he pulls her forward into the embrace. ]

[dishearten]

I hope you mean that.

( there's something knowing in his tone, because he knows full well how often she seems to find herself in the thick of danger, even if he's asked her to try and stay clear of it. it is all he can do to hope she will be distracted by the needs of the people hidden away with her, yet even that doesn't seem very likely. )

Don't go anywhere alone. And cards don't count as company.

( that's the best he can do to get her to promise to try and be safe, he figures. he can't hold onto her long, carefully releasing her and glancing toward the store. it seems as if it is fairly safe, with the metal grates easy to pull past the windows, and yet he can't seem to stop himself from worrying all the same. ) go, Sakura. And if you need me you know how to catch me.

( his communicator would still work in the mall — she'd just need to be careful using it in front of citizens of Woodhurst. )

[keystaff]

I do. I'll do my best to look after them. I mean, some of the older ones might not be sure on listening to me, but.

[She almost looks a little sheepish at his specifically pointing out that her cards wouldn't count if she did leave the store to go somewhere. But she gives a nod as he releases her.]

I know. I'll let you know if there's trouble.

[The way she lingers a little indicates her reluctance, but eventually that duty kicks in and she does head to the store, waving to Graham as she ensures the others gathered are alright.]