[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

[feytality]

[He'll have to help her achieve her dreams.]

[Maya knows where it's at, definitely. Look, the way she's picturing it, he's the hero of his restaurant!! Who could fire an employee who protects the people and makes sure the skeeves are tipping right?]

Good thinking! To the hardware store! [She says, as he heads to a clothing store.... but she approves. This guy is definitely on her level. She deer-on-ice skates over behind him, keeping up but narrowly avoiding getting grabbed in the process.]

Don't worry about me, Mr. Heiwajima! Just make sure your non-armored arms and legs don't get any nibb--- woah!

[Just for the of sake comedic irony and because Shizuo just needs to pick her up everytime they thread, it's at this exact second that an infected hand grabs her from a clothing rack and starts pulling her into the 50% dresses. The horror!! The horror!]

What the--- hey, I'm not changing! My outfit's too awesome!!

[She swings her SNES as them]

[longtempered]

[Right, you'd think they'd be a little more appreciative...! But alas, breaking one table over a rude guy's head and putting another table through the shop window apparently crosses the line, for some inexplicable reason......their loss, obviously.

Look, Shizuo has no idea where the hardware store's supposed to be (he hit a lot of infected with the one mall map he found earlier, there wasn't a lot of time to actually read the thing), they're going to need to take this one step at a time. Step one being a clothes shop, yes. But they won't be getting anywhere if they end up getting grabbed, which is exactly how Maya ends up approximately two minutes in. Being dragged into a 50% dress rack by infected, even......truly a horrible way to go. And naturally Shizuo is having none of that, if not somewhat exasperatedly (what did he just say....this comedic irony is extremely rude--)

The SNES connects to the nearest infected's face with the sort of hearty thwack only a bulky 90's Nintendo gaming console brick could truly provide--while largely ineffective otherwise, this does manage to create enough of an opening for Shizuo to close the distance between them, promptly hoisting Maya up and bodily pulling her away from the grabbing hands, skates and tumbling SNESes and all.]

Okay, change of plans, I'm carrying you anyway. [He emphasizes this with a kick aimed at the foot of the dress rack as a whole, with enough force to promptly send the entire thing toppling over, entangling the infected inside in discount skirts. Shizuo all but tucks Maya under an arm as he starts off again. Not that he's got a particular direction to go in mind, now...] You should probably get those skates off once we find a good spot. Also hey, you know what part of the store we're in right now? I've forgotten.

[feytality]

[Restaurant rules sure are weird and extreme!! They might not appreciate Shizuo--- neither do the infected who are currently getting their own makeovers thanks to him -- but Maya sure does. Some of those dresses are too hideous, even for her]

Waaah!

[But then she's snagged up by Shizuo again, thus ending the epic struggle between SNES and semi-man]

I-I'm not a sack of potatoes, you know! [The SNES falls from her shoulder and thonks on the head of captain grabby (alas, poor SNES, we knew ye) before Shizuo sends the whole thing crashing down and Maya notices just how many grabbyhands want a piece of her. Pretty literally, at that]

---Wait, I take it back, I'm totally a sack of potatoes! [She doesn't want to be fries, save her. She scrambles a little to hold onto the arm carrying her, then squints side-ways at.... wherever we are]

Oh, oh, um, we're in ladies wear! If you go straight through her and through lingerie, I think there's an exit. And dressing rooms! [Thankfully, Maya does know the mall layout pretty well, and can actually assist with directions. She's got something actually useful to contribute, unbelievable.]

[longtempered]

What? --What are you talking about, you don't look anything like a potato. [Maya please, love yourself...

But anyway, thus blissfully unaware of the metaphor flying right over his head, Shizuo does at least attempt to reorient Maya so she isn't just unceremoniously tucked at his side as he starts forward through rows of clothing again, in favor of sort of letting her sit on the crook of his arm instead--not like she's particularly heavy, after all. All the better for Maya to take a look at their surroundings, too, and provide direction where Shizuo currently cannot.

She's definitely got a better head for the mall layout than Shizuo does, anyway--his memory retention isn't super great for stuff like that, even when he isn't immensely distracted by grabby infected people.]

Right...so we just gotta keep going straight forward through here, huh? [And through...lingerie.......well, as long as he doesn't look too much at everything it should be fine. Shizuo increases his pace, scowling over his shades for any hidden hungry figures that might be hiding among the clothing racks.] Guess we'd better stop by the dressing rooms first so we can figure stuff out...ah, and put your armor back together a bit more, I guess. We'll probably find more tape eventually.

[feytality]

Okay, okay, I just don't want to be mashed! [It's kind of surreal..... how is she managing to put pretty much her entire body weight on his arm and it doesn't affect him one bit, he must be even stronger than she thought. She's happy just to hang on, (or koala cling.....) but it's honestly pretty incredible. She can't help but be impressed despite the situation they're in.]

--Yeah! And with any luck, these guys will get embarrassed by all the girly stuff and slow down! Or run away!

[Or get distracted because some of these are on sale!!! Even zombies need underwear. Anyway, that part isn't working out so well, since some infected are already in this section, popping out from the bras and panties to leap at Shizuo -- but all this movement has loosened Maya's skates, to the point where she can wiggle one off and kick it at one of those reaching arms. One point for Maya........ though that's still nothing compared to the ninety points of infected butt-kicking Shizuo's already racked up. And counting.]

T-Take that!

[It's kind of an accident that it lands, but hey, she'll pretend it was on purpose. The rest is up to him!!! Until the next bit of armour falls off. She really didn't secure it enough, from the looks of it.]

[longtempered]

[WAS THAT A POTATO PUN....Shizuo is going to think back on this venture sometime later today and finally realize that it probably was, eventually. But that time isn't now, unfortunately, and Maya will just have to settle with Shizuo situating her on his arm more securely so that she indeed does not end up mashed in any form. As far as Shizuo's concerned he might as well be carrying a half-full bag of groceries or something, as easy as it is to heft Maya around--except this bag of groceries is also serving as a handy mall GPS of sorts.

...That dispenses hopeful commentary, too. Shizuo blinks at her sidelong a bit.]

Ah, that'd be nice but I dunno...not sure if they're sane enough to be embarrassed by much of anything at this point. You'd think trying to eat people would be really embarrassing too.

[And evidently there's no shame stopping these guys here!! Further proven when more infected start emerging from the undergarments on sale in question, almost the moment they start entering the section. Shizuo grimaces, both at the prospect of more infected in general and the unnecessary spreading around of even more lady's underwear everywhere. He's not about this life....just let him pass through here please.......Shizuo slaps away a couple of closer infected with a swing of his stop sign, kicks away another man trying to run at them from the front, and watches as Maya kicks a skate right onto another infected's face; with their powers combined, Shizuo's able to make decent progress through the new opening that's formed, though that still only puts them at halfway through all the lingerie.]

Your armor's just falling right off, huh? Maybe we'll just get you a completely new set instead... [Shizuo spies another pair of infected lurching into view up ahead, still out of swinging or kicking range.] Think you could throw something else at those guys up ahead? [In the meantime he'll elbow another infected emerging from a rack of stockings to his left, before shoving it the rest of the way to the ground with the end of his stop sign.

Look at this teamwork...they're practically a well-oiled zombie-fighting machine....]

[feytality]

[She wanted to believe.... but he poses a very good point, one that Maya has to grudgingly accept]

...Yeah, I guess you're right. There's nothing more embarrassing than getting the munchies... and realizing you want to chomp on someone's arm or something.

[She tried!!! To be optimistic!!! But Shizuo ruined that, so now he has to live with his regrets and also women's lingerie flying everywhere. Still, the zombie hoard, interested in frilly panties and nightgowns or not, is no match for the one man army (plus arm mall GPS) and it's like a scene out of the world's best (or worst) action movie. Hangups about snowball wars aside, this is probably the coolest guy Maya's ever met in her life.]

...Maybe it's not much for armour, but I never expected it to be this handy!

[And he's still counting on her to help him? What could she possibly contribute to this??]

---I'm on it, Mr. Heiwajima! Get ready to jump!

[The stop sign gives her an idea, actually, she manages to grab her other skate without falling off her armperch, aims and then throws it with all the force she can muster at a rack of half off bras right near the the pair up ahead. Luckily, the rack is light enough that it tips over, making them both stumble. Shizuo's path is slightly more clear, and Maya lets out a triumphant whoop and starts trying to dislodge more of her 90s coverings]

[Funny, up until a few minutes ago, she'd been terrified (despite the bravado), but even though they're both still surrounded by infected and basically bumrushing through a hoard of flesh-eating maniacs, that feeling is evaporating so quickly, that for the first since this mission started, she stops feeling small and helpless]

[longtempered]

[Well, of course he's counting on her!! She's here, she's on his arm, there's helpful opportunities abound and Shizuo isn't terribly picky. If he judged everybody's helpfulness on the merit of how good they are at punching things compared to himself, well....there sure wouldn't be anybody helpful enough at all, really. Which would be silly.

Sure enough, his faith in Maya is promptly rewarded too. One flying skate and a toppling rack of bras later, the incoming infected are stumbling aside, and Shizuo's more than happy to make use of the newly-provided opening. Hopefully Maya meant getting ready to jump in the literal sense, because that's...about what Shizuo does, actually, with a final wide half-leaping stride through the newly-formed gap.

After that it's not a very long way at all. A few seconds later--following a lot of punching on Shizuo's part and a lot of throwing-things on Maya's part--they're finally out of the lingerie section altogether, much to Shizuo's relief. The area opens up, clothing racks thinning out in favor of exit space...and, sure enough, doorways of dressing rooms up ahead. After taking a sharp glance around to make sure they're not being pursued by any more immediately nearby infected, Shizuo promptly ducks into the nearest dressing room with a sigh.

Shutting and locking the door behind them, he shifts to start...letting Maya down too, finally.] ...Well, that sucked. Looks like we made it for now, though. You okay?

[feytality]

[She did mean jump in the literal sense, as such she cheers when Shizuo clears the hurdle. Well done!!! She keeps up her part as the duo (or the Shizuo, she's mostly just along for the ride) barrels through the remaining infected and onto freedom from lingerie. She's lost all of her armour in this process, but it was worth it.]

[Yelling out directions and warnings like a support character in a video game was pretty fun, too. By the time they make it to the dressing room, even Maya's a little out of breath, and she slips off of his arm and onto the ground, looking up at him.]

Wow, that was...

[She takes a few quiet(er) seconds to regain her breath, and then starts bouncing up and down with no warning] That was incredible!! It was like we were in action movie! How'd you do all that? You were just like--

[And here's an enthusiastic and somewhat (not only somewhat) exaggerated play by play of Shizuo's adventures to Shizuo himself. You know, in case he forgot. This will probably go on for a few minutes, hopefully she won't alert all the zombies they were trying to evade to their new hiding place]

[longtempered]

[Oh my god...MAYA THERE ISN'T A LOT OF ROOM IN THESE DRESSING ROOM COMPARTMENTS......

So her enthusiastic reenactment of the last fifteen minutes or so ends up taking up quite a bit of flailing-arm space, really. Shizuo finds he can't find the heart to be particularly annoyed about it, though; instead he stands back against the door, eyebrows coming together in slight bemusement as she goes through the motions. Talk about...a really unexpectedly positive reaction to all this, too? She's been holding up well up to this point anyhow, but this is really something else. Ah, but Shizuo certainly isn't going to complain about that either--better somebody happy than somebody terrified, right?]

Well, I--hey, okay, let's calm down a bit. [PARRIES ONE OF HER ARMS VERY GENTLY finally, when a flying hand gets a bit too close to the shades on his face.] Let's not tell every infected guy in the area we're around, okay? ...But yeah, looks like we did pretty okay back there.

[Shizuo shifts to rub at the back of his neck a bit now.]

How'd I do it? I mean, I don't know. I just...do it. That's how I always do it. Would have gotten pretty turned around if you weren't telling me where to go, though...so thanks for that. [Ah man, this stop sign he's still holding is also. Taking up a ton of space in here, come to think of it. Don't mind Shizuo while he presses at a tiny panel on its side and just kind of. Folds it up into a cylinder like a lightsaber toy, about now...]

[feytality]

[let her be excited in peace, Shizuo!!!!!]

[She does settle down on request, because 1) she is still aware of the zombie threat no matter what her shenanigans, 2) the Snowbank Incident is always at the back of her mind when she's with Shizuo........ 3) she gets a little embarrassed when he thanks her]

Oops.... I guess I got a little carried away.

[A bit sheepishly!! (She's sorry, Shizuo, don't scruff her again). She looks happy when he compliments her, anyway. She's not used to getting those, especially from people who are far more competent than she is.]

So you were just born with super strength or something? That's pretty neat. [She's making an effort to keep her voice down, now, but she can't help still being enthusiastic.... he fought off a literal store full of zombies, it's the coolest thing that's ever happened to her.]

[And now she's holding up her fist in his direction for the fabled brofist.... she makes the mistake of thinking he already knows what it is]

We make a pretty good team, don't we, Mr. Heiwajima? We kicked butt!

[longtempered]

[Forever the Snowbank Incident will be in her heart, apparently...

Also wow ""more competent than she is"" oh please, like punching a few sick people in the face qualifies him for much of anything!! So Shizuo would say, anyway, if he actually knew anything about that line of thought. ...But he doesn't, and so Shizuo simply pockets the stop sign cylinder, content enough to see that she's happy instead of afraid or anything else like that. Her assumption--while fair enough, really, considering the stupidly vague nature of his answer--earns a slight scoff and a shake of Shizuo's head.]

Born with it? Hah, definitely not. Probably would have hurt a lot less back then if that were the case. [He absentmindedly sort of half-flexes one of his arms at the elbow.] I just used to hurt myself a lot throwing things too big for me all the time, whenever I got mad. But I ended up getting better at it eventually, I guess? So yeah...

[Honestly, where is Shinra when you need him for more competent explanations...things Shizuo almost asks himself sometimes. But oh well, that's not important here anyway. The important thing here is definitely the fist that Maya is...suddenly holding up now. Shizuo blinks down at it for a moment or so, visibly a bit nonplussed, but it does click after a few seconds.]

Oh--hey, is this gonna be one of those fist bump things people do sometimes? [EXCUSE YOU HE DOES KNOW WHAT THOSE ARE...SORT OF......he's just. Never actually done one with somebody. But apparently that's about to change?? Shizuo slowly offers his own fist her way, visibly bemused but pleasantly surprised.] Yeah, we're a pretty good team for sure. Getting around this place from here shouldn't be a problem compared to all that just now, huh?

is he actually smiling???

[feytality]

[Maya's self-esteem is even worse than Shizuo's.... she's just good at hiding it]

[Anyway, it's hard to feel scared when you've got a literal tank ferrying you around, even for Maya Fey: Ace Weenie. She bumps Shizuo's outstretched fist (congrats!! now he's experienced one for himself) and does the little 'wooosh' thing, very pleased at his participation. Four for you, Shizuo Coco.]

It sure is! Since we're a dynamic duo and we totally kicked butt and all! We'll get out of here in no time, no infected jerks are a match for us. [or him more specifically... the GPS can't fight, it can only be obnoxious and tell you to turn fifty times.]

[She does pause to consider his super lifting stuff power... The mystery of the rogue waiter deepens]

You were.... throwing stuff a lot? [Wow, she hadn't realized how rough the waiter life was.... maybe that was why he became a rogue in the first place.] Like... extreme waiter training? Or blowing off steam when you don't get tipped?

TINIEST TWO-SECOND SMILE take a picture maya

[longtempered]

[Why are both of these nerds so bad at being ok with themselves...smh.....

But oh man...oh. That's a lot easier than he was expecting it to be?? For some reason...though his own reciprocating 'woooosh' gesture is decidedly delayed and less enthusiastic, but there was an attempt! All things considered, there could probably be worse first brofists out there. His first ever brofist...

Shizuo pockets his hands once it's all over, but he does look somewhat faintly pleased about this all the same.]

Hah, that'd definitely make it a hell of a lot easier for us to get back to everyone else. Guess we should stick together until then. [It's ok Maya, your GPS skills are still appreciated...even if you'll probably nearly chatter his ear off in the process....but isn't that what any GPS worth its salt does anyway? Yes.

But oh, the rogue waiter mystery returns...Maya's questions earn a blink, and then a shrug.] Uh, not exactly training or anything...guess I did throw a table sometimes back then for stuff like that, though. [And got fired from waitering specifically for that, actually, but you know. Details...Shizuo waves a hand.] Aah, anyway. Looks like you threw all your armor away on the way here...let's go and find some more stuff for you to put on, huh? And then we'll see if we can get back to the others in here. [He turns to the dressing room door, cracking it open.] See if the coast's clear here...and we'll make a break for it from there, I guess.

it's burned into her mind forever

[feytality]

[Listen, Maya's got a Ridiculously Tragic Backstory, what's your excuse, Shizuo]

[Anyway, just the fact that he was willing to participate at all is enough to score him points. He did well. It's not like they won't have plenty of time to practice and perfect this excercise]

Definitely. That way I can protect you if these guys start trying to get their chomp on! [Yes, Maya's definitely the one protecting him... of course...]

[But the enigma deepens. Back then.... just how long has he been a rogue waiter, looking for a new restaurant to call his own? Maya feels a pang of sympathy for this man. Clearly, he was just too hardcore for his last establishment.]

Don't worry! You've got a lot of talents, so I'm sure some place will learn to appreciate you and the effort you've gone through. [He'll find a home restaurant again... she believes in him!!]

[In any case, it isn't the time to reminisce about the restaurants that got away. When he goes to check the door, Maya peers around him to check simultaneously. Seems like the coat is clear, for now...]

Oh... my armour? [She didn't expect him to remember that, let alone want to get her new armour... it's kinda cute, actually]

Don't worry about it. Believe it or not, video game consoles aren't very good at protecting you from zombies. [in all honesty, she thought giving herself an armour might help give her an edge in this zombie crisis, since she's basically a useless noodle and she wants desperately to be able to do something to help. But taping SNESes to her shoulders can't match up to super strength or super speed or any of the other amazing powers everyone except her seems to have. Besides--] Plus, I don't need armour when we're working together, right?