[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

[keeper]

[ (It won't occur to her until this is all over, but this is the 'buddy system' Lance had been so adamant about, isn't it...)

She matches Graham in reticence, not one for words either especially when the tension's thick enough to wade through. Her other senses are piqued, eyes bright and alert as she attempts to detect what sight and sound might not. (If the virus could be perceived as 'darkness', the infected as a malicious force, then it should register on her metaphysical radar...)

It doesn't take much hunting on her part, they're close enough that she's snapping back into immediate focus when she hears footsteps breaking across the stairs.

—And then they arrive. Growling, thrashing, snarling. Not even enough time to shout a warning. She ducks under a pair of arms, shoves a palm into a heaving chest with an indiscernible pulse of magic. The man immediately crumples to the ground, eyes drooping under the weight of her sleeping spell. She twists away from the unconscious body, bringing up her lacrosse stick to parry another one of the infected. ]

[dishearten]

( he doesn't have much time to even think about how easily she drops the whirling limbs and snarling jaws. he's distracted with another of the three — he can't even tell if running into three is unlucky or not, considering the numbers he's seen crawling about the mall.

Graham doesn't have a sleeping spell, yet there are some things that can be completed without magic. he dusts the arms reaching away with his bat, and the infected stumbles into the railing heavily. the daze between reactions is just long enough for him to land the syringe of sedative in her thigh.

that leaves at least one of the crowd left, and the girl is facing it alone. it's not really time for introductions, yet Graham idly realizes he didn't even bother to ask her name before they pushed off together into danger. the infected swings for her again, and he catches the arm before Aqua has to. between the two of them, they have her more or less restrained, yet restraint isn't good enough with an infected this far gone. )

I have handcuffs, ( he mutters, though he doesn't seem especially keen on using them if he doesn't have to. last ditch effort. )

[keeper]

[ Three does seem rather tame compared to the madhouse that had erupted at the foodcourt just some hours prior... But with such limited space, that's three too many. She's fortunate for Graham's help, even moreso that he's dealing with the infected as gently as he can manage. She knows that not all of Audentes runs on the same line of morality (too many backstories and too many agendas), but it helps her breathe easier here knowing her current partner doesn't opt straight for lethal methods. ]

Thank you.

[ For the assist. She quickly sends the last of the infected into a deep slumber with another wave of her hand, before eyeing the handcuffs. ]

...We might try handcuffing them to the railing, between floors...

[ It's not a great solution, only temporary at best. She's seen the sick break out of bindings in grotesque ways, with enough strength and will and hunger-fueled rage, but neither she or Graham have time to relocate the bodies to a better place (assuming one even exists). The only permanent solution is a killing blow, and it seems that neither of them have quite acquired the stomach for it. ]

[dishearten]

( he does do what he can to keep from harming the infected. the fact of the matter is they're not mindless lost causes. they're humans that are very, very sick. killing them would be murder, it was ending a life that mattered; likely to many people, even though it was impossible to see all the connections when they were lost to the virus. it didn't matter if they had no family or friends that might mourn them in the end, he still wouldn't choose to take any more lives than he had to.

he doesn't like the idea of leaving his cuffs, yet getting past is likely more important than holding on to his police-issue handcuffs. there's not a good chance of the woman tugging free of handcuffs, not unless she was willing to break her thumbs for it... hopefully they could get back to her before it came to that.

he holds his arm in place with a shoulder as he reaches for the cuffs attached to his belt. ) Can you catch her wrist? ( it's easier to secure the snarling infected if they worked together. she was trying to jolt past their hold to sink her teeth into anything she could reach, so perhaps it would only make it mildly easier... )

[keeper]

[ She grips the woman's flailing arm and pumps a second dose of sedative magic into her—her eyes droop, head lolling to the side as she goes slack in their arms... (Hopefully much easier this way, for both parties.)

Once Graham has her secured with the cuffs, they proceed down the rest of the flights, through the exit to the first floor...

After scanning the hallway for signs of potential ambush, they continue slowly out from the stairwell, Aqua remaining just a handful of seconds to make sure the door doesn't clatter loudly behind them.

Another look around the partially-secluded area tallies up a set of bathrooms and a few other unassuming doors she assumes to be building offices, one of which she remembers seeing the guard enter previously. ]

...I'm not sure the exact door, but it was one of those.

[dishearten]

( he can't say he enjoys it, having to leave the sedated woman confined at the landing of the stairs. if he has a choice, he'll recover her later, when he has a safer place to confine her. at the moment they had no time to spare for niceties, though, and he could only do what he could with the tools he had.

they'd have better luck if they could manage to get to the security room. it was a distant hope, but he he wanted to believe there might be a door release hidden there. there would be no telling unless they got inside of it, though.

this part of the mall seemed so much more eerily silent than the rest, or at least certainly the stairwell and foodcourt. he doesn't really have the required parts to feel unsettled by it, though. ) Let's see if we can find it, then. ( he ignores the bathrooms, the room labeled office; there's one door that leads to a hallway that reads, Personnel Only. he glances down the hall, and it doesn't have any clues, but it still sounds quiet... ) Perhaps this one? ( they'll have to see it to the end to know for sure. )

[keeper]

[ She reaches out to test the door handle...

...It doesn't budge. (She's sure there's got to be a camera trained on the area here, and doesn't dare try anything as potentially incriminating as summoning a giant key-sword.)

With a grim shake of her head, ] I'm afraid it's locked.

[ Unless he's got the tools to pick it, it'll be lost time for them to stand around here... ]

[dishearten]

( after seeing her test the handle, him echoing the motion is downright pointless. he does it anyway. even Graham can be a bit frustrated by the lack of progress, when they'd worked so hard to find it. )

We'll have to figure out another way in. Surely someone knows how to get through a locked door.

( he doesn't, unfortunately, but Audentes was full of quite a few talented individuals. he'd reach out and see what he could find. before he did, though, he turned to his companion and offered her a quiet look of gratitude. ) Aqua, wasn't it? I appreciate the help. ( he offers a hand to shake. )

Graham. Thank you for helping me get here. It's a start.

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: Acquired name

[keeper]

[ It's certainly a frustration to be stopped here, after all that's happened, but if they've made it this far she's certain they'll succeed the rest of the way. Only a matter of time and persistence, though she can still hope they'll figure this out sooner rather than later.

She accepts the handshake with a resolved grip and a quiet smile. ]

Likewise. I'm glad to meet you, Graham, despite the circumstances.

[ As an afterthought, ] ...If there's anything else I can do to help, you can always find me on the network.

[ From here on out she'll part ways, circling back to the rest of the mall to see what civilians (or recruits) she can assist in the meantime. ]