[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]

It's no problem. [Sans returns, though his expression remains unchanged. Grinning, of course, but with an element of scrutiny and thoughtfulness that goes beyond a casual you're welcome.]

Y'know, there's space in my chandelier for an extra body. [There's a sense of meaningfulness in those words. A heavy implication that the kid should take him up on the offer.] If you wanna rest a few minutes. Y'know, plan your next act of heroics, figure out what we're gonna do with these infected, whatever floats your boat, kid.

[unholey]

[Fugo stares at Sans for a too-long moment. There's a sharp, calculating look in his eyes. Even as he stands there, still struggling to catch his breath after pushing himself past a limit he obviously should not have, it's clear that he's doing some very serious mental figuring to figure out exactly how good his odds would be if he said no.]

Fine. Whatever. [His fingers twitch against the handle of his bag; he doesn't like it, but tonight's a night where he has to pick and choose his fights. This guy, whose abilities happened too quick for Fugo to really get a handle on their patterns, is at least probably with ALASTAIR. They are technically, supposedly, allies.] But you can do whatever you want with them, because there's nothing I can do about them.

[Well, there is one thing. But he'd rather not if he can help it. And given that they're trapped rather than skewered, he gets the feeling this guy would rather not see them reduced to a smear on the linoleum.]

[skelepun]

[Were Sans privy to Fugo's assumptions, aside from the reluctance in his body language, he might've laughed. Sure, he might've said he could kill for a nap in the past, but there were shades to these kinda things.

Then again, it wouldn't be the first time his concern was mistaken for a threat. Had a way of getting the job done, and in the next moment Sans winks. The moment after that, Fugo might feel a sensation of falling through nothing. The moment after that? They're both about fifty feet up, sitting on the light fixtures arms.]

They should be alright for the time being. [Sans shrugs, pulling something from his hoodie. It's a half eaten candy bar.] Want some chocolate?

[unholey]

[He's falling, again. You're locked in, the memory of a dead man reminds him. No matter what, he just can't get away from falling. Absurdly: the smell of autumn rain floods his nose. Fugo stares down at the spot on the floor where he was standing a moment ago, but in his mind's eye he sees the crumbling ruin of the Teatra Greco and the yellow spot of Vladimir Kocaqi's raincoat.]

[They should be alright for the time being.

What? When-- where is he--]

[Fugo turns towards the sound of Sans' voice and blinks, slow and dizzy, as he remembers that this isn't Sicilia after all. His words sink in slowly and Fugo has to shake his head to make sense of them.]

What? No. You've-- [His brows come together and he frowns, focusing on the chocolate bar and what it is about it that he dislikes about it.] You've already bitten that. That's gross. And a risk of-- [He almost lifts a hand to gesture and then, remembering how high up they are, thinks better of it and reaches to hold onto the arm he's balancing on.] Infection. The Bristol virus spreads through bodily fluids, the most common being blood and saliva.

[skelepun]

[Sans takes a beat, letting the kid finish his thought. He keeps the bar outheld, waggling it enticingly.]

I don't think we're going to have that problem, you n' me. I'm not big on fluids. Not even a very good swimmer.

[Vague? Certainly.]

If you're so nervous though, you can bite the other end.

[unholey]

That doesn't make any sense. We're all big on fluids. Sixty percent of the adult human body is fluids.

[He. Hasn't quite realized that what he's looking at is an illusion, unfortunately...]

And no. That's not how germs work. The five second rule is a lie.

[He's still a little vague. One foot is still halfway in the past; but every meaningless fact he remembers, the closer he gets back to the present.]

[skelepun]

[Welp. Not technically advisable, considering they're both balancing significantly high off the ground, but Sans shrugs. No getting around it. If normies saw him from the mall floor, maybe they'd just assume he was an off season Halloween decoration.

The cloak falls and, with it, Sans extends the chocolate bar (and his skeletal hand) once again.]

Your call, bud. Promise I didn't get my tongue on it, though.

[unholey]

[One second: there's a man next to him on the chandelier. The next: that man is actually a skeleton, with a wide and toothy grin.

Fugo blinks. Looks down at his hands, with their ragged nails and bitten-off cuticles. He then sighs and reaches up to pinch his left eyelid: it's not the best way to confirm if he's dreaming or not, but the spot of pain helps him to remember all the things and the people he's encountered tonight. Giorno's here.

So this probably isn't a dream.]

No thanks. [A bite's a bite. And he doesn't like chocolate to begin with. But because he doesn't think that would fly, he has to be honest.] It would be a waste. I don't think I could keep it down. I'll eat when I get out of here.

[A pause, then:] You've got pretty good diction for someone who doesn't have a tongue.

[Tongues are very important for talking. A fact he knew but didn't know until after Sicilia.]

[skelepun]

And you've got a lot of gusto for a kid that won't eat, but hey. Suit yourself. [Sans shrugs, taking the bar back for himself. He takes an impressive bite, chewing around his words.] I'd just hate to see you when your blood sugar gets any lower.

[He didn't have that problem, of course, but chocolate's chocolate.]

So what brought you to the mall today, bud?

[unholey]

[Fugo makes a soft, dismissive sound. Yeah, yeah. Starving's bad. And he's got an acid, iron stomach that he knows wouldn't react well to something like a candy bar.]

Why did anyone come here today.

A friend of mine wanted to go shopping. I went with because he asked me to.

[skelepun]

But no shopping for you, huh? [Sans teases, gently.] Who's your friend?

[unholey]

The only place I was interested in visiting was the bookstore. And the lockdown happened before we went over there.

[Because that's just how his shitty, shitty luck goes.]

Giorno Giovanna. [...] He's got his hair done up like-- [Fugo holds up one hand to gesture near his forehead, miming the shape of Giorno's victory rolls.] That. Have you seen him? He might have been with Kung Jin. He's got long hair and is stupidly enormous.

[skelepun]

[The descriptions weren't very familiar -- be that the limits of Fugo's pantomime or Sans' own newness -- but the names certainly were. From their files, sure, but that was something.]

'Fraid I haven't. [He's genuinely apologetic about that fact, though not overly so.] But I'm sure they're around. You guys get separated?

[unholey]

Well, they'd have to be. Their markers haven't moved from this location. [It's a little frustrating that he can't zoom in further on the map to find them, but whatever.] Yes, we did. Normally I'd be annoyed at them for ignoring texts on the magitek, but considering the circumstances it's understandable.

[He is pointedly making the decision to assume that something else has Giorno's attention right now. Giorno Giovanna can't die. Not won't, not wouldn't: can't. That's what he has to believe, or else he will freeze up. And this is not a situation where he can afford to freeze.]

[skelepun]

Heh, well, we're in the same boat there, pal. [He tapped his own magitek -- a simple glow-in-the-dark spider ring -- rictus twisting into what might've been a wince.] Between you n' me, they're probably better off than the pair of us.

But hey, we're not helpless. [He finishes the chocolate bar, tossing the empty wrapped down towards the distant floor.] Got any idea where they might've headed? I'll give you an escort.

[He reaches up, rubbing some stray chocolate from his teeth with a bony finger.]

'M faster than I look.

[unholey]

[His expressions are harder to read like this; all bone and no skin, twitching in subtle ways that Fugo isn't familiar with. Fugo frowns briefly, eyes tracking the chocolate wrapper as it drops to the floor. The whole mall is a mess, and yet. And yet, that one little piece of extra trash calls up a distant, yet very distinct, sense of annoyance.]

No, I don't. In the meantime I've been canvassing the stores and running supplies to the places I know where the civilians are hiding out. Medical supplies and things.

[So, if you're up for a lot of running around, Sans..........]

[skelepun]

[He's definitely not, but there are better ways than running.]

Sounds like fun. [Not really, but Sans was open to the idea.] Where do you wanna start?

[unholey]

With what you're planning to do with them. [Fugo gestures down to still-trapped infected.] Are those bones going to stay if you leave?

[His train of thought wanders, until--]

Hypothetically. How many infected do you think you could hold here?

[skelepun]

[Sans looks down at the bones, frowning. They wouldn't stick around forever, and they certainly wouldn't stick around if he left. Frankly, he sorta thought it stopped being their problem once the pair of them left.

This kid probably didn't have such a laissez-faire view of things, though. He should've expected that.]

Well, uh... a lot, probably. I was just, y'know. Gonna leave 'em. [That's vague enough.] Why?