[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

[dishearten]

( yeah i wonder why he didn't see the humor in that one, Fugo... its a mystery...

Graham is quiet and curious as he watches Fugo work. he wouldn't have expected such supplies to be handy in opening the door, though he does seem to intend to watch and learn. might as well — he might have use of the knowledge later. a former sheriff learning to break into buildings is a bit ironic, but hey. he's a former sheriff for a reason. )

You can call me Graham, ( which is super odd wording, isn't it? so what if it isn't really his name, he doesn't have time to explain he never had one until he was cursed into a new identity and it sort of stuck. the huntsman had been as close to a name as he had in the forest; he's just not in the forest anymore. ) Is there anything I can do?

[unholey]

[Wow, it's just the truth? Why is everyone so picky, smh.]

Graham, then. [It's an odd choice of words, one that lends Fugo to believe he's been given an alias of some sorts. He doesn't comment on it, though, because after a while you get used to people giving you fake names.] You could stand on one of the corners so it doesn't curl back up while I'm working. I want it curved so, even though it's a pain to cut like this, we can't flatten it.

[Fugo himself is kneeling down on one and holding the other with his left hand. He briskly pulls the cap of the marker off with his teeth and, after one last stern eyeball at the door, draws a cut-out from the top and a circle a few inches away from it.]

[dishearten]

( it is an alias of sorts, if he really considered it all that much. it had been a whole new life transplanted into his head when the curse hit. the name itself was a reminder of a time he would likely never forget even if he tried, yet he didn't need any extra reminders...

though having a name to use, he can rather understand why it was so easy to get attached to one.

at his orders, he doesn't hesitate, sinking to the floor to join Fugo and doing exactly as he was directed. he's not the expert here, he's more than content to follow someone else's lead. even if they happen to be an oddly dressed teenager. ) How will this work? Shim the lock? ( sort of like using a credit card to force a door open... it was actually shocking how well a credit card could open a flimsy lock. )

[unholey]

Mm, not quite. This door is a bit too sturdy for that. [Fugo gestures towards the drawn cut-out.] This is actually going to go around the lock-- [And then to the circle.] And this will catch the handle from the inside. [Finally, he points back to the handle of the door-- which just so happens to be the sort that, once unlocked, you push down to open and unlatch.] These sort of doors are only locked on the one side. It'll take some trial and error, but I'll be able to use this to open it from the inside.

But shims are good for hotel room doors. [Very seriously:] If you ever stay in one, don't leave anything valuable in there. A thief can break into those with just a credit card or a butter knife.

[He has broken into... so many hotel rooms this way. Tourists are dumbasses.]

[dishearten]

( Graham is silent and contemplative. he wouldn't have considered it without plenty of time to think about — back in Storybrooke, he'd been in charge of an odd device made for slipping under seams of car doors to open the lock from the inside. the logic was much the same, and it made a great deal of sense, even if it might be a bit tricky to manage without a little bit of time. )

Clever, ( he muses, and apparently that's all he has to say about that. look, Fugo, he's called the Huntsman, not the Conversationalist. he lifts a brow at the confession about hotel rooms — Fugo might not be paying him very much mind, but the Woodhurst PD badge is quite evident near his belt — though in the end he doesn't care much about quick fingers, as long as they're not made to be his problem. things were simply things. he'd never seen the point in getting overly attached to them. )

I doubt I've ever had anything worth stealing, but I'll bear that in mind.

[unholey]

[Fugo makes a murmur of agreement-- because things are just things-- before bending back down to his work, using the scissors to cut along the lines he's drawn. Graham can't know it just by looking at him, but it's rare for Fugo to get emotionally attached to things. Why bother? Things can be lost. Things can be stolen. Things often have to be left behind when living circumstances abruptly change. So the few possessions Fugo does care about he keeps on his person, like his earrings, or hides away in places no one would think to look in his impersonally clean, mostly empty bedrooms.]

There, that should do it. You can lift your foot up now. [Once the plastic is free, Fugo picks it up and crouches by the door. With the ease of practice, he feeds the plastic over to the other side through the slim crack in the door. Once it's in far enough he pulls it up; thanks to the cut out, it doesn't get caught on the locking mechanism. It's possible to hear a soft rustling on the other side of the door while he fiddles, working by feel to catch the handle.]

[dishearten]

( it's not exactly easy to hear, considering the sounds are so slight. Graham has always been quite attuned to sounds, though, it's an important part of being a hunter. he can hear the movements, well enough to know the first couple tries don't work.

it seems wise not to push for conversation when the task is so detail oriented. he doesn't want to distract Fugo's focus, and there's likely not a great deal he can do to help other than that. Graham is not doubtful that he'll succeed, though, and for good reason; it doesn't seem like it takes the lad terribly many tries before he catches the handle and the door starts to hang open toward them.

Graham isn't a smiler. he's not big on compliments, either. still, he'll give them when they're due, and right about now? that was certainly not something he could have managed himself. ) Impressive work, ( he notes with a small nod. ) Thank you.

[unholey]

[While he works, Fugo's eyes are nearly closed; he's focused entirely on what he feels through his fingers and the rustle on the other side of the door to indicate when his tool catches the handle. But when it does, he knows immediately and it's a simple matter of pulling the plastic back towards him to apply the right kind of pressure to get the handle to turn and the door to swing open.

When he turns to look up at Graham, it's obvious that he wasn't expecting to be complimented on his work. His eyebrows briefly twitch together, puzzled, before they smooth out back to the serious expression from before.]

You're welcome. It'll be a a major strategic advantage to have someone observing from the cameras with access to the magitek network, so I'm glad to help. [He rises back to his feet and, after brushing his knees off, reaches around the open door to unhook the plastic off of the handle. He then rolls it back up and offers it to Graham.] You can hold onto this or just toss it. Let me know if there are any other doors that need to be opened that are missing their keys. I'll be around.

wrap on yours?

[dishearten]

( Graham can't be entirely sure that there won't be another door in need of opening. he nods at Fugo's offer, and it's sincere. if he finds anything else in need of opening (that will help with getting out of the mall), then he's sure to ask. it's a handy skill to have, and he won't forget that Fugo has managed to already succeed where he might not have; or at least succeeded faster than he would. )

I hope to find some release for the gates, but if not, the security cameras will be helpful in keeping an eye on the mall.

( if there's another way out, the cameras might show it... as long as he keeps an eye on them. or, at least that's the hope. ) I'll let you know if I find any more locked doors. Be careful out there.

sounds good!

[unholey]

[Fugo nods.]

If nothing else, once things settle down, we'll know what areas we need to keep secure.

[It'd be nice, he thinks, if they could keep the civilians all in one place. But nice isn't reality. They're probably going to spread out in several pockets on the second and third floors. How annoying.]

Will do. [Fugo reaches up and flips his sunglasses back down. After grabbing his bag, he nods at Graham, turns on his heel, and heads back in the direction of the mall proper towards his next rendezvous.] See you around.