[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]

[They seem more reassured with Aqua assisting at least, more readily following and trusting her as they head out. Sakura follows too, slightly behind Aqua and in front of the civilians before she pauses, glancing back to the mall in following Aqua's gaze. She purses her lips and grips her staff, considering.]

They probably want to get home now. You think they will be okay to get back themselves if I came with you? I mean, I can stay if I have to.

[keeper]

[ She's impressed by her courage, and it softens her expression noticeably. (Though she's worried for Sakura's physical well-being, it isn't her place to determine the other girl's limits; she trusts her experience as a fellow recruit.)

...It's almost a strange thing in retrospect, in consideration of the times she's asked Ventus to go home on his own. But this is no longer home for her, and neither is it a task for just one person. (As Yensid had once advised her, her friends don't necessarily need her protection, but her faith...) ]

...Of course. I'd be grateful for your help.

[ (After designating a leader among the civilians to lead the rest of the pack to their respective homes, the two finally continue back where they'd started to finish the evacuation.) ]

[keystaff]

Great! Okay then.

[Sakura seems relieved, once they assign a leader of sorts to ensure the others get back home safely. That none of them would be alone on that trip back from the mall while she and Aqua would help deal with the rest.

Once she's watched them head off, she turns back to Aqua with a nod of agreement. This isn't home, no. But there were still others here who needed them. She can help so many more people with ALASTAIR. So Sakura wants to do her part too.]

Alright then. Shall we?