[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

[unholey]

Oh, all viruses mutate. It's how they survive, just like anything else. [Fugo waves a hand, a little flippant.] But I don't think the Bristol virus is volatile enough to change that much this quickly. Maybe if humans were more resistant to it. It's an interesting process, but it takes time.

No, I think outside infected are getting inside the building. I don't know where and I don't know how, but it's the most reasonable way I can think of to explain their numbers.

[wyvil]

[Wylan nods. He's not a biologist, isn't about to question Fugo's facts about the virus. He still feels like there's so much about the virus he doesn't know, every day he seems to learn more worrying facts about it.]

If they're finding a way in, that means we could find a way out.

[unholey]

That's right. And if we can find and secure an exit, we can maybe start the process of escorting civilians out of here. [Fugo's eyebrows come together in a scowl; he doesn't like that the official solution to this crisis was "lock everyone inside with a large group of rabid infected". And then they don't even have the ability to maintain a secure perimeter. Police! Totally incompetent, as per usual. He tosses his head, physically shaking his thoughts out of the way, and shoulders his bag.] So that's something to look out for while we're on the ground floor.

[wyvil]

[Wylan nods, listening intently. He too likes this plan more than staying locked up, close to the infected with no real escape route in place. If they could fine an existing exit, it wouldn't be too difficult to evacuate the civilians, as long as they plan properly. He unearths a notebook and drawing pencil from his satchel, flipping to a blank page.]

How familiar are you with the layout? We should try to map out the path we take, in case we find an exit.

[unholey]

Currently, we are on the west side of the third floor--

[As they walk, Fugo gives Wylan a brief overview of what he knows about the mall's layout. The gist of it is that the mall is built around a central courtyard area, with several wings branching out in the cardinal direction. There are three levels; Fugo details the handful of defensible shops he's found that aren't being used as hiding places by civilians which, in a pinch, they could make a run for if spotted by the infected. But he doesn't think that should happen until they hit the ground floor; there aren't as many the higher one goes. When they pass by a spot where it's possible to stare down to the first floor, he points.]

See? [Far down below, a small group of infected are furiously rattling the closed grate of a shop--presumably to try and get at whatever survivors are hiding out in it.] The food court's on the ground level, so they won't spread out until there's nothing left. And if there is a gap in security's perimeter, it's most likely to be on the ground floor.

[wyvil]

[Wylan follows close behind, sketching a rough layout as Fugo describes the area. It's not the most detailed map, but it's better than nothing, will serve as rough directions in case of an emergency. He tries not to get too caught up in his sketching, staying aware as they move closer toward the infected, one hand ready to reach for his bombs if needed. Wylan peers over the edge, watching the cluster of infected crowding the locked up shop.]

Do you think we could lure them away from the ground floor? If we find the exit, it might give us enough time to evacuate while they're distracted...

[unholey]

[Fugo shakes his head.]

That's a good plan, but I don't think I could do that. I wouldn't have the stamina for it on a good day-- and tonight's not a good night.

But if we find where they're getting in, I think it would be worthwhile to try and connect with more athletic people on the network who are stuck in the mall.

[wyvil]

[Wylan nods in agreement, knowing that escorting everyone to safety is far beyond his physical capabilities. But he believes that they can find someone who can.]

I'm not suggesting we have to be the ones to lead them out. You're right. We can find someone who would be able to once we find a safe exit.