[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

wtf i never got this notif!! ugh so sorry for the delay

[strictdiscipline]

[It sure is a strange and rather sticky situation they've found themselves in. And while Riza's decent enough at strategizing on a battlefield, her critical thinking skills fall a wee bit short when it comes to modern appliances like the escalator and oversized boats in locations where they shouldn't be.

Still, two heads are better than one - given enough time, surely they'll be able to come up with something. Her gaze sweeps the area again as she thinks.]

Is there anything long enough around here we could use to push it?

[Theoretically then he could stand on solid mall floor instead of constantly moving escalator....]

don't worry about it!

[thinhammer]

Push it? Oh-

[ He.. didn't even think of that, but when he looks around there's very little to actually use. There's nothing around them other than a few benches and some potted foliage, and he might be a ninja but in no way is he strong enough to pick those things up. ]

I dunno... He sighs. See, I even thought about throwin' something at it, but all I have are shuriken and... I don't really wanna pop the boat, y'know.

[ Then he'll just have a useless was-boat, which is even more a waste of money than buying a boat in the first place. ]

[strictdiscipline]

[Riza comes to much the same conclusion as Naruto not too long after. Where's Shizuo with his super strength when he's needed?

That said, throwing's not too bad an idea, even if she has no idea what a shuriken is. (Presumably something pointy, if it'll pop the boat.) There might not be anything particularly pokeable here, but surely there's something throwable. Anything's throwable with enough creativity.

She hums lightly again, then gestures towards a nearby sign. RICK'S SPORTING GOODS and while the actual store's something of a mess, passed through earlier by a horde of infected, there might be something inside still worth using.]

What if we try searching in there? There might be something we can use to throw at the boat.

[thinhammer]

[ Shizuo probably has much more important things to deal with than a rubber boat trapped on an escalator, honestly. There's a reason Naruto had to ultimtely resort to the network: this issue is much too stupid for anyone with any sense to willingly help with.. which is why he's still kind of confused as to why Riza is here. She looks like a practical lady. ]

Uhh-- [ Naruto can't read English so he doesn't have the slightest idea what the theme of the store might be, but he squints at it anyway. He's naturally pretty curious, though, so he nods. ]

Sure! [ He puts his hands behind his head and starts walking over to the storefront. ] I'm Naruto, by the way. Thanks for offerin' to help me out.

[strictdiscipline]

[A practical lady she might be, but a helpful lady she also tries to be, which unfortunately tends to backfire on her more often than not. (See: right now.) The mall's calmed just enough for something so trivial to be given semi-serious consideration; under any other circumstance, there'd be far more important things to worry about than a single inflatable boat blocking a not-very-accessible route between the first and second floors.

She follows behind, pace far more even and brisk than his. (Things might've calmed down, but there isn't any point in wasting time.) By way of return introduction:]

Riza Hawkeye. [There's a hint of a smile, quickly present then gone.] It's no problem.

[Part of her job and all that, officially and unofficially. She picks her way over a few shards of glass from one broken window.]

Did you meet with many infected earlier?

[He seems to be in fairly good spirits.]

[thinhammer]

Uhh, yeah. They chased me pretty much all the time, 'cos I was gettin' people outta harms way, and I was around back in the place with all the food where they all got mad the first time. [ He shrugs. ] I'm gettin' kinda used to it though, y'know. At first, when I got here, I almost got eaten a few times but it's gettin' easier to dodge 'em now that I know what I'm up against!

[ Naruto starts to make his way through the sporting debris, lifting a few fallen objects and putting them onto sidetables and counters so the floor is a little less mussed before pushing on. Normally he wouldn't care but.. this is someone's place, you know? He can't just go storming in even though it's already been.. pretty stormed in to.... ]

What about you, Riza-san?