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As chaos started to happen all around the city some people would be able to see several Blackhawk helicopters slowly flying overhead for those who had a smart phone or watch, or were watching tv or listening to the radio they would all get an emergency alert saying. "Due to an uptake in sudden violence throughout the city of New York everyone is ordered to stay home, or shelter in place the National Guard has been mobilized. If you see anyone acting strange or exhibiting odd or aggressive behavior, please avoid them and notify the proper authorities. A curfew will be set in place for Six O'clock this evening until further notice. Govenor Freya Willson will set up a press conference later this afternoon and will update all citizens on the situation." Was what the message was said as it continued to go on repeat.

@Trainerblue192@Kirah Mandy's father would just be getting to the door as Hermes came through he looked at Hannah he had met her a few times before and smiled and waved towards her he would go down and help get whatever supplies that Mandy had gotten for the cat and looked at her. "Are you okay?" He signed to her while grabbing a small bag of litter that Mandy had gotten. Hannah looked at Hermes for a moment as she started to get a message off of her Apple Watch and started to read it through as Hermes spoke. "Then how do you explain coach who you said was very much dead was trying to get into the car?" She asked as Hannah stared him down as she looked over the message again. "I have to call my mom and let her know that i'm okay, i'll be right back." Hannah said as she went to call her mother to see if she was okay as well.

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The police officers were always told to aim at the body, which was where most of their shots were centered around, the zombified coach wasn't even phased by the shots at all. "Get this fucking freak off of me!" The officer yelled loudly before getting a chunk ripped into his shoulder as a loud cry in pain came from him. One of the officers decided to try and kick the coach off of their comrade which they were able to do. The officer that had been bitten was bleeding profusely as he quickly made it to the closest paramedic which they quickly tried to treat.

Kaitlyn stared in horror as the officers tried to restrain the coach as more of them were trying their best to try and take them down all the while avoiding to get bit by them. Kaitlyn quickly turned her attention over towards Becker as she answered her question and tried to look for any stragglers. "Uh yeah, we can do a quick sweep if you want." Kaitlyn said as she motioned for Becker to follow her and headed over towards the main entrance to the school she would notice several blackhawk helicopters flying through the air now to.

It didn't take long for Becker to get a reply back from Dave. "We have some CDC people here right now who dragged more bodies into the morgue and told us to lock it down and secure it some armored guys are here with them to they don't look like national guard either honestly." Was what the text said but Dave didn't give any other details she felt her phone going off but hadn't checked out what the message was, Becker would also receive the same message on her phone as well to.

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One of the waitresses appeared and handed Flynn and his friend their drink orders, and then looked over at Kali as she started to get everyone's attention. He really was craving for some food right about now. He started to wonder why she was saying that the Twin Seasons was being closed now. "Looks like I aint getting no food today." Flynn said sounding rather annoyed as he finished up his drink as he started to pull out his wallet to at least pay for the drinks. Everyone in the room started to sound rather very annoyed as the waiters and waitresses started to get some 'to go boxes' for the guests that had gotten their food.

As if right on queue as well to everyone would get the same exact emergency message on their phones the interviewers would look at the phone for a moment they looked rather annoyed wanting to get their interview all done and finished for their story. "Would you like to continue this else where?" They asked, when Verity would receive a text from Trudy. "Hey boss, dunno if you got that emergency text or whatever what did you want to do about that should we send everyone in the office home or something?" Was what Trudy's text was.

"Dad," Mandy gave her dad a quick hug. "We are fine, a little scared. A man tried to get into my car. But Hermes said the man had died. There are a ton of police on the road. I don't know if we should go out." She signs quickly to her father. She gathers the bags from the trunk, suddenly thankful she had gotten extra toilet paper like it was 2020 again.

Mandy went inside waving Hermes to enter the house fully. She shook her hand with a K-hand shape, telling Hermes to head to the kitchen. Once inside the house she gathered the cat items and opened a can of food for the kitten. The poor thing must be starved. She had no idea how long it had been since it had eaten. She took the kitten from Hermes and let it eat.

She checked her phone remembering that she had been texting her friend, Kristian. She saw the group text from her dad, and then switched to the chat with Kristian. "Hey, I think the rumors are true. Stay safe. Things are dangerous." She texted to her real quick.

"We should name him." She signs, mostly to herself. Then she looks up at her dad. "A kid at Hermes' school was biting people, he attacked Hermes, but he is okay, he didn't get hurt." She started organizing the kitten stuff. She made sure that the bag was ready to go if they needed to leave. Mandy was nervous about what was going on.

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It had to happen before she got her coffee.

Verity hid her annoyance as best she could. Someone was having issues in the back, but yet that meant that paying customers got shafted? It was no wonder this place didn't seem to do well. "It happens. New York is busy, things happen quickly. We can head ou-" she was interrupted by the emergency text. An uptick in violence?

She was reminded of the scene outside of her office. There had clearly been a fight of some sort. Enough that there was someone in a body bag. Verity glanced around, wondering how everyone else would respond. Then she got a text from Trucy. Verity sighed. Her staff would be shitting themselves over the text. She quickly sent off a reply.

"Yes, send them home. And then go home yourself. We'll close early for the day. Stay safe. Not sure what is happening."

She put her phone away. "Not sure what is happening, but maybe it's best if we postpone this? Seems the city is going haywire today and from the sounds of it I'll need to put out some fires today."

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There was an odd emotion that Hermes felt bubbling inside of him. One he hadn't felt before. Black Helicopters began to fly overhead, the sound drowning out most of the cities usual noise as they made their way towards their destination. His phone began to vibrate, so he fished it out of his pocket and checked to see who it was. It seemed it was a national emergency line, a text blaring across his screen as he read the message. Whatever this was, it seemed to be bigger than Elio. He shot off a text to his mother finally, so that she wouldn't worry especially with that message going out.

”At cousin Mandy's, was the closest place given how the roads are right now. Gonna lay low here for a while, take care of yourself.”

”Oh my sweet angel! My darling! I hope Everything's alright! Make sure you eat good over there alright? Gotta make sure your bodies ready to fight whatever this is. Have plenty of vitamin C and drink plenty of fluids. Maybe some carbs for energy. Oh who am I kidding have a bowl of pasta and sole bread, see if they have any soup, and don't you dare go out past the 6 curfew you hear me?”

Hermes rolled his eyes and shot back a simple “Yes ma, love you too” to her before closing his phone. He caught Mandy's invitation to her home and finally entered in full before heading towards the kitchen. Leaning against the countertops as Mandy began to set things up for the small kitten. [Color=67AB6D][i]”Well since he's red…what about…Apollo? Or maybe Dio-meow-sis.”[/color] He said finger spelling both of the names while putting emphasis on the Meow part of the name.

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The sight of an officer getting bitten sent a shiver down her spine, but she forced herself to stay focused. As the bitten officer staggered toward the paramedics, Becker mentally prepared herself for what might come next.

Hearing Kaitlyn's suggestion, she nodded quickly. "Gotcha," she agreed, glancing at the helicopters slicing through the sky above. The situation was escalating, and they needed to ensure no one was left behind.

As she followed Kaitlyn toward the school's main entrance, she glanced at her phone and saw Dave's text. The mention of the CDC and armored personnel made her heart skip a beat. A mix of dread and determination settled over her. She quickly fired off a response to Dave, "Stay safe. Keep me posted on anything new. We might have to evacuate people from the area."

As her phone buzzed with another message, she resisted the urge to check it immediately, focusing instead on ensuring the safety of the remaining students and staff. Her mind raced with questions about what the CDC's presence meant and what was really happening behind the scenes. With Kaitlyn by her side, she pushed forward, ready to face whatever came next.

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@Trainerblue192@Kirah Mandy would get a text from Kristain pretty quickly as well to. "You to and i'll keep you updated on anything that I find out if I can." Was all that the text said, Mandy's father returned the hug giving his daughter a slight smile he was glad that she was okay still and signed. "We are canceling that plan then." He signed to her as he watched the kitten going over and quickly devouring the food that was laid before it Hannah came back into the room and hung up her phone while looking at Mandy and Hermes. "My folks are safe, I should head out." Hannah spoke and signed at the same time while looking over at Hermes coming up with cat names. "What about Goose? It's red like Captain Marvel's cat." She suggested giving him a slight smile as she went over to Hermes. "Stay safe okay?" She said as she started to leave.

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"Sounds good and i'll keep you updated on whatever changes there are here on my end if I can boss." Dave said as he sent a salute emoji at the end of the text as well to. Kaitlyn looked over her shoulder as Becker followed shortly behind her and nodded slightly at least she had some company with her as they made it to the front entrance of the school. She pushed open the doors, and inside looked very chaotic she could see paper and backpacks strewn all over the hallway all of the students left in a panic.

"The school is pretty big so we probably can't look in every single room just glance through the window see if anyone is in there if not we move on." Kaitlyn said to Becker as she wondered down the hallway. So far things seemed to be pretty empty as Kaitlyn wondered further down the hallway, Becker however she would hear what sounded like some groaning coming from one of the classrooms nearby.

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"You got it boss, want me to swing by over to the Twin Seasons and pick you up on the way back and I can drop you off at your place?" Trudy texted back to Verity for a response. The interviewer let out a slightly annoyed sigh seeing that the interview wouldn't happen their boss would be really annoyed about this. "Yeah we can postpone it to another date we'll keep in touch." They said as they gathered their things and started to head out of the building.

"I guess we should get going." Flynn's friend said as he turned to his friend and nodded slightly as he started to get up slowly, the staff of the Twin Seasons were all slowly starting to leave now as well to. Jeff however wasn't looking good at all as he managed to slowly stumble out into the dining room floor.

His face looked very pale and he was very sweaty as well to he suddenly collapsed onto the ground. Some of the guests screamed and they left the restaurant as quickly as it happened. Flynn remained alert as he stared at the cook that had just collapsed onto the ground he wasn't sure what was wrong with him as he thought that it might be what had happened not to long ago.

Mandy sighs into the hug from her dad. It's reassuring, and comforting. She figures they'll have to warn the neighbor about the news. She isn't certain if the old lady has a cell phone even. Once released from her dad's hug she reads the message from Kristain. Mandy doesn't respond this time. The conversation had pretty much concluded. If either of them got new information they'd pass it on.

Hermes offered a couple of names. They were obviously pun names, but English puns were awkward in ASL. She does laugh at them though, which is a nice feeling considering all the stress they are currently under. She considered what kind of pun name she could give an orange/red cat in ASL. "I like Goose." Mandy nods. "Do you want a ride home?" Mandy offers Hannah. She didn't like the idea of the teen being out on the streets alone.

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Noticing the annoyance on the customers' faces, Kali let loose a sigh. Sure, make her out to be the villain. Regardless, Kali knew it was the right thing to do. There had been no way that they could keep the restaurant open after what had happened in the kitchen. Getting Jeff actual medical treatment took priority over the ungrateful, annoyed customers they had been waiting on; not to mention the co-worker they had just locked in the freezer as well.

BUZZ!

Reaching into her pocket, Kali pulled forth her smartphone and read the emergency alert. Uptick in violence? Shelter in place? Kali grew even more confused as she read the message, confusion that only twisted into shock the further she read. Avoid anyone acting strange or exhibiting odd or aggressive behavior. Kali immediately thought back to Jeff and her co-workers. Was the incident in the kitchen somehow connected? It had to be. It was the only explanation.

Turning around, Kali hastily put her phone back in her pocket and began walking back to the kitchen. She needed to check on Jeff and figure out what to do with Isaac, being woefully unprepared for a situation like this. They couldn't shelter in place when Jeff needed a hospital, right? Or should they stay like the alert had said? Kali had no way of knowing for certain.

As Kali hurried back towards the kitchen, however, a pale, sweaty Jeff suddenly burst out from the kitchen door and collapsed on the dining room floor. "Jeff!" She called out, rushing to his side amid panicked screams.

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Verity could hear the annoying in the interviewer's tone. But what could they do? There was a shelter-in-place order and it wasn't like those were just put out willy-nilly. She quickly shot off a text to Trude. "No, I got it from here. You get home and stay safe. Crazy things happening in the city. Well...crazier than normal lol

Before she could turn to leave she heard the door to the kitched open and someone walk out. She glanced at the man who looked like he ate some bad sushi and was not having a good time. She couldn't place it, but she swore he looked familiar. Or rather, what symptoms he seemed to be exhibiting was familiar.

She was brought out of her stupor when he fell to the ground. Other diners began to panic and move quickly. She didn't see the need for concern, but he was looking really bad. "Someone should call for an ambulance, at least." She had her phone in her hand so she quickly dialed 911. "Hello? I am at the Twin Seasons diner. A man just collapsed and is looking really bad. He appears to be breathing, but we need an ambulance ASAP."

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”Goose? You want to name a cat Goose? May as well name him Oliver or Thomas O'mally, maybe even Toulouse. At least the last one is a bit more niche than Goose.” Hermes signed half exasperated with the suggestion. While they were in the kitchen, he did decide to make himself a bit at home. Opening a cabinet and grabbing a bag of chips that was there as he began to stress eat. He was just about to settle down when Hannah decided that she was going to walk home of all places. Why not stay here where it was safe for the time being? Especially after that Emergency Message that had just gone out.

”Uh, Hannah, did you forget? Curfew? Blackhawks? Weird ass people being about. Hell forget the police presence, it'll be hard enough to distinguish a cannibal from your typical New Yorker! Everyone in this city acts strange or deranged on a good day. Fuck there's even an Elmo not a stones throw from here and you want to walk home? Stay, or if you really want to me and Mandy can take you but I'd hate the idea of us going back out there before this all pans out.” Hermes began to stress eat even more, his hands too busy to sign for his family as he spoke to Hannah and ate between takes.

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Becker gave a quick nod at Dave's response on her phone, appreciating his effort to keep her in the loop. She followed Kaitlyn into the school, taking in the chaotic scene of discarded belongings and papers scattered everywhere. The sight made her uneasy; it was like something out of a disaster movie.

"Sounds like a plan," Becker replied to Kaitlyn, trying to focus on the task at hand. "We'll cover more ground that way."

As they moved down the hallway, Becker's ears caught a faint groaning sound coming from one of the nearby classrooms. Her instincts kicked in, and she slowed her pace, stopping in front of the classroom door.

"Hold up," Becker said quietly, gesturing to Kaitlyn to stop. She took a cautious step closer to the door, peering through the window to assess the situation inside. Her heart pounded in her chest, knowing they needed to be ready for anything. "I hear something in here. Let's be careful."

She reached for the doorknob, her hand steady despite the adrenaline coursing through her veins, and glanced at Kaitlyn, signaling that she was about to open the door. With a deep breath, she slowly pushed it open, ready to deal with whatever—or whoever—was inside.

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@Trainerblue192@Kirah Honestly Hannah was pretty scared with going it alone there a walk from her house to Hermes was at least a good thirty minutes or so. "I really don't want to impose though.." Hannah said as she signed to Mandy, she was really worried about her parents and wanted to make sure that they are okay as well to. Mandy's father turned to look at Mandy and then Hermes, he was worried about the two of them going out. "If you are okay with it you can take her back home if you think it's right." Mandy's father signed to her it was totally up to her really.

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Kaitlyn looked over towards Becker for a moment and nodded slightly as she stood behind the woman as she slowly started to open the door, there was what looked like a teacher just standing there and looking out the window. The groans were definitely coming from them as Kaitlyn slowly started to approach them. "Hey, are you okay?" She called out to the person, the teacher slowly turned around blood was coming out of their mouth a chunk of their neck was missing from the front exposing the muscle and torn tissue.

Kaitlyn's eyes went wide as she stared at the teacher, she didn't know this one's name really and hadn't been working there for very long at all. The groans became much louder as they started to shamble their way towards Kaitlyn, she looked around for a moment and grabbed a nearby chair and used it as a barrier to keep them away from her. She started to look around for anything else to try and defend herself from her attacker as she used the chair to shove them away. "Get back!" Kaitlyn yelled loudly.

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"Alright then boss, but if you need me I wont hesitate to come over and save your ass if needed." Was what Trudy had texted to Verity. When Verity dialed 911 she got an automated message. "You have reached 911 emergency dispatch. Do not hang up. If in danger, lay down the phone and go to safety. Police will be dispatched. Otherwise, stay on the line for the next available dispatcher. This message will be repeated." After the automated message said it's line it would start to repeat it again, but this time it was in Spanish, then it repeated once more in English.

Flynn's eyes wandered over towards the tables and discreetly grabbed a knife and hid it under his sleeve, he had witnessed a man taking a chunk out of an officer earlier he didn't want to take any chances really. "He's dead!" One of the customers quickly yelled panicking as they kept their distances. Isaac quickly heard the commotion going on out in the dining room and quickly went to see what was going on. His eyes went wide seeing Jeff on the floor he quickly rushed over to check and see if he was okay. There was a pulse but he wasn't responsive, and he could feel the fever coming off of him. "I need ice now!" Isaac yelled looking at everyone, Flynn nodded slightly as he turned to Kali. "Do you have an ice machine or something somewhere?" He asked as Flynn grabbed a nearby table cloth and started to rip it apart to make an makeshift icepack.

"Happy and willing to give you a ride." Mandy told Hannah. She was not comfortable with the teen walking home, on a normal day she probably wouldn't have been happy about letting her walk alone. But with what was happening right now there was no way she was going to let her go out there alone.

"Let me bundle up the cat and we'll take him too. And no I haven't decided that his name will be Goose yet, calm down." The last bit was directed at her cousin. She didn't know what he was saying. She was annoyed with him talking in front of her without at least simcoming (as much as she didn't like simcom it was better than nothing).

Mandy gathered the kitten and put him in the backpack she had gotten him. At least he would be well trained for travel so when she did find someone to adopt him they'd get a well mannered cat. That was her hope anyway. She patted her Dad on the shoulder and held up her hand in the 'I love you' sign, leading the way back outside to her car.

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Pandemonium had broken out in the Twin Seasons. The previously panicked customers had grown even more distressed at Jeff's collapse onto the floor, outright declaring him dead. Such claims weren't of much help to Kali, who had half the mind to rip into the customers. What gave them the right to declare her co-worker dead? How would they like it if the roles were reversed? Surely, the customers would've been equally pissed off as much as Kali was at them.

Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed. Isaac burst into the dining room, taking control of the situation as he checked Jeff's pulse. He yelled for someone to fetch ice, which a familiar scruffy man began to follow up on by ripping apart a nearby table cloth for an ice pack. "Y-Yeah," Kali responded as she came to her senses, scrambling to her knees. "Let me go get some."

Racing to the soda fountain, Kali grabbed a cup and pressed it against the ice dispenser. Not knowing how much would be needed, Kali made certain to fill it to the top just in case before she headed back to the dining room.

"Here," She mentioned, offering the cup to the man with a hint of worry still within her words. "Is this enough?

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Chaos was the order of the day in the diner as many patrons grew more panicky and scared, one even went so far as to scream the man was dead. Verity kept the phone on but stopped listening. Just goes to show how law enforcement worked when they had automated messages as opposed to actual human responders.

Veriy made her way over but kept her distance to allow those near the man to work. "The police are on their way but given what's happening in the city I imagine it will be a minute." The others got to work grabbing ice to prepare for whatever. Verity didn't need to get blood or any other bodily fluids on her shoes so she kept some distance, eyeing the others.

She wasn't surprised that, despite the fear, they stuck around. Humans had an almost otherwordly curiosity to them, especially in moments of panic and fear. Verity was reminded of the body bag incident from before. How it seemed to move despite having a dead person in it. Could this be similar? The man was alive, or so she was told, but...was he?

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Hermes did not like this. Not one bit. Everything was telling him to stay home, where it's safe and sound. To bunker down until it all passed. But that's not how people worked. They were messes, emotional chaotic beings that rarely listened to logic or their primal urge to run to safety. Hannah being a shining example of this, and Mandy and Hermes to follow. He knew she wanted to be with family, to check on her parents, and his sentimental ass wasn't about to let her or his cousin brave that on his own. His leg shook as he leaned against the counter, nerves wracking him until finally he propped off of it and finished the bag of chips he'd gotten.

”Fine. All three of us will go. I don't want you going out alone in all this, and I sure as hell don't want my cousin driving back alone after you've gone. But in taking snacks for my anxiety as we drive.” Hermes signed as he spoke to Hannah. He tossed the bag into the trash can, grabbing something else for the road as he wiped the salt from his fingertips onto his pants. How bad could it be? There couldn't be that many people out there that were like Coach and Elio, right? Surely there were four ar max. He let out a long sigh before he signed again. ”Well, Fuck. Are we ready?”

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Becker's pulse quickened as the teacher turned around, revealing the gruesome wound in their neck. This wasn’t just some random injury—this was the same kind of horror she'd seen outside. Seeing Kaitlyn push the teacher back with a chair, Becker quickly assessed the situation. There was no time to hesitate.


“Keep that chair between you and it!” Becker shouted as she scanned the room for something to use as a weapon. Her eyes landed on a heavy-looking fire extinguisher mounted on the wall. She rushed over to it, yanking it free from its holder.

As she turned back towards the teacher, she saw the zombified figure lurching closer to Kaitlyn despite her efforts to keep it at bay. Without a second thought, Becker swung the fire extinguisher with all her might, aiming for the teacher’s head. The impact was solid, and the teacher staggered back, momentarily stunned.

“Move back!” Becker ordered, positioning herself between the teacher and Kaitlyn. She raised the extinguisher again, ready to swing if the teacher made another move. "We need to get out of here—now!"

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@Trainerblue192@Kirah Hannah looked towards Mandy and smiled to her and signed. 'Thank you.' To her as she looked at Hermes for a moment as he grabbed another bag of snacks for the road. Mandy's dad approached her and looked at her with a concerned look he was worried about her heading out but at least she had Hermes with her.

'Please stay safe, and if anything happens out there find a place to huddle down okay?' He signed to her before letting her go. Hannah had headed out and was already waiting outside of Mandy's car waiting for her to unlock it things were still pretty busy in the streets. Hermes would be able to see some of Mandy's neighbors were packing up some of their things into their cars.

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Kaitlyn continued to struggle with the chair while holding it up against her, she looked over at Becker for a moment as she went to grab a fire extinguisher and swung it at the head of the zombified teacher. Which didn't phase it at all as it kept trying to take a chunk out of Kaitlyn. She looked over at the door seeing that it was still open from when they entered. "Go for the door right now!" Kaitlyn yelled to Becker as she slowly started to back up.

Once Becker and Kaitlyn were by the door Kaitlyn used all of her might and pushed the zombified teacher back with enough force with the chair to knock it backwards. She then quickly used the moment to grab the door and slammed it shut behind her, and she used the chair as a door stop pressing it firmly between the floor and the door at an angle to prevent it from getting out.

Waverly just down the hallway she had gotten a text from her sister, saying that she had gotten out of the school not to long ago, she was able to hear some sort of struggling and yelling coming from down the hallway and a door slamming shut not to far away from her. She would be able to see Kaitlyn and Becker outside of a classroom.

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Flynn looked at Kali as she grabbed a cup of water and handed it to him, he then took it and poured the ice onto the cloth, and quickly wrapped it up as tightly as he could. "It should be okay for now but we'll probably need some more." Flynn told Kali as he kept down next to Isaac and Jeff. Someone had just came out of the bathroom, and quickly ran over to the group and showed off a doctors badge willing to help. "What happened?" He asked as Flynn stood up and shrugged slightly.

"The guys burning up and he collapsed here." Flynn said, being in the dining room he didnt see the whole entire thing other than him coming out and collapsing onto the ground. The doctor nodded as he knelt down taking Flynn's place and started to check for a pulse while feeling Jeff's forehead he was really hot. "He really needs to go to a hospital all I can do is keep the fever down." The doctor said as he looked between Verity and Kali. "Grab more ice please." The doctor told the two of them.

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Cops, Waverley found, were a lot like rats. Like rats, if they start acting strangely, there's likely to be trouble ahead. This was what had drawn her out of her cozy little apartment around what would usually be her bedtime. After a late gig at Beyond the Veil, she'd come home with sleep on her mind. She hadn't been able to sleep for long, though - in part thanks to her god-awful sleep schedule, and in part thanks to the screeching and honking brought on by the fact a stop sign had recently been stolen right out front of her apartment. She'd never been good at getting back to sleep once awakened, so she did what she always did on nights like that one: she started a broadcast.

It started out normal enough; cop forecasts between recent indie bands Waverley had discovered, a few prerecorded interviews, and an update on a community garden project a friend of hers had been doing. Then, things started to take a turn. Panic, uncertain reports, calls for backup. All happening consistently. Some very weird shit.

Then, Riley's high school was mentioned. Very little would have drawn Waverley away from such a broadcast. Her sister potentially being in danger? It was enough for her to chug the last bits of her coffee and make a beeline for the bus stop. She kept an ear to her police scanner the whole ride, waiting for updates on what was happening at her sister's school - not that she could hear much over the guy practically coughing up a lung behind her. Texting her sister also didn't yield much in the way of results. Riley was a notoriously bad texter - perhaps that was why she hadn't texted back? It's what Waverley told herself on loop in her mind as the bus rolled its way ever closer.

She'd bolted through the doors as soon as they'd opened. When she'd gotten to the school, it looked as though most of the students were already out, something seemingly facilitated by the cops on scene. Waverley glanced through the crowd, but couldn't spot her - and, as soon as gunshots rang out, she instinctively ducked down. Certain Riley wasn't in the crowd, she rushed past the crowd Another way cops are like rats - approaching one without vetting it first can be hazardous to one's health. She wasn't sure what they were firing at, but she knew not to get closer than she had to.

She didn't expect Riley to still be on the school grounds, but she knew she had to check. Not to mention that it was probably the safest place to hide out from the cop outside. The halls were mostly quiet, save for the echoing of Waverley's feet on the polished wooden floor. And, after a moment, a ding from Waverley's phone. She quickly pulled it out, seeing the message from her sisters.

'Good - be safe and be smart. Something weird is going on.' She type out, before hitting send. After a moment, she added, 'Love you,' before sending that off as well. Her head shot up from her phone when she heard something else - a pair of women stumbling out of a door and slamming it shut behind. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"Hiding from the lunatic cop outsi-" Waverley began to ask, quickly closing the distance between them. She stopped behind the pair, though, when she caught a glimpse of the man just past the glass. She flinched back, eyebrows knitting together. "Jesus, what in the Romero is his deal?"

"Will!" Mandy signed to her father. She unlocked the car letting Hermes and Hannah back into it. "Pet the cat if that helps." Mandy suggested as she started up the car. "Oh, I need your address. Mandy passed her phone to Hannah so the younger girl could put the address into Google maps. While she did that Mandy looked at Hermes.

"Why are you so scared? I know there is the curfew and we saw the cops. That guy at your school was scary, but he isn't here. What am I missing?" This was a common question for Mandy. Hearing people picked up on bits of information from overheard conversations, or the radio (which was off in Mandy's car), or maybe his teacher had said something else to him other than asking him to stay behind (which they hadn't done). Mandy was determined to take Hannah home, the streets didn't seem safe, but inside her car they should be...right?