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Becker took a deep breath, her grip on the knife tightening as Kaitlyn secured the door with the chair. The muffled groans of the zombified teacher inside the classroom were still audible, but for now, they were safe. Becker nodded to Kaitlyn, appreciating her quick thinking.

"Nice work," she said, her voice slightly breathless from the adrenaline. She glanced down the hallway, scanning for any more threats. “We need to keep moving and get out of this place. That door’s not going to hold forever.”

Becker motioned for Kaitlyn to follow her, staying close to the walls as they moved further down the hallway. “Let’s stick together and keep an eye out. We’re not out of this yet.”

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It seemed the movies didn't always lie as the whole "is somebody here a doctor" bit proved true. The man was getting care which left her to see if she can make it home to avoid whatever the hell was going on in the city. Moving body bags and collapsing diner patrons. Perhaps it was a viral outbreak? Just her luck to be in a city where walking down the street put you nearby potentially thousands of people.

Before she could get up and move the doctorlooked at her, requesting more ice. Figures. Ask the two women nearby on a fetch quest. Verity fought an eye-roll, knowing it was going to help the man burning up. She stood up and faced Kali. "Shall we go fetch ice for our doctor friend here?" It was rhetorical and Verity waited for the girl to move. After all, Verity wasn't sure where one got ice in places like this.

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Kali nodded in response. She hadn't known much about medical treatment, but she was willing to do anything for Jeff. To her surprise, however, Kali and the others would soon find unexpected help as a doctor had walked out from the bathroom, and quickly went to aid Jeff. Focusing her attention on the doctor, she proceeded to listen attentively for any and all instructions that he might have—the first of which happened to be a request for more ice.

"Right," Kali nodded, then turning her attention to the blonde that had approached them earlier. "This way." She spoke to the blonde as she began her way back to the soda fountain for more ice.

Once she reached the soda fountain, Kali pulled out a couple cups and placed them on the nearby counter. She wasn't certain how much ice the doctor would need, but Kali felt it would be better to grab more than potentially needed just in case. Picking up one of the cups and pressing it against the ice dispenser, Kali then turned to face the woman who had begin requested to fetch ice with her. "Do you..." She asked with a pause, the fear of the worst infiltrating her thoughts. "Do you think he'll be okay? He'll make it, right?"

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Hermes made his way towards the car, opening the door before shuffling into the passenger seat and scooting down so that his shins rested against the glove compartment of his cousin's car. His mind was racing with possibilities, things that could happen as well as things they should do. Scenarios about how best to approach situations should they arise, a slew of hypotheticals occupying his thoughts until he was inevitably snapped out of it. He watched as Mandy handed her phone to Hannah, then turned her attention to him in the meanwhile.

At first he just shrugged. Silently looking past her, out the window, wanting to turn his back to her so he could feel alone. But he knew that wasn't right. ”It's hard to say. Call it…a gut feeling. Like a…pit…in my stomach. There's choppers, that's not normal, above us. The national message, and…I overheard some of the paramedics talking about a similar case like my gym teacher when we were at the school. We have nothing to defend with and…what if I can't protect you? I need to be alert. To hear what you can't. But what if I'm not enough?” He signed as his eyes began to well with tears.

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@Trainerblue192@Kirah Hannah accepted Mandy's phone and quickly started to type in her address on the maps app on Mandy's phone before handing it back to her. On the screen it would be about a fifteen minute car drive but luckily it was straight down a few blocks and she didn't have to make any turns yet anyway. Hannah had chosen to sit in the back of the seat letting Hermes take the front passenger seat as she leaned back slightly she couldn't get a view of what they were signing to each other from her point of view. Mandy and Hermes would be able to see the chaos slowly starting to happen, some people were already trying to steal from smaller local businesses.

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Kaitlyn turned to the woman who had approached the two of them she wasn't sure if she was a student or another teacher or not. "Are you a student or a teacher here?" Kaitlyn asked Waverly as she looked over at Becker for a moment she gave the other woman a slight nod as her attention went to Waverly. "I have no idea what happened or whats causing it. It happened to the school's coach as well as a student to." Kaitlyn said with a slight sigh.

"You are welcome to join us or leave if you choose to it's up to you we are looking for any students or teachers who weren't able to get out yet." Kaitlyn told the newcomer as she started to follow shortly behind Becker down the hallway as they finished looking through the small windows through the doors. Then there was a loud scream coming down from another corridor and Kaitlyn quickly went to investigate what was going on. She came to what looked like a science classroom and a pair of students had made a fort of sorts with chairs trying to keep out an infected student trying to get at them.

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Flynn remained pretty still as he eyed Jeff wondering if he was going to turn or not like the man had done earlier as he watched the doctor doing his thing. His eyes wondered to Kali and Verity as the two of them started to get several cups of ice to give to Jeff at the doctor's request. "Is he going to be okay?" Flynn asked looking at the doctor, who was still checking his pulse and looked up at Flynn. "The fever right now seems to be the worse thing and he needs to go to a hospital and soon." He told him, Flynn nodded slightly.

The girls were able to fill up a few cups, what sounded like sirens came by and an ambulance was now starting to pull up, and a pair of paramedics were getting out and heading inside one of them quickly went to check up on Jeff, the other paramedic came over to the two girls getting ice. "Are either of you hurt or need any treatment?" They asked the two of them.

"You are enough." Mandy says seriously before starting to follow the directions to Hannah's house. As she drives she watches what is happening. Her stomach tightens getting more nervous.

"Listen to the radio." She tells Hermes. "Let me know if there is news." Mandy was upset about leaving her family behind. What if something happened in her parent's neighborhood? What if... There were many what-ifs, Mandy didn't want to go down that path.

Mandy wasn't sure what was happening yet. Some illness was causing this. How did it pass? She hated masks cause they covered people's mouths and it made dealing with hearing people harder, and got rid of a whole part of the grammar of ASL.

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Waverley turned her attention to the younger of the two women, her lips parting to answer the question. No words immediately came out from them, though; it was a bit hard to explain, after all, that Waverley was neither teacher nor student, just some rando who came to this school on a hunch. Then, the other began to them down the hallway. Her companion followed immediately. Waverley hesitated - the alternatives were few. If she didn't follow her only other option was the cop on the loose outside, or the creepy teacher. One last look at him, and Waverley quickly caught up with the others.

"Neither," Waverley finally answered as she fell in behind Kaitlyn. She seemed disinterested in explaining why she was there, instead trying to put together a semi-clear understanding of what was going on. "Whatever's happening, I think it's happening all over Manhattan. The cops have been all over the place, trying to tackle something I don't think they understand."

Waverley tensed up as an ear-piercing scream wrung out. Waverley kept pace with Kaitlyn, speeding to see who the cause was, and help them if at all possible. When the pair arrived at the source, they found a pair of students defending themselves with a makeshift barricade in hopes that it'd stop the one that held that sickly pallor the teacher had had. She tensed up, not entirely sure of what she could do to help.

"Hey, kid, uh," she called out, her attention on the seemingly sick student. Her eyes were cautiously fixed on the kid, her foot scooting backwards. "There are some ambulances outside - maybe there's someone who can help out there?" It was not Waverley's predisposition to be afraid of the ill, but even she couldn't stop a feeling of creeping fear from crawling up her back. It was a fear that caused her to step back, nervously preparing to stumble back if necessary.

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Seeing his cousin tell him he was enough, helped to calm him just a little bit. He almost felt like a child again, back when he was first learning about this side of his family. Running through any knowledge that may help him best help her in this type of situation. He needed a flashlight, something bright in the event she was outside of arm's reach,to help grab her attention. It would be similar to the silent alarms they install in their house. What else?

His mind kept racing, halfway listening to the news on the radio as they drove to Hannah's place. Nothing new had come on, but he was grateful for the task. For now it seemed that they would just repeat the same warnings periodically, urging people to stay indoors while reminding everyone of the curfew. Looting had already begun, not even a day in and people were on the streets vandalizing storefronts and taking what they could carry. What were they even trying to fix? There wasn't a known cure so what was the sense in robbing?

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Worry—it was the only thing on Kali's mind. As the ice hit the bottom of the cup, she couldn't stop thinking about Jeff. Regardless of what the other woman had to say, if anything at all, Kali was still nonetheless fearful. Was the bite wound somehow connected to him passing out? Would Jeff somehow catch whatever had made their coworker crazy, like it was some kind of foodborne illness? Kali didn't know. After all, she was no doctor or anyone else with medical knowledge.

Resigning her worries to focus on the present, Kali hurried up with the ice and continued to fill a couple more cups. Before she could bring them to the doctor, however, an ambulance arrived just in the nick of time, where one of the first responders went in to check on the two women. "No, we're fine, but," Kali replied, her words hinted with ushered concern. "Jeff—he needs help. Please, he needs medical treatment."

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@Trainerblue192@Kirah As they got closer to Hannah's place Hermes and Hannah were both able to hear a radio news broadcast that came shortly after the whole national emergency broadcast finished playing. "We'll keep news on this global pandemic going as long as we can. We have the head of the CDC to tell us what they know. So Doctor Kingsley Anderson what can you tell us?" The radio news reporter asked, as a English sounding man's voice came up next.

"We are still trying to figure out the origins of the virus and where it originated from. From what we know any bite, or bodily fluid from an infected individual will lead to an infection. We have doctors and virologists working around the clock around the world on solutions. It is best to stay away from anyone who have been displaying symptoms, and report it as well to." Doctor Kingsley Anderson said over the radio. Mandy would be able to make it in front of Hannah's apartment building. "Thank you." Hannah said looking at both Hermes and Mandy as she got out of the car.

There was an elderly couple a man and a woman going across the street when a panicked individual driving a truck was speeding past ended up running over the elderly man and sped off in a hit and run. Hannah's eyes went wide as she looked at Hermes and Mandy before going to see what she could do to help.

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Kaitlyn's eyes went wide seeing a pair of students trying to fend themselves off from another student who looks like was infected the same way that the teacher that they had encountered earlier did. Kaitlyn turned to Waverly and Becker she needed to get the two students out and away from here. "Get them to safety i'll distract it." Kaitlyn said to them as she started to yell loudly trying to get the infected student's attention which worked.

"Hey come overe here!" Kaitlyn yelled loudly getting their attention she looked around and spotted a pair of scissors nearby which Kaitlyn quickly picked up to defend herself with. "Hurry up and get them out of here!" Kaitlyn yelled at the two of them to get moving Kaitlyn grabbed a chair as well to and used it as a way to keep the infected student away from her as it got closer to her again.

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"What about you ma'am?" The paramedic asked looking over at Verity to see if she was okay and if she had been bitten or not she would see on his name tag that his name was Dave. "Do you need any medical assistance?" He asked as he looked to his other partner, Becker was on another call at a local school nearby. Dave then turned to look at Kali and gave her a slight smile. "We'll get him there don't worry." Dave said as he went back to the ambulance and grabbed a stretcher from the ambulance. The two of them would then get Jeff firmly secured on the stretcher doing another check on his pulse.

Flynn started to relax slightly as he watched the two paramedics usher the infected cook away from them, though he decided to keep the knife just in case something else happened. Isaac came back out shortly after looking at the others that were still there and then over at Kali. "I'm going to lock up go and get home." He told her and looked at the remaining guests and staff that stayed in the restaurant. "You'll all have to leave for your safety please." Isaac told everyone.

Mandy parked the car, letting Hannah out of the car. She was oblivious to the news cast, but she didn't miss the accident. She made a strangled noise. "Call 911." She told Hermes. Someone had to, and she couldn't without going through hoops.

Mandy made sure she had the kitten in the bag and started over toward the man who had been hit and the woman. She wasn't trained to help people. She wasn't a nurse or anything, though she did have medical knowledge. Learning about animals required a lot of biology knowledge.

As Mandy checked the man over she could tell that he was still alive but he needed medical help quickly. "Tell them what happened and he is alive but not doing well." She signed at Hermes, trying to keep her signs slow enough and clear for him. Her hands were shaking slightly.

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Kali was thankful for the paramedic's reassurance, but she nonetheless felt it was a band-aid over an open wound. Even if the paramedics were able to get Jeff to the hospital, especially with the current state of affairs in the city right now, she was still worried for Jeff. The injury had only happened moments ago, and Jeff's condition quickly continued to worsen. In the end, Kali could only wait with abated breath as she watched the paramedics load Jeff onto the stretcher so they could wheel him out to the ambulance.

When Isaac returned, however, she shifted her attention to him, her worried thoughts distracted by his announcement that he was going to close the restaurant. "Just... Just give me a moment to get my things." Kali responded to Isaac, glancing back at Jeff once more before she left for the employee break room to pick up her belongings. She could only hope that the trains were still running, not wanting to be stuck out in whatever was going on within the city due to her lack of a car.

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Soon the paramedics arrived and took control. Hopefully the man would be all right, but now she chould focus on other things like getting home and seeing if she can savor the rest of the day. And who knew what tomorrow would bring if this craziness continued. "No, I do not need help." She got up and away, allowing them to do their work.

She made her way back to the front of the diner. Seemed they would be closing anyway. Verity's car was in the shop still so she would need a ride. She pulled out her phone and dialed for a cab. She could at least work from home for a bit before she delved into a bottle of wine and some ice cream after today.

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Hermes listened intently as the broadcast shifted. Going from the same monotonous speech over and over again, to a new one that sounded as if it was coming live. Someone from the CDC was finally addressing this issue, of course they had to wait until it got this bad to go public with any knowledge. He tried to retain as much information as he could, working out the signs as he went along the way to best convey the information with little to no misunderstanding for his cousin. As he listened, Hermes began to slump back into his seat, putting his shins against the dash board as one hand lazily began to follow a pattern of signs, practicing what he'd say to Mandy.

Finally the car had come to a halt. Hermes looking out from his window into the sideview as Hannah began to clamor out of the backseat before the sound of tires peeling on the road caught his attention. Barely visible over his knees, Hermes saw as a truck driver plowed past an elderly man and sped off, leaving him on the ground while Hannah and Mandy left to go check up on him. Hermes dropped his feet back down to the floor, slowly getting out of the car in shock of what he'd just seen while Mandy told him to call 911. He stumbled for a moment, fighting with his pocket to get his phone out of it before finally hitting the emergency call button. The line began to ring, and Hermes frantically began tapping his fingers against his jeans. ”C'mon pick up pick up.”

He had to wonder, how many calls must have been coming in at that time? With the looting, the rabid attacks, the new information no doubtedly spreading more panic than good, the phone lines must've been going crazy. The mention of fluids alone left a wide open door for speculation on whether things like sexual acts could transfer this virus. Hermes wasn't sure if he'd be able to get through to the emergency line, and with each dial tone it felt less and less likely. Finally it stopped, and for a moment he thought the call had dropped, but then he heard “911 what's your emergency?” ”I just witnessed a truck driver hit an elderly man, he's laying on the street right now alive but in need of medical attention. Please hurry.” Hermes said as he began to give out the details of what cross section they were on and the address nearby.

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Waverley was just as intent on helping the kids as Kaitlyn seemed to be, but she wasn't sure provoking the ill student was a great idea. She was about to voice this opinion, only for the stranger to slip into the room and begin screaming at the sick kid. Waverley wasn't opposed to winging it - in fact, it tended to be her primary strategy for most problems. As such, she didn't hesitate when the stranger made her move, instead ducking down, quickly looping around the side of their little fortress opposite to that of the kids' shambling peer. She pushed a pair of the desks apart, making an opening for the pair to slip out of.

"Come on - there are some paramedics outside; we can get you to them," Waverley promised, reaching her arms out to the kids. As soon as she had their hands in hers, she helped them out of their little barricade, guiding them out of the classroom. Once they were out, she turned back to the stranger, putting herself between the kids and the sick student still inside. Her eyes fixed onto the stranger. "I got 'em! Come on!"

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@Trainerblue192@Kirah As Hermes was talking with the 911 operator on the line which she sounded slightly stressed out Mandy would notice that the elderly man had some kind of a bite wound on his hand Hermes would notice the bite as well to. "Okay, what is the address of the accident, and has the person been bit or anything?" The 911 operator asked, the elderly woman turned to Hannah who was really stressed out gently holding her hand with a pleading look. "Please tell me he's going to be okay?" She asked as Hannah looked at the old man who was still conscious by the looks of it. "He'll be okay and the paramedics are going to be on their way." She said trying to reassure the elderly woman.

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The kids looked over at Waverly as they managed to get out of the classroom safely. "Thank you!" A teen girl said as they waited just outside of the classroom, they weren't leaving just yet and didn't want to be attacked by another student or teacher like that again. Kaitlyn managed to push the chair against the infected student even more, her eyes turned towards Becker. She wasn't sure what was wrong with the woman or not as she tried to get her attention. "Hey are you there?!" Kaitlyn yelled to Becker hoping to get her attention before throwing the chair at the sickly student knocking him to the ground and grabbed Becker's arm pulling her out of the classroom and closed it shut very quickly.

"Are you two okay?" Kaitlyn asked looking at the two students as the male student nodded slightly. "Yeah we are fine." He said as he looked through the little window into the classroom. The infected student was slowly starting to get up and stumble and shamble it's way towards the closed door to try and get at them. "C'mon lets get out of here.." Kaitlyn said looking to the students, Waverly and Becker motioning for them to follow her towards the front of the school.

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The other employees of the Twin Seasons did what they were told to and were all heading into the crew room to get their things, Isaac followed shortly after and joined Kali for a moment. "I'll escort you home, just so that way you are safe." Isaac offered to Kali giving her a slight smile as he grabbed his own things and was getting ready to leave as well to. Isaac didn't trust at all what was going on, and getting the national broadcast message over his phone made him feel slightly uneasy and he wanted to make sure that Kali made it home safe as well to.

Flynn grabbed his things and was starting to head out, while his friend was heading out as well to, Flynn's friend saw Verity on her phone and remembered that one of his employees had taken her car in to get fixed up. "Hey I believe your car is still in my shop, I can give you a ride if you want over there." He offered, Flynn looked at his friend with a slightly annoyed look on his face, the number that Verity tried to call for a cab service was currently busy as well to. "Do we have to offer her a ride over there?" Flynn asked leaning in and whispering to his friend. "Of course don't be fuckin rude!" Flynn's friend said slapping him on the back of the head as he turned to look at Verity. "It's totally up to you though." He said to Verity.

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Verity sighed inwardly as her call went to the busy signal. She should have figured that people would be hailing cabs to get back home and out of the city with whatever the hell was going on. She hung up as one of the patrons offered her a lift to the shop for her car. A lucky meeting. Verity glanced over and saw the man who had ran into her car earlier. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere else and especially away from her.

Which made the decision so much easier.

"Why thank you. I would love a ride to your shop. Truly, thank you so much." She may have laid it on a touch too thick, but she couldn't help herself. It was going to annoy biker guy and that made it all the more sweeter. "Doubt there's much left to do here. Shall we get going?"

Mandy didn't interact with hearing people often outside of controlled settings. She was used to an interpreter being there at school or events. Sure she lived in the world where most people were hearing, but her parents' friends were Deaf and their children, her own friends, had been Deaf or CODA who all knew ASL. How was she supposed to reassure someone who had just been hit by a car? She didn't sound right when she spoke and she knew that from how hearing people had reacted to her growing up.

Hannah was talking though and that made her feel better. Hermes was on the phone. Neither were signing, both were talking. But that was okay, normally she'd be irritated. This situation was different though. Hannah wasn't much of a signer and Hermes was only a little better. He had most learned from struggled conversations over the last few years. He had tried though, which was better than some people she knew.

All of these thoughts had passed through Mandy's mind, though she didn't dwell on any of them. She focused on the man and tried to smile reassuringly. Fear kept her from touching him. Even without a weird disease that might cause cannibalism, she didn't work with humans. She knew the anatomy of a human and how biology worked, those had been required classes and while she hadn't been a straight-A student she had done well. There were other blood-borne contaminations to think of, and Mandy did not have gloves.

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"Thank you, Isaac." Kali replied, sliding her jacket over her shoulders. She didn't want to be a burden on him, but Kali was nevertheless grateful for his offer to escort her home through the chaos that had overtaken New York right now. "I'll wait over by the door for you. Just let me know when you're ready to leave." Kali continued before walking over towards the Twin Seasons' waiting area to wait for him.

Once she reached the waiting area, Kali looked out the window; her thoughts shifting away from Jeff and instead to the city itself. What in God's name was going on? People were being attacked—injured, much like Jeff was. The National Guard had reportedly been mobilized, although Kali had yet to see them anywhere on the streets. As she watched sirens and lights pass by in a blur, it seemed to her as if madness had taken over the city, and it planned to take everyone with it.

Biting her lip, she could only fear what was to come. Perhaps she should've stayed in Boston, Kali wondered.

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Bit? Was this operator deaf?! He said he was hit by a car. Then again, he knew there were a slew of questions they had to ask regardless of the situation, if anyone was carrying a weapon, was there any animals involved, were they aggressive, is anyone in immediate danger, and so forth. He figured with this new virus going around so soon after Covid, that perhaps they were now required to ask about those who may have been infected so they know how to proceed. ”Let me check, one second.” Hermes said as he approached the old man that lay on the floor, giving him a quick once over.

There was a strange indentation on the man's hand, and upon a closer look he noticed that it was in fact a bite wound. ”Hannah don't crowd the man, paramedics are on the way to help but he needs room to breathe.” He spoke aloud as he tapped Mandy's shoulder to snag her attention. He signed to both of them as he spoke aloud, masking what he was saying in signs with a false verbal narrative. ”Stay back, the CDC mentioned to avoid people who have been bitten and there is a bite on his hand. Be careful not to get bit or touch it.” Hermes signed to Mandy and Hannah before stepping back away from a whispered earshot. ”He does appear to have some sort of bite mark on his hand. Yes.” He whispered to the officer on the other line.