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"Nothing, just...seems like more stations are down than usual is all," Waverley replied when asked about her suspicious radio-activity. 'I have a pirate radio station I plan on hopping on ASAP even as the world falls apart around us,' didn't seem like it'd start the kind of conversation Waverley wanted to have. Plus, lying about the Manhattan Underground had long since become instinctual.

"Yeah - right over there." Waverley nodded towards a narrow brick building on the corner. A sign dangled out in front of the front door with words stacked on top of one another: Pierce the Veil. In dark purple neon, a pair of slanted, cartoonish eyes straddled the sign's 'the.' Other than a fair amount of graffiti on the outside walls, the place was otherwise unmarked - no windows either. "It's, uh, bigger on the inside. I swear." With that, Waverley's hand lowered back to her phone, pulling up the bar's group chat. 'Weird shit's going down - brought a few strays home. Who all is still at the bar?'

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Location: Beyond the Veil
Skills: N/A

"You keep track of how many stations are up?" Juniper said. It was clear he was impressed by this.

Juniper looked over to the building. The building looked cool. He didn't quite know what it was, but something about the cartoon eyes and musical reference of the title brought him slight comfort, despite the seriousness of the current situation. He watched as Waverly started typing on his phone, wondering how many more would end up joining them. He was a little nervous about being around more strangers in this situation...but Waverly seemed trustworthy enough, and, well, better than the alternative of trying to survive in the zombie apocalypse alone.

As Waverly texted her friends, he looked outside the window that faced the streets, noticing the military vehicles for a moment before turning back to face the bar, not wanting any of the military people to notice him.

Mandy grabbed her packed suitcase and Vet Tech bag. Both would be useful. She re-joined Hermes in the kitchen. He let her know that he had found ways out of town.

"Thank you. I'll play the radio in the car if you can listen to it for updates." Mandy was scared of the fact that she wouldn't be able to hear the updates. She wouldn't know. She was thankful she and her cousin had connected so they were here today. Without him, they'd probably be doomed.

"As soon as Mom and Dad are down here, we'll go out to the car together." She grabbed the tin of cookies from their neighbor. They didn't have room in the car for her too. She felt bad. They couldn't help everyone. They would have to be just the family.

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Finding the car, Verity looked around upon hearing the noise. They had very little time and a big car that would need a lot of ga. She looked over to Flynn who volunteered to keep them distracted. "Ok, but let's hurry." Verity quickly sped around the lot, keeping an eye out for gas containers. The lot itself was a cluttered mess, it was surprising anything could be found.

After a little bit of searching, Verity found six jerrycans. "Found some!" she called over. She quickly scooped one up and ran over to the car, filling up the tank. The car itself was going to need a lot. Once she empited the one can she ran over. "We'll need all of them." Gus started helping her move and soon they got all of the cans emptied. She unlocked the door and opened the driver's side. "Flynn, we're good!" She got in and closed the door and started up the car.

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Kali nodded at Isaac. They needed to get out of town as soon as possible. The streets were bound to fill with traffic from evacuees, and who knew what dangers awaited them out there. However, when Gladys decided she'd rather stay, Kali felt conflicted. Their apartments may be safe for now, but ignoring the evacuation order, Kali believed, was unwise. What if another one of those crazies, like the kid from before, showed up at her doorstep? There wouldn't be anyone able to help her, and the thought of it churned Kali's stomach. Staying together as a group had to be the smarter play. After all, safety in numbers, right?

And yet, Kali felt she couldn't force the issue. Gladys didn't want to leave her husband behind. It wasn't Kali's place to decide what was right for her neighbor, and she had to accept Gladys' decision even if she disagreed with it.

"I'll leave the key for you when we leave." Kali told Gladys, as she handed Isaac her husband's old rifle. The weapon was daunting, especially for someone who had never fired a firearm before, and Kali could only hope they would have no need for it. "Take whatever you need, alright? It's the least Liana and I can do for you."

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@Trainerblue192@Kirah A few minutes later Mandy's mother and father came down with a set of bags, both containing food as well as clothes, he looked at the two of them. "Are you two ready to leave?" He signed to the both of them the little kitten at Hermes feet meowed louder clearly wasn't happy that it wasn't getting any attention from Hermes and started to claw at his pant legs and started to climb up his pants and up his shirt. Mandy's father shook his head slightly as he looked at her. "Lets get going now." He signed as he left the house and made his way outside. There was a bright flash of light just down the block and noticed a big ball of fire as an explosion happened and a plume of smoke could be seen as well to. "Hurry up." He signed as he made his way towards Mandy's car and got in.

@Carlyle "Thank you, and be safe child and thank you." She said as Isaac looked at the gun once more. "Won't you need this?" He asked her as she shook her head slightly. "I'll be fine, now go." Gladys insisted as Isaac nodded slightly, he looked at Kali and motioned for her to follow as he shouldered the rifle over his shoulder and started to get out and leave the older woman's apartment. "Do you need anything from your apartment?" He asked her as he could hear some shouting down the hallway, from a few of the other residents, a few were getting ready to leave and he would see Hannah the girl from earlier leaving with her parents as well to.

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Gus left two of the jerrycans full and went towards the back of the massive truck and opened the back which was spacious, he stored the two cans in a place and made sure that they were secured using the straps. "Hurry up!" Gus yelled as Flynn nodded slightly hearing the zombies as he looked around seeing a shelf of tools and equipment. Once the zombies were in position he quickly used all of his strength to cause the entire thing to come tumbling down. The zombies were caught under and trapped under it effectively keeping them from moving, as he started to make his way towards the mrap.

Flynn quickly got into the back where Gus had stored the two gas cannisters and pulled the door shut, Gus got in shortly after climbing into the drivers seat quickly snatching the keys from Verity and started up the massive truck. "Alright lets get out of here." Gus said as he drove the truck out of the yard, crashing through the front chain-link fence gate. He started to notice that there was a plume of smoke in the distance. Verity would get a text from her personal assistant Trudy with a route out of the city with a text saying. "If you are getting out of the city, i'm taking this route, it's a bit slower but it'll have less traffic be safe boss.". Flynn would be in the bench seat closest to the two front seats where Verity and Gus were.

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Kaitlyn looked around for a moment wondering what was going on exactly as she looked over at Waverly for a moment, she would get a text reply from one of her friends and coworkers Stacy. "Why are you still doing here Waves?" Was what the text said, before a second reply came through. "It's just Ameer and I here, go through the back door we boarded up the front." Was what the text would say, Kaitlyn would approach Waverly looking at her phone seeing that the back door was open. "I guess they are prepared." Kaityn said as she started to lead the way towards the back door there wasn't much going on in the back alleyway as Kaitlyn found the back door open revealing Ameer.

"Waverly thought you would have left by now." He said as he looked at the two strangers before waving the two of them inside, as Kaitlyn looked around for a moment, Stacy was busy doing inventory on a few things, counting the food that was there as she turned to Waverly and the two strangers. "Welcome lock the door behind you." Stacy said, Waverly would be able to see a very old looking ham radio.

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”Been ready. Mom knows to expect us, said to be safe. We've got a few supplies in my room i always keep packed up just in case. You never know in New York, city like this anything could happen so I always tried to stay safe about it.” Hermes signed as he finally grabbed the small kitten and placed it between the crook of his arm as he began to absentmindedly pet it while he made his way out of the apartment with his family. He held his phone in one hand and the cat lay in the other which made it a little difficult to sign at times. Needing to place his phone down each time he wanted to speak. Another thing he figured hearing people didn't consider when in conversation, the ability to keep at least one hand free. Made it harder during dinner or lunch when wanting to utilize a fork and knife.

He saw the explosion and pointed it out to his Cousin, Uncle, and Aunt. Refreshing the app on his phone to ensure that they weren't going towards that fiery mess. He reread the new instructions and pocketed his phone for now. Signing towards them once he got their attention again. ”We are going to be driving towards that. But it's ok, the route veers away before we hit the area on fire so we should be safe and should avoid the build up happening there. But we need to hurry before others change route too ok?” Hermes said before getting into the car and settling in, phone back out to read the instructions for them.

"Yes," she agreed she was ready. Quickly she loaded the car with her suitcase, vet tech bag, and the supplies for the kitten. She looked at the plume of smoke that Hermes pointed out. "Thank you," she told him. Relieved that he was there and could help them.

Mandy hopped into the driver's seat and started driving. Following the route and instructions that Hermes provided. She was nervous and drove cautiously. Probably slower than she should, but considering how many people had been out and about earlier, well she didn't want to press her luck now. She wished they had left earlier. That instead of taking Hannah home they had left then. But she was glad that Hannah had been delivered safe.

"Will Hannah be okay?" she asked a bit worried about the girl.

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Verity allowed the keys to be taken from her as she moved to the passenger seat. She supposed it made sense for Gus to drive. Thankfully Flynn had used the environment in his favor and trapped the oncoming...dead. Right? They were dead and moving. This was full-on zombie territory. She didn't want to think it before otherwise she would go into full panic mode, but now that it was happening she had to admit it. The moving body bag made sense.

Verity felt her phone vibrate and looked to see a message from Trudy. It showed a route she was taking to get out of the city. Verity pulled it up on her maps and showed it to Gus. "A friend of mine is heading out and suggested this route. It's slower but there will be less traffic, which considering all of this I think is our best option." She looked at Flynn, hoping he would agree. The less people around them, the better.

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"I figured we could grab some supplies before we left." Kali explained, clearly still uncomfortable at the thought of leaving Gladys behind as she looked back to her neighbor's door. The thought nagged, but it was a choice she'd have to accept. "Food, water, or anything else we might need to evacuate. We don't know how long we'll be gone. Better to be prepared than unprepared, I figure."

Twisting the key in the lock of her apartment's door, Kali opened it and let them both inside. She had hoped it wouldn't take them long to gather some things, as the commotion down the hall worried her. The tense atmosphere was bound for someone to do something stupid.

"Here," Kali spoke as she walked over to a closet, and grabbed some reusable shopping totes to hand to Isaac. It wasn't the best option, but it was what Kali and her roommate happened to have on hand and in surplus as a result of the law banning plastic grocery bags. "The kitchen is over there to the right. Top cabinets above the counter should have some cans and other things, and I think there might be some leftovers in the fridge. I'll be down the hall if you need me, okay?"

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"Looks like we're in luck - not only is someone home, but they've already started fortifying the bar," Waverley stated as soon as her phone pinged with the incoming message telling her to come around back. She didn't waste any time, slipping out of the car and directing the others to the back of the bar. A grin stretched across Waverley's face as the door opened to reveal Ameer. She quickly hurried in, and once everyone was safe, she locked the back door.

"As soon as I realized something was going down, I started looking for Riley - couldn't leave without her," Waverley glanced behind her, gesturing with her shoulder to Kaitlyn and Juniper. "Given that she's missing from the roster here, the search obviously wasn't successful, but I ended up meeting these two. Kaitlyn, Juniper, meet Ameer and Stacy. Aaaaaand, our most gorgeous and underrated employee..." Waverley's eyes slid from her actual human friends to the dingy little ham radio that sat intelligently in the backroom of the bar. She casually plopped on the table it sat on like she'd done it a hundred times before, placing a hand on the radio. "I call her Amy - because FMy doesn't quite have the same ring to it."

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Location: Beyond the Veil
Skills: N/A

Juniper waved awkwardly to Ameer and Stacy, completely unsure of what to make of new people. Waverly was still kind of stranger to him, evn Kaitlyn was kind of stranger to him. Then he glanced back over his shoulder at the military vehicles. These people were still more trustworthy. As Waverly continued talking, he glanced around the bar, taking in every detail. It felt weird to be in a bar, one that didn't look to far off from the ones he'd perform at, while still knowing that the world outside was in all this chaos.

He brought his attention back to the real world just as Waverly was placing a hand on a radio and introducing it. As scared as he was of the situation he couldn't help but smile at the name. He laughed a little, feeling a little at ease from Waverly's friendliness. "AM and FMy. I get it." He laughed a little, "That's a genius-y name." . Slowly and unsure if he was allowed, he stepped slightly closer to look at the radio.

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@Trainerblue192@Kirah The little kitten would lay on it's back and started to try and grab Hermes' arm that was holding the phone and bite it. Mandy's father moved to sit in the front side seat and turned up the radio so that way Hermes would relay any news from the radio to them grateful to have someone to hear tell them whats exactly going on. Mandy's mother went to sit down in the seat next to Hermes and strapped herself in. As Mandy started to drive they would get a better look at what happened, it looked like someone had driven their car into a gas station pump.

There were already a few firetrucks on scene trying to put out the blaze, along with one military truck keeping guard for whatever happened before she made the turn. The radio would begin Hermes would be able to hear the news from a radio news host. "The Govenor of New York has already mobilized the national guard, as well as the military to New York City, and the Manhattan area as well to. And has ordered the evacuation of the city and surrounding areas. And a mandatory curfew has been issued throughout the entire state, we are getting similar reports in other states, the President is going to be issuing a statement later today and we'll report for as long as we can."

@Carlyle Isaac followed behind Kali and into her apartment, he took a moment to look around the apartment he hadn't seen the inside of her place or where she had lived before. "Right." Isaac said as he made his way towards the kitchen and looked over at her. "We are only going to need canned goods, anything in the fridge would go bad pretty quickly." Isaac told her, as he took the bags that he had been given and started to pack up whatever canned goods that Kali and her roommate had. He made his way towards the tv finding the remote as he turned to the news to keep updated getting the following information from the news broadcaster.

"The military to New York City, and the Manhattan area as well to. And has ordered the evacuation of the city and surrounding areas. And a mandatory curfew has been issued throughout the entire state, we are getting similar reports in other states, the President is going to be issuing a statement later today and we'll report for as long as we can."

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Flynn started to strap himself into the seat as he pulled out his crossbow that he had brought with him setting it down on the floor, along with the tire iron that he had taken with him. He looked over at the cans of fuel that they brought with him, they would last a little while. The roads were a little bit bumpy but Flynn unstrapped himself and made his way to the cab of the car while Gus continued to drive. He looked over at Verity and the route that she had pulled out on her phone from her friend, it was the only way that would get them out of the city. "Yeah that works." Flynn said to Verity as he leaned forward and turned on the radio to know what is exactly going on.

"The Govenor of New York has already mobilized the national guard, as well as the military to New York City, and the Manhattan area as well to. And has ordered the evacuation of the city and surrounding areas. And a mandatory curfew has been issued throughout the entire state, we are getting similar reports in other states, the President is going to be issuing a statement later today and we'll report for as long as we can." Then the radio went to the emergency broadcast system again, as Gus turned down the volume the loud beeping sound was really annoying.

Flynn went to sit down as he turned to Verity and Gus. "We'll need to get some food and supplies at some point to." Gus nodded slightly, that was going to be a problem if they couldn't find a place to stay for awhile. "Well we can't hit stores right now it's probably as bad as it is on a Black Friday night." Gus said to Flynn.

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Kaitlyn was still a little nervous at the whole situation on whats been going on outside, as she made her way over and sat down at the bar, she shifted slightly as Stacy looked at the girl. She made her way over towards the bar and cracked open a bottle of beer and handed it to her. "Here you go." She said as Kaitlyn accepted it, she took a sip of it as she looked over at the others before Stacy spoke up. "Sadly Riley hasn't shown up here." She said as she looked over at Ameer for a moment.

"We are thinking of packing up and leaving, looters will come here at some point" Ameer said as he looked over at Waverly. "They are ordering the city to be evacuated, we'll need to get out of here as soon as possible." He told her hoping that they could get out of the city in time.

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”I think she should be fine. She's back with her family, and indoors.” Hermes signed. It felt selfish to think about at this moment, but they really needed to focus on themselves before others. As his hands moved about, answering his cousin's question, the kitten decided to start nibbling at the palm of his hand. Hermes simply took his other hand and began to gently scratch near the kittens cheeks till it loosened it's grip and let go. His attention was drawn towards the fiery location, fire fighters working hard to put out the flames as a gas station was totaled in its wake. Someone must've driven into the pumps themselves. Either passed out from intoxication or a suicide. It was impossible to tell. His brows furrowed as he watched the military vehicle parked in front of the accident, wondering why there was so much presence today.

The radio came to life, a breaking news bulletin cutting through the monotony of talk show takes of what was currently going on outside. Hermes began to attempt to translate, making sure to hit key words while leaving others at the wayside that he felt were just fluff. ”The Governor has mobilized the national guard and military. They are ordering an evacuation of New York and imposing a curfew. It seems other states are following suit and the President is going to give a statement at some point. What is going on? I know New Yorks always been weird but today's been…a nightmare. If other states are having this issue though…where can we go?”

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Mandy chewed on her lip, watching Hermes and the road. The accident at the gas station looked awful and she remembered a scene from a book she read years ago. No one had turned off the gas here. She followed the directions Hermes had given her, avoiding the growing traffic.

"I don't know," she said. Her fingertips tapping her cheek before she flicked her handout and away. A lazy but almost aggressive way to sign it. Her eyes, told the rest of the story. She was scared. They weren't the only ones leaving. There was an evacuation. There hadn't been one for COVID.

"Dad, where should we even go?" After getting Nana and Aunt Franny they had to know what to do. Where to go? Could they go to an evacuation area? Would that be any better? Maybe they should have just 'batten down the hatches' and stayed home. Mandy didn't like being so indecisive. She had been indecisive. She, however, didn't trust the government. Not since how badly they had handled COVID and communication then.

Her whole community had to wait extra time to get information. Mandy was lucky right now she had her cousin. Had someone hearing who was getting the information to her right away. She knew she'd have to text her friend later. Make sure she was safe and knew what was happening.