Chapter 16
It was the area near the hotel Hayley had escaped from that morning.
The whole area was cordoned off with a huge police line. Inside the perimeter, officers were using smoke grenades and other dispersal tools, desperately trying to control the crowd and stop riots, but it
wasn’t working.
Through the thick smoke, you could see desperate people swarming and hear screams echoing from all
directions.
Cars were overturned, smashed, and abandoned. Even ambulances were trapped in the middle, and nobody knew where the medics were.
Clearly, after the chaos started, a bunch of people tried to escape, but they didn’t make it.
Police shouted at anyone trying to get too close to the line. “Move back! Get out!”
“This scene is horrific,” the reporter said, tense and serious as he stared at the chaos. “We don’t know the reason yet, but let’s try to get a word from someone who knows.”
Just then, he spotted an injured person emerging from the smoke and rushed toward them with his
camera.
“Sir, can you tell us-ahhh!!”
A piercing scream rang out. The camera wobbled violently, spinning in every direction. It was likely that the cameraman was under attack as well.
When the camera finally hit the ground, everyone saw the reporter crushed under the fleeing person. Blood gushed over the lens.
Beep…!
The feed cut out completely. The interview was over.
Citizens watching the live broadcast at home froze in horror.
Hayley raised her eyebrows as she watched the screen go dead. She had gotten out just in time. Any later, and it wouldn’t have been nearly so smooth.
She flicked the remote and switched to the next channel.
It was the state TV channel.
They were still airing pre-recorded content, news scripts prepared before the chaos. Real-time updates lagged behind. The local TV stations in the city could broadcast live, but the state ones hadn’t caught up
yet.
After finishing a business report, the anchor smiled and moved on to a flu warning.
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“Flu season is ongoing. We encourage everyone to stay home and avoid cross-infections-”
Suddenly, a blood-covered staffer leapt onto the anchor’s desk. He collapsed and didn’t move.
The anchor’s calm, professional face faltered. He tried to look toward the control room, but his eyes went wide with terror, as if he had just seen something unthinkable.
“Cut the-”
Before he could finish, the man on the desk lunged at him.
“Ahh!!”
The station went dead with a loud beep.
This was happening in many TV stations at the same time. Some failed earlier, some later. Early ones had already lost all signal, leaving only static. Later ones were still broadcasting live, giving viewers a front-row seat to the disaster.
By the end of the day, all institutions were falling one after another.
Beep…beep…beep…
Hayley flipped through several channels. The only ones still showing something were a few pre-set channels playing cartoons or reruns. The rest were black.
Soon, all the dead feeds switched to the national channel.
A line of bold, white text appeared on a black screen.
[EMERGENCY NOTICE! Widespread attacks are occurring nationwide. All citizens must stay indoors! All
schools are closed, and all commercial facilities are shut down. Lock doors and windows! Wait for rescue! Wait for rescue! Wait for rescue!]
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