The main headline was still about the crop failures that were being reported around the world. Farmers were taking to extreme measures of destroying affected crops in hopes that healthy crops would remain unaffected. Little was known of the cause of the failures, but some within the farming communities were blaming bad seed. The only commonality between the failed crops was that they all were produced using genetically modified organisms, or ‘GMO’. There were already talks of major lawsuits brewing.
Civil unrest had reached America. Stories of mobs of people breaking into big box grocery stores were supplemented with the gruesome story of a Mennonite farm that was raided by a hungry, desperate crowd. The camera shows ransacked buildings and fields as well as several objects covered by tarps. The next few camera shots show tall hatted, bearded stoic figures holding rifles at roadblocks leading to their farms.
The second news item this evening was the mysterious illness that seems to be spreading in livestock. Little was known about the cause of the illness, but it seemed that some livestock appeared to be in discomfort. Locally, some farmers were corroborating this story. One farmer has even blamed the death of his old dog on this mystery illness.
It was the next item that people should have been paying attention to.
The feed switched to another camera, and as Tammy turned to face the camera, a new graphic appeared beside her of a world map. Large Black circles with red outlines, similar to solar eclipses with their dark centers and bright nimbuses, are visible on the map all over Africa and the Middle East. The graphics were very impressive and sensational.
Above her head a new graphic appeared, this time with the text: “New Stomach Bug?”
“Last night’s reports of large-scale food poisoning have been debunked, as we have received reports of the potential outbreak of a new stomach bug. It is yet undetermined if this bug is bacterial or viral in nature, but reports indicate that there are already millions of people afflicted. Reports indicate that the infection is limited to locations in central and east Africa, and the Middle East. Our reports indicate that many people are having various stomach complaints and are crowding clinics and hospitals in these regions.”
“We are attempting to contact one of our correspondents in these regions and will try to provide an on-scene report later in the program. From what we have heard, entire cities are being quarantined to attempt to stop the spread of the bug. Several cruise ships have diverted their courses and airports are taking steps to screen anybody travelling from those areas.”
As the program continued, most viewers weren’t really bothered with the stomach bug story, which appeared to be unfolding on the other side of the world. Viewers were anxious about what was happening on the farms, though. People were concerned what they are going to do when all the grains, vegetables and fruit run out. Some folks trek out to their gardens to check on their vegetables. That night, the first pet owners noticed that their pets were starting to act funny.
Chapter Ten
October 20, 12:00 P.M.
Shock and Denial.
The majority of people around the world were stunned by recent developments. Their addiction to information was fed by uncountable sources, each telling a slightly different to wildly deviant story, depending on where you looked for your news. People didn’t know what to believe, so they were frozen in place and kept scouring for more information – even as reality occurred all around them.
A lot of people tried to overcompensate by forcing some sense of normality on the world around them. They blindly ignored the signs and continued about their lives, with secret hopes that it all would just go away. The government tried to support this line of thinking. ‘Trust your Government’. ‘Listen to the authorities.’ And ‘We’ve got this under control.’ Were heard over and over.
Other people didn’t buy it. They lashed out and acted, driven by their paranoia. The run on gun stores and grocery stores was well and truly on.
THE LUNCHTIME SHOW on October 20th started with a broad, splashy graphic above Tammy Jensen’s head. It read; “The Bug Spreads”. Underneath that stood the single word; “Epidemic?” Sensationalism at its best.
“Good evening and welcome to our program. I’m Tammy Jensen. Our headline this afternoon.”
Tammy turned to her left as the feed switched to another camera. The graphic beside Tammy once again showed a world map. There were markedly more of the circular graphics present on the map than there were yesterday.
“The World Health Organization is officially releasing a caution alert regarding the new stomach ailment and are considering raising the alert level to epidemic. So far, there have been no cases of death as a result of the bug. Spokesmen for the WHO are calling for the governments of the world to help control the spread of this apparently highly infectious disease.”
“There have been reports of infection all over Africa and the Middle East, and several unconfirmed cases have been reported as far away as India and Kazakhstan. Travel advisories have been issued for many of these areas and in some cases air travel has been completely halted.”
“There has been no further information from the WHO or the Center for Disease Control, regarding the nature of this ailment. One of our correspondents is standing by with an update from Johannesburg, South Africa.”
The screen was split, with Tammy on one side. The other side showed a middle-aged man wearing a Trilby hat and trench coat. The man was holding a microphone in one hand and an umbrella in the other. It was cloudy and drizzling rain this evening in Johannesburg. A digital clock at the bottom of the screen indicated that it was just past 8 P.M. in South Africa.
“Hello Adriaan De Jager, and thank you for joining us.” Tammy started.
This was followed by a pause that
