It shone on the protestors’ heads beside the reporter, as if in a blessing from the powers above. The reporter calls something to the hundreds of people that have taken to the streets. One man disengaged himself from the crowd and jogged over.
The camera man zoomed in, so that the reporter and his interviewee dominated the picture. Behind them dozens of people were visible, continuing to stream past in a kaleidoscope of colours and noise.
The reporter raised his voice in order to be heard over the noise. “Thank you, Tammy! We are live here on fourth street and Lee avenue! I’m here with – Isaac – and we are heading towards the Alfred P Murphy building!”
He turned to a young man, with a bit of acne on his chin, longish blonde hair down past his ears, and a small nose ring. Other than wearing an army surplus jacket and that nose ring, he looks like any kid. It would be easy to mistake the march for one supporting the local college team. Even the spirit of the crowd in the background was more like a party atmosphere. There was no sense of violence in the air whatsoever.
“Isaac, can you tell me why you are marching today?” He raised his hand and indicated the crowd around them. “What is this all about?”
“We got to do something, dude! We got to let the powers know that this ain’t gonna fly!”
“What do you mean?”
“You know! It’s – it’s the Illuminati, man! They got an agenda and that’s like ... to create a new world order or something, dude!”
The reporter’s face shows his scepticism. “Really. And how are they doing that?”
“Take a look at the world, dude. They’re poisoning everything! They won’t tell you, but all the crops are failing – everywhere! And now the cows and shit are dying off! I tell you they figured out some way of infecting us dude! Really man! It’s in the water or something.”
Somebody in the background yelled a greeting. Isaac was distracted and looked to see who it was. The reporter stayed focused and prompted Isaac to continue. “Yeah. So, man, I think that It’s like they’re trying to get rid of all the people they find ... like, unworthy or something!”
The camera got jostled at that moment and the camera man was barely able to catch himself and keep from dropping the camera. Some swearing was heard off camera. The disembodied voice of Isaac chimes in one more time “Hey man can I say hi to my girlfriend?”
The feed switched back to the news desk. Tammy turned to the camera. “Thank you, Jeff. Ladies and gentlemen, that was Jeff Osterman reporting live from downtown.”
“While most people are taking the advice of their governments and health authorities and staying inside, there appear to be rallies like this happening all over America. The most common themes amongst these demonstrations are in support of the farming community or various animal rights groups. These rallies have been peaceful for the most part.”
“To recap our headline story; The infection has spread to the United States, and indeed many other nations across the world. It appears that the infection is already having widespread affect on animal life, and now the first confirmed human cases have been reported in nearly all major cities. Health officials are preparing for an epidemic right here in our nation.”
“The CDC, in coordination with the World Health Organization and various other health authorities has named the ailment. They are calling it the Hemorrhagic Abdominal Parasitosis Syndrome, or HAPS”
Tammy’s expression became slightly more serious.
“The latest news on HAPS is concerning.”
She turned to another camera. “Along with the seemingly unstoppable spread of this syndrome, there are also now unconfirmed reports of the first deaths attributed to HAPS.”
“These reports are coming in from Nairobi and Mombasa in Kenya, Mogadishu in Somalia, and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. We are attempting to corroborate these unconfirmed reports and will update you when we find out more details.”
“There are also rumors of mass livestock deaths in farms all over Africa and Asia.” Tammy looked at the camera. “We have no confirmations of this at the moment.”
“We have also received a short statement by the CDC an hour ago, which details some of the progress being made, and offers some explanation of HAPS. Here are the highlights.” Tammy turns to another camera, and a bulleted list appears on the screen to her left.
“The Hemorrhagic Abdominal Parasitosis Syndrome always appears first in the stomach or bowels of the infected and starts as a mild ache. For some people, the infection moves quickly – going from mild irritation to becoming excruciatingly painful within a 24-hour period. For others it can take several days or longer to develop. The elderly and infirm are considered to be most at risk and are advised to adhere to CDC guidelines for their own safety.”
The bulleted list was replaced by scenes of violence.
“While the protests in America have so far been peaceful, the same can not be said for many other places in the world. The scenes switch as Tammy lists off the cities.
“Protests in Beirut and Jerusalem both have turned violent, with government forces opening fire upon protestors. We have received an unconfirmed message from an eyewitness that states that ‘the dead litter the streets.’ The Israeli government has released an official statement that terrorists in the region have attacked their security forces, forcing them to defend themselves.”
“In Rabat, Morocco there are fires raging unchecked, as public servants have gone on strike.”
“Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli are among North African cities where people are attempting to evacuate across the Mediterranean Sea to perceived safety in Europe. Greek and Italian navy have reported that several boats have capsized, and many people are suspected to have drowned. According to humanitarian organizations, the death toll is in the hundreds. Several NATO members have pledged to increase naval presence in the Mediterranean Sea to prevent further tragedy.”
“Many nations have completely shut their borders to the outside
