“There has been a steady increase of undead at the gate, and indeed at all the fences surrounding our safe zone. We are told that they are likely attracted by the noise and activity. These undead get very agitated when they see a person and can be seen pushing and striking each other in order to get closer to us.”
“Safe zone management has assured us that the fencing will hold, but also advises residents to refrain from traversing to the external fencing. In the meantime, the military is formulating plans on how to best remove the potential threat.”
“Earlier today I had a chance to speak with an army reserve, who agreed to tell me a few things off the record.”
Tammy hesitated for a second.
“As I just mentioned; this information is strictly off record and unsubstantiated. We have not approached safe zone management or any senior military official to confirm or comment on this. However, this information is corroborated by dozens of other residents that we have spoken with and therefore we choose to share it with our viewers.”
“We have a high degree of confidence in the accuracy of this first piece of information. The interviewee stated that the undead can only be killed by destroying the brain. Our source stated that this was experienced firsthand. This was also confirmed by the leaked footage we aired two days ago.”
“The second item of information corroborates what we have heard from our President. Our source informed me that a lot of regular army are no longer here at the safe zone. The source did not know why but guessed that they are being pulled back in order to safeguard other key military installations.”
“Our source additionally admitted noticing many of them suffering from intestinal problems. This correlates to some of our earlier findings, regarding infection rates within our armed forces.”
“The final item that was shared with me is that, according to our source, the extractions of civilians have been slowing down rapidly. The number of excursions has declined from four or five to one per day. The interviewee was not sure if this is due to the dwindling resources, or if there are less people calling in.”
Tammy picked up the notes in front of her and aligned them by tapping the stack on its side. She did this despite all the note pages being aligned already. The nervous habit of the newsreader...
Tammy looked at the camera. Those intensely blue eyes never left the camera as she goes off-script.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to be completely candid with you and tell you that I personally believe that a large portion of the people staying in this safe zone are infected with the syndrome. They have made it through the screening process, possibly before they started having symptoms.”
“I also believe that some of the infected people here in camp are hiding from detection. They are fearful of what happens to them, as there have been rumors that people are being summarily executed when they are taken to the quarantine building.”
Tammy couldn’t continue for a second. She raised her hand to her face but hesitated as she realized she was on the air. She lowered her hand and continued.
“I do not have symptoms, but Josh; our cameraman, does. As does Beckie; she handles our sound. Also, Stef and Pete, who work behind the scenes as director and editor.”
“We don’t understand why I am symptom free while they appear to be infected. They have all decided that, when it gets bad, they will turn themselves in to the authorities here at the safe zone. For now, they are helping me so that we can stay on the air as long as possible.”
“I imagine there are lots of people that are scared as they are no longer symptom free. But these people must understand that they will endanger the other residents of the safe zone if they try to hide!” Tammy’s blue eyes bore into the camera. “So, I implore you to turn yourselves in. Before it is too late.”
“As I mentioned earlier; our own Cindy Cho turned herself in earlier today.” Tammy’s eyes shimmered as they welled up. “We know that she made this sacrifice for the rest of us. For anybody that is not suffering from the syndrome. For me...”
Tammy finally broke. She started to weep. Somebody rushed over to comfort her. After a few seconds, the broadcast was shut down. Channel Eight news would be off the air for a few minutes.
Chapter Twenty-three
#SRigazze
October 27, 10:00 AM. Bari, Italy.
The bells at the Catedrale Di San Sabino have been ringing since yesterday evening. The bells aren’t the only things I am hearing though. I have heard several crashes. I have heard windows shattering, and I have heard two explosions. The worst things I have heard are the screaming and yelling of people. My apartment faces into the street so I can’t see a lot out of my window, but I saw a lot of smoke to the south-west. I’m not sure if it’s the private hospital about five hundred meters away, or if it’s the big Ikea store just behind there.
Things have gone to hell over here! I have been emailing, texting, and skyping with a bunch of my friends and they all say that the same things are happening around them. Is this the end of the world?
My good friend Marcello was feeling very ill last night when I was skyping with him, and this morning I can not reach him anymore. I never even heard back from lots of other friends of mine.
Filippo, Luca, Roberta, Norberto, Angela. If you read this, I hope you are ok.
My family has shut themselves into their house. I talked to my little brother this morning and he says there are crazy people around. I told him about what happened to me yesterday, and that these are dead people! He was
