BlueK Dynasty: The 1st Seven Days
Page 35
“Is my mic on?” Gill tapped the little black device on his windbreaker twice and looked into the camera. “Testing, testing. Amanda’s apple pie and Binky’s blueberry bottle but Candace’s constant cough couldn’t dare Dean down.”
The second tech assistant, Baron, cleared him for the sound check and ducked back into the Seven News Studio media van. Terry, the cameraman, signaled the countdown, and Gill cleared his throat and smoothed his hair back.
“Connie, are you clear in the Seven News Studio?” he asked.
“Connie here,” she said. “Gill, how are things out there? Can you explain to our worried viewers what the situation is exactly?”
“I can barely hear you, Connie. The noise level out here is extreme. I can barely hear myself talk as my background continues to spiral out of control.” Gill put a finger in one of his ears. Terry’s script flew away, and Gill cursed loudly.
“Watch out, Terry!” he yelled.
Terry had almost been sideswiped by an irate Phantom, and the camera’s line of vision shifted. He kept on rolling, and Gill crouched low to the ground, trying to stay out of harm’s way.
“To the citizens of Alexandria: stay inside. I repeat, stay inside,” he yelled. “There are men and women who are roaming the city’s streets, and they can hurt you!”
“ Gill, there’s been an extraordinary increase in 911 calls, so much that the phone lines are now being held up and service has yet to be restored ,” said Connie. “What can you see outside that we here in the studio can’t?”
“There are riots, and acts of violence against whomever. No one is safe outside at this time.” Gill was beginning to lose his breath. He was trying to half duck walk and crawl undercover while filming. “I’ve personally seen two men attacked and a woman and her child knocked over as gangs raided stores and other businesses.”
A loud scream came from behind Gill, and he immediately dropped to the ground. “Connie,” he said as he tried to regain his composure, “all the police are out in the city tonight, trying to keep the peace, and for those who don’t want peace, there’s the RAID team.”
“So you think that by tomorrow this whole thing will blow over?” Connie asked.
Gill tapped his earpiece and heard static. “Connie, I didn’t catch that. But what I will say is that by tomorrow the streets will be clear. The Alexandria police department and RAID team will work relentlessly until this problem is under control. Until then the city of Alexandria will be under security level red.”
The news van door opened, and Baron poked his head out. “We lost the station’s signal.”
Gill was confused. He had never heard of a lost signal before, even in the hurricane seasons. He signaled to Terry for the wrap-up.
“Now let’s have an update Connie. Back to you in the Seven News Studio,” Gill said. “I pray we all have a safe and sound night.”
Running back to the van, he almost knocked over Terry, who was trying to scramble in from the chaos outside.
“They don’t pay me enough to cover a story like this!” Terry screamed.
“What’s going on with the station?” asked Gill.
Baron looked too scared to talk. He was turning dials on his equipment, trying to pick up any signal from the station. “The line went dead about two minutes ago. I haven’t been able to get contact with the executives or the producers ever since.” He suspected the worst.
Gill laughed nervously. “They’re probably getting a high volume of demands right now. You know how it gets when juicy news comes in. Let’s just go back to the station. I’m sure everything will be just how we left it.”
Baron had left out one important part. “There was one radio signal I heard before the line went down.”
“See?” Gill cheered up. “Terry, take the Holland Tunnel back to the station.”
“Gill,” Baron said. “I heard people screaming. I could hear them being ambushed. I don’t think there’s a studio to go back to.”
The van rocked suddenly as people on the street rushed by, running amuck. Gill could have been knocked over by a feather. What was going to happen to all of them?
34.
Pandemonium