ABC News, November 1st, 22:30
Nov. 14th, 2006 11:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
secret_history “This is ABC world news. Good evening, I’m Charles Gibson, coming to you live with the latest on this breaking story. The violence that broke out early this morning in the southern United States has spread exponentially, culminating in riots and arson in many of the country’s largest cities.
“Reports on the violence are still surprisingly few and far-between, and have revealed very little on the nature of what is going on. The White House has gone on record to assure the public that everything is being done to contain the threat, though what that threat might be is still largely a matter of conjecture. White House spokespeople have assured the media that this is not the result of a terrorist attack, although in the same breath they are quick to deny any accurate knowledge of what is taking place.
“The White House and other government offices have come under heavy criticism from ABC and the other media networks for establishing what is essentially a media blackout on what might arguably be the most important event since the terrorist attacks made on this country on September 11th, 2001. Media representatives have argued for the public’s right to know of any kind of threat posed to their safety and well-being. However, the military, who have been called in to restore order in most if not all of the affected areas, have thus far refused to let any reporters at all go into the contested zones. They cite a rarely-used rule banning the media from any area of activity which might later be considered a state secret.
“One independent reporter, however, has managed to get into one of the most ravaged areas, a suburb of Houston, Texas, where reports indicate that the violence may have begun even before this morning, as we originally thought. This brave correspondent managed to smuggle his camera in through the side streets, and has sent copies of the footage to all the major networks with whom he was able to get in touch. We will be showing this disturbing footage in a moment, though I must warn all viewers that the content is extremely graphic and violent. If you have children, I recommend that they not be allowed to watch.”
“Hey, is the little girl still here?”
“No, she went out with her mother and that other chick,” Joseph replied. “Now shut up so we can listen.”
The footage was fuzzy and dark, and jumped a great deal as though the unfortunate camera man was being run off his feet. It showed a large crowd of people, at least a hundred strong, if not more, roaming aimlessly down a series of streets. The camera followed them from a discreet distance, zooming in for closer shots but never able to get close enough to show any of the people’s faces. Still, the clumsy, staggering gait was impossible to mistake: whatever was happening in Montreal, it was happening in Houston as well, and very likely in all the places in the U.S. for where the mysterious reports of “unexplained violence” had originated.
On the small, flickering screen, the zombies lurched forward, mostly away from the camera. After a few moments of simply staggering around in a blind, drunken way, the zombies all appeared to respond to some sort of unseen or unheard cue: they turned, as one, and began shambling toward a small side street. The camera man, heedless of his own safety, ran after them, still keeping a safe distance, and turned the corner just as the crowd converged on a young couple who were clinging to each other in terror. They disappeared under a seething mass of bodies with groping, reaching limbs, their shrieks of terror cut short as blunted teeth sank into their necks. When some of the zombies, kept away from their latest victims by the sheer number of bodies between them and the living flesh, turned toward the camera, their eyes glassy and their jaws slack, the camera man turned tail and fled, the image jogging crazily up and down as he took to his heels as fast as he could go.
Then, abruptly, the image cut out.
“Why the hell don’t they just say they’re zombies?” Kenny wanted to know.
“Maybe they think people will panic if they tell them the truth,” Tate offered lamely.
“What, ‘cause people aren’t panicking already?”
Martin shrugged. “We do the same thing for the suiciders,” he said, accurately if ungrammatically. “We don’t tells the peoples that the peoples that jumps on the tracks are suiciders. We just says that there’s an emergency and we cuts the power.”
“I knew it!” Paul crowed. “I knew that was what those messages meant!”
“Except for today,” Randhir pointed out from where he was sprawled in a chair, his gangly legs crossed at the ankles on the seat of another chair. “We all thought it was a suicide at first, but it wasn’t. It was zombies.”
Martin shrugged again. “We were not told what it was. I only know that I get a call and say not to let no one on the metro until we get the all-clear. So I close down the tourniquets and tells the people to take the bus.”
They all looked at him curiously. “So how did the zombies get on the platform, if you weren’t letting anyone down there?”
“Well, some of them wants to wait, and I don’t argues with them. My union tell me not to argue with the clients who don’t wants to follow the rules, so I don’t argues.”
“What, you mean if someone doesn’t pay you, you won’t go after them?” Paul wanted to know.
“Sometimes, if they are getting violent with me. I am not obliged to risk my safety just for metro fares, you know?”
John Talbot nodded. “Fair enough. You’re not trained to enforce the law under that sort of circumstance.”
“So how did the zombies get down there?” Paul asked again.
Martin raised his hand in another, more elaborate shrug. “I don’t know. I am working, and suddenly there is a lot of screaming from Alexis Nihon, and then all these zombies come out and try to get in my booth. I run out the other side, and I think maybe I can get help on the metro platform, but there are zombies there too. So I wait for help: the zombies don’t climbs the stairs, and they don’t gets past the barrière.”
“Are we going to keep watching the news, or should I just turn it off?” Donnie asked pointedly.
“I don’t know. None of these stations seems to be saying anything useful.”
“Let’s give this one a few more minutes and try another channel afterward.”
“Fine. I don’t see why we’re bothering, though. Does this thing get European channels?”
“Maybe, but why would be want those?”
“I want to know if this is happening over there, too.”
“Why would it be?”
“Why wouldn’t it?”
“Shh!”
“... experts have said that they have never seen this kind of cannibalistic behaviour before, even in the most primitive and barbaric of societies. We asked Dr. Anthony Fulci, an anthropologist at the University of Chicago, for his opinion on the matter. Dr. Fulci, what can you tell us of this behaviour?”
“Thank you,” Dr. Fulci took a drink from a glass of water set in front of him. “As I mentioned before, the type of behaviour that we are witnessing here is highly atypical for any kind of organized society with which anthropologists have come into contact before. Even what most people would label a “barbaric” tribe, those more primitive cultures that still engage in cannibalism, don’t engage in it on this kind of level or in this way.”
“Could you elaborate on that, Doctor?”
“Gladly. What I mean to say is that, in any culture, the human body and indeed the human soul is viewed as being of paramount importance. Therefore, cannibalism in its many forms takes on a ceremonial aspect in all cases. Some of the ceremonies might be far simpler than others, but there is always some aspect of reverence, or at least respect, for the person who inhabited the body before. In some cases, it is believed that the personality is still present within the body for a few days after death. We see parallels here with the ‘wakes’ that certain Protestant factions hold, in order that the dead may properly depart.”
“So you’re saying that what we’re seeing here is not the spread of some sort of weird cannibal cult?”
“It’s very unlikely. The footage you just showed is evidence more of something like mass psychosis. If you examine the images, you will see that there is no effort being made at collaboration between the individuals involved: each appears desperate to attack the victim in question, and no one leaves room for their neighbours to partake of the feast. In fact, were I not loath to pronounce myself on this with so little data to go on, I might pronounce this the summum of individualism, of each man for himself. There is no collective will, here, only individual wills that happen to be striving for the same goal.”
“Do you have any idea what might be causing this, Doctor?”
“I’m afraid that there we are delving into matters of the collective unconscious, which I would be hard-pressed to tell you about even under normal circumstances. The human psyche is a fragile thing at best: who knows what sort of strain we as a society are undergoing currently, that is making so many of our citizens lose sight of all the social mores and scruples that have held us together for so long?”
“That was Dr. Anthony Fulci, who was gracious enough to come to our studios to offer us his insights into these extraordinary goings-on. We will be back in a moment to speak with our correspondent in Houston, who has attempted several times now without success to make contact with the independent reporter whose footage has shocked the nation.
“Reports on the violence are still surprisingly few and far-between, and have revealed very little on the nature of what is going on. The White House has gone on record to assure the public that everything is being done to contain the threat, though what that threat might be is still largely a matter of conjecture. White House spokespeople have assured the media that this is not the result of a terrorist attack, although in the same breath they are quick to deny any accurate knowledge of what is taking place.
“The White House and other government offices have come under heavy criticism from ABC and the other media networks for establishing what is essentially a media blackout on what might arguably be the most important event since the terrorist attacks made on this country on September 11th, 2001. Media representatives have argued for the public’s right to know of any kind of threat posed to their safety and well-being. However, the military, who have been called in to restore order in most if not all of the affected areas, have thus far refused to let any reporters at all go into the contested zones. They cite a rarely-used rule banning the media from any area of activity which might later be considered a state secret.
“One independent reporter, however, has managed to get into one of the most ravaged areas, a suburb of Houston, Texas, where reports indicate that the violence may have begun even before this morning, as we originally thought. This brave correspondent managed to smuggle his camera in through the side streets, and has sent copies of the footage to all the major networks with whom he was able to get in touch. We will be showing this disturbing footage in a moment, though I must warn all viewers that the content is extremely graphic and violent. If you have children, I recommend that they not be allowed to watch.”
“Hey, is the little girl still here?”
“No, she went out with her mother and that other chick,” Joseph replied. “Now shut up so we can listen.”
The footage was fuzzy and dark, and jumped a great deal as though the unfortunate camera man was being run off his feet. It showed a large crowd of people, at least a hundred strong, if not more, roaming aimlessly down a series of streets. The camera followed them from a discreet distance, zooming in for closer shots but never able to get close enough to show any of the people’s faces. Still, the clumsy, staggering gait was impossible to mistake: whatever was happening in Montreal, it was happening in Houston as well, and very likely in all the places in the U.S. for where the mysterious reports of “unexplained violence” had originated.
On the small, flickering screen, the zombies lurched forward, mostly away from the camera. After a few moments of simply staggering around in a blind, drunken way, the zombies all appeared to respond to some sort of unseen or unheard cue: they turned, as one, and began shambling toward a small side street. The camera man, heedless of his own safety, ran after them, still keeping a safe distance, and turned the corner just as the crowd converged on a young couple who were clinging to each other in terror. They disappeared under a seething mass of bodies with groping, reaching limbs, their shrieks of terror cut short as blunted teeth sank into their necks. When some of the zombies, kept away from their latest victims by the sheer number of bodies between them and the living flesh, turned toward the camera, their eyes glassy and their jaws slack, the camera man turned tail and fled, the image jogging crazily up and down as he took to his heels as fast as he could go.
Then, abruptly, the image cut out.
“Why the hell don’t they just say they’re zombies?” Kenny wanted to know.
“Maybe they think people will panic if they tell them the truth,” Tate offered lamely.
“What, ‘cause people aren’t panicking already?”
Martin shrugged. “We do the same thing for the suiciders,” he said, accurately if ungrammatically. “We don’t tells the peoples that the peoples that jumps on the tracks are suiciders. We just says that there’s an emergency and we cuts the power.”
“I knew it!” Paul crowed. “I knew that was what those messages meant!”
“Except for today,” Randhir pointed out from where he was sprawled in a chair, his gangly legs crossed at the ankles on the seat of another chair. “We all thought it was a suicide at first, but it wasn’t. It was zombies.”
Martin shrugged again. “We were not told what it was. I only know that I get a call and say not to let no one on the metro until we get the all-clear. So I close down the tourniquets and tells the people to take the bus.”
They all looked at him curiously. “So how did the zombies get on the platform, if you weren’t letting anyone down there?”
“Well, some of them wants to wait, and I don’t argues with them. My union tell me not to argue with the clients who don’t wants to follow the rules, so I don’t argues.”
“What, you mean if someone doesn’t pay you, you won’t go after them?” Paul wanted to know.
“Sometimes, if they are getting violent with me. I am not obliged to risk my safety just for metro fares, you know?”
John Talbot nodded. “Fair enough. You’re not trained to enforce the law under that sort of circumstance.”
“So how did the zombies get down there?” Paul asked again.
Martin raised his hand in another, more elaborate shrug. “I don’t know. I am working, and suddenly there is a lot of screaming from Alexis Nihon, and then all these zombies come out and try to get in my booth. I run out the other side, and I think maybe I can get help on the metro platform, but there are zombies there too. So I wait for help: the zombies don’t climbs the stairs, and they don’t gets past the barrière.”
“Are we going to keep watching the news, or should I just turn it off?” Donnie asked pointedly.
“I don’t know. None of these stations seems to be saying anything useful.”
“Let’s give this one a few more minutes and try another channel afterward.”
“Fine. I don’t see why we’re bothering, though. Does this thing get European channels?”
“Maybe, but why would be want those?”
“I want to know if this is happening over there, too.”
“Why would it be?”
“Why wouldn’t it?”
“Shh!”
“... experts have said that they have never seen this kind of cannibalistic behaviour before, even in the most primitive and barbaric of societies. We asked Dr. Anthony Fulci, an anthropologist at the University of Chicago, for his opinion on the matter. Dr. Fulci, what can you tell us of this behaviour?”
“Thank you,” Dr. Fulci took a drink from a glass of water set in front of him. “As I mentioned before, the type of behaviour that we are witnessing here is highly atypical for any kind of organized society with which anthropologists have come into contact before. Even what most people would label a “barbaric” tribe, those more primitive cultures that still engage in cannibalism, don’t engage in it on this kind of level or in this way.”
“Could you elaborate on that, Doctor?”
“Gladly. What I mean to say is that, in any culture, the human body and indeed the human soul is viewed as being of paramount importance. Therefore, cannibalism in its many forms takes on a ceremonial aspect in all cases. Some of the ceremonies might be far simpler than others, but there is always some aspect of reverence, or at least respect, for the person who inhabited the body before. In some cases, it is believed that the personality is still present within the body for a few days after death. We see parallels here with the ‘wakes’ that certain Protestant factions hold, in order that the dead may properly depart.”
“So you’re saying that what we’re seeing here is not the spread of some sort of weird cannibal cult?”
“It’s very unlikely. The footage you just showed is evidence more of something like mass psychosis. If you examine the images, you will see that there is no effort being made at collaboration between the individuals involved: each appears desperate to attack the victim in question, and no one leaves room for their neighbours to partake of the feast. In fact, were I not loath to pronounce myself on this with so little data to go on, I might pronounce this the summum of individualism, of each man for himself. There is no collective will, here, only individual wills that happen to be striving for the same goal.”
“Do you have any idea what might be causing this, Doctor?”
“I’m afraid that there we are delving into matters of the collective unconscious, which I would be hard-pressed to tell you about even under normal circumstances. The human psyche is a fragile thing at best: who knows what sort of strain we as a society are undergoing currently, that is making so many of our citizens lose sight of all the social mores and scruples that have held us together for so long?”
“That was Dr. Anthony Fulci, who was gracious enough to come to our studios to offer us his insights into these extraordinary goings-on. We will be back in a moment to speak with our correspondent in Houston, who has attempted several times now without success to make contact with the independent reporter whose footage has shocked the nation.
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?
Date: 2006-11-14 04:08 pm (UTC)Re: ?
Date: 2006-11-14 04:18 pm (UTC)