MNet: The Dead Walk!

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The Dead Walk!

Originally Published on February 14th, 2492

[The Following is Available Only on Audio Format]

The sounds of keys being pressed are heard, some other sounds that would be identified being part of holodevices can also be identified in the background, as if Grant Jones was working on a new article, suddenly, commotion is heard outside. An exasperated sigh is heard, as sounds of someone standing up and walking over to a door are heard, the door opens.

"For fuck's sake people I'm trying to work here! Could you please keep it down? What is going on out there?"

There are now sounds of people running, some of them are even screaming, and a few people storm into Grant's office.

"Close the door! Close the door now!" "Wait, what? What the hell is going on? John? John!" "Shut up and let me think!" There's silence for a brief moment, someone's weeping in the office. "Andrea? What happened?" "Oh Grant, it's terrible, there are a lot of those things out there... Dozens, maybe more, they looked sick!" "Sick? Sick how? What do you mean?" "Shut up both of you, and have a look at this"

There's sounds of steps approaching a desk, more sounds from a holodevice, a woman gasps in surprise.

"What, what are we looking at here?" "That's what's going on, Grant, they got here about twenty minutes ago. It was only two or three, so Chester was shooing them off the building, but then a dozen more rushed him, we had to lock the doors" "Chester's still out there? We gotta get him in here!" There's one more awkward silence, Andrea's weeping becomes more prominent. "It's too late for Chester, Grant, they ripped him to pieces" "Jesus Christ. So, what now? What do we do?" "The others are barricading the doors, that asshole Ron took the AV so we're stuck here" "We gotta call someone! Please! Poor Chester... John, Grant, I don't wanna die, please, please! Call someone, anyone!" "Calm down Andrea, don't worry, of course we're gonna call someone, right John? They'll get us out of here in no time, you'll see, right John?" "Yeah... Hey Andrea, since we're gonna be here a while, why don't you get some drinks and some food from catering? I'm sure Grant wouldn't mind if we use his office until they come back for us, right?" "No, not at all, in fact I can go and help you Andrea" "Actually, Grant, I need your help over here to make sure we make the connection to Security" "Oh, right, sure" The sounds of a set of steps leaving are heard, the door opens, and closes afterwards. A long, exasperated sigh is heard. "So, everything alright, John?" Silence again, sounds of someone leaning against an office chair. "John, what's going on?" "I don't think anyone is coming, Grant" "What? What do you mean? Arc Systems is on Level Zero, there's also Free Company and-" "Corporate cut the security budget last year, our security contract expired on January 1st" "Are you kidding me right now?" "I wish I were, hell, all Chester had was a half charged stun baton and an old can of pepper spray on him, you think if someone wanted to fuck with us the man would stop them? As cliche as this sounds, we don't pay him enough for this shit"

Another round of awkward silence, as if the men were thinking on what would their next move be.

"John, there are almost a hundred people here, they are scared, they are panicking, they might do something stupid. We have to think of something" "If you have any ideas, I'm listening. We can't go to the roof, the AV is gone, there's no clever sewer gateway like in the holovids, and we just barricaded ourselves inside and hoping for the best somehow, I can't exactly tell the people to go to their families as is, look at the screen, there are dozens of those things out there." "They look like-" "PLEASE, don't fucking say it Grant, just don't" "But John, they look like-" "I'm fucking warning you, Jones, don't say it" There's a long silence, tensions palpable. "Zombies." "I swear to God, Grant Jones, I'm going to fucking punch you in the throat and--wait, what's that? Did you see that? Wait, wait, what's going on? Grant get your camera!" "Are you crazy? I am not going out there, besides you don't pay me enough for this shit, I'm a journalist, not a soldier!" Sounds start to get clearer, it sounds like there's a second party outside opening fire on the inflicted, after several minutes of gunfighting, the door to the office opens, and everyone in the building tries to take a look at what is happening outside, as most don't fit in the office, they are taking to look at the windows. "Are you fucking insane!? Get the fuck off the windows, you fucking morons!" "John, who are these guys?" "I don't know, but whoever it is, they are taking care of those wretches" A few moments after the fight is over, a mechanical voice through a speaker can be heard in the background. "Greetings, Civilians. This is unit AR-EO001, Commanding Unit of Advanced Research and Experimental Systems' Elite Omega Squad, please remain calm and remain indoors while we conduct preliminary scans and execute sanitation protocols. Three Elite Omega Squad units will now approach the building to enter. We ask that if you have set temporary barricades to disassemble them, afterwards, you will be asked to form a single line in an orderly fashion while a preliminary scan is made. Thank you for your compliance"

The people who heard the instructions erupt in cheers as a group is heard rushing out of the office and to the main entrance to clear the doors.

"Holy shit John, ARES!" "Yeah. It's very fortunate they came here when they did, maybe too fortunate" "What do you mean?" "Oh nothing just- Wait, is this thing broadcasting? Jesus, Grant, really?" "I was working on an article when shit hit the fan, what do you want me to do?" "Fucking turn it off before I fire your ass!"

[End of Broadcast]

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