Jarvis finally ends the feed.
the two go to the back of their van, both shocked and terrified by what they'd witnessed
The two stare at each other, both too scared to speak.
Both trying to process what just happened.
"Holy Shit," Isa says, trying to catch her breath.
Suddenly a Texas State patrol officer runs up to them
"Jarvis?"
"Maverick-"
Maverick then squeezes Jarvis in a tight hug
"I thought you were dead holy shit."
"I'm sorry, I couldn't call"
"No it's fine, You don't need to apologize"
Paramedics run past them
"Thank fuck your ok, What happened here?"
Jarvis takes a deep breath, as he explains what happened
"Yeah, we were reporting on the protest when suddenly this group of Human Workers Federation guys show up in vans and trucks and start causing trouble. Then a bunch of people from the Quitianian Freedom Group show up and the fight just escalated from there."
"Holy shit," Maverick says. "That's insane, I can't believe things got that bad so fast, I came as soon as I heard it on the radio, and man, I had no idea it was gonna be this crazy."
"Tell me about it," Jarvis says, shaking his head. "I've never seen anything like it. It was like something out of a warzone. I still can't believe how many people died. And all over what? A damn protest? It's ridiculous."
Isa Sighs
"You said it...It's just sad that it had to end that way, all of this for stuff that should be basic human rights. We need to do something about this"
"Agreed" Maverick says
Jarvis sits down and starts drinking the bottle, the dryness of his throat finally hitting him
"Oh yeah, here let me get you a bottle"
Maverick goes and grabs a couple of bottles of water
"Thanks, man" Jarvis says
"Don't mention it"
Isa drank with him
"You want to go and interview the wounded?" Jarvis asks
"Yeah, sure," Isa replies. She knows it'll be rough, but she knows it's important for people to see the damage that was done here today. They need to understand the full scope of what happened, not just the headlines that will no doubt dominate the news cycle.
She gets up, takes a deep breath prepares herself. This won't be easy, but she's determined to do her job and make sure everyone sees the truth.
"You two stay safe" Maverick Replies as he waves them off, walking to his police car
As they walk through the streets, they are met with a horrific scene.
Paramedics go and treat who they could, some people screaming out in pain. Others lay motionless, eyes staring into nothing. Some people are sitting on the ground, holding their wounds. The smell of blood and smoke fills the air.
It's pure chaos.
The two walk up to a wounded officer, Her leg covered in a Bandage
She slightly jumps at the sight of Jarvis
"You ok?
She nods
"Yeah I'm fine, I just got grazed by a bullet" She replies, gesturing to her bandaged leg.
Jarvis nods. "That's good, I'm glad you're alright."
She scowls at Jarvis slightly then turns to Isa, Basically Ignoring Jarvis
"Anyway, You wanted to ask me something?
"Yes, I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about what happened here today, We want to know your view of the incident," Isa asked
She sighs "We're responding to a massive brawl when we arrived. Saw how it went from bad to worse, we tried to break up the fight, But these stupid bastards just kept shooting at us. So we had to defend ourselves. We lost three officers in the line of duty today. And it's all because of those damn QPG"
The two looked at each other at her comment
"What do you mean by that? We saw it was humans that attacked them first" Isa says
"Yeah well they were the ones with guns so what did you expect, They had every right to use force" she sneers
"But they didn't have to shoot to kill, The situation would have been diffused" Jarvis interjects
"Fuck off cunt" She snaps at Jarvis
"I'm sorry ma'am, I don't agree with your view here," Isa says calmly
"Yeah well that's your problem not mine, Just get the fuck out of here" She snarls
Jarvis Gritted his teeth and then walked away, The anger slowly building inside him.
"Hey Hey calm down, We can go find someone else to interview," Isa says as she follows him.
He takes a deep breath. "Yeah, Sorry, I'm just still kinda freaked out from everything that happened. I'll be okay."
An officer, an older man with graying hair and a beard, walks up to them.
"I don't think it's a good idea to stay here right now son." The officer taps Jarvis on the shoulder
"Hm? Why?"
Jarvis looked around at the people around them
They were staring at him with a burning hatred in their eyes
"For your safety."
Isa puts her hand on his shoulder
"Come on, Let's get out of here," she said.
Jarvis nodded and followed her back to the van.
Jarvis put the Satellite on the news van down as Isa sat in the front, Her thoughts and emotions all hitting her at once
"That was close...Way too close." She said to herself.
Isa turned to look at Jarvis, who was sitting in the driver seat of the van.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, avoiding eye contact with her.
There was an uncomfortable silence between them for a few minutes before he spoke again.
"Sorry for almost blowing up like that back there."
Isa shook her head. "No, it's ok. I understand why you were upset. I was scared, too. I still am."
She placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Don't apologize. It's okay to feel angry but don't let it control you. Be rational, and do what you need to do to get through this."
He sighed. "Thanks."
She smiled softly. "Of course."
Jarvis then started driving again only the sound of sirens and helicopters filled the once Tainted air.
Their emotions finally set in, after the adrenaline of the situation began to wear off.
"Holy shit, That was fucking crazy..." Isa said in a half-dazed state
"Yeah, it was..." He paused, his mind racing. "You know, This is probably gonna be international news now..."
Isa nodded "Yeah, it will...And I'm sure they'll want to talk to us about it."
Jarvis nodded as he parked.
"You ok?" Isa asked concerned.
"Yeah, just...gotta let this sink in, You know?"
Isa nodded "Yeah, I do."
"It's just...How did this happen? How could people get so angry over something like this? And how did it escalate to that level? Why couldn't they just talk it out and work together? Why did it have to come to this?" Jarvis ranted
Isa shrugged. "I don't know...People are people. They get angry, they fight. It's what they do. We can't always predict what will happen."
Jarvis sighed "Yeah, I guess you're right...Still, though, It's messed up."
Isa nodded. "It is...But that's life, Jarvis. It's not perfect. Sometimes things don't go the way we want them to. Sometimes bad things happen. But that doesn't mean we have to give up."
"I'm not giving up...I'm just trying to understand."
Isa smiled softly. "I know...And I appreciate that. I really do."
She took a deep breath.
"Okay, let's get out of here."
Jarvis sighed. "We should probably get back to the station. I'm sure they're gonna want to talk to us about what happened."
Suddenly
BRRRRRRR
BRRRRRRRRR
"Who's that?"
Isa pulled out her phone
It was the News director
"It's the news Director, He probably wants to talk about today"
She sighs
She answers the Call
"Isa Holy shit I've been trying to call you for the last half an hour, You ok? Are you safe?"
"Yeah I'm fine, Barely made it out"
"Thank god, What happened over there?"
Isa Explained to her boss what had happened
"Fuck, That sounds horrible, How's Jarvis?"
"He's shaken up but he'll live"
The director sighs
"Ok Good, Listen I know you guys are tired but Look just get back to the station as soon as possible"
She sighs
"Ok boss"
"Was that Daniel?"
"Yeah, He wants us to come back to the station ASAP, Said he wants to talk about today."
"Makes sense..."
"Come on, let's go."
They got back in the Van and began the drive to the station.
Jarvis gripped the wheel tightly as he drove.
The drive was quiet. They didn't really know what to say to each other after what they had just witnessed. It was hard to believe that something so horrific could have happened in their own city.
It was like a warzone
The stuff you see on television happening in countries thousands of miles away
Now happening in your own backyard
It's something you never really think about
But when it does happen
It changes everything
It's shocking
It's horrifying
It's surreal
It's all of those things and more
But most of all
It's a wake-up call.