Southeast Portland
Cade didn’t sleep at all that night. He was worried sick for his wife and daughter. For the first few hours after the sun had gone down he kept watch out of Raven’s upstairs bedroom window. The trickle of undead ambling up and down his street had increased. After closing all of the curtains and extinguishing the lights he tried to sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he saw his dead neighbors. Finally Cade got out of bed, dressed and went downstairs. He didn’t want to but he was drawn to the television. He turned it on and watched all night. So far, the satellite hadn’t failed. He didn’t want to rely on the Portland news anchors for all of his information, given the incessant, high-strung babble and hyperbole coming from them since their colleague’s death.
At first the cable news channels were no better. CNN, FOX and MSNBC were reporting that the outbreak was similar to SARS or H1N1. Their idea of useful information included the use of face masks, plastic sheeting and duct tape to secure against an airborne pathogen. All of the other alphabet news stations were the same. Speculation, guessing and second guessing passed for news. Tensions were at their highest as nations pointed fingers and missiles at each other. Threat levels were raised and armies mobilized. The only consensus was that the origin of the pathogen was still unknown, and every nation’s survival depended on quick thinking and immediate action.
Cade noticed so far Portland as well as the central Rockies and Colorado weren’t being mentioned very much in the news. The massacre in the Square was only big news locally.
Looking at the big picture, the world was in a mess of trouble.