Over the coming days, things began to change rapidly.
Frank's perception of normality began to change. To shift somewhere he feared it might start to veer towards.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Faith Harper, and tonight, we'll begin with the PET Virus...". The news grew more fearsome. Shifting into uncertainty. The worst place to be, especially at a time like this.
Just yesterday, for the first time, Frank eyed military personnel loitering by the town's periphery. Far away from the public eye, but not far enough to not gain some traction. "Locals report, Military personnel seen close to their homes. However, no government official has come out and made a statement at this time.".
As the reports of more missing people kept pouring in, the ominous news didn't help the escalating situation.
"We want the truth!... What do we want?... We want the truth!...". The voices, shouts. Chants came from outside Frank's residency.
With the protests spreading far and wide, they eventually reached his town as well.
"The Government of Iarterre is to introduce new measures to combat the spiking cases from the new illness.".
The ambience, filled with both the television and the protesting outside, made Frank turn over on his sofa, waking up.
He let out a groan, merely stretching his arms before sitting up. The voices from outside were initially a slur of gibberish—until it wasn't.
The protests managed to reach Sileaux; his thoughts ran. And there, he reached out for his phone. "What time is it?...".
18:38.
"Still have some time to get the groceries done..." he muttered under his breath, yawning as he stood up onto his feet.
"More to come..." the news anchor continued as Frank walked to the window. "A Fuel For Iarterre gas station to remain closed following the discovery of a dead body in a bathroom stall...".
"Poor fucker," Frank let through under his breath, looking down at the road.
Though the group was quite large, to his relief, it wasn't as much as he'd anticipated. Tomorrow night, he was on the shift to monitor the protesters and ensure everything went according to plan.
Getting himself ready, he brought a bag with him. Eyeing the keys of his car, he decided against driving to the shop, considering the protests. Instead, he planned to go to the nearest shop—a mere 10-minute walk.
Walking out of his apartment, locking the door behind him, and going down the stairs and into the main hall, he quickly reached the main entrance, giving him a first-hand view of the ongoing protests.
Above him, a loud shuttering noise sounded. Looking up, he saw it was a helicopter—a news helicopter. Taping the unrest on the ground.
Moving his attention back to the task at hand, seconds later, he started his trek to the convenience store. Moving from one side of the road to the other made him feel as though he was a part of the protest, too. It made him feel the dread, the fear that others around him carried. But he couldn't shake off the feeling in his gut. The feeling that something wasn't right.
The cool, autumn evening brought some cold winds, frequently gusting through the crowd of people.
It wasn't long, however, before Frank found himself shuffling away from the crowd, eventually leaving the protest altogether, as he motioned toward the convenience store.
Opening the door and walking inside, the first thing he noticed was the large number of people shopping. A simple observation. The heat that accumulated, the way it stuck to his face.
"Don't they have working air conditioning in this place?" an older lady commented, just as she passed by Frank, taking the words out of his mouth.
"What do you mean you can't take cards?..." A slight commotion caught Frank's attention. "Up until a few months ago, all of you shopkeepers preached how cards would be the future!... What is this now?".
And the further he advanced into the store, the more his surprise grew. Finding a shelf full of goods was a rarity wherever he looked. Nearly all of the racks were empty.
It was a bizarre scene for Frank to witness. It felt something like out of a pre-apocalyptic horror movie. It brought a wave of chills down his spine. And the chants outside didn't help the scene, seemingly making it more dystopian.
"Makes me feel like I am in some sort of zombie horror film with the way the store looks," a young woman said, catching Frank's attention. Seeing that she had grabbed his focus, she elaborated. "I don't think I've ever seen this store so empty... And with the protests happening, it feels like we're in some sort of an apocalypse.".
Her words caught him off guard.
'Zombies?' he thought to himself. Not knowing what to say, Frank simply nodded his head before walking on.
"Hey! Hey, I got that first!! Give me that...". Another commotion was heard. Looking down the aisle, Frank saw two women fighting over a pack of canned food.
Noticing how physical their fight seemed to become, he quickly stepped in. "Hey, hey. Please. That's not how we do things in this day and age," Frank started. "How about we try to be civil about this, yeah?".
The younger of the two rolled her eyes before pushing the can away from her. "You know what... You can have it... I don't want it anymore.".
Frank was merely astounded at her reaction, but relieved that the argument had stopped. "Thank you..." said the woman who remained. "I- I really needed this. Thank you.".
"No worries... Being civil is always the key. Stay safe, alright?".
She nodded her head, placing the can into her cart before walking away.
A moment later, Frank's eyes scanned to see if he could find the younger of the two, who rushed off. However, she was long gone, nowhere to be seen. Brushing off the scene that had just happened, he returned to what he was doing. Shopping for groceries.
With some of the items in scarce quantity, he found himself having to substitute some of the foods for something else. Making his way around the store and picking up what else he needed, he soon found himself waiting in line at the check-out till.
In front of him stood two older ladies. Looking at them, Frank easily thought they both could be his mothers. And then, their voices came through. "Didn't you hear what had happened a few days ago?" one of them said. "There's so much going on that I can't really take note of everything that's really happening.".
One of them raised her hand merely, as Frank noticed, "Let me tell you... My brother-in-law's daughter's sister works at a hospital in the centre of Aides. She told us the situation is worse than they make it out to be!". The other woman merely gasped. "Really?? Ah, Maureen, we've reached the end of times, I'm telling you. You don't know who to believe anymore.".
Frank reached the back of his neck, scratching away a tingle that came about.
Merely turning his head, behind him, he noticed two figures. Two boys. One played away on a handheld console, while the other boy looked in. From the almost mute sound of the game, Frank could make out gunshots coming from the gaming device. "You've got them, dude! I think that's the last of the zombies on that map...". To that, the other retorted. "Isn't there meant to be a boss fight?". However, very soon, Frank stopped paying attention to their conversation when he saw the line move forward.
Then, minutes later, with the two ladies moving forward and walking out of the shop, Frank stepped in front of the cash register. His eyes moved to the balding cashier, scanning through his goods. Once finished, he pressed a few buttons on his register before giving Frank the sum he had to pay.
"Can I pay with card?" Frank asked.
The cashier made a small grimace. "Unfortunately, we can only accept cash at this time. We're having a minor malfunction with electronic payments.". The commotion from when he came in now made sense.
"Oh?... Okay...". Looking through his wallet, he produced a few notes and some coins before handing them to the cashier. "Keep the change.". With that, Frank packed his things, grabbed the bag by the handle, and began his way toward the main door of the store.
From the doors, a couple rushed in, nearly crashing into him.
"Are we late?" the woman asked frantically.
"Tam, we're fine. See?".
"No, Sebba. You don't understand... We need to stock up on what we can...".
The man nodded his head, letting through a sigh once the woman rushed ahead. Turning to Frank, he offered an apology. "Nearly bumped into you there, sorry about that.".
"You're fine...". With that, he walked off, following the direction his woman went.
Frank kept his eyes on them both for a moment more before he walked off.
However, just as he was about to open the door of the shop, something caught the side of his eye. A newspaper article. Big, bold words.
'Two Missing Officers Found Dead in The Leilesse Forest.'. The picture below was that of a campsite, taken through a few tree barks.
Frank found himself reading over the title again before swallowing hard. 'Two officers?'.
"A tragic story...". The voice came from the balding cashier.
"They were looking for the missing cave divers... That story had me shocked to the core. Take the article, if you like. You'd probably need it more than I do.".
The offer was like a cry of help, from the words Frank gathered. Although not that he managed to gather much. His mind didn't fully move on from the fact that two officers were found dead. It set a dark, looming cloud over his head.
"I'm fine... thank you," he let out.
And with that, he set off, exiting the store and into the building unrest. Not knowing whether the scene was of a similar scale to what he felt bubbling inside him.