Chapter 15: The Broadcast
The air in the helicopter was tense, thick with disbelief as they circled over the ruins of Galewood. Rick adjusted the camera, zooming in on the charred wreckage below, while Lisa Warner sat rigid in her seat, her heart pounding in her chest. The two figures they had spotted earlier—the ones moving through the rubble—were still fresh in her mind. How had they survived in the heart of all this?
“Are we live yet?” Lisa asked again, this time with more urgency. She gripped the microphone tightly, her hands slick with sweat. The city was gone, and she needed to tell the world what they were seeing.
“Five seconds,” Rick muttered, his voice tight with tension. He kept the camera trained on the twisted landscape below, trying to capture as much detail as possible. The scale of the destruction was hard to comprehend, even from the sky. “And… we’re live.”
Lisa swallowed hard, bringing the microphone to her lips as she stared at the vast expanse of ruin. “This is Lisa Warner, reporting live from the skies over what was once the city of Galewood. What we are witnessing here is nothing short of unimaginable—an explosion of unbelievable proportions has reduced this city to ash and rubble. We are still waiting for official details, but from what we can see, Galewood… Galewood is no more.”
The helicopter flew lower, and the camera zoomed in, capturing the blackened, smoldering landscape below. Buildings that had once stood tall were now reduced to little more than skeletal remains, twisted metal and shattered glass scattered like broken bones. Fires still burned in scattered patches, sending thick plumes of smoke into the sky.
“Entire city blocks have been leveled,” Lisa continued, her voice heavy with shock. “The streets, once bustling with life, are now buried beneath debris. Cars lie overturned, their frames crushed and melted. The destruction stretches as far as the eye can see.”
The camera panned across the devastation, zooming in on specific areas of interest—the remains of a residential neighborhood, now nothing more than a tangle of collapsed rooftops and crushed homes. The remnants of a school, where a playground stood half-buried under concrete and ash. The skeletons of office buildings, their glass facades blown out, their steel frames bent at impossible angles.
“The scale of this disaster is incomprehensible,” Lisa continued. “Galewood was home to nearly a million people, and right now, we have no reports of survivors. Emergency services are struggling to reach the heart of the city due to the scale of the devastation, and as of now, there is no word on what caused this explosion.”
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The camera shifted its focus again, zooming in on what remained of Galewood’s central business district. What had once been towering skyscrapers were now twisted hulks of metal and concrete, half-buried under mountains of debris. Smoke curled up from the cracks in the ground, and fires raged in the distance, casting an eerie glow across the ruins.
“Authorities have not yet issued an official statement, but from what we’re seeing here, the destruction appears to be total,” Lisa said, her voice trembling slightly as she struggled to find the right words. “This was not a natural disaster. This was something far more violent—something that has wiped out an entire city in the blink of an eye.”
She paused, her thoughts briefly returning to the figures they had seen earlier—two people, barely moving, dragging themselves through the devastation. They hadn’t been able to get close enough to identify them, but the image of their slow, painful movements stuck in her mind. It was a miracle they were even alive, and yet, somehow, they were still moving.
“There is… there is one more detail we need to share with you,” Lisa said, her voice softer now. “Earlier, as we approached the city, we did actually spot two individuals moving through the wreckage. We don’t know who they are or how they survived, but they were the only signs of life we have seen so far.”
The camera shifted, zooming in on the general area where they had last seen the figures. From this distance, it was impossible to spot them again, but Lisa knew they were down there, somewhere among the rubble, still fighting to survive.
“At this time, we have no further information on these individuals,” Lisa continued. “But the fact that anyone survived the explosion at all is… extraordinary. We will continue to monitor the situation and update you as more details emerge.”
The helicopter began to circle back, the camera capturing the sheer scope of the devastation from a higher altitude. Entire neighborhoods were flattened, roads split open, bridges collapsed. The fires and smoke stretched on for miles, consuming everything in their path. There was no sign of rescue teams, no sign of life—just an endless sea of wreckage.
“The destruction we’re seeing here is like nothing we’ve ever witnessed,” Lisa said, her voice heavy with disbelief. “Galewood has been reduced to a wasteland. The full death toll is still unknown, but given the scale of the explosion, it’s likely that thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, have lost their lives in this tragedy.”
Rick zoomed in once more on the charred remains of a residential area. What had once been homes—filled with families, children, and lives—was now a tangle of broken wood and crushed concrete. The stillness was overwhelming. No sounds of life. No movement.
“We can’t stress enough the scale of what has happened here,” Lisa continued, her voice quieter now. “This is an entire city, erased. The lives lost today… are beyond imagining.”
The broadcast went silent for a moment as Lisa let the weight of her words sink in. She knew that the viewers at home were seeing this for the first time, just as she had minutes ago. And she knew they were likely as stunned, as horrified, as she was.
“This is Lisa Warner, reporting live from Galewood,” she said softly, closing the broadcast. “As we continue to gather more information, we’ll keep you updated. But for now, all we can say is that Galewood has been reduced to ashes, and we still don’t know what—or who—caused this disaster.”
The camera panned out, showing the full scope of the devastation one last time before the helicopter banked away from the heat and smoke, heading toward the outskirts of the city to get a broader view. Lisa sat back in her seat, her heart pounding in her chest, her mind racing.