INTERLUDE - London 14:05
Amanda stared intently at her computer screen, fingers drumming on her desk. After her conversation with the Marrenforth Chief Constable, she'd cleared her diary in order to devote herself completely to what was happening there. Although the idea of a zombie apocalypse was clearly ridiculous, there was definitely something going on and it was getting worse. She couldn't work out exactly what it was, but her political senses were practically screaming with alarm. The situation was dangerous and needed watching.
So she had watched it, carefully. As time had gone on, she'd experienced a growing sense of anger and frustration. The violence was one thing, but what was far worse was the misinformation. People were spreading more of these ridiculous stories, risking not just panic in the shires but possibly questions in the House. Her office had started receiving enquiries from the press, but she'd fobbed them off with a story about an anti-fascist demonstration getting out of control.
The Marrenforth situation wasn't a demo, but it was definitely getting out of control. Yet there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.
Oh, she had the power to stop these rumours with one phone call. MI5 via GCHQ had back doors into every communications system, ISP and internet gateway in the country. And for the past few years, some of those back doors had even been legal. One word from her and any or all of the internet could be blacked out in the UK. But the problem with legalising the powers was that it meant greater scrutiny and more constraints over when and how she could use them. Only very specific circumstances could justify even a partial blackout.
Whatever was happening in Marrenforth, the irresponsible rumours were making it worse. Maybe after this was over, the PM would listen to her suggestions for greater control of the internet. Right now, though, all she could do was shut things down completely. She was ready to do that, she just had to wait for the right opportunity.
A new post caught her eye. It was a link to a video entitled: "Marrenforth hero slays zombie!!!". This could be it. She clicked on the link.
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The video that played was low quality, clearly taken from a phone in a shaky hand. It showed a woman backed against a wall as a man shambled towards her. Amanda assumed he was one of the junkies that were causing so much trouble.
Before the 'zombie' could reach the woman, a fat man in repulsively tight clothes ran up behind and... tapped it on the shoulder. The shambler turned, at which point the man thrust some sort of long knife directly into its eye socket. The 'zombie' man began reaching his arms up to his head, then simply stopped. He crumpled to the ground like a rag doll, knife still embedded in his head.
Amanda gasped. She'd just watched a video of a brutal murder. In England. Posted on social media.
That sort of violence was what that idiot Geoffrey in the police was meant to deal with. Well, there would be no problem identifying the killer. He'd be locked up within a week. And Geoffrey would be out of a job.
But that was for later. What made the video useful to her now was the stream of comments underneath it: "What a hero! We need more people like 💖Captain Marrenforth💖", "Grab any wepns u can find 🔪", "Get out there and fight, kill them all 💀💀💀" and many more expressing similar ideas.
"First self-defence, then vigilantes, then murderer gangs." Amanda muttered to herself. "It all spirals out of control and these sites just fuel it."
This zombie crap was ridiculous, what they were dealing with was a cycle of violence and mass hysteria feeding on each other with the internet amplifying everything. It was dreadful, but at least the video and accompanying comments were what she needed to justify action. She picked up the secure phone and made a call to MI5.
"Raj," she said. "I take it you've been watching the Marrenforth situation? Yes, I think so too. Well I've now got the 'ongoing exhortation to immediate violence and/or civil unrest' plus 'mass threat to life'. So I need you... You're way ahead of me. Good man, Raj. We think alike. What you can't shut down, jam. Anything else you can tell me? Hmm, yes. It could be some form of chemical or biological leak. We don't have any facilities there, do we? Thanks God for that. OK, I'll talk to Health. Thanks Raj."
She finished the call and began the required paperwork - some things still had to be done the old fashioned way. Raj wouldn't bother waiting for it, but they'd need a paper chain later if things went bad.
The important thing now was that within a few minutes all civil phone, radio and internet connectivity to, from or inside the Marrenforth area would be impossible. Only official channels would operate.
The public needed to be protected.
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