Day Two
An original science fiction story
This is a fictional AP-style news article detailing the aftermath of an extraterrestrial attack on multiple US cities. It serves as a sequel to my earlier story Day One. Enjoy!
Dozens arrested in Philadelphia after clashes with police following deadly alien attacks
By: Cole Ashford
World News Daily
PHILADELPHIA — Hundreds of protesters clashed with police officers on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening, leading to mass arrests one day after extraterrestrial attacks claimed tens of thousands of lives in the deadliest attack on the United States in history.
Philadelphia was one of four cities — along with New York City, Boston, and Baltimore — besieged by hundreds of metallic extraterrestrial spheres on Monday afternoon. Energy weapons fire from the swarming spheres reduced large sections of each city to rubble. New reports moved the official death toll in the four cities up to 27, 972 as first responders continued their search for survivors. Tens of thousands of other residents suffered serious injuries or are reported missing.
Aerial bombardment from the spheres left many neighborhoods in Central City and South Philadelphia in ruins. Approximately two million Philadelphia residents are still without power or running water in their homes more than 24 hours after the attacks first began. Temperatures hovered in the mid-90s into late Tuesday afternoon.
Protesters marched down Chestnut Street, going from City Center to Penn's Landing, demanding action from city leaders. Violent skirmishes broke out when the crowd ignored orders to disperse and return to their homes. Dozens of people were arrested. Police officers fired tear gas into the crowd to chase away the remaining protesters.
The White House was swift to condemn “lawless actions” by the protesters.
“Panic and violence are never the answer,” White House Press Secretary Greta Monroe said. “President Gillman is working closely with officials in all affected cities to restore basic services as quickly and efficiently as possible. This alien incursion has shattered many lives, but we must not let it divide us as a nation.”
President Gillman was not made available to speak with reporters. The President, his family, and his cabinet remain hidden inside a secure bunker in an undisclosed location following the alien attacks.
Protests also erupted in dozens of other cities nationwide as panicked Americans demanded answers from government officials. Many experts fear what happened on Monday is only a precursor to a much deadlier conflict ahead.
“We don't know who did this to us or why they attacked Earth,” said Myron Osgood, Chair of Exoplanetary Studies at Villanova University. “You can't blame people for lashing out. You can’t blame them feeling angry and scared after seeing their leaders do nothing to protect this planet or its people.”
White House critics point to off-world activities of the Earth Defense Bureau that are alleged to have played a key role in Monday’s attacks. Critics believe the EDB has strayed far from its original purpose of providing planetary defense. Drew Jenkins, a former high-level bureau official turned whistleblower, alleged in an exclusive video interview with World News Daily that the White House sent billions of dollars in military aid to a distant exoplanet six months before the attacks. This extensive aid package, according to Jenkins, was sent to an Earth colony orbiting Alpha Centauri B and then rerouted to alien insurgents working to topple a dictator on a completely different planet located 11.4 light years from Earth.
“Interfering in another planet's internal conflicts only opens a door for Earth to suffer reprisals from advanced alien races,” Jenkins said. “It's a damn shame our government refuses to see or acknowledge the veracity of this scenario and now we’re suffering from their incompetence.”
Strict mandatory curfews have been instituted in numerous cities from coast to coast to prevent protests and riots from intensifying in the aftermath of the alien attacks.
World News Daily’s Washington correspondent Chip Wright contributed to this report.
Did you enjoy this sci-fi tale? Browse through other short stories in the Strange New Worlds archive and check out my Alien People Chronicles series.
I almost want to see a little ad in the middle of the AP copy, like a brief interruption in the news to sell some diapers or whatever.
I usually don't go for epistolary stories, but this was a great read, John! It was very punchy and read just like it came off the wire.