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THURSDAY

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I wake up before the alar as I try again tothat&039;s happened over the last few days It all see actually happened at all? I still can&039;t help wondering if this is all just the result of peoples&039; fucked-up and overenthusiastic i ht ofit&039;s difficult to try and co to convince et ready for work But then I remember what I saw in Millennium Square yesterday and I&039;m overcome with nerves and uncertainty as the reality of it all hitshere Lizzie and the kids are asleep It&039;s still dark outside but I get up and shuffle through to the living roo to the people upstairs still hasn&039;t returned What happened up there? My mind starts to wander and play tricks Was there a Hater upstairs? It scares me to think that my kids could have been so close to one of them I force myself to remember Lizzie&039;s words ere awake earlier I have to ignore what&039;s going on everywhere else and concentrate on keeping the people on this side of the front door safe

The flat feels colder than ever thisand the low temperature makes me feel old beyond my years I fetch some breakfast and then sit in front of the TV I watch cartoons I can&039;t cope with anything h a bowl of dry cereal and I can&039;t eat any more I don&039;t have much of an appetite I feel uneasy all the ti out there What the hell is going on? I think about all the unconnected events I&039;ve witnessed and the hundreds - probably thousands - of other incidents which have happened elsewhere No-one can see any connection and yet how can all of these things not be connected? That, I decide, is theaspect of all How can so in to behave so irrationally and erratically in such a short period of time?

I look over at the clock and realise that I should be getting ready for work now My sto to phone in and speak to Tina Christ knohat she&039;s going to say or what I&039; to tell her Maybe I just won&039;t phone at all

My curiosity and apprehension gets the better of me I finally relent and switch on the news Half oftoday, the other half wants to go back to bed, put ain until it&039;s all over And that causes me to ask myself yet another unanswerable question - hoill this end? Will this wave of violence and destruction just fade and die out, or will it keep building and building?

The TV news channel looks different this er on why The set is the sanise the uess the usual newsreader didn&039;t turn up for work today Half the staff didn&039;t turn up at s should be any different for the people on TV, is there? Except, perhaps, the fact that they get paid a hell of a lota hell of a lot less

The news is running on a loop again It seems to be just the headlines on repeat, introduced by these two presenters There&039;s no sport or entertainment or business news any are all similar to those we&039;ve seen before No explanations, just basic information Occasionally the cycle is interrupted when one of the newsreaders interviews soious leaders and others being interviewed over the last few days They can all talk the talk and most of theuise the fact that they see as the rest of us And there are other people who I would have expected to see intervieho have been conspicuous by their absence What about the Prime Minister and other top-level politicians? Why aren&039;t they showing their faces? Are they too busy trying to personally deal with the crisis (I doubt it) or could it be that they&039;re no longer in office? Could the head of government or the chief of police be Haters?

Theabout schools and businesses re closed when a sudden flurry of movement in front of the ca a clipboard and wearing headphones stumbles into view It&039;s a tall, oainst the newsreaders&039; desk Is she a producer or director or sohtly to make sure the camera is properly focussed on her

&039;Don&039;t listen to any more of this rubbish,&039; she says, her weary face desperate and tear-streaked &039;You&039;re only being told half the story Don&039;t listen to anything they tell you&039;

And then she&039;s gone There&039;s more movement all around her before the pictures disappear and the screen goes black After a wait of a fewand uncomfortable seconds the broadcast returns It&039;s a report about personal safety and security that I&039;ve seen at least five ti told? That woet an opportunity to speak out for days

I phoned the office a few o but there was no answer I was relieved when I didn&039;t have to speak to anyone but then I started to panic again when I thought about how bad things ot if no-one&039;s turned up for work

There&039;s nothing else to do now except sit back on the sofa in front of the TV and watch the world fall apart