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But so they understood across the Internet Yes, the dead were rising, said the bloggers; yes, they were attacking people; yes, it was a virus; and yes, there was a chance weon, the whole damn world was infected The moment Dr Kellis’s cure hit the air, we had no choice but to fight

We fought as hard as we could That’s when the Wall began Every blogger who died during the summer of ’14 is preserved there, from the politicos to the soccer moms We’ve taken their last entries and collected them in one place, to honor them, and to remember what they paid for the truth We still add people to the Wall So with sohthearted last entry that ends with “See you later”

Everya zombie was tested somewhere A lot of the time, the people who tested it died shortly afterward, but they posted their results first We learned orked, what to do, and what to watch for in the people around us It was a grassroots revolution based on two simple precepts: survive however you could, and report back whatever you learned because ityou ever needed to know, you learned in kindergarten What the world learned that sus were different when the dust cleared Soht find it petty to say “especially where the neas concerned,” but if you ask e happened People didn’t trust regulated news anymore They were confused and scared, and they turned to the bloggers, who ht be unfiltered and full of shit, but were fast, prolific, and allowed you to triangulate on the truth Get your news from six or nine sources and you can usually tell the bullshit froer who does your triangulation for you You don’t have to worry about another zo unreported because so community divided into its current branches within a few years of the Rising, reacting to swelling ranks and a changing society You’ve got Newsies, who report fact as untainted by opinion as we can e, and our cousins, the Stewarts, who report opinion inforive the relatively housebound general populace a little thrill, while their more sedate counterparts, the Aunties, share stories of their lives, recipes, and other snippets to keep people happy and relaxed And, of course, the Fictionals, who fill the online world with poetry, stories, and fantasy They have a thousand branches, all with their own na to anyone who isn’t a Fictional We’re the all-purpose opiate of the new ive you a way to escape when the news becoes May Disturb You,

the blog of Georgia Mason, August 6, 2039

Four

Presidential cans have traditionally been attended by “pet journalists” selected to follow the ca to the soe that Candidates announce their runs for the big chair, pick up their little flock of television, radio, and print reporters, and hit the road

This year’s presidential election is different, largely because one of the lead candidates, Senator Peter Ryman—born, raised, and elected in Wisconsin—is the firstthe su betrayed by the news, of watching people die because they trusted the media to tell them the truth So when he announced his candidacy, hethe usual crew to follow his caers to walk the can trail with him from before the first pri he e strike for the legitimacy of Internet news Maybe we’re licensed journalists noith all the insurance costs and restrictions that ianizations, and we can have trouble getting to infor a presidential candidate acknowledge us was an a to allow three bloggers to co All of them had to have their Class A-15 licenses before they could even apply; if you were in the process of qualifying, your application would be thrown out without any sort of review

Most of the bloggers we know applied, either singly or in groups, and anted that posting so bad that we could taste it It was our ticket to the big leagues Buffy had been operating under a Class B-20 license for years; as a Fictional, she didn’t need the clearance for field work, political reporting, or biohazard zones, and so she’d never seen the point in paying the license fees or taking the tests Shaun and I rushed her through her A-level tests and classifications so fast that she just looked sort of stunned when they handed her the upgraded license We sent in our application the next day

Shaun was sure we’d get it I was sure ouldn’t Now, still staring at e?”

“Yeah?”

“You oweand throwinghis arround in order to whirl ot the job!” I shouted back

After that, we devolved to shouting the words together, Shaun still swinging me in a circle, until the bedroom interco that racket for a reason?”