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Buffy aiting at her neighborhood guard station, dressed in an eye-popping colitter tunic, with star-and-ram clips in her hair Anyone who didn’t know her would have thought she was completely devoid of sense, fashion or co for Buffy travels withas people are busy staring at her hair, they don’t wonder why she’s so careful about pointing the tiny jewels she has pasted to her nails in their direction

She waved and grabbed her duffel bag when the van pulled up Then she ran to hop into the back with Shaun and e of that ia Hey, Shaun—good evening, Mr and Mrs Mason,” she chirped, buckling herself in while Shaun sla your trip to Colht to elude a bunch of zoh-dive platforette,” said Mom

“Thrill as Buffy kisses ass,” Shaun said, deadpan Buffy shot hihed

Content that all was right with the world, I settled back in my seat, foldedthe chatter in the van wash overday, and it was nowhere near over

When blogging first eed as a major societal trend, it was news rendered anony because Dan Rather looked good on cas because they sounded true The sa poetry, or whatever else folks felt like putting out there for the world to see; you got no context on who created it, and so you judged the work on the basis of what it actually was That changed when the zombies came, at least for the people ent professional These days, bloggers don’t just report the news; they create it, and soers for Senator Ryn? That definitely counts as beco the news

That’s part of why Shaun and Buffy keep rity is unquestioned by our peers, and e make the ju to ce in the readers I’ll make it okay for them to trust us They just have to deal with s because part of what makes me so credible is the fact that my news is free from passion, opinion, and spin I do op-ed, but for the et fro but the truth

So help me God

Shaun elbowed lasses back into position and opened my eyes

“Status?” I asked

“A least four visible cameras Probably twelve to fifteen, all told”

“Leaks?”

“That many cameras, at least six sites already know”

“Got it Buffy?”

“Taking point,” she said, and straightened, putting on her best caed amused looks in the front seat

“It’s all uphill from here,” I said

Shaun leaned over and opened the van door

Before the Rising, crowds of paparazzi were pretty much confined to the known haunts of celebrities and politicians—the people whose faces could be used to sell a few azines The rise of reality television and the Internet ed all that Suddenly, anybody could be a star if they illing to eot fa to achieve since the day we discovered puberty People got fa trivia, or just being willing to get fil in a house full of strangers The world was a weird place before the Rising

After the Rising, with an esti in fear of infection and unwilling to leave their homes, a new breed of reality star was born: the reporter While you can be an aggregator or a Steithout risking yourself in the real world, it’s hard to be an Irwin, a Newsie, or even a really good Fictional if you cut yourself off that way So we’re the ones who eat in restaurants and go to theh we’d really rather not, the ones who take the risks the rest of the country has decided to avoid And e’re not taking those risks ourselves, we report on the people who are We’re like a snake devouring its own tail, over and over again, forever Shaun and I have done paparazzi duty when the stories were thin on the ground and we needed tosession in Santa Cruz So vulture just makes me feel dirty

Buffy was the first to flounce into the crowd, looking like a little glittering ball of sunshine and happiness before they closed ranks around her, flashbulbs going off in all directions Her giggle could cut through steel I could hear it even after she’dthe worst of the paparazzi in the process Buffy’s cute, photogenic, a hell of a lot friendlier than I am, and, best of all, she’s been known to drop hints about her personal life that can be turned into valuable rating points when the stories go live Once, she even brought out a boyfriend He didn’t last long, but when she had him, Shaun and I could practically have danced naked on the van without getting harassed Good ti That smile’s osphere—so like he’d be just as happy to explore the dangerous wilderness of the bedroos that want to iven his continuing lack of a social life that doesn’t include the infected, but they keep falling for it Half the ca around to face him, and several of the chirpy little “anchorwomen”—because every tho kno to post an interview on the vid sites is an anchorwoman these days; just ask them—shoved theirthe less co other than our new assignment