Terrorvision

Written for a contest.

Prompt: ‘Write a story set in the summer’

Terrorvision

Outside, the summer heat seared the cloudless sky. Tourists soaked up the summer sun, like lizards. Omar preferred the sterile air of the headquarters. The air-conditioning kept things just to his liking.

The tapes had long been prepared in a painstaking process to achieve authenticity. They contained scenes of family picnics, sporting events, kids at the beach. One of the tapes even had a couple engaged in the act of love and all to avoid suspicion when the destruction and chaos was caught on film. If the organisation always submitted footage on fresh, blank tapes someone might start to question the source. No, it all had to look natural.

There were more precautions to be taken of course. They tried to use different cameras each time; change the style of filming; change the height of the cameraman. They sent the tapes from different addresses, under different names. Familiarity and pattern were the enemy.

Preparations were almost over now, it was time for Omar to pack up and travel to the location, the target. He checked the batteries were fully charged, the tape rewound and the camera functioning.

************

Omar panned the busy street, capturing the bustling scene as the tourists and businessmen jostled along the stifling streets. The air was filled with the shouts of stall holders and the braying of car horns.

Suddenly an explosion shook the scene. Smoke and screaming now filled the air, as the people panicked. The crowd moved like a shoal of fish, pursued and divided by hungry sharks. They scattered, changed direction, merged and scattered again.

Omar grinned behind his video camera.

************

The urgent news broadcast stated that twenty five had been confirmed dead in the attack; as many as a hundred more had been injured by the blast and the ensuing panic. Early reports suggested the whole event had been captured by an amateur cameraman. The footage would be aired as soon as it became available.

A terrorist organisation had already claimed responsibility for the atrocity.

************

Omar’s video aired on every network, each paying three hundred dollars a minute.

The media were not only giving the cause free publicity, they were helping to fund the next attack. Without coverage, there would be no terrorism.

Thank you for watching Terrorvision, Omar thought, as he turned his attention to the next battle in their unending war.

THE END

Word Count: 393