It's the End of the World as We Know It

He sighed.

"Another 20 minutes. What am I gonna do for that long? I've finished my book, it wasn't good enough to read again. Ok, I'm gonna go out for a cigarette. Damn, I don't smoke half as much when I'm not travelling."

He got up and walked out.

"Well, maybe i'll give up when I get back home. Pssh, as if I'll ever get back home. I wish I could be home longer than I week, then I could make her see that I love her. It's just... it's just this job..."

He took a long drag and exhaled sharply.

"Oh, life is so complicated, I wish something could simplify it for me."

He turned around towards the news stand and saw the TV on.

"Breaking News, we have just had unconfirmed reports that a..."

"Hmm, that sounded serious, hope it wasn't anything major. Those guys always blow things out of proportion anyway."

He finished his cigarette as the stand owner smashed his hand against the TV to get it working again. He walked back inside, "Yeah, like that'll do anything."

He saw a crowd of people gathering around a TV, one was up beside the TV, flicking through the channels. One by one, he revealed a blank screen. Finally, he got an image

"..Scenes of chaos here as it looks like -.."

Screen went blank.

"Pssh, news companies blowing things out of proportion again."

People looked amongst themselves and went back to waiting for their trains.

Gare du Nord in Paris looked preety much how it always looked, people bustled their way to wherever they were going, people sat bored, waiting for their train. Lovers held each other before the dreaded goodbye and parents reminisced with children about when they were still in the nest.

Fréderic Gustave checked his watch again. As he did so, the boarding call for the 12:00 international service to Berlin was made. He always wearied of these business trips, especially since his company 'Pere Noel' would never shell out the money for a flight.

"They could just send me with RyanAir, I wouldn't mind" he often complained to himself.

He had done this trip several times now, he was the only high-ranking member of the team who could speak German. This was important if the merger with IBDF, the biggest glass maker in Berlin was to be successful. He was unhappy with all this, but was barely kept from quiting because of the large overtime payments he got. His plan was to get home and invite Debby on a romantic week away and then propose at the end of it.

He figured it might work, if she didn't break up with him first. He was away all the time and this put huge strain on their relationship. He could feel her slipping away all the time as the bonds between them grew weaker. This was the last time, he swore, when he got home, he was going to stay with her for as long as he could. He was going to strengthen the ties and cement there relationship. He just hoped it would last until he got back.

The boarding call was made for his 12:00 international train to Berlin.

"Thank God, I feel like I've been waiting for hours."

He validated his ticket and got on board. Relaxing into his seat, he had already forgotten about the anxious scenes he had witnessed on television. The train got off to its usual steady start and Fréderic set in to have a nice sleep while he waited for the train to arrive. His first attempts were foiled by two train workers walking past him, he heard there every word.

"I don't know, we can't find anything out because all the TV stations are gone. The internet is too slow to be practical, I think something big is happening."
"I rang my wife and she said the soldiers she saw in Tuileries...."

He was slightly perturbed by this and the images of the television were brought back to him. Soldiers? He sighed and shrugged it off, probably nothing. He closed his eyes again and aimed to fall asleep. He was woken up again when one of the same workers came rushing down the aisle shouting to his colleauges in the other carriage.

"Pierre! We got one working, come quick, you won't believe it."

Fréderic sat up in annoyance.

"Just what's going..."

The worker interrupted him,

"I'm sorry sir, but you may want to see this.'

He motioned towards the captain's cabin. Fréderic slowly moved towards the room, he could see the television flickering in between the mass of people's heads. He manouvered his way to the front of the crowd, until he was able to hear clearly. On the screen he saw Georges de Prève, the best known anchor for TV1, one of France's national TV stations.

"..everywhere, treating us roughly and not allowing any contact with the outside world. They have already threatened us with death and I fear what may happen if they discover me here. From the reports we received before the takeover, we know that the President has been killed and the entire cabinet taken hostage, as well as the head of the National Police Force and the Army. We understand that sister groups in all the G8 countries and several others have also struck at heads of government and heads of state.

The Prime Ministers of Great Britain, Russia, Spain and Italy and missing, possibly dead. The Queen of England has been shot, the first five people in America's line of command have been killed. Cabinet members in countries all over the world have been kidnapped. We are witnessing a total worldwide revolution. These men have not told us who they are, they are currently ensuring their control of the station but have told us that "

Georges went silent for a moment and looked behind the camera, his eyes wide with fear. His eyeballs followed some invisible figure across the room. Eventually his eyes closed slightly and he looked back at the camera.

"Forgive me, one of them just walked in. They have told us that they will broadcast a message and inform the world of the their intentions. What we do know right now, however, is that "

He went silent again,

"Perhaps I should leave before... "

Silence,

"Oh no, "

Two arms could be seen lifting Georges of the ground,

"No, wait, I was.. "

The sound of metal smashing against flesh and bone was heard, and again until eventually the camera was smashed on a second attempt by an unknown guard.

Everyone looked amongst themselves again. What is all this? What does it mean? What are they going to do?