Roaches Run by John Wasowicz

Author:John Wasowicz [Wasowicz, John Adam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-938144-84-4
Publisher: BrickHouse Books
Published: 2021-09-14T16:00:00+00:00

**

MANN TOOK a chance with the story. He reverted to his old self. He had promised himself and his editor that he would avoid repeating his previous mistakes. Yet here he was, writing a quasi-fictional account of what was happening in the city. But he believed he was right. And he still sought retribution against Landry. The unnamed sources were fictitious. The idea that the two events were connected was speculation. The same was true about connecting Landry to the explosion at the hotel. It was all conjecture. In fact, the only real quote was that there was no existential threat to the city. Ironically, the veracity of that statement was the only one he questioned.

**

WHILE THE terrorist alert level remained elevated, an unexpected orderliness settled over the streets of Washington. Behavioral experts predict that, in an emergency, people come together and help one another. Whether it’s a car running off the road into a stream, a twister touching down in a residential community, or a communicable disease threatening the health and well-being of an entire population, people pull together to get one another out of harm’s way.

Online reporters and radio broadcasters reminded listeners that static pools of people constituted soft targets. So people kept moving, navigating streets like water coursing along a riverbed.

“Keep it moving,” advised traffic controllers dressed in orange vests. Their composure at intersections reminded people of the orderly mayhem when exiting a stadium after a championship game. We got this, people seemed to be saying without actually uttering a word. Order replaced chaos. Pedestrians stopped at intersections when the lights turned red, and then proceeded on green. No one pushed. No one jaywalked. Cars crawled along, bumper to bumper, unimpeded by the pedestrians. Bikes and scooters weaved in and out of traffic but avoided the throngs that controlled the sidewalks.

The orderliness resembled a wave at a stadium event, except people weren’t jumping up and waving their hands. They just moved in tandem. A mantra took hold: Stay cool, calm, and collected. We’re going to get through this thing together.

It helped that everyone was wired and that the crowds were sparse compared to most previous Memorial Day weekends. People with earplugs listened to nonstop updates on local radio stations WTOP and WAMU. Others read newsfeeds from The Chronicle, The Post, Politico, Bloomberg, and other news sources. Everyone was connected to one another. News alerts continued to spread across airwaves. The basic facts were the same. A train was stopped on a trestle over the river.

The explosion at the hotel was a one-off. Nothing else happened in the past two hours. Each passing moment heightened the sense of safety and security. Breathing returned to normal. The pace of the crowd slowed. Someone stopped and gave a traffic controller a bottle of water.

As an air of confidence ringed the city, the mayor held a press conference. It wasn’t just any press conference. It was held in front of the Metro Center subway station, a symbolic ground zero. District and regional law enforcement officers surrounded the podium.

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