Xu Zhenlan stood in the living room, his attention fixed on the television, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared at the screen.
The announcement was being repeated across every channel, there was nothing else on the tv but this. And it was all the same government officials, the same panel of scientists, the same promises. Hell it was even the same footage of military aircraft being prepared for deployment.
But the tone was different from when they first told the public about the infected. Back then they were in a controlled frenzy, a panic that could only be noticed by people who hid panic for a living.
Now there was no panic anymore. No frantic updates about overwhelmed hospitals or collapsing infrastructure. No reporters standing in front of burning buildings or overrun streets.
Just certainty.
Just control.
Just the promise that at noon, everything would end.
