After a brief interview, Secretary of State William Hurt stood there with a wry smile.
He was at the outer edge of the cordon and had to wait until Chief George finished giving his speech in front of hundreds of media outlets before following him into the Infection Zone.
Together, they would accompany the attention-grabbing President Ellis, their oversized heads representing the region, Congress, and the White House, and face pressure from every direction. They would risk their lives to buy time for the 500,000 people in Harlem.
William Hurt wasn't afraid of death. At least, he had the basic bearing of a politician!
President Ellis had stolen the spotlight with his speech in the Infection Zone, delivered to two reporters. The image of a "Lone Watcher" had been firmly established.
Meanwhile, the political forces William Hurt represented had been branded as dead weight.
All it would take was a few photographs for the newspapers and television commentators to churn out countless stories the next day about Congress and the White House conspiring to persecute their own president.
When Alvin led the Hell's Kitchen convoy through all the obstacles and arrived at the outer edge of the cordon, William Hurt gave a wry smile and took out his phone to make a call...
"Tell the head of the Department of Homeland Security to prepare a resignation letter. Someone from Logistics needs to take responsibility too. And...
Give the White House back to President Ellis!
Whatever it takes, we have to maintain stability. We absolutely can't make another mistake at a time like this!"
"Why? You're actually asking me why?"
William Hurt looked at the chaotic scene, which had grown even more disordered with the arrival of the enormous Hell's Kitchen convoy, and said angrily, "Our Chemical Defense Unit is