A woman’s blood curdling scream ripped across the store bringing everyone’s attention to the newscast playing on the wall of televisions.

Thousands of people rioted in Times Square, demolishing everything in sight. An employee turned on the sound system and the audio filled the store.

“…-major cities. Authorities demand the public stays in-doors. Find a weapon and do not hesitate to use it. Protect yourselves at all costs,” the newscaster advised.

The camera zoomed in on a bloodied, half-naked woman stampeding toward a couple pushing a stroller through the insanity. There was no trace of humanity in her crazed, wide eyes. The couple didn’t see her coming as she crashed into them, sending the couple and the stroller tumbling to the ground in a heap of twisted limbs.

The parents and the audience watched in horror as the crazed woman snatched the wailing infant by the leg and tossed it through the air into the street. The camera panned away in time to avoid exposing the audience to the infant’s fate. Instead, they mistakenly caught the baby’s father curb-stomping the crazed woman’s head into paste.

“Holy shit! Did you see what those monsters did to that woman?” called out one of the men in the store. His comment was met with some agreement while others expressed their disbelief.

“What the fuck are you talking about? That woman was clearly out of her fucking gourd! She smashed that baby into the concrete!” a store employee countered. He was met with the same mixed reaction.

A cacophony of argument erupted over the savagery they’d witnessed. No one agreed on what happened. Some argued the couple attacked the woman with the stroller. Others complained about not being able to see anything besides fire and smoke. Even the newscaster argued with the person on the other end of his earpiece.

The broadcast switched to other major cities where similar conflicting reports were coming from.

“Oh my god! My uncle lives in Miami!” cried out a cashier.

“So what? Nothing is happening there,” a customer replied, mystified.

“What are you talking about? The city was on fire!” a store manager jumped into the conversation. He curled his hands into fists.

“On fire? There was a riot!” the cashier screamed at the manager with tears in her eyes.

The threesome quarreled and the rest followed. Arguments became shouting matches. Their voices rose, bellowing over the other as if the loudest person would win the fight. Allies turned to enemies in an instant as the disagreements continued. The tension came to a boil and spilled over into violence. One man punched another and amidst the tussle, other fights broke out.

It cascaded into an all-out battle.

Standing away from the crowd, a lone customer watched the situation unfold until it turned violent. He trembled, unable to grasp what happened, and stealthily exited the building while wondering what had made them all lose their collective minds.

There hadn’t been any newscast broadcast.

Those televisions weren’t even on.