bag and touched up her makeup. Gina, setting up the camera on a tripod, found herself watching Ashley applying fresh lipstick. She really was a good-looking woman, Gina had to admit. Shame she was a bit type A. That wasn’t Gina’s cup of tea at all. She went for the more chill types, like herself. Someone who could relax. Ashley seemed like someone who white-knuckled their way through every moment.
Ashley finished her touch up as Gina peered through her viewfinder, framing up the barrier with attendant officers and the police cars farther up the street in the shot. ‘OK, got a good background for you,’ Gina told Ashley. ‘You got your lines?’
Ashley nodded. She stepped in front of the camera. ‘Here?’
‘Perfect.’
‘You ready?’
Gina checked her mic levels. ‘Yep.’ She hit record. ‘Rolling.’
Ashley cleared her throat, and she was off. ‘I’m reporting here from the scene of a…’ Ashley trailed off. Gina didn’t know why initially, wondering if Ashley had forgotten what she was going to say, but then she heard it. Shouting. Distant, unintelligible, male, angry.
‘Can you hear what he’s saying?’ Ashley said to Gina, still behind the camera.
‘Can’t make it out. Step out of frame, if I blast the levels on my mic, we might catch it.’
Ashley jumped out of frame, standing next to Gina, whacking up the volume on the microphone, listening through her headset to see if she could hear actual words. She was able to catch only one sentence before everything went silent again. Gina slipped her headphones off.
‘Well, anything?’ Ashley asked her.
Gina turned. ‘I heard him. Just a bit.’
‘What did he say?’
Gina hesitated. It was a very nasty thing to have to repeat. ‘All I heard him say was, “You come in here, I’ll kill everyone.”
Ashley was shocked. ‘Jesus.’
‘Yeah,’ Gina agreed.
Ashley nodded. ‘So obviously, we can’t leave now.’
It was Gina’s turned to be shocked. ‘What?!’
Seven
Ashley couldn’t believe she’d almost left. Just when things were getting, well, she didn’t want to say exciting, because people’s lives were on the line, but she couldn’t change that, nor was it her job to. Her job was to report the news. And news was still happening. She had to stay.
Only Gina seemed less keen.
‘You said you’d stay,’ Ashley reminded her.
‘You said we were going to leave.’
‘I’ve changed my mind.’
‘Then maybe I’ll change mine,’ Gina shrugged.
Ashley waited to see if that was an idle threat. ‘So are you leaving?’
Gina looked uncertain. ‘Will you come with me?’
‘No. I’ll stay here,’ Ashley said obstinately.
‘What’s the point without a camera?’
‘I’ll just have to shoot on my phone,’ Ashley said with resignation.
Gina looked longingly at the van. But then she sighed. ‘For fuck’s sake.’
Ashley was surprised into a small smile. ‘You’re gonna stay?’
‘If you are, I guess I have to.’
‘Why?’
‘Because like you said, I agreed to. And you seem… This seems to be quite important. To you,’ Gina said simply.
Ashley felt slightly overwhelmed. What did Gina care about what mattered to her? ‘I guess,’ she said, feeling oddly shy. Odd because she had never felt shy in her life.
‘So are you finishing your piece to the camera or what?’ Gina asked.
Ashley thought it over. ‘I think I’ll wait, see if we get anything more to report on.’
‘Back in the van, then?’ Gina suggested.
‘Yeah, alright. But maybe keep the window down, poke your mic through, in case we get more audio.’
‘Kay,’ Gina said, and they climbed into the van.
Some time passed, and they heard nothing. Ashley was happy to simply sit in silence, but apparently, Gina wasn’t. ‘So, seems like maybe you want to go a bit bigger than local news?’
Ashley grimaced. ‘What are you doing?’
‘I’m making conversation.’
‘What for?’ Ashley asked, peeved.
Gina rolled her eyes. ‘Because we work together. I know you’re not a small talk type, but perhaps you’ve seen people doing this on TV? Trying to get to know someone you’re gonna be spending time with?’
Ashley gave a dry little smile. ‘You won’t last.’
Gina laughed. ‘No?’
‘No. This isn’t going to be for you, not long-term. This is a pitstop.’
‘Wow, you’ve got my number then?’
‘You said yourself, this isn’t your thing. One way or another, you’ll move on soon enough,’ Ashley told her.
‘One way or another? That kind of sounds like a threat,’ Gina said, mouth hitched up at one corner.
Ashley glanced at her. ‘You’re my fourth cameraperson. I’m under no illusions that I’m easy to work with.’
‘Maybe I like a challenge,’ Gina suggested.
‘Do you?’
Gina considered. ‘No, not especially. I tend to go where the tide takes me.’
Ashley, still watching the barrier and the street