GARFIELD ZONE 6 LITTLE ROCK
When the evening was spread out against the sky like a patient etherized upon a table, two thousand students attending Kent State University in Ohio went on the warpath - big time. The two thousand rioters consisted of first mini-semester summer students, members of a symposium on the future of college journalism, one hundred and twenty attendees of a drama workshop, and two hundred members of the Future Farmers of America, Ohio branch, whose convention happened to coincide with the grassfire spread of the superflu. All of them had been cooped up on the campus since June 22, four days ago. What follows is a transcription of police-band communications in the area, spanning the time period 7:16-7:22 P.M.
"Unit 16, unit 16, do you copy? Over."
"Ah, copy, unit 20. Over."
"Ah, we got a group of kids coming down the mall here, 16. About seventy warm bodies, I'd say, and... ah, check that, unit 16, we got another group coming the other way... Jesus, two hundred or more in that one, looks like. Over."
"Unit 20, this is base. Do you copy? Over."
"Read you five-by, base. Over."
"I'm sending Chumm and Halliday over. Block the road with your car. Take no other action. If they go over you, spread your legs and enjoy it. No resistance, do you copy? Over."
"I copy no resistance, base. What are those soldiers doing over on the eastern side of the mall, base? Over."
"What soldiers? Over."
"That's what I asked you, base. They're - "
"Base, this is Dudley Chumm. Oh shit, this is unit 12. Sorry, base. There's a bunch of kids coming down Burrows Drive. About a hundred and fifty. Headed for the mall. Singing or chanting or some damn thing. But Cap, Jesus Christ, we see soldiers, too. They're wearing gas masks, I think. Ah, they look to be in a skirmish line. That's what it looks like, anyway. Over."
"Base to unit 12. Join unit 20 at the foot of the mall. Same instructions. No resistance. Over."
"Roger, base. I am rolling. Over."
"Base, this is unit 17. This is Halliday, base. Do you copy? Over."
"I copy, 17. Over."
"I'm behind Chumm. There's another two hundred kids coming west to east toward the mall. They've got signs, just like in the sixties. One says SOLDIERS THROW DOWN YOUR GUNS. I see another one that says THE TRUTH THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH. They - "
"I don't give a shit what the signs say, unit 17. Get down there with Chumm and Peters and block them off. It sounds like they're headed into a tornado. Over."
"Roger. Over and out."
"This is Campus Security Chief Richard Burleigh now speaking to the head of the military forces encamped on the south side of this campus. Repeat: this is Campus Security Chief Burleigh. I know you've been monitoring our communications, so please spare me the ducking and f**king and acknowledge. Over."
"This is Colonel Albert Philips, U.S. Army. We are listening, Chief Burleigh. Over."
"Base, this is unit 16. The kids are coming together at the war memorial. They appear to be turning toward the soldiers. This looks nasty. Over."
"This is Burleigh, Colonel Philips. Please state your intentions. Over."
"My orders are to contain those present on campus to the campus. My only intention is to follow my orders. If those people are just demonstrating, they are fine. If they intend to try breaking out of quarantine, they are not. Over."
"You surely don't mean - "
"I mean what I said, Chief Burleigh. Over and out."
"Philips! Philips! Answer me, goddam you! Those aren't commie guerrillas out there! They're kids! American kids! They aren't armed! They - "
"Unit 13 to base. Ah, those kids are walking right toward the soldiers, Cap. They're waving their signs. Singing that song. The one the Baez crotch used to sing. Oh. Shit, I think some of them are throwing rocks. They... Jesus! Oh Jesus Christ! They can't do that!"
"Base to unit 13! What's going on out there? What's happening?"
"This is Chumm, Dick. I'll tell you what's happening out here. It's a slaughter. I wish I was blind. Oh, the f**kers! They... ah, they're mowing those kids down. With machine guns, it looks like. As far as I can tell, there wasn't even any warning. The kids that are still on their feet... ah, they are breaking up... running to all points of the compass. Oh Christ! I just saw a girl cut in half by gunfire! Blood... there must be seventy, eighty kids lying out there on the grass. They - "
"Chumm! Come in! Come in, unit 12!"
"Base, this is unit 17. Do you copy? Over."
"I copy you, goddammit, but where's f**king Chumm? Fucking over!"
"Chumm and... Halliday, I think... got out of their cars for a better look. We're coming back, Dick. Now it looks like the soldiers are shooting each other. I don't know who's winning, and I don't care. Whoever it is will probably start on us next. When those of us who can get back do get back, I suggest that we all go down in the basement and wait for them to use up their ammo. Over."
"Goddammit - "