Mutant rights protesters marching along Monument Avenue (photo taken by Kate McCready, Associated Press)Having gotten the call from the AP office in Richmond, it was only a short walk for Kate McCready down from the Broad Avenue residence her and Lanie shared to Monument Avenue; as she made it to the press truck - a Ford F250 with wood slats along the back to protect the photojournalists - Kate climbed aboard and saw an old hand from her West African days. "Dan, when did you get back from there?" she said as she knelt down on the truck bed, preparing her cameras for the day ahead.
"Three weeks ago," he replied, fixing his video camera. Tall, angular and possessing a sharp wit, Dan Berendt was an AP videographer who was assisting the Times-Dispatch. Like Kate McCready, he'd done a couple of four-month stints in West Africa covering the Ebola epidemic...unlike Kate, who'd also done a couple of stints in the region as well, Dan had fallen ill on his second stint in early 2015, eventually spending five weeks in isolation at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston as his body fought off the infection. Looking around, Dan whistled at the size of the crowd of marchers and said to Kate, "This is gonna' be huge."
"What, like Inaugural Protest large? Women's March large? Gun protest march large?" Kate began to say, her voice falling silent as she saw the burgeoning crowds, most of whom had already begun marching past them. They were holding the usual mutant rights and human rights protest signs but Kate saw a couple that were new to her...they read "Free The New York Three" and "Disband GADEM" and "Impeach Denver", all politically charged signs in the current political environment.
As the F250 began moving forward, Kate began snapping a couple photos - mainly test shots, to make sure the Nikon she was carrying (Kate had a second, digital camera for backup) was working properly; with several rolls of film, she knew she was alright camera-wise. "Hey, Kate, did you hear about Fairmount?" Dan asked, his video camera up on one shoulder as they creeped along.
"No, I've been kind of engaged, Dan," Kate quipped, silently wishing she was back home in bed, snuggled in Lanie's loving arms than out here. "Why?" she asked, trying to remind herself exactly what had happened last week in West Virginia.
"TL/DR, Kate?" Dan said, video camera out and watching the protest crowds. "Federal agents tried to pick up a mutant last week on the campus of Fairmount State University in West Virginia; big mistake on their part. Couple dozen student ran them off the university grounds--"
"Yeesh," Kate said in-between camera snaps, pausing as she noticed several mounted horsemen - all Richmond PD, by the looks of them - take up positions along the protest route, which would take the marchers from the Maury Statue right up onto the grounds of the Virginia State Capitol. "Did they say what agency?" she asked, hoping it wasn't GADEM agents that'd been assaulted but also knowing that any assault of a federal law enforcement officer was a major Rubicon-crossing step in the growing tenseness that was enveloping America at present.
"No, CNN just said 'federal agents", Dan replied. Kate shrugged; they had enough work to do as it was. Then Dan asked, "I hear you're getting married soon; who's the lucky lady?" Kate smiled as she let her camera hang from the strap over her neck; she made no secret of her sexuality and didn't care what anyone thought of it. Taking a picture out of her back pocket, she showed it to Dan; it was of her and Lanie at the Arthur Ashe statue embracing the other and smiling for the selfie. That was where I proposed to Lanie, Kate thought, smiling broadly at Dan as he handed her back the picture. "You two are going to make a lovely couple," Dan said; Kate blushed, a nice rosy shade of pink. "I mean that, Kate; you mark my words." Kate blushed some more as they fell silent, the photogs resuming their day's march as the mutant rights march continued on, now passing the Stonewall Jackson Memorial....
Post by Kate McCready on Jul 10, 2018 18:11:34 GMT
Mutant rights protesters speaking along Monument Avenue (photo taken by Kate McCready, Associated Press)As the protest march continued on towards the Virginia State Capitol, Kate snapped off photo after photo, holding onto the back of the F250 as it slowly thundered along Monument Avenue and watching the reactions of everyone - protesters, onlookers, local and state cops keeping the peace along the protest march path. "So where are you and Lanie going on your honeymoon?" Dan asked as they continued along.
"We haven't decided yet," Kate replied, swapping out film rolls and snapping a couple more photos, "but anywhere where we can just be together would be a good place indeed," pausing as two more photojournalists climbed aboard; Kate recognized one of them, a tall lanky South African from the Durban region who was as about as good a photog as Kate was. "What brings you to sunny Richmond, Trevor?" she asked him.
"Oh, beautiful day, nice march...reminds me of the good old days of Johannesburg back in the mid to late 80's," Reuters photojournalist Trevor Koen replied, his harsh Afrikaner accent a jarring contrast to both Kate's southern drawl and Dan's nasal Yankee accent. "But I got a feeling this march is about to turn south fast--"
"Why?" Kate asked, snapping a few more photographs.
"Just got off the phone with some reporters down at the State Capitol," Trevor said, "and there's reports of fighting between protesters and counterprotesters," causing Kate to shoot him a look; the State Capitol was where her and Lanie were going to meet once the protest march had petered away and ended; if there was fighting between protest groups there, Kate wondered...getting up, Kate got a quick bearing on where they were on the protest route and said to the others, "I'm going to climb down and walk the rest of the way," motioning for the driver to stop the truck.
"You sure you want to do that, Kate?" Dan asked, to which Kate replied, "Dan, I've stared down deadly viruses and African warlords, I can stare down a counterprotester or two," pausing as she climbed down onto the asphalt and banged on the side of the truck to let them know she was clear. Walking over towards the sidewalk, Kate continued snapping photos as she got out her smartphone and dialed Lanie's number once more; when she got to the voicemail, Kate said, "Lanie, its' Kate; something's getting ready to go down on this protest march. Meet me at O'Rourke's Pub down by Shockoe Slip, okay sweets?" switching off the smartphone and walking briskly towards the state capitol, little knowing that things were about to get a lot rough for her and the protest marchers in just a little bit....
