Disclaimer: I don't own any Early Edition characters, nor do I claim to. I
don't own any newspaper articles that may appear. The one in chapter one is
a CNN article which can be found on
http://web.archive.org/web/20010911180604/www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/11/worldtra
de.crash/story.html. Any coincidences with actual people associated with
the September 11th tragedy are purely accidental.
Chapter 1:
Gary Hobson awoke to the sound of a cat meowing. He had never been much of a morning person, and it was only 3am. Swinging his feet onto the floor, he stretched and yawned. He could still hear the meowing coming from the direction of the apartment door, so he knew he hadn't been dreaming. He opened it and looked down. The cat was sauntering down the hallway, and a newspaper laid on the doormat. Gary was unsure of the connection between the cat and the paper. All he knew was that they both arrived every morning. The cat was an ordinary looking orange and yellow striped tabby. The paper, however, was anything but normal. Each paper that came always had the wrong date. It wasn't that the publishers had screwed up, It was that Gary got the next day's paper- before it was printed. All of tomorrow's headlines, sports scores, and even stocks were at Gary's fingertips. Most people would have used this paper as a get-rich-quick scheme, but not Gary. While he may have used the paper once or twice to help him out of a financial rut, he generally only used the headlines to help those in need and stop bad things from happening. When he did this, the headlines changed. Usually, the paper knew what Gary could help with that day. But usually, the paper didn't come at 3am. It was neatly rolled on the welcome mat, instead of usually being open to the page he could help with. Gary unrolled the paper. His eyes scanned the headlines and his hands began to shake. He ran over to the phone, suddenly awake. He scooped up the receiver and dialed his best friend, Chuck.
"Hello?" a sleepy Chuck mumbled into the mouthpiece
"Hi…" said Gary in a shaky voice
"Gar? Is that you? Whaddya want?" Chuck replied.
"Chuck… the paper just came"
"What time is it?"
"Three ten"
"wake me up at six" chuck said, starting to put the phone down
"NO WAIT! Chuck, this is important"
"Are you ok Gar?"
"I am, but the United States isn't"
"What?"
"Listen. I'll read you the article.
"Terror attack hits U.S. Terrorists struck the United States Tuesday morning in harrowing, widespread attacks that included at least three commercial jet crashes into significant buildings. In the first attack, a plane hit the north tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan shortly before 9am, followed by another plane into the second tower about twenty minutes later. Both towers soon collapsed. About an hour later, a plane crashed into the Pentagon, part of which later collapses. American Airlines told CNN that it lost two planes, both en route to Los Angeles: American Flight 11 from Boston with 81 passengers and 11 crew aboard was lost. This is believed to have been one of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center. American Flight 77, a Boweing 757 from Washington Dulles airport to Los Angeles with 58 passengers and six crew is unaccounted for. The jet that crashed into the pentagon may have been this one, but it is still unknown. United Airlines lost two planes, United Airlines Flight 93 airliner headed from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, crashed near Somerset, Pennsylvania. Initial reports indicated no survivors. United confirmed the crash of Flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles with 56 passengers and seven crew aboard. It's possible for this to be the second plane that hit the World Trade Center. The pentagon, the White house, the state department, the justice department, the capitol, the CIA, and all other government buildings as well as tourist attractions such as Disney world and Disneyland were evacuated. President Bush called the crashes "a national tragedy" and later he issued a statement that said "make no mistake. The United States shall hunt down whoever did this"
Gary swallowed. "Chuck? You there?"
"Yeah…" Chuck said, sounding a lot more awake, "I'll be over in 5 minutes. We have to do something. We have to tell the authorities, before 9am," Chuck said, and then hung up.
Gary got dressed and washed up, but he had one thing on his mind. How would he get the police to believe him? The only two people who knew about the paper were his best friends, Chuck and Marissa.
Chapter 1:
Gary Hobson awoke to the sound of a cat meowing. He had never been much of a morning person, and it was only 3am. Swinging his feet onto the floor, he stretched and yawned. He could still hear the meowing coming from the direction of the apartment door, so he knew he hadn't been dreaming. He opened it and looked down. The cat was sauntering down the hallway, and a newspaper laid on the doormat. Gary was unsure of the connection between the cat and the paper. All he knew was that they both arrived every morning. The cat was an ordinary looking orange and yellow striped tabby. The paper, however, was anything but normal. Each paper that came always had the wrong date. It wasn't that the publishers had screwed up, It was that Gary got the next day's paper- before it was printed. All of tomorrow's headlines, sports scores, and even stocks were at Gary's fingertips. Most people would have used this paper as a get-rich-quick scheme, but not Gary. While he may have used the paper once or twice to help him out of a financial rut, he generally only used the headlines to help those in need and stop bad things from happening. When he did this, the headlines changed. Usually, the paper knew what Gary could help with that day. But usually, the paper didn't come at 3am. It was neatly rolled on the welcome mat, instead of usually being open to the page he could help with. Gary unrolled the paper. His eyes scanned the headlines and his hands began to shake. He ran over to the phone, suddenly awake. He scooped up the receiver and dialed his best friend, Chuck.
"Hello?" a sleepy Chuck mumbled into the mouthpiece
"Hi…" said Gary in a shaky voice
"Gar? Is that you? Whaddya want?" Chuck replied.
"Chuck… the paper just came"
"What time is it?"
"Three ten"
"wake me up at six" chuck said, starting to put the phone down
"NO WAIT! Chuck, this is important"
"Are you ok Gar?"
"I am, but the United States isn't"
"What?"
"Listen. I'll read you the article.
"Terror attack hits U.S. Terrorists struck the United States Tuesday morning in harrowing, widespread attacks that included at least three commercial jet crashes into significant buildings. In the first attack, a plane hit the north tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan shortly before 9am, followed by another plane into the second tower about twenty minutes later. Both towers soon collapsed. About an hour later, a plane crashed into the Pentagon, part of which later collapses. American Airlines told CNN that it lost two planes, both en route to Los Angeles: American Flight 11 from Boston with 81 passengers and 11 crew aboard was lost. This is believed to have been one of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center. American Flight 77, a Boweing 757 from Washington Dulles airport to Los Angeles with 58 passengers and six crew is unaccounted for. The jet that crashed into the pentagon may have been this one, but it is still unknown. United Airlines lost two planes, United Airlines Flight 93 airliner headed from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, crashed near Somerset, Pennsylvania. Initial reports indicated no survivors. United confirmed the crash of Flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles with 56 passengers and seven crew aboard. It's possible for this to be the second plane that hit the World Trade Center. The pentagon, the White house, the state department, the justice department, the capitol, the CIA, and all other government buildings as well as tourist attractions such as Disney world and Disneyland were evacuated. President Bush called the crashes "a national tragedy" and later he issued a statement that said "make no mistake. The United States shall hunt down whoever did this"
Gary swallowed. "Chuck? You there?"
"Yeah…" Chuck said, sounding a lot more awake, "I'll be over in 5 minutes. We have to do something. We have to tell the authorities, before 9am," Chuck said, and then hung up.
Gary got dressed and washed up, but he had one thing on his mind. How would he get the police to believe him? The only two people who knew about the paper were his best friends, Chuck and Marissa.