Prelude
And so it had come to this.
The once victorious Athenians succumbed to hunger, despair and their own bitter winter.
With no money to buy food, no petrol to warm their homes and fuel their cars, with even their faithful Sun hidden behind thick, grey, clouds for days in a row, raw fear started to run inside their veins. Fear for their children, for themselves, for the future.
The Athenians had no food left to eat. The supermarkets stood desolate and empty. The street markets had turned to graveyards of broken crates and rotting fruit. Rats had claimed them all, rats and cockroaches.
The lucky few who had managed to steal the last few cans of imported food had digested them already. There was nothing else to feed upon but a long forgotten hope.
Caged in their concrete fortresses, wrapped in blankets, the Athenians tried to think of a way out, tried to find salvation in the few gardens here and there were feeble fruit trees grew to now avail.
And so they streamed the dirty, narrow streets. 6 million of them, looking for salvation in the countryside where things grew still and trees bore fruit.
The villagers who had already suffering from post-crisis losses of their own, were terrified to see the throngs of starved, frost-bitten people attacking their fields and livestock. There was absolutely nothing they could do to prevent catastrophe.
As a reporter, I have seen many horrifying things; I've been through battles, bombings, exemplary decapitations, therefore, I am not easily shocked.
When my editor told me to come to Athens and find the real cause of this so-called disease, I thought nothing of it. So the Greeks were losing their marbles. I was never convinced these people had any to begin with.
"Madness blankets the country" "Violent outbursts....terrible death tolls"
"Politicians being devoured on the central square"
"Greeks feed on their ministers, the taxi drivers are next!"
"A whole race under extinction"
Blah blah blah....everyone knows the press cannot be trusted. I know 'cause I'm it!
There was nobody waiting for me at the airport. Hundreds of people were sleeping on the floor waiting for their only possible means of escape, knowing well that there were not going to be able to buy another plane ticket ever again.
Their eyes locked on me hungrily as I walked by them. Bloodshot, sleep deprived eyes, full of anger and despair.
El. Venizelos lounge was so packed that several armed policemen kept the sliding doors closed at all times. One of them, a confused, little man, escorted me out, from a door at the back.
Though is was not noon yet, it felt like dusk. The bitter wind slashed on my face as I started my long walk towards the capital. There was no vehicle in sight; only a slow-moving stream of people, walking silently, zombie-like towards the departure gate.
I was the only one moving towards the city on the vast highway feeling their angry, bloodshot eyes on me.
Bloodshot eyes...What the hell was going on? I still ask myself that question.
I saw the orange lights of the flaming city before I set foot on it. Bonfires were popping one after the other. Then, the smell of meat reached my nostrils, making my mouth water as I hadn't eaten for many hours.
Were these marbleless people celebrating something I didn't know about?
"The power was cut a week ago. I have not way to recharge my phone or my laptop. All I have is this stupid recorder and the batteries in my pocket.
All of them are dead. Dead. Extinct.
I saw the last one almost a week ago making sure he doesn't get a whiff of me.
I'm hungry.
Last night I heard a man singing. I'm planning to go all the way up to the Parthenon as soon as my feet can take me. From up there I'll have a better view of the city. If there is any sign of life, I'll see it.
(I haven't eaten anything since the day before yesterday. Could I eat human flesh at this point? Affirmative.)
I can hear a man's voice. There is someone alive...up there.
He is .....singing.
I am climbing as......fast as I can.
........................Horror, what new horror is this?...it's beyond description!
The marbles of the temple.....are splattered red...it's...BLOOD....broken....human limbs are scattered everywhere. ...I'm going to be sick...
(.......)
I have found the last; the very last Athenian.
He is perched on a broken marble column...holding a piece of meat in his bloody hands.
His eyes are blood-red, his beard is coated with grime, tears are running down his cheeks.
He is singing! I'm trying to make out the words...this is a rough translation.
I recognize you by the sharpness
of your fearsome sword,
I recognize you by the gleam
with which you rapidly survey the earth.
From the sacred bones,
of the Greeks arisen,
and strengthened by your antique bravery,
hail, o hail, Liberty!
BLOODY HELL!
............................................He is singing the national anthem!"
