Chapter 5 Headline

The two perimeter patrol officers have set up a yellow caution tape, establishing a simple restricted area to prevent people from entering. Inside the restricted area, the fire has been somewhat brought under control, and several firefighters are dismantling the deformed car door in order to rescue the driver inside

At the moment Murphy decided to film the car accident, several vehicles had also stopped nearby, clearly indicating that the tendency to watch the spectacle is universal across the globe

The black Chevrolet was moving very slowly. As it passed by another lane near the accident site, Murphy kept looking over there. The wrecked car was already on fire, with fierce flames leaping from the front hood, illuminating the surroundings with a bright glow. Firefighters, disregarding the potential explosion hazards, were busy extinguishing the flames, while several others were rescuing the injured trapped in the vehicle.

Murphy paused for a moment, then simply walked in, "I will do it myself"

Murphy ran his fingers through his short brown hair, then dialed a number. After a few rings, a voice came through on the other end, "Hello, this is Fox Los Angeles Channel 6."

He can tell that this woman is likely the leader among several individuals. He further added, "This is a video of a car accident that occurred tonight near Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, where a woman crashed her car. Half of her face is destroyed, and blood is everywhere. If she survives, I would be very surprised"

Perhaps these contact details are too outdated, or perhaps he is simply unlucky; most of the calls Murphy made went unanswered, and those that were answered showed little interest.

Have we really spent half a day in vain, accomplishing nothing of value

Therefore, he must seize the opportunity to capture the scenes that are not visible to those people

Murphy gently tapped on the glass door, and upon seeing the person inside looking over, he opened a crack in the door and said, "I have a car accident video to sell"

The entire third floor is a vast newsroom, bustling with activity even at this late hour. Murphy walked in somewhat bewildered and, upon seeing someone approaching from the opposite side, quickly asked politely, "Excuse me, I have a video of a car accident that I just filmed."

He removed the bulky storage disk from the handheld camera and connected it to the computer via a data cable. Murphy used editing software to cut the recorded video, eliminating all the unnecessary parts, primarily retaining the footage taken after crossing the security line. He then re-saved it onto the storage disk, opened a folder on his laptop, and found some contact information for personnel related to the television station, subsequently making several phone calls.

The car passed the accident scene, Murphy stepped on the brake, stopped on the auxiliary road, grabbed the handheld camera, exited the vehicle as quickly as possible, and while running towards the accident site, skillfully turned on the handheld camera.

A living person running to such a place, along with the light on the handheld camera, makes it difficult not to attract attention

The memories left by his predecessor informed Murphy that there were many individuals in Los Angeles engaged in similar work. Whenever an unexpected incident occurred, these individuals would swarm in like sharks sensing blood.

Without raising his head, he casually pointed to the corridor on the left, "The first door on the left after you enter."

These words clearly piqued the interest of the brunette woman, and she nodded, saying, "Alright, let me take a look"

As the camera zoomed in on the injured woman, the bloody scene caused the staff member to involuntarily exclaim in shock

Medical personnel are conducting necessary examinations, "pupil dilation..."

For someone like Murphy, who has a certain level of professional foundation, shooting at this level is still relatively easy

Hanging up the phone, Murphy took the storage drive and drove directly to Burbank, where the Fox Los Angeles Channel 6 is located. Due to some time spent on the road, he arrived when night had already fallen

Although he felt somewhat irritated, Murphy knew he could not get entangled with the police. Fortunately, he was of mixed race and not Black; otherwise, the police officer across from him might have drawn his gun.

Oh, God

This provided Murphy with an opportunity

Murphy took out the storage disk, stepped forward two paces, and handed it to the blonde woman. A staff member beside her connected the storage disk to the screen at the blonde woman's instruction. After a second of static, the video that Murphy had meticulously edited began to play.

It seems as if all of this has been rehearsed countless times

A patrolling officer responsible for maintaining order quickly approached, and unlike the firefighters and medical personnel, he was not so courteous. He pointed at Murphy and sternly said, "You! Get out of here!"

Hello. Murphy said as simply as possible, "I am a freelance journalist, and I have a video that I just filmed..."

Blood pressure 95 - 65, heart rate slow

Hurrying home at the fastest speed, Murphy disregarded his growling stomach and went straight into the studio. He opened his laptop, which had editing software installed. Although his ex was quite foolish, the equipment used for work was still decent. The handheld camera did not use old-fashioned tapes but rather the latest digital storage technology.

The fire was diminishing, and the captured images began to blur. Murphy turned his head to look at the ten o'clock direction on his left hand, where two patrol officers were still maintaining order. The remaining firefighters were also focused on rescuing the trapped driver, and no one was paying attention to this side.

Murphy steadied his body and quickened his pace to retreat, while the patrol officer across from him stood with hands on hips, exuding an air of authority and dominance.

This could become the headline of the morning news

At the moment when two patrol officers were distracted by other onlookers, Murphy did not hesitate to bend down and slip under the barricade. He then took several large strides and hid beside a fire truck, finding a suitable angle to capture the scene near the car, aided by the illumination of the flames.

Returning to the car, Murphy took two deep breaths, started the vehicle, and first left the accident scene. After driving for a short while, he found a parking lot by the roadside and drove directly in. After parking the car, he took the handheld camera that was placed on the passenger seat and turned it on to review the footage he had just recorded.

Since the video has been recorded, the handheld camera naturally cannot be sold. Murphy left the parking lot, made a turn, and drove on the way home

At this moment, the deformed car door was finally pried open by the firefighters, and a long-haired woman was carried out from the vehicle

The person on the other side seemed very busy and spoke at a very fast pace, saying, "How about this, bring the video over. Do you know our address? You do? Then come over as soon as possible"

When he ran over, he had already opened the handheld camera to film. As a formally educated student from a film academy, and with the memories left by his predecessor, Murphy did possess some ability in this regard. However, due to the lighting conditions at night, the results of filming from outside the caution tape were not satisfactory

Standing beside them, Murphy had been observing the expression of the blonde woman. Unlike the astonishment of the staff member, the blonde woman's blue eyes clearly revealed a kind of excited interest upon seeing the bloody scene

However, Murphy's filming lasted for less than ten seconds

Despite a wave of nausea, Murphy's hand remained remarkably steady, immediately switching to a close-up shot, accurately capturing this scene that could rival an American splatter film

He exerted a great deal of force this time, and Murphy was pushed back, stumbling over the shattered car fragments behind him, nearly falling to the ground

After glancing at the police once more, Murphy turned around, bent down, and crawled under the barricade, parting the crowd of onlookers that had formed a circle, and walked towards the location where he had parked his vehicle

Following the direction indicated by this person, Murphy arrived in front of an office. Through the glass door, he could see several individuals sitting in front of screens, seemingly engaged in a discussion.

The location of Fox Los Angeles Channel 6 is a white building, next to which stands a tall television signal tower. Murphy got out of the car and entered the building, explaining his purpose to the security personnel at the entrance. Following the directions given by the staff, he went up to the news department located on the third floor

It seems that the officer was dissatisfied with Murphy's retreat speed, so he caught up and forcefully pushed him, saying, "Step back one hundred feet!"

The woman lay on the stretcher, emitting weak moans. Her long golden hair was partially stained red with blood. The left side of her face appeared to be one of the injured areas, with a mass of blood and flesh, looking quite terrifying

A rough voice sounded, and then the camera lens was blocked by a person dressed in a firefighter's uniform, "What are you doing?"

As someone who has spent time in prison, Murphy knows that the police in America are certainly not as good as portrayed by the media. He quickly turned off the light on his handheld camera, raised one hand, and said while backing away, "Alright, alright, I'm leaving right away"

She seems to have completely forgotten about Murphy in the rear side.

Even without professional training, Murphy knew that this was the most valuable shot. Without a moment's hesitation, he turned on the front light of his handheld camera and rushed at the fastest speed to the vicinity of the injured person, who was already placed on a stretcher, capturing an accurate frontal image of the injured through the gaps between several firefighters and medical personnel

All of this reminded Murphy of the painting he had seen in a television news segment, and it also brought to mind another video that Murphy had stored in his notebook. His eyes instinctively shifted away and turned to the camcorder placed in the passenger seat.

Step back, you step back

Hello, what do you do

A woman with long golden-brown hair turned her head towards this side and asked, "Who are you following?"

From the initial filming to being forced out later, Murphy recorded nearly three minutes of video, which not only included scenes of cars on fire and firefighters rescuing individuals but also featured close-up shots of the injured, possessing considerable visual impact

This video only holds genuine value if it is sold, and in order to sell this video, Murphy needs the contact information of the former personnel from the television stations, which is all stored on the laptop at home

A voice in his mind was telling him that this was a very valuable news scene that should be captured immediately

Moreover, this video also requires some preliminary editing

freelance journalist

Another person approached, seemingly wanting to observe up close, and two patrolling officers quickly went over to maintain order