From the book : "Death of a Nation", published post-Eurasian Epidemic
"We were wondering what all the fuss was about, the Americans pulled out of Dover in a hurry, and left us to our own devices. By then it didnt matter too much, we had a police force again and running water and electricity in the town, we could cope. What worried us was why the soldiers were leaving and in such a hurry, the ones that replied when we asked geniouinely didnt seem to know, there seemed to be a lot of confusion. Then the rumours started, about another outbreak in London.
Three days after the Americans left Dover, i was walking along the beach with my husband, just enjoying a nice little stroll in the moonlight. It was cold, given it was the day after Christmas, the sea breeze didnt really bother us as we were wrapped up well. There was this flash coming from the other side of the channel, at first i thought it was maybe a boat of something flashing it lights. But it seemed to bright for that. Then when the light subsided, a wave of absolute horror overcame both of us. There on the horizon, was a a mushroom cloud, it wasnt particulary big, but it was there. A nuclear bomb had just detonated in France. Of course, we had no contact with the outside world after the Americans left, but the rumours of the outbreak in London, and the nuclear explosion in France were enough to convince us that infection was back, and had reached Europe this time." - Pauline Willis
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Three tactical nuclear weapons detonated over the French coast that night, oblitaterating everwhere between Calais and Dunkirk, killing thousands of infected, and several hundred survivors who were hiding in their homes.
The news that the military had bombed their own country with nuclear weapons shocked and horrified the French people, and thousands protested on the streets, in spite of the martial law. Four protesters were killed and twenty others injured in clashes with police and troops.
Refugee's from north east France fleeing the infected and the feared radiation streamed into Paris, or in some cases towards the Belgian border.
For the next several hours, the government struggled to piece together coherent information, as communications had been disrupted by the bombs. It seemed clear that almost all, if not all, infected had been killed.
They were wrong.
Rage only needs a single drop of blood or saliva to spread. One carrier is all it takes. As it turned out a few dozen infected were far enough from the blast areas to actually survive. The bombs had done nothing but cause destrution, and only served to slow down the infection, rather than destroy it.
Rumours abounded that the virus was spreading southwards and the bombs had failed. The rumours, unfortunatley, were correct. Abbeville was overrun on 27 December, and an outbreak was reported in Aimes the next day, where the French army was massing to destroy the infected.
Chaos and panic struck Aimes as soldiers and police fought the infected in the streets. Hundreds died in the first hour. By the end of Day four of the France outbreak, the infection had swept the entire north east of the coast, and had reached as far as Aimes, Arras and Dieppe.
When a news channel in Paris rebelled against the military imposed censorship and broke the story that the infection was spreading out of control in parts of the country, and that the nuclear bombs had for a fact failed to contain the outbreak, mass panic ensued, especially when some unconfirmed reports suggested that the virus was appoaching Paris. Whilst this was true, Paris would not be in immediate danger for at least a few days. But people being people, they panicked.
Thousands of cars and busses streamed out of the capital in a flight of great panic.
Precious works of art were taken from galleries and museums and hoarded in underground bunkers and the Louvre was boarded up. Fights broke out in Paris as citizens demanded a end to the information blackout, and for lower fuel prices, as they could not afford the fuel to evacuate from the city.
Many neigbourhoods in Paris burned on the 28th, with twelve rioters being shot dead, and two policemen being killed in a hit and run by a rioter.
The death of unarmed civilians in the capital provoked more riots accross France, forcing the government to deploy more troops to maintain order, troops that would better be of service stopping the infection.
The military council fled Paris on 29 December as a mob of thousands of angry youths stormed their headquarters, and soldiers either abandoned their posts or defected to the protesters side.
France's new revolution would not last long however, as the infection reached the northern ouskirts of the capital the same day, and it seemed law and order had collapsed in the capital, with nobody sure who was in the charge. Its estimated that 150,000 people died in Paris between 29 December and 3 January, as the infection took hold of the city, and the break down of authorties and communications severely hindered evacuation efforts.
The military council, which still claimed to be the legitimate government, had set up its new base of operations in Bordeaux, just north of the Spanish border.
By 7 January, two weeks after the first outbreak in France, anarchy prevailed across the nation, with many major French towns and cities inundated with infected. Three more nuclear explosions would occur in France, levelling Reims, Orleans and Dijon, before a counter coup overthrow the military council and replaced it with new officers, who refused to use nukes on their own nation.
By that point, French central government was no longer really governing anything, it was everyman for himself outside the barricaded city of Bordeaux and secure military installations.
On 10 January, the day after Bordeaux burned to the ground, several French members of Parliament, as well as a group of high ranking military officers held a meeting on the island of Corsica and formed a new government, that formally replaced the military council with civilian leadership, albeit civilian leadership with siginifant military oversight.
In a radio address by the new government, it was promised that mainland France would one day be liberated from infection, and that the capital would be moved back to Paris as soon as the city was retaken.
By that point, there were not really all that many people left in France to hear the broadcast.
The rest of Europe looked at France with terrified eyes, and braced themselves for Hell on Earth. Everyone knew what to expect. In Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Switzerland, military units mobalised and fortified their borders. They were not letting in the infected without a fight.