Before we get to today's chapter, I'll say a few things.

I'm not at all happy with the previous chapter; my laptop died on my twice during its writing and I lost and had to rewrite, a ton both times.

The end result was me being dead tired and just wanting to get it out of the way. It's posted now, so I won't make any after-the-fact changes, but I'll try to rectify things with the remaining chapters. I actually made a few mistakes, too, to be honest, due to being tired. Storyline-wise, I mean. There are a few things I need to rethink, so I'll take baby steps for a while, and hopefully manage to take things to a satisfying conclusion. There's still story left here.

Previously

A weaponized virus has surfaced on US soil, planned to be used against American citizens. Former federal agent Adam Black was brought back from prison to help the anti-terrorist agency ATC to locate and secure the virus from the market. This attempt was successful, and the virus ended up in the hands an unknown terrorist who is now using it as leverage against the President, who he appears to have a personal grudge with. It's been a long day with no end in sight.

November 2nd, 2023. 01:12am - Los Angeles, California

The Port of Los Angeles

Dietrich lays dead on the ground after falling victim to an unexpected sniper shot. The shot to his head was so precise and clean that it was the clear work of a professional. Someone didn't want Dietrich to get his hands on the SG-6 data uploaded to his phone.

Adam took cover behind a cargo crate, not knowing if further shots are coming. He notified the ATC field team about what happened, and they have searchlights rolling around the area, but there seems to be nothing to be found. Adam is in contact with the field team through the comm on his earpiece.

"Do you see the shooter?"

"Negative. He may have left the area."

Back where the exchange took place, the medical team is working on Paul who is still alive, but in critical condition. Maria is by her side, feeling terrible for their arguments throughout the day.

Adam carefully extends his gun and comes out from behind cover and moves towards Dietrich's body to retrieve the phone. Whatever is on the data was clearly something the shooter didn't want to get out.

Adam seems to be in the clear, so he crouches and grabs the phone before quickly moving back behind cover and moving towards where the rest of the ATC team are.

Before doing so, he takes a look at the phone. The data upload was complete, but the data can't be read on the phone, so Adam takes the memory card and puts it in his pocket.

Adam sees Maria crying over Paul who is lying unconscious on a stretcher, surrounded by the medical team.

"Is he gonna make it?"

"We don't know yet. We're doing the best we can. We need to get him to ATC medical."

Maria is tightly squeezing Paul's hand, apologizing to him for their fights, not wanting to lose her husband like this. Adam sees this and doesn't want to get involved. Kevin is the first person to approach him.

"What happened?"

"Someone didn't want Schneider to get the SG-6 data. A sniper shot."

Kevin is curious about the data.

"Do you have it?"

"Yeah, it's on Schneider's memory card. I couldn't open it with his phone."

"What are you gonna do with it?"

Adam pulls Kevin aside.

"Look, if what you say is true, I'll work with you on this. I know what this means to you. But the last vial of the virus is going to be released within the hour, and we don't know where. That's our first priority."

Kevin wants the data, but he is genuine in his willingness to be on the same page with Adam from now on.

"Yeah. No sign of the shooter?"

Adam takes the memory card from his pocket.

"No. But whoever did it is after this."

"One of Silverman's men."

"You think so?"

"Positive."

"How did he know to be here?"

"They've got eyes and ears everywhere, that's just the thing. As long as you're holding on to that, you're a target."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take. We need to find the last vial of the virus now."

Adam and Kevin move towards the vehicles that Dietrich's men arrived at the docks with. A bunch of ATC men are going through them.

"Anything in there that could help us? Laptops? All of the men are dead?"

Suddenly, it occurs to Adam that someone from Dietrich's allies is missing.

"Wait. Did anyone see Gwen DuClare? Was she here?"

"If she was here, we must have missed her."

Maria hears Adam and ATC talking about Gwen and moves her attention away from Paul for a second.

"She was here."

Adam turns to Maria.

"What happened, Maria?"

"Gwen wasn't one of them, at least I don't think so."

Maria shows Adam the knife Gwen gave her earlier.

"When I was captured, she put this in my pocket. She saved my life."

"Why?"

"I don't know. But she and Schneider didn't seem to be on the same page."

"Anything that could help us locate the last vial of the virus?"

"I'm sorry, Adam, I..."

Maria is shook up because of what Paul is going through, so her voice is shaky and she has difficulty piecing things together. Adam gets more aggressive towards her, which scares Maria.

Adam is again showing that side of him. The side that drives everybody away eventually. He can't help it, lives are at stake and it just happens.

"Maria, think! Think!"

Maria is hurt by the fact that Adam can be so cold to her after her husband just got shot and is fighting for his life.

"I'm trying!"

Adam realizes he was way too aggressive considering the circumstances.

"I'm sorry, Maria. I just..."

"Yeah. I'll go be with my husband now. The one who saved your life."

Adam made a mistake, and he knows it, but it'd be classless right now to argue with her further.

Adam's phone rings; the President wants an update on the situation.

"What's the situation, Adam?"

"Schneider's dead. A sniper took him out. We haven't located the shooter. We're trying to locate the last vial of the virus."

"A sniper?"

"Someone who didn't want Schneider to get the SG-6 data. Mr. President, do you know why what's on that data is so important?"

"To that extent, no."

"I have reason to believe there's more to the data. Schneider's entire operation was about retrieving it. And now he's dead because of it."

"More to it, like what?"

"Mr. President, I feel that it's possible the data contains information about a conspiracy affecting the entire government. I can't tell you more about it right now."

"That's a bold claim. What's the source for this information?"

"I'd rather not say."

Someone going through Dietrich's stuff yells out.

"Adam, I think we have something."

Adam ends the call with the President.

"I'll get back to you, Mr. President. What do you got?"

The ATC trooper pulls out a laptop that seems to be Dietrich's. It's password protected, but it has Dietrich's login.

"Okay, we need to get inside the files, we don't have a lot of time."

Adam is no tech guru, so there's no hope for him being able to do anything with the laptop, but Kevin has an idea.

"Theodore's a tech guy. Let's take the laptop to him."

"No, we don't have time for that, call him."

"Right."

Kevin calls Theodore at the ATC HQ.

"It's me, we need your help with a computer."

---

The White House

Palmer is nervous about Adam having hold of the data, and wants to inform Silverman about it, but the President is already a bit suspicious of his mysterious phone calls.

"Mr. President, are you sure it's wise to have Adam hold the data? We already agreed that he shouldn't be trusted any further. Who knows what these people want to do with the data."

"I don't disagree with you, but Adam stopped Schneider, and right now we need ATC to locate the final vial of the virus, he's the best man for the job. We'll deal with the situation later."

"I'm just."

"Is there some other reason you're so nervous, Palmer? Know something I don't?"

"No, sir. I'm just worried about the political ramifications."

"I wonder."

The moment gets tense, and Reynolds is getting more and more suspicious.

---

The Port of Los Angeles

Gwen is still in the area, hiding. She managed to dodge the spotlights and saw what happened. She saw Dietrich getting shot and Adam taking the memory card.

She was never interested in Dietrich's plans, she was after the data, and is hell-bent on getting it.

There's no way she can retrieve with the entire dock filled with ATC, so she needs to get it someplace else.

She's too far to hear what is going on, so she sneaks up on one of the ATC field troopers who is further away from the rest. Gwen grabs him from behind and holds her gun to the side of his face.

"Don't do anything stupid, and you won't get hurt. You're going to call Adam on your comm, and ask him what's going on."

Adam is on the phone with Theodore who is instructing him on how to hack open the files on Dietrich's laptop, as he receives the call on his comm.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Just checking. What's the situation?"

"We're going through Schneider's laptop. I'm trying to gain access to whatever is on this thing. Actually..."

Adam comes across something.

"What is it?"

Adam finds what seem to be the building schematics for a SoCalGas (Southern California Gas Company) gas plant in Los Angeles.

"Building schematics for a SoCalGas plant here in Los Angeles. These instructions are designed for spreading the virus through natural gas. This has to be it!"

Adam ends the call, and Gwen knocks out the guard. She already knew that the biggest virus vial was there, but know she knows Adam knows, as well.

Gwen escapes from the area without being seen, comes across a man on a motorcycle, kicks him off the bike and begins heading towards the gas plant.

Adam clues in the ATC team, but quickly realizes that there's no way the entire team can get to the gas plant in time via cars.

The EMTs are loading Paul's stretcher to the only chopper in the area. Unfortunately, the gas plant is in the opposite direction to the ATC Headquarters. Adam hates himself for what he is about to do but doesn't feel he has a choice.

"We need that helicopter!"

The EMTs and Maria stop and look at Adam who is running towards them.

"We need to get Paul to get medical attention!"

"The virus is going to be released at a SoCalGas plant! The chopper is the only way we can make it there in time!"

Maria gets furious.

"Adam! Paul saved your life! He needs medical attention!"

The EMTs agree with Maria.

"She's right, agent Douglas' situation is critical, he-"

Adam pulls out his gun.

"Get out of the chopper!"

Maria can't believe what she's seeing.

"What the hell are you doing? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, ADAM!"

"I'm sorry! If the virus gets to the gas system, tens of millions of people will die! I don't have a choice!"

Maria gets right in Adam's face and starts slapping him in the face with her tears in her eyes.

"He took that bullet for you! For you, Adam! You son of a bitch!"

Adam pushes Maria to the side and keeps aiming at the EMT members in the helicopter.

"Get out of the helicopter, now!"

The EMTs have no choice but to step out and remove Paul's stretcher from the helicopter. Maria is absolutely mortified; the EMTs quickly stroll the stretcher to a car and hope to get Paul to the HQ soon enough. Maria follows them but yells her final words to Adam.

"I hate you! He saved your life! He saved your life, damn you!"

Adam is not happy about what happened, but he can only think of the millions of people that will die unless he stops the attack. Still, hearing Maria shout she hates him hurts him more than any of the physical damage he's taken throughout the day.

Kevin runs towards and helicopter and jumps in, and the chopper takes off.

---

SoCalGas Plant

The remaining members of Dietrich's crew make their way to the gas plant with the virus. They were instructed to install a device that will spread the virus through the gas system to the entirety of the company's customer base if they don't hear from Dietrich after a specified amount of time.

The device works on a timer that, after installed, is set to release the virus to the system.

The gas plant is not under heavy surveillance, and it's an easy task for trained killers to take out the security guards.

Adam and Kevin's helicopter is almost on site. Adam is thinking of Maria but tries to concentrate on the task at hand. He knows he made an impossible call, but one that he feels was necessary.

"Kev, an ATC helicopter should be equipped with C4 (I ADMIT: PLOT CONVENIENCE). Grab it, we may need it."

The chopper begins to land, and Adam doesn't even wait for it to land all the way before jumping out and running inside the gas plant.

Kevin goes through the chopper and grabs the C4, and soon follows him.

Adam notices a dead guard at the door.

"They're here. Did you find the C4?"

"Yeah. Did you memorize the schematics?"

"Yeah, this way."

Adam and Kevin make their way through the plant while remaining cautious of Dietrich's men that are sure to be close.

Despite their complex relationship, Adam and Kevin have an untouchable chemistry in situations like this. It's easy for both of them to forget everything else but the operation.

No sign of guards.

Until.

"Adam, look out!"

Kevin notices one of the terrorists aiming at Adam but manages to take him out.

This gets the attention of the rest of the terrorists. The one in charge is the one installing the device who tells the others to take care of whatever the situation is.

Adam and Kevin are caught in a firefight and take cover behind some of the pipes.

"Kev, cover for me, I need to get to the virus!"

Kevin provides cover fire as Adam makes a run for it and heads to the center.

Adam locates the one installing the virus and shoots him in the back. Kevin takes out the rest of the group.

Kevin then runs to Adam's location.

"Are we clear?"

Adam takes a look at the device.

"No. The timer on these things can't be stopped. We need to blow the place up. The explosion will kill the virus and stop it from spreading. Give me the C4."

The timer is counting down fast, so Adam is forced to set the C4 to detonate sooner, which doesn't leave them with much time to get away.

Adam has his back turned at Kevin while calibrating the C4.

"Okay, Kev, it's counting down, we need to-"

Adam is shocked to see Gwen holding Kevin at gunpoint.

"Gwen."

"I don't want to hurt either one of you. The memory card, Adam."

Kevin tries to protest.

"Adam, don't let her do this. Run, find Silverman!"

Gwen tells Adam not to listen to Kevin and hurry up.

"You're running out of time."

"Adam, I'm telling you! Don't let her use me!"

Adam takes the memory card and throws it at Gwen.

"You want it? Here it is."

Adam intentionally threw it at her, instead of to her, and while Gwen catches it, Kevin elbows her to the face.

Gwen is too good for that, however, and kicks Kevin right at Adam, causing them both to fall down. She then shoots a gas pipe next to them, and the gas distracts them long enough for her to run away with the memory card. She goes to the opposite direction to an exit that is further away than the one Adam and Kevin came in from.

Adam gets up and tells Kevin to run away.

"Make a break for it, I'm going after her!"

"I'm not leaving you alone!"

"Do it, damnit!"

"Shut the hell up, I'm coming with you!"

They both stop arguing and run after Gwen, taking the longer route.

The timer ticks down and the C4 explodes, blowing up the plant with it.