Chapter 18 - Phase Three
Justin and Greg arrive at the hospital as both are rushed to x-ray immediately. That leaves Josh and James stuck out in the waiting room. Josh's impatience takes control, but it won't last for long.
"I don't know what to do from here, bub," Josh says, pacing the floor.
"Well, you know their base of operations now. Call upon the full force of every agency and military unit not activated and wipe this asshole out." James suggests tapping his fingers on the table.
The eruption of gunfire burst from around the corner before an idea can begin to form.
"Madman with a gun!" A male nurse screams.
Josh races around the corner with his Beretta drawn. He's met by bullets ricocheting off the wall aimed at his chest.
"Get out here; ya party-crashing clown!" Damien yells in his thick Louisianan voice.
"Drop the gun and surrender!" Josh orders.
Hearing a bullet whiz past his ear, Josh leaps and takes cover behind the nurse's station. He points around the corner to return fire.
"I'm sending you to the morgue!" Josh yells back as James dives behind him.
"James, get out of here! Find Justin to keep him safe. That's an order. Now!"
James crawls to where the nurses have ducked for protection as the bullets fly.
"I need to find Justin Adamson." He yells at one of the nurses.
"Last time I checked, he was in surgery for internal hemorrhaging." One of the nurse's shriek.
James crawls back to Josh to let him know.
"He's in surgery."
All Josh uses is a nod looking over when a radical idea strikes him.
"He must be running low on ammo. Can you toss that air tank onto the floor?"
"Yeah, but what...oh I got ya," James smirks, going over to pick up the medium size tank tossing it into the air.
Josh takes his chances to spring to his feet, emptying his weapon. The tank explodes as it sends Damien backward through the double doors.
"He's down!" James cries out, running through the doors once the flames vanish.
He feels a sharpness in his left leg after a bullet rips through the flesh, leaving James in shock.
Stuck in the doorway, James screams out in pain. Josh rushes to him to provide cover as nurses head into the line of fire, pulling him to safety.
Damien empties the clip and takes off running for his life. Only steps behind, Josh is hot on his tail but refuses to fire again with civilians nearby. They head out into the stairwell, where Damien ducks for cover.
"I'm gonna place a bullet between your eyes, you worthless bastard!" Damien cries out to the agent he hates most.
He takes off down to the parking garage hiding among the ambulances and security vehicles. Josh hunkers down, keeping his head low to find his assailant.
"Get your ass out here and fight you pussy!" Josh calls out in frustration.
He's sent spinning in every direction as Damien's high-pitched cackle echoes throughout the structure.
Josh rounds the corner of an ambulance and hears a faint hissing noise. He searches to discover the source is a round metal object roll under the ambulance beside him.
"Oh..." Josh yells, dashing for cover before the explosion.
Rolling in pain from the gunshot wound, Josh tries to focus on reaching a fire extinguisher to douse the flames when he overhears footsteps.
Slowly Damien begins his cynical laugh. The sound of a gun being cocked is all that comes between each laugh before police officers kick the door open as they swarm the floor.
"I need extinguishers now!" An officer calls.
"Find him, kill him!" Josh screams, hearing Damien flee the scene.
Several hours go by as Josh waits around in the waiting room for news.
Time isn't kind as the phone calls pour in from family, but none of them compare to Scarlett's phone call. She gives him an ear full.
"You let him get shot! How bad is it?"
"I don't know..."
"You let him get shot. Why weren't you closer?" She continues to scold him through the phone.
"Hey! I had no idea he would run into a bullet. You're not the only one taking this hard. I must be here while you're torn apart from watching a kid die from this maniac's drug. So yeah, I'm sorry it's so hard for just you." Josh blows up after Scarlett backs him into a corner.
Silence falls between them until Scarlett apologizes.
"Look, I'm sorry, but he's been through enough. He's not you; he's not a cold-blooded killer! Please be careful, both of you. You're falling one by one. Oh! Any word on Alex yet?"
"None but that doesn't mean I'm not searching. He's out there; I just don't know where. Hey, listen, I need to bounce off here. When we're free, I'll have him get ahold of you." Josh replies, then flips his phone closed.
On the other end of the spectrum, Damien gets his ass handed to him by the Angel King.
"You idiot, how can you be that stupid? You could've gotten yourself killed! Get back to your factory. I got my ticket out of town for a conference, so make the call. Move Phase Three into action. Then maybe I can reclaim what I lost so I can save your ass!"
"Done my king, I'm on my way back. It may not be Josh's head about to roll, but I have a great second place gift. He'll suffer for scorching my face; oh yes, he will, I guarantee." Damien says with a cold demeanor.
After the call ends, Damien presses the number five key on his phone using the speed dial.
"It's time, Angel King called, and heads need to roll. You all know your parts. Phase three is a go. God speed, my friends, God's speed to you all." Damien orders with a hint of pain in his voice.
"Done, sir, it's been an honor to serve for the future of this nation." A voice mentions right before the line goes dead.
It takes time for every team member to get in position as it spreads through the entire District of Columbia. Every double agent hidden within the government receives a text, email, and cryptic phone call using the code.
The first attack hits The House of Representatives, the Senate building, Congress, the Pentagon, and the White House are all obliterated. Inside, the construction workers take detonators from their toolboxes, sending everyone within to an early grave.
Leadership is left in shambles as the federal agencies begin to scramble, uncertain of what to do or who to hunt down. Out of nowhere, the FBI, CIA, and DEA headquarters are all struck with suicide bombers armed with a vest full of C4 explosives taking out people on each agency's ground floor.
Trapped by fire and destruction, Director Foxx runs from his office to see several agents holding a dead man's switch.
"Hello, Director. We're here to help liberate our country from the direction your administration has failed to uphold. We will see you in hell, sir, goodbye!" An agent pronounces as they press the switch, causing a chain reaction of explosions that implodes the rest of the building.
Similar attacks are carried out that leaves only the shell of the NSA. The attacks don't cease there. Damien's men use unmarked cargo trucks packed with high explosives along the beltway, detonating one by one murdering innocent civilians.
As Washington D.C. is left in ruins, the nation watches in horror as fighting takes to the streets. Every anti-government faction collects to cease control. From Neo-Nazis to Russian Socialist Sympathizers and Militia forces raid the district.
The nation is shaken with every major news station reporting from the edge of Washington D.C. The visuals of massive fires and battles between law enforcement and terrorist groups become intense. One news reporter is gunned down with their camera taken after attempting to sneak past the barrier.
"Citizens of America listen to our message. We stood by while our great nation crumbled at the hands of politicians, in the name of new securities taking the place of liberties in the name of justice and this so-called equality. This is now the People's Republic of America. People of the United States, welcome back to a free country!" One of the masked vigilantes preaches into the camera before he murders the man at point-blank range.
His message is played on loop every hour before news updates. It gives Damien time to escape as the BOLO on him to drop in importance.
All Josh can do is sit and watch until word arrives on his friends' conditions.
"Agent Bradshaw, I'm Dr. Denise Walker; your friend is out of surgery. It was a little complicated because the bullet lodged near an artery. He's fine and in recovery."
"What about Justin Adamson? How is he doing?"
The doctor glances over the patient in recovery until she sees his name.
"Ah yes, he'll be fine. He had some hemorrhaging in his intestinal region. They got it under control. He's going to take some time to recuperate." She explains, maintaining eye contact with him.
"Thank you, Dr. Walker, they're more like family than friends."
Josh makes the call to inform Momma C to let everyone else know about the boys' condition. He keeps the information short, sweet, and simple because he realizes he needs to get moving to end this battle.
Out of nowhere, it strikes his mind that Greg is also somewhere in the hospital. Using his badge, he begins making his way through the hospital until he reaches recovery. He finds Greg resting with a police officer sitting by his bed.
"Officer, Agent Joshua Bradshaw, DEA, I need a moment with this patient. He has vital information about an ongoing investigation. Please step aside, so you're not responsible." Josh advises the officer, who gladly turns a deaf ear to the situation.
Greg's shaken until his eyes open.
"Where is he? Where is your boss's location? I know you said Baton Rouge. Where in Baton Rouge? Tell me, you bastard!" Josh screams, shaking Greg violently.
Dr. Walker overhears the commotion and tries to pull Josh off her patient.
"Mr. Bradshaw, please let him go!" She screams as she goes to pry him off.
Once she's able to break his grip, Greg speaks up, giving Damien away.
"Damien Whiteson, his family used to own the Southern Sweets and Sugar factory. That's where he's been hiding. Please, kill him for me, for Amanda." Greg struggles to say.
He makes one more call to Owen to get caught up with his team before departing Atlanta.
"Owen, it's Josh. Hey, any updates on Alex's location?"
"All we've found ole boy is his car, and it was destroyed. We've scoured the city, and no one's seen or heard of him. He's vanished, my friend, so I don't know if he's alive." Owen informs, trying to keep a positive vibe to his voice.
"Damnit, I'm on my way down there, but I have one more thing to do before I come that way," Josh mentions right before he ends the call.
Like every team member before, Josh is the last man standing when it matters most. Although he's surprised when he rounds the corner, he sees his old partner waiting on him.
"David, what in the hell are you doing here, bub?"
That's when reality strikes again when he says nothing. A scowl etched on his face and gun ready, David makes his intentions known.
"Sorry, boss, I was the mole on the team. I got the call to end you. I've been laying low since you left D.C." He reveals with a look to kill in his eyes.
Before Agent Stone can raise his weapon, Josh rips out his backup weapon from his holster, firing every round into his former partner.
"You two-faced punk!" Josh yells with his closed feeling betrayed.
With his partner dead on the hospital floor, Josh drops his weapon, defeated. That's until the fury ravages his body. Every sight and sound fuel his rage until he opens his eyes to expose himself to the world once more. The transformation from trying to preserve life to the ruthless son of a bitch has only happened a few select times in his life.
He walks out of the hospital, driving over to American News Network headquarters. Without hesitation, he marches onto the set of a live broadcast.
"Damien, you unholy devil, I'm coming for you! I now speak to the agents and soldiers that are left. My name is Joshua Bradshaw, DEA Special Agent who's been tracking this sum bitch down. I need all of you still willing to fight to join me at the DEA office in Tampa, Florida. Together we will end this once and for all. He may have hit us hard and unexpectedly, but we will win the fight at the end of this day. We will survive this tyranny. Let's take our country back and rebuild it so that this kind of terror never returns!" Josh declares with the news anchors in a state of shock.
He stares into the camera that picks up the glow of his yellow eyes.
"I'll close with this, Damien. You and I are going to war. After today you will dance with the devil. Mark my words, you are dead because I am coming for you!"
Josh marches offset, leaving the anchors speechless. His message is immediately replayed in an attempt to reach anyone still willing to help.
Unsure if anyone will show up, Josh is met along his way to Tampa with several police departments speeding alongside him. By the time he arrives, he's blown away by the response. People and vehicles surround the Tampa location, where he can't even get close to the federal building.
Josh walks through the crowd to the steps with an escort acting as a guard service.
"Thank you, everyone. I'm sorry it comes to these extremes to regain control of our country but let's do it together. After this day ends, we will continue to fight until law and order are restored." Josh says in his brief speech before laying out his plans.
"Do we have any Navy or Coast Guard units here?" He waits as hands and hoots rise in the air.
"Great! We'll need transports across the Gulf waters. I wanted us to gather here to throw off our enemies' chances to prepare for a counter-attack. He's in Baton Rouge, and now with all of you here to help, we can cut off the head of this snake. I have Interpol assisting us on this mission. Once the sun dips out of the sky, we'll invade and conquer!"
The crowd erupts in an uproar. The swing in optimism doesn't last long, with men in black uniforms rush the crowd. Several of Damien's supporters are taken down. After the assailants are wiped out, help comes to those down on the ground, with paramedics tending to them.
Fueled with more rage, Josh can finally meet up with Owen and his team as they follow the Navy and Coast Guardsmen to the edge of their boats to make final preparations with commanding officers ready to leap into action.
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