Designated Survivor

by John H. Matthews

  “Keep the gap open,” she placed a thin metal bar through the gap and put tension on the back of the clasp. “Still quiet?”

  Levi looked down at the small screen attached to the fiber optic camera running under the door.

  “Unless someone’s around that corner, we’re good,” he said.

  Netty took a rubber mallet and lightly tapped the end of her crowbar several times to make sure the end was resting against the back of the clasp on the other side of the door.

  “Here goes nothing,” she pulled back and gave one more hard hit.

  The clasp broke free and the sound of metal hitting the outside of the steel door was followed by small pieces falling to the floor. She held still and watched Levi as he stared at the monitor. Ten seconds later he nodded.

  “No movement,” he said.

  Netty put her tools into her bag and ran back down the dark hallway to get the rest of the team.

  “We’re unlocked,” Netty said.

  “Great work,” Grace said.

  With Netty leading the way they made it to the door.

  “Holden, you’re in first to the left. Avery to the right on point. Subdue over shoot. We don’t want to alert anyone we’re here and we don’t know who might be actual tangoes or who’s just been coerced. This is recon only. I repeat, this is recon only.”

  Levi checked the monitor one last time then nodded as he pulled the fiberoptic camera from under the door and stepped back. Grace pulled the door open as Holden moved in, rifle up and ready, and turned left as Avery turned right. Grace went through next followed by the rest of the team.

  They moved down the hallway to the right, Avery taking the lead as Holden became the sweeper, walking backwards. Corbin was in front of him and made sure Holden never backed into anything or anyone. At the first corner Levi moved to the front and ran the end of the thin cable with a high definition camera mounted in the tip around the edge at floor level then nodded and stepped back. Avery went around the corner with his rifle scanning left and right as he cleared the way and everyone followed.

  They were in the main congressional subway on the House end of the Capitol. Senators and Representatives used the private electric train cars to move between the office buildings, out of sight of the public. The team reached the stairs and escalator leading up to the first floor of the Capitol building. The escalator was still running in the silent and empty halls.

  Once up to the first floor they fanned out to check all directions. The maze of hallways are home to the windowless private offices for members of Congress, usually the newly elected with less seniority to claim something with a window and perhaps a view in one of the office buildings surrounding the Capitol.

  “This is freakin’ me out,” Grace said.

  “How the hell is nobody here?” Levi said.

  The level cleared, they moved to the stairs that would take them up to the second floor and the entrance to the House of Representatives. Holden led the way with the rest of the team behind him, their weapons angled out to cover all directions, fingers stretched across the trigger guards to avoid accidental firing.

  They reached the landing for the second level and the floor was littered with the dead bodies of Secret Service and Capitol Police officers as well as more than a few civilians. Just to their left was the door to the main hallway that ran in front of the House of Representatives.

  “Scope it,” Grace said.

  Levi stepped up to the corner and used the fiber optic camera once again. His head began to nod then stopped and he held a fist up. Grace looked over at the monitor and saw nothing but bodies on the ground. Levi pointed at a dark area at the far end of the hall. A moment later there was the slightest movement. Grace motioned for Levi to keep an eye on the monitor.

  He scanned the rest of the team then stepped quietly to Netty and whispered in her ear. She gave him a confused look then shrugged. She took ten steps back away from the team and faced the other direction.

  “Oh god, somebody help me,” Netty cried. “Is anyone here? Oh my god it hurts. PLEASE! Somebody help! I’ve been shot!”

  Grace was back at Levi’s side watching the monitor. As Netty began her act the movement stopped for a moment then finally a shape emerged from the shadow.

  The black uniform of a Capitol Police officer in tactical gear appeared as the person moved slowly towards them, still 50 feet away. Grace gave a signal to the team to be ready, that they only had one target sighted.

  Netty cried in pain again. The uniform moved closer, becoming clearer on the small monitor. A black balaclava covered the face and an assault rifle was raised. The figure’s steps were unsure and slow.

  Grace leaned in to Levi’s ear.

  “He looks nervous as hell,” he said.

  Levi nodded then reached to his belt and handed Grace a six inch black canister. Grace looked at it and nodded. He glanced at the monitor and pulled the curved aluminum pin on the canister and waited.

  Thirty feet. Twenty-five. The figure got closer. He held his hand with the black metal canister up so his team knew what was coming.

  Twenty feet.

  Grace tossed the canister around the corner. The sound of the metal casing echoed as it hit the marble floor. The team all covered their ears just before the nearly 200 decibel blast came from the non-lethal flashbang device as it exploded within its steel casing, the blinding light lit up the hall and the monitor turned white. Holden was through the door first with Avery and Grace right behind him. They covered the 20 feet before the smoke dissipated and found their target kneeling on the floor, hands over ears. Sounds of yelling and screaming came from the closed doors to the House chamber.

  “Drop the weapon and lie down on the floor,” Grace said.

  “You don’t understand,” a man’s voice came from the mask.

  “What do I not understand except that we have six weapons pointed at your head right now?” Grace said.

  The man’s right hand move slowly away from his ear, the palm turning to show them the black trigger in his hand, his thumb on top of a red button. A wire ran from the trigger down his arm and into his bulletproof vest.

  “And what do you have there?” Grace said. He motioned for the team to begin backing up while the man’s vision was still obscured from the blast.

  “It’s everything,” the man said. “I push this button and the whole building goes up along with everyone in that room.” He motioned over to the door to the House chamber where Congress, the president and vice president were all being held captive.

  Grace glanced at Levi and tapped his vest to see if they were thinking the same thing. Levi nodded.

  “I’m not sure what you think you have there, but I don’t think it’s gonna blow the building up,” Grace said.

  The man’s finger twitched.

  “Try me,” he said.

  “I’m pretty sure what you have is a common terrorist grade suicide vest,” Grace said. “You press that button and the last thing you’re not gonna see your own brain splattered against all four walls.”

  Everyone was around the corner of the doorway except for Grace and Levi who were back at the edge of the entrance.

  “Why don’t you slowly put the trigger by your side and drop your weapon and we’ll get the vest off of you,” Grace said.

  “I can’t,” the man said. “They’ll kill my family.”

  Grace paused. He ran the scenario through his head and thought of the Marine pilot.

  “Not if they think you’re dead,” Grace said. “We’ll keep you safe and take you out of here in a body bag. Once clear we’ll get your family to safety.”

  Levi looked at Grace and raised an eyebrow. Grace shrugged.

  “Can you do that?” the man said.

  “We’re with the FBI,” Grace lied. “We can do anything. What’s your name?”

  “Laurence,” he said. “Laurence Bradley.”

  “Okay, Laurence Bradley,” Grace said. “I’m looking forward to having a long
conversation with you, but not until we get that bomb off of you.”

  Laurence’s right arm lowered to his side and he let the trigger fall. He lifted the strap to the rifle over his head and set it on the floor on his other side.

  “All right, Laurence,” Grace said. “We just need you to place your hands behind your head now.”

  They watched as the man’s hands began to rise then stopped. “I can’t. They’ll know,” his right hand dropped to the floor and grabbed the trigger. His thumb pushed the red button down.

  Levi and Grace turned and dove through the door onto the hard floor as the rest of the team did the same to get further from the blast zone. After several seconds Grace pushed up onto his hands and looked back at Laurence kneeling, his thumb pushing the red button over and over.

  CHAPTER 14

  “That’s a pleasant surprise,” Grace said. “Looks like we were both wrong.”

  Laurence collapsed to the floor, his chest heaving.

  “I can’t tell if he’s laughing or crying,” Grace said.

  “Actually I think he’s puking,” Levi said.

  Levi rolled the man onto his back and pulled the man’s pistol from the holster on his belt then checked him for other weapons.

  “He’s clear,” Levi said. “But the hall is littered with weapons.”

  “Tie him up,” Grace said.

  The rest of the team came from the door and Avery helped Levi put zip ties on Laurence’s wrists and ankles. Grace looked up and saw Netty headed for the door to the House chamber.

  “Don’t open the door,” he said.

  “Isn’t this why we’re here?” she said.

  “We don’t need 600 people rushing out to get on camera,” Grace said. “This guy was nervous as hell about something, so I’m not ruling anything out. Let’s split up and look around.”

  The team moved out in teams of two. Methodically they checked every office door and stairwell surrounding the House as well as the connecting Statuary Hall. Grace and Holden were clearing an office on the backside of the House when Avery’s voice came through their earpieces.

  “Boss, you should get down here.”

  “Where’s ‘here’,” Grace said.

  “A level down, east hallway,” Avery said.

  “On our way,” Grace said.

  The two men went to the stairs, weapons always at the ready, and made their way down. They followed the center hall between offices and saw Netty standing at the far end.

  “What do you have?” Grace said.

  “In here,” Netty said.

  They followed her into an office at the corner of the east and central halls and found Avery in the small room, standing on a desk he’d pushed against the wall.

  “What is it?” Grace said.

  “In the stairwell on the other side of this wall I saw fresh plaster. Couldn’t reach it without a ladder so I went to the office on the other side of the stairs,” Avery said. “It was a pretty crappy plastering job and the paint on top of it didn’t even match.”

  He was picking at the wall with his six-inch pocketknife blade and chunks of plaster were falling to the ground. He opened a foot long section running along the edge of the ceiling then pointed his flashlight into the hole.

  “Yup, it’s here, too,” Avery said.

  Grace climbed up onto the desk beside Avery and looked into the hole.

  “Holy shit. That’s C4,” Grace said.

  “And a lot of it,” Avery said. “This is the third office I’ve found it in.”

  “Always at the ceiling?” Grace said.

  “Yup,” Avery said.

  Grace looked up at the ceiling.

  “Let’s check the rest of the offices,” Grace said.

  Avery, Grace and Netty made their way through each of the offices, finding the fresh plaster along the ceiling of all the rooms and stairwells on the inner square of the floor. They came out of the last office and stood in the hall.

  “I need you two to go up two levels and check some more, most likely at the floor instead of the ceiling,” Grace said.

  Avery and Netty moved out. Grace reached into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone and dialed. The phone just beeped at him, showing no signal.

  Grace made his way back to the main entrance to the House Chamber. He went to the double doors and inspected the frame and hinges then took his knife from his belt and slowly slid the blade under the frame and pried it out.

  “Shit,” a line of C4 was running along the doorframe below the trim.

  A voice came through his earpiece.

  “Boss. More of the same up above,” Avery said. “Not just the perimeter, but everywhere you could get access.”

  “You see any detonators or wires?” Grace said.

  “I do, but no ends,” Avery said. “No idea where it’s originating. No way to disable it. Even if I pulled the detonators I can reach, there’s many more I can’t.”

  “Okay. Get back down here. We have work to do,” Grace said. “Looks like the house doors are wired, too.”

  The rest of the team stood and looked at him.

  “What now?” Holden said.

  “Time for some construction work,” Grace said. “Or destruction is more accurate. How much more Semtex you have?”

  “Enough to take down a tank,” Holden said.

  “That should do it,” Grace said. “Holden, Levi, Chip and Avery you’re with me. Netty and Corbin, you’re here to watch the door.”

  “Shit,” Netty said.

  “Don’t worry. There’s plenty more to come, Netty,” Grace said.

  Grace moved out with the three men and went back down to the first floor of the Capitol. They stood in the center hall that ran under the House Chamber.

  “I need a few desks pulled from offices to give Holden enough height to reach the ceiling,” Grace said. “After that we’ll need more desks to stack up to use as stairs.”

  Holden looked up at the ceiling and grimaced. “Are we gonna . . . ”

  “Yes, we are,” Grace said.

  “Don’t you think there’s some bad guys in there?” Holden said.

  “When terrorists go to all the trouble to wire an entire building they’re really good at making sure they’re out of the way of their own explosives,” Grace said. “My guess is that the worst people in that room are members of Congress.”

  “You’re the boss,” Holden said.

  “Pick your spot as close to the middle of the hall as possible. No C4 was found through here and we want to stay as far away from it as possible. We need at least a ten by ten square with clean lines. We should be dead center in the middle of the house chamber upstairs.”

  “How are we going to let people know that a huge fucking hole is about to be blown in their floor?” Avery said.

  Grace looked up as he stepped to the center of the hallway. “How thick do you think the ceiling is?”

  “Couple feet, probably,” Holden said. “Maybe more. Also depends on what the floor above is made of.”

  “Start shaping your charge, Avery come with me,” Grace said.

  The two men worked their way up to the first floor and down the hallway that led to the center of the building. They entered the circular room below the great rotunda, weapons up, moving opposite directions to clear the large area. Once clear, Grace began scanning the dome above them.

  “What are we looking for?” Avery said.

  “The rotunda’s been under construction for a few months. We’re looking for tools,” Grace said.

  They walked around the room close to the walls to get a better viewpoint of the ceiling above.

  “Nothing,” Avery said.

  “The stuff they’re using is too big and heavy to haul out of here every day,” Grace said.

  He turned and went through the opening facing west into the stairwell.

  “Bingo,” Grace said.

  Avery followed him in. The walls of the landing to the stairwell were lined with industrial carts co
vered with tarps.

  “Uncover all of them, let’s see what we have,” Grace said.

  Avery moved right and Grace left as they began to pull back the thick canvas tarps revealing cans of plaster, brushes and ladders.

  “Boss,” Avery said. “Think this would work?”

  Grace turned around to see Avery holding up the end of a huge drill with a four-foot bit that was thicker than you could wrap your hand around.

  “I think it will,” Grace said. “Let’s get moving.”

  Avery and Grace took each end of the heavy tool and went back through the building until they reached the hallway where Holden was placing straight rows of orange plastic explosives on the ceiling in a clean square.

  “Perfect,” Grace said. “Now help us get this up there.”

  They lifted the drill up to Holden who picked it up like it weighed nothing.

  “What do you want?” Holden said.

  “One clean hole right up into the house chamber,” Grace said.

  Avery got the other end of the power cord plugged in around the corner in an office.

  “What about all that C4?” Holden said.

  “C4 doesn’t mind a bit of vibration,” Grace said. “As long as we don’t send a signal to the detonators, we’re fine.”

  Holden pointed the bit up and placed it onto the ceiling and paused then pulled the handle to turn the drill on. The noise was deafening as the spinning four-inch wide bit started spinning up into the ceiling. He was a foot in and they heard it hit something metal. He let go of the trigger.

  “What was that?” Grace said.

  “My guess would be pipes,” Holden said. “If I push through them we might get rained on.”

  “Can you feel your way to see if you can go past it?” Grace said.

  Holden pulled the drill back an inch and angled the bit then turned it on again. A sound of metal again, but not as loud, and he stopped the drill.

  “I think I’m on the edge,” Holden said. “I can’t get much more leverage without starting over.”

  “Push through it,” Grace said. “We’re gonna get wet when the ceiling comes down anyway. This is a construction grade drill so water isn’t going to bother it.”