A New Plan

The rogue helicopter after giving Neil's team the chance to escape, continues the rampage by shooting its Gatling guns and firing missiles from a safe altitude to destroy any big weapons the terrorists might use, like trucks, drones, and their weapons.

While the rogue chopper is throwing fires and explosions, creating chaos for the terrorists, Neil, Chad, and the president are sprinting down 50 levels of stairs as fast as they can.

The farther down they go, the more terrorists they might encounter.

"What do we do now?!"

Chad hastily asked Neil during their run.

"I have no idea! But we have to get you, mister President, and some others out of this place ASAP! While that chopper is still helping us."

Hearing this, Chad is a little disappointed because he understands what it means.

"I'm sorry Chad, but we have to abort this mission."

Their whole plan, along with all their hard work, efforts, and the risks they survived, will all go down the drain.

"But-"

"We've agreed on this, remember?! We will abort the whole plan as soon as things go sideways!"

"Wait, you are saying this whole plan to infiltrate and take down a whole terrorist corp, is his idea?!"

President Mikael wondered. In response to his question, Chad turns his head around.

"Yes?"

The president is stunned.

"You... are crazy, kiddo."

"Shhh!"

Neil hushes both of them and signals them to stop moving. It seems like he has heard something, specifically someone because both Chad and the president also hear loud footsteps coming from a left turn in the hallway just in front of them.

The three of them hold their breath in silence, waiting for the footsteps to fade away. Neil prepares to fight the terrorists with a single Glock 19 (pistol) he found.

Then, just as the footsteps in front of them began to fade away, footsteps behind them emerged quickly. As fast as lightning, Neil turns around and shoots down two terrorists within a second with his Glock.

BANG! BANG!

The loud gunshot noises attracted the attention of a small terrorist group that was leaving the floor.

"то! (That!)"

And turns back to trace the source location of the gunshot.

"Mister Neil!"

"Shit!"

The terrorists were too fast, and Neil couldn't turn his body back to the front quickly enough. Three terrorists run out of the left and turn in front of them, quickly preparing their rifles as soon as they see two adults and a teenager who doesn't look like one of them and get ready to fire in Neil's helplessness.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Multiple shots have been fired.

...

"What?!"

However, it was not them who were shot, but the terrorists who were about to shoot them. Neil was surprised, and so were the president and Chad, as the three terrorists collapsed at their feet. Neil quickly prepared himself to fight the next one to come.

Luckily, he doesn't have to.

"Nick?"

Appearing from the same left turn is Nick, who was previously rampaging the floors below to distract the terrorists. Now, he suits himself up in a terrorist outfit to disguise himself as one of them.

And the one who shot down the three terrorists was also him. He just happens to be on the same floor while finding Neil, and seeing Nick has finally come to save them, Neil sighed in relief. But that was not the only surprise.

"Roy? Selena, and Jenny too!"

Following behind Nick are Chad's friends who were captured and locked up. Seeing that his friend and "crush" are still safe and unharmed, Chad becomes overjoyed.

"You guys are all fine!"

"And he would just forget about me..." Fat Mike, being the last one to come out, sighed.

"And Mike too, you're all safe!"

"Yeah... all thanks to Sergeant Nick here." Selena thumbs at Nick.

Chad couldn't thank Nick enough, he made a happy smile at him and got responded with a "You're welcome." nod from Nick.

"Told you we could trust him." Neil proudly speaks.

While everyone is happy to get to reunite with each other, one man among them is still confused about who Nick is, then his wonders are quickly answered by Neil.

"Mister President, this is US. Army Sergeant Nick." And introduced Nick to him.

"Veteran. Nice to meet you, Sir!" Being humble, Nick extends his hand.

"Nice to meet you... Sir!" Mike added.

"Nice to meet you too." The president then shakes Nick's hand and gets to know him.

Then, after a while of introductions and reunion, Nick turns to Neil to discuss the main issue.

"What do we do now?!"

"What do you mean? We have to get out of here. This plan is over!" Neil answered unpleasantly.

"But where?! There's no way we will get out in one piece with those terrorists waiting down there!" Jenny yelled at him.

"She's right."

"Then what am I supposed to do?! Wait till they come?! I've listened to you guys and look where we are?!"

"Neil."

"If I had just rejected this plan from the beginning, we wouldn't stuck here in the first place, and we wouldn't have had to struggle to find a way out and survive-"

"Neil!"

Neil immediately stopped speaking when he realized who was calling him, the President of the United States.

"Look... no one wants to be stuck here, ok? But what we need to do now, is find a way to win the terrorists, arguing won't change anything."

"...Ok." Neil agreed, and then President Mikael suddenly looked at Chad.

"Kid."

"??"

"What was your plan to fight and win over the terrorists?"

Chad was a little hesitant at first, but he decided to speak anyway.

"Uhm... we intend to destroy the machine that is creating the forcefield in the sky, when the forcefield is gone, the military will immediately rush inside and eradicate the terrorists, leaving them no time to focus on and let us a chance to escape."

"Will it work?" The President asked.

"As I've learned so far, the machine could be destroyed and the forcefield thing can disappear, but we need a bomb to explode it."

"You mean this?" Roy suddenly grabs everyone's attention with the 'special equipment' he's holding.

"A C4?"

"I think it would still be useful, so I brought it with me."

"Wait, what are you trying to do?!" Right away, Neil jumps in to interrupt the President and interrogate him as he feels things are getting out of his control.

"The best thing to do right now, Neil. With that field thing still blocking us from outside, we're stuck like fish in a barrel, it's impossible to leave this place in safely without any help.

As soon as we leave this building, they would just gonna get on their trucks and chase us, while they have choppers, RPGs, drones, and tons of men, capturing us would be just fun and games for them, and believe me, they will get us, and this time they won't be nice to just held you guys, hostage, anymore."

"So you are suggesting, that we all get back on top and do what we planned to do in the first place?"

"Not necessarily all of us." Nick speaks up.

"He's right. It's me who they want, for them you guys are like... a bunch of stubborn civilians who try to rebel. They will need to capture me for their plan to work, without me, they lose their negotiation advantages and basically, their entire plan is ruined."

"So we could split into two groups, one go up again and destroy that machine, while the other will try to flee and attract the terrorist's attention." Nick continues after the President.

"And I would be in the second one. How about that?"

Although the new plan seems convincing to Neil, he remains hesitant because he has another concern on his mind.

"But... how about them?"

And that worry is the four teenagers that are following them, and the President already has the answer to his concern.

"Chad, you will come with Neil to the rooftop, the others-"

"I volunteer to go with Chad." Roy raises his hand.

"K so the others, will join me to go out and try to run from the terrorists as far and as long as possible. This is the most optimal option."

"..."

Neil, however, is still concerned about the plan's likelihood of success, the risks he has to take, and what it would mean if they fail, but President Mikael, still insists on his plan, and continues to persuade him.

"Neil, listen." He places his hands on Neil's shoulders. "I know this is hard for you, but it's hard for me too. It's us, it's always people like us, you and me, that have to make difficult decisions in difficult circumstances, there is no place for fear or hesitation. I know that this idea is risky, but it's either one of us dies, or all of us, Neil. We, have to be bold and strong."

...

"Haizz... fine. You guys hear the president's order. Chad, Roy, you're coming with me."

Finally, Neil agrees to the plan and decides to proceed immediately. The President is pleased, he releases Neil and starts working on his part without further ado.

But before leaving, Chad has a request for Nick: "Nick, can you keep an eye on the girls and make sure they are safe?"

"The girls? How about me?!" Mike saddens.

"Yes, I promise."

Hearing this, Chad feels reassured and entrusts Selena's fate to Nick.

"Don't worry kid, Nick is not the only one with who can use a gun." The president adds, then he grabs one of the rifles brought by Nick's group and performs the pull-reload motion.

"It's been a while since I left the Marines, but my skills aren't that rusty yet."

Then, after bidding farewell and looking at each other for probably the last time, they are all ready to move.

"OK, are we all good? The longer we wait the more dangerous it will be, so we should get going now. Good luck."

"You too."

Then they part ways, one going to create a diversion and draw away the terrorists, while the other heads upward to destroy their ultimate weapon. Their minds are filled with fear, worries, and hesitations, yet they hold onto hope for each other's success.