Black Dawn

Chapters 1-5
Chapters 6-10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Maria has never been more nervous at removing a bullet from a wound. Since she's worked as a medic in the military, she knows the process by heart. But never before has she ever had to remove the bullet from someone close to her - let alone a man she was once engaged to.

"Now hold still."

This will hurt Adam, but it's necessary to do.

Maria is extra careful at extracting the bullet from the wound, but there's no way to physically do it without causing severe pain. Lucky for Maria, Adam's tough. He's even done the process himself a few times. With much less sterile equipment. It's a small miracle he's still alive today to even get shot in the first place.

Adam lets out a growl of anguish as the bullet leaves the wound, but it starts to get better as soon as its done.

"Okay, there we go. It's out."

Kevin, too, is anxious to learn whether Adam's going to be okay.

"Is he gonna be alright?"

Adam gets kiddingly insulted at Kevin's lack of faith, since they've both been through hell on the battlefield together.

"You really thought that would finally be what it would take, huh?"

"Well, it's been a weird day so far."

Maria is still too nervous for friendly chit chat, and keeps the thing serious, as she is wrapping Adam with bandages.

"You'll live, but you're not okay, Adam. That was a close call, I'm serious."

Adam's natural reaction to situations like this has always been to make light of them after the fact. This time is no exception.

"I promise I won't get killed today."

Maria, however, is not amused.

"That's not funny, Adam."

Adam gets serious for a while and gently places his palm on Maria's cheek.

"Hey. I won't leave you, okay? I won't."

Maria places her own hand on Adam's hand, and tightly squeezes it. The familiarity of Maria's touch feels warm and loving, but the ring on her finger works as a steep reminder of how things are not as they once used to be. That doesn't stop Adam from briefly enjoying the moment - even if the circumstances are crazy to say the least. Maria shares these feelings, but also wants to enjoy having Adam be there, alive and with her. Just for a little while.

"You'd better not."

Kevin understands what this moment means to both of his friends, but has the unfortunate duty to remind them of the task at hand.

"I hate interrupt this, but."

Adam takes one last look in Maria's eyes, but then it doesn't take more for Adam to go back into professional mode.

"You're right. We need to stop Derek and get out of this hell hole. What took you so long, by the way? What happened?"

"I was a little tied up."

"Tied up?"

Maria doesn't say anything, but does remember the weird and awkward conversation he had with Kevin after they bumped into each other. She is wondering if Adam could get into the bottom of it. Kevin seems like he doesn't want to go into this.

"Derek captured me, but I got away. Then I came for you, and ran into Maria."

Adam's been a part of this world for so long that he quickly realizes something is not as it should be.

"How are you still alive, Kev?"

"Hmh?"

"They clearly want you dead. I'm the one they want. How are you still alive?"

"I told you. I got away."

"That doesn't make any sense. If they captured you, they might as well have killed you. But they didn't. Why?"

Kevin gets nervous, but tries to hide it.

"I guess they tried to get me to reveal your location."

"You guess? They questioned you, and you don't know what it was about? What's up?"

"Look, I was concentrating on getting the hell out of there, so I could save your ass, man! What's with the third degree?"

Adam knows Kevin. There's no way he could ever get like this with him, unless there's something wrong, or something that he's hiding. They've been best friends since both were in their early 20s. They've lived and died in the fox holes together. There's a trust and a bond that forms in situations like that that can't be verbalized by normal means. Something's up.

"Kev. You're my best friend. You've always been more like a brother to me than my actual brother. What the fuck is up with you?"

"Are you saying I'm behind this?"

"No? What the.. I'm asking you what the fuck is up!"

"I've risked my life more than once today to save your life, Adam! I think I deserve more than these goddamn accusations!"

"I wasn't accusing you of.."

The heated argument gets cut short by both men's attentions being drawn to a noise that came behind a nearby corner. They were being listened. Instinctively, they draw out their weapons, and Adam gets up even though he's still weak. And just like that, the argument doesn't matter, Adam and Kevin both know what to do, they have each other's backs, and they are both in combat buddy mode. That's how they operate, and that's how they've operated for years. Adam tells Maria to hide somewhere, as he and Kevin approach the corner carefully with their weapons ready and loaded.

Just as they are ready to do a surprise attack, a guard comes out of the corner with his hands behind his head.

"Don't shoot!"

Adam and Kevin are caught by surprise.

"I'm not here to fight, see?"

The guard raises his hands to the air to underscore the fact that he does not have a weapon in his hand, before slowly placing his hands back to the back of head.

Adam is not convinced this easily.

"What are you playing?"

"I'm not playing, I swear!"

The voice is not a voice of an experienced soldier, it sounds young, fragile and scared.

"I'm not even a soldier really, I'm just a tech guy. I came here with the rest, but I-I don't.. I don't want any of this, this is too much! Your brother is a madman!"

Adam does sense a tone of sincerity in the guard's voice, but it does take more than that to convince him.

"Show me your face. Remove the mask. Slowly."

The guard does as he's told, and slowly removes his mask to reveal his face. As he does this, he reveals a face that's no older than 25. It's a gentle face, one that does not belong to a man who is a trained killer. Or at least not someone who wishes to be one. Adam gives him a chance, but does not lower his weapon.

"Okay. I'll give you a chance. Go."

"I admit it that I was hired by Derek, your brother, but I had no idea.. I swear, the strike, the nerve gas.. it was supposed to be a ruse! He wasn't supposed to go through with it! Innocent people were not supposed to get killed, that's how it was explained to me!"

"A ruse? For what purpose?"

Kevin seems to know something, and quickly interrupts.

"Adam, there's no way we can trust this guy. It's probably a trap, I say shoot him."

Maria senses even more insincerity in Kevin, and is now convinced that he's hiding something, but doesn't get involved. Adam, however, does tell Kevin to back off. He's not going to shoot an unarmed man who just surrendered.

"Kev, let me handle this. What was the ruse for? What did they tell you?"

"Well, uh.. Okay, so. Your brother is after the leader of some secret organization. I'm not really sure. But he's been after him for a long time, and this was supposed to lure him out somehow. That's why they captured that Heenan guy. Heenan worked for them, and Derek wanted to learn the identity of his boss. I don't much about it, but according to Derek, they're the ones really in charge of this country. The president, the government.. everything. Derek wants to take them down. But he wasn't supposed to kill people, I swear, I didn't know, I.."

Adam can tell the guard is sincere and lowers his weapon.

"Okay, slow down. You're telling me my brother is after the head of some shadow government? That's a little much."

Kevin tries to steer Adam in that direction.

"I agree, I think it's a trick. There's no way we can trust him."

Maria intercepts.

"I think there is."

Maria takes a look at the guard, and then turns to Adam.

"I think he's telling the truth. Remember what Heenan said? He said they would kill him if he talked, and after he said Simon Silverman, he died of a heart attack. It makes too much sense, Adam. Something is going on here."

It sounds crazy, but Adam has to admit it to himself that Maria is making sense.

"Kev, have you ever heard of Simon Silverman?"

The name strucks a chord in Kevin, and Maria can see it, but he tries not to show it.

"No. Never heard of him."

Adam doesn't say anything, but he looks at Kevin. For the first time in his life, he doubts Kevin. The one person he's always been able to trust. It kills him inside that he has to admit it, but he thinks Kevin is lying to him. But before he can ask questions, the guard decides to interrupt.

"Look, I don't know much. All I know is what I told you. I just.. I saw Derek kill my friend without mercy, without hesitation, for one mistake. I don't want that, I don't want to work for him, I don't want to be on his side, I don't. Please believe me."

"I believe you. What's your name?"

"Joshua."

"Joshua. Can you think of anything to tell me that could help me piece the puzzle together, Joshua?"

"They're still keeping one of the hostages."

"A hostage?"

"They moved him from the detention center when they decided to use you for questioning Heenan. I don't know who he is, I'm sorry. But he's very important to them, and they were using him to get information, I know that. They're looking for some.. data. Or a way to access that data. It's vital to their plans. And I was brought in here as a tech guy to extract the data once they got access to it. I tried to crack the encrypting, but it was too hardcore, even for me. I've never seen encryption like that before, and I've seen more than most."

"Where's the hostage being held?"

"Again, we're not told much. But they moved him to the third building from the detention center, just before you interrogated Heenan. That's what I know. I know my way around, and I can communicate with the guards. And I can get you by security. Let me help you. I want to be able to live with myself."

Kevin does not like this one bit.

"Adam.."

"Shut up, Kev. Okay, Joshua. Let's find the hostage. And let's try to find out what the hell is going on here."