It was a lot harder to kidnap someone that Nolan had originally thought.

He hauled Fredrick onto his shoulder as they descended down the elevator and pulled out his phone.

He sent a pre-typed message to Collin and Jim, who were waiting outside.

-On our way.

The two doors slid open with a cheerful ding! and they filed out into the kitchen.

It was crowded with chefs and servers, still churning out food for the party.

They all stopped to stare, particularly at the bloodied figure hanging from Nolan's shoulder.

"The governor's son cut himself," Nolan said, "My wife and I are doctors. All he needs is a bandage and some rest."

"Will he be alright?" One of the chefs asked.

"He'll be just fine," Grace said with an encouraging smile, taking Nolan's arm. "Come along, dear."

They hurried through the kitchen under the skeptical eye of the cooks.

"This reminds me of that one Doctor Who episode...except much worse. And without Cybermen," Grace panted.

Police sirens suddenly blared from outside.

Hurry, hurry, hurry....Nolan thought to himself as they burst through the door that lead to the backside of the house.

Blue and red lights blinked from the front and their reflections darted across the grass.

Headlights flashed once from the woods across the lawn.

Grace and Nolan made a dash for it.

Fredrick moaned as his body bounced.

Grace stumbled and fell to her knees. She quickly yanked off her heels and started running again.

They made it to the woods and could faintly make out the silhouette of an old car.

Collin hopped out and opened the door to the back seat. "Hurry up!"

Nolan all but tossed Fredrick inside before he and Grace filed in.

"Go!" Grace huffed, shutting the door behind her.

Jim kept his headlights off and expertly wheeled the car backwards through the trees.

From a distance, Nolan could see police officers surrounding the house. He couldn't help but grin. He'd been the cause of a good old-fashioned mansion murder mystery.

He glanced at Fredrick, who was shaking uncontrollably.

It wasn't exactly murder...yet.

He noticed a red scar just at the man's collarbone. He wondered what kind of surgery he'd had in the past.

Jim evened out his wheel and picked up speed, dodging in and out of the pine trees with surprising agility.

"We'll stop at the edge of town." Collin said from the passenger's seat.

Grace leaned around Nolan to look at Fredrick. "Pathetic," she muttered. "He's not going to give us the code. Just look at him."

"If we persuade him enough...he just might." Nolan replied.

They sped along the pavement, passing several police cars on the way. After twenty minutes, they came to a stop on the side of the road.

The night was late and the highway was dark. The road stretched on for miles and there was rolling pasture on either side.

"Alright, Mr. Halberg," Nolan said cheerfully, jerking the man into an upright position. "We're in the middle of absolutely nowhere with no one pursuing us as of yet. Theoretically, we've already gotten away with murdering you. The only thing left to do is," he popped a bullet in the cartridge of the pistol, "finish the job."

Fredrick pressed himself against the door. Nolan made sure it was locked...not that he could get far even if he tried.

"All we need is the code to the central EMP located in London."

"I...I can't..." Fredrick croaked. "Egor will kill me."

Nolan shrugged. "Later, probably. But I'm threatening to kill you now. Take your pick."

Fredrick blinked furiously and licked his lips, eyes darting around the car. "It's...it's complicated. There's...there's a—a chip. It's not connected to the EMP, it is it's own device. It holds the same information as Dogma, the London EMP. If you find that and place it within Dogma's code, it'll confuse the programs and shut it down until further notice."

Nolan leaned back. "Are they located far apart?"

"No. Only a couple miles."

Maddie and James could find it, Nolan thought. He glanced behind them. "The police will be searching the area soon..."

Then, Fredrick gave a dark chuckle. "Oh, you fools...you idiots."

Nolan's lips tightened. "What?"

"It isn't the police you should be worried about," He pulled down the collar of his shirt to reveal the scar Nolan had seen earlier. "Colossus...they cover every track they've ever left." He pointed to the scar. "This is a tracking device, implanted in me ten years ago when I was working on the EMPs. People afterwards wondered why I never left my father's house, why I stayed to work on his campaigning...such a brilliant mind shouldn't be wasted printing brochures and orchestrating politics," he laughed shallowly again, "It was because I couldn't go far. No one suspected me...just thought I was lazy and enjoyed Father's money too much. I never bothered to have it removed...I knew Egor would find me nonetheless."

"Why'd you do it? Why did you create the EMPs in the first place?" Collin asked.

Fredrick gave him a measured stare. "Because it was an opportunity. To do something greater than my father ever did...that my brother could even dream of doing. Egor offered me millions...it was an easy decision. Until they put this blasted thing in my neck," he looked as if he wanted to dig it out t that very moment. Then his expression softened into cold revenge, "I've hated it until this day. Because it's leading Colossus to you at this very moment."

"We need to get out of here," Jim said.

Nolan nodded. "You're right."

Grace grabbed his arm. "Wait," she peered at Fredrick with a sharp eye, "You didn't give us the code to access the chip."

Fredrick's face melted.

"Trying to pull a fast one on us?" Nolan scoffed. Not that he was surprised.

"P-please," Fredrick stammered, his nerves spiking once again, "I gave you the information..."

"Do you realize how many people you've killed...are going to kill?" Grace asked, her words like glass, "I know you have no respect for women, but what about the human race?"

Fredrick gritted his teeth, "What has the world ever done for me?"

Nolan raised his pistol and thrust it against his forehead. "She asked nicely, now it's my turn."

"You keep threatening me," Fredrick sneered, although he couldn't keep the waver from his voice, "But you'll never actually shoot."

"Is that a challenge?" Nolan asked, pressing his gun into the man's thigh and firing.

Blood sprayed upwards like a fountain and covered Nolan's forearm.

Fredrick screamed. "351926!" He cried, jerking his leg in pain.

Nolan reached over, unlocked the door, and kicked Fredrick to the ground. He cocked his pistol again and took aim.

Grace's hand was on his arm. "Don't."

Nolan turned to her in surprise.

Her jaw was tight. "He'd be a waste of bullets anyway."

Nolan retracted his gun and stared at the groveling man before him. He tore his gaze away, closed the door, and leaned back in his seat.

Grace didn't say a word as they started back on the road.

"So it wasn't the governor himself like we suspected?" Collin asked to break the silence.

"Apparently not," Nolan said.

"We'll head to a petrol station in about an hour to contact Maddie and James," Jim said.

Nolan relaxed in his seat with a slow exhale. What were they going to do? By his interpretation, Howard's agreement to "help them" meant taking what they had to say into consideration...not providing physical aid, which would prove to be a problem. Why? Why was the government staying so far away from the issues at hand? He frowned. He knew that political systems were useful—vital, even—to the functioning order of society, but it wasn't the most selfless...or the most honest.

They pulled in to a gas station located several miles away from the governor's mansion.

"Collin and I'll stay here," Jim said, parking at one of the pumps. He handed Nolan and Grace a change of clothes.

The two of them filed out of the car and made their way inside.

Once Nolan was in a bathroom stall, he wasted no time in taking off his coat. He changed into a pair of black cargo pants and a long-sleeved shirt. He hung his jacket over his arm and opened the door to use the sink.

Just as he turned on the water to rinse his face, a man exited the stall next to him.

Nolan couldn't recall hearing him come in.

He washed his hands slowly, making sure to get all of the dried blood out of his skin.

The man next to him took his time as well. His curly black hair was braided down his broad back. His large build was obviously pure muscle.

"Where are you from?" Nolan asked, ripping off a paper towel from the dispenser.

The man didn't answer.

"I hear Colossus pays well these days."

The man muttered obscenities in Russian as answer.

"I didn't even throw the first punch and you're already swearing at me?" Nolan raised his eyebrows. "That's a first."

The man swung his arm with surprising accuracy that would've knocked Nolan across the room if he hadn't been expecting it.

Nolan ducked and shoved his shoulder into the man's abdomen, bulldozing him into the wall.

The man kneed him in the stomach and Nolan doubled over, but didn't release his hold.

"Who sent you?" Nolan growled, gritting his teeth from pain.

"Why do you even ask?" The man sneered, tossing an elbow into Nolan's face.

He tumbled to the side and bashed his head against the porcelain sink. He groaned and slumped against the wall.

The man was on him in an instant and grabbed him by the throat.

Nolan gagged.

"The boss will very pleased to find out his biggest threat has been destroyed."

Nolan grinned despite his lack of oxygen. "I'm flattered."

The man drew back and punched him again.

Pain racked Nolan's skull and he clenched his jaw. He kicked the man's stomach with every ounce of strength he could muster. The man flew to the side, but was up in an instant, a dangerous sparkle in his dark eyes.

Nolan scrambled into the handicapped bathroom stall, swiping a grimy-looking toilet brush and turning to face his attacker.

Both men straightened into a fighting position.

"Good luck with that, comrade," The man said, lunging for Nolan.

Nolan cracked his toilet brush across the man's face. The plastic snapped in half, but was a perfect distraction.

Nolan hurled himself at the man and stabbed him in the neck with the jagged stick. The man howled as blood gushed from his skin.

Nolan wasted no time and managed to puncture through his jugular.

The man let out another gurgling wail before turning hateful eyes on Nolan. "They're...coming—for you. All of them."

His jaw clenched as if he were fighting back death itself. "To the free world," he whispered, as lifelessness clouded his features.

Nolan leaned against the wall, panting heavily. His limbs were weak and shaky and his head throbbed mercilessly. They're coming...

Grace suddenly burst open the bathroom door and peeked inside the stall. "Nolan!" She gasped.

"What happened to you?"

"We have no go. Now." Nolan said, standing up with a slight groan.

Grace's eyes drifted to the body on the floor and she gave Nolan a questioning look.

When they went outside, Nolan swept his gaze across the parking lot as he told Grace what happened. Could the man have been bluffing? The space was clear, minus two cars parked near the gas tanks.

He didn't want to take the risk.

They slid into the car.

"We need to get out of here," Grace said, reaching under the seat and pulling out a medical kit.

Collin turned around in his seat and grimaced at Nolan's appearance. "Either you fell in the toilet or got into trouble."

"There's potentially an army of Colossus soldiers chasing us down," Nolan said and added with a slight smirk, "They sent a hit man to kill me, but, naturally, I remain undefeated."

"While you were in there, I booked a flight to London," Jim said, "Hopefully we'll get to the airport before Colossus does. I was going to find a place to stop for the night, but it might be best if we kept going." He cast a paranoid glance at the rearview mirror. The highway still remained desolate and quiet.

Grace opened up the medical kit and pulled out a few packets of sterilized wipes and butterfly bandages to seal up Nolan's cuts.

"It's fine," Nolan said, "I've had worse."

"Well, I don't want to be at the airport and have security ask why you look like you're fresh from a bar fight,"

Nolan grumbled a protest as Grace began wiping away the blood that was still trickling down his face.

"I can do that by myself, you know." He said.

She glared at him. "Men can't patch themselves up as well as a woman; it's a scientific fact."

Her touch was gentle, almost soothing. She scooted closer to get a better angle and cringed, "This one's bad," she murmured, ripping open a bandage with her teeth and sealing up the cut on Nolan's left cheek with her fingers. She placed the small bandage over it and pinched it together.

Her thumb traced the outline of the bandage and lingered there for half a moment longer.

She caught Nolan's gaze and quickly withdrew her hand. She began packing up the medical kit again with a tinge of redness in her cheeks. "You're all set to live another day,"

"Thanks," Nolan said, clearing his throat.

The phone in his pocket chirped an upbeat tune and he answered, grateful for the distraction.

"Hello?"

"Nolan!" James's voice was frantic, "We've been trying to call!"

"Sorry, I was...busy."

"We've been surveying Colossus activity for the past two hours, they're sending squadrons of their armies out all over the world. I don't know how, but every group leader has escaped surveillance for...years," he said breathlessly, as if he were still trying to process it all, "We're just now able to see them on the radar. It's like they appeared from nowhere."

"How many are there?" Nolan asked.

"Thousands, if not millions," he paused before adding, "But here's the thing; the leaders are all experienced terrorists the military has confirmed kills on."

Nolan's mouth went dry. "Confirmed kills?"

"The government has thought that all of these guys were dead and gone and long time ago,"

"Who are they?"

Nolan heard the click of a mouse before James began reading off a list, "Akinlana Tau, Terrence Brady, Sahil Samar, Gabe McAllistar, Dimyan Egor and there are a lot more..."

Nolan tightened his grip on the phone as his jaw went slack. "But...that's every target under General Davis's command..." he struggled to find words, "...that's every man I've killed."

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Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! (it felt a little choppy to me? I'm always open to critiques!) 

~ What do you think Fredrick's fate was after being left on the side of the road?

~ Who do you think will make it to the airport first?

~ What are your thoughts on the chapter?

Thank you so much for reading ! I truly appreciate it! (Don't forget to comment, vote, and share!)