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Madison's breath caught in her throat, her lungs closing in on eachother. Her heart suddenly dropped to her stomach, a sob erupting the silence of the room. She slowly pinched her arm, shook her head, clutched the arms of the chair, breathed out a shaky breath that ended in another sob.

"I mean, Sir...we still have the land. Some country towns and such but...most of the population--" The man cut himself off.

"And within the next 24 hours, all of human existence in America not in a bomb shelter will be dead from the gas. These 'missiles' were nuclear war heads, Mr. President." All heads turned towards the voice. It was a short man with fiery red curls, his face pale and dotted with freckles. He wore all black, standing in front of a door near the beds that had never been there before.

"Nuclear?" Henry asked.

"Yes. Nuclear. It'll spread through the air to these small towns, carried in with the wind. Earthens, live stocks, anything that can breath will be killed. As far as the towns far in the middle of nowhere, it will come in like a strain of disease. Become part of the air they breath. It might not be enough to kill them immediately, but enough to kill them slowly. Which, perhaps, is much worse."

"So, we can rebuild...right?" Henry asked. He had suddenly turned from a man of the Military to nothing more then a small boy.

"Rebuild a whole country? How many people do you think will be left?" The redhead laughed sarcastically. "The ones who are in the bomb shelters, the ones who are normal civilians and somehow got the news just in time, will stay down in there holes until the food or water runs out. After a week or so of not hearing anymore explosions, after a day of nothing to eat or drink, the moles come out of their underground homes. Clueless of what lurks within the air, of what they'll breath in and die from."

Madison tilted her head at this man, her jaw locked. He spoke as if he didn't give a damn. Did he really just call those innocent people 'moles'? Her fingers dug stiffly into the rubber, deeper and deeper until she no longer had the strength to squeeze. A hand was placed gently on her shoulder but she shook it off, her wild eyes narrowed at this man.

"Who are you?" Unknown growled through his clenched teeth behind her.

"I don't matter-" He started.

"No. I agree." Madison nearly spit the words out, but the man just smirked.

"Mr. President?" The red head asked, still smirking at Madison. That gentle hand settled back on her shoulder, but now it was firm enough to keep her down when she lurched forward.

"Oh...yes. Yes." He stood, walking towards the man and the door.

"And you two," He pointed at Madison and somewhere behind her. "You both follow me. You've been called upon by the United States Government to assist Code 20-32A. But, more on that later."

Madison didn't want to go. Even thought about saying no. But the fingers that jabbed into her right shoulder blade got her up and walking. She followed behind the President, footsteps of someone falling behind her.

It was a long hallway made of cement, buried underground in utter silence. The dim lights shining down made shadows bounce of the walls and Madison could feel her heart start an irregular pace. The door they had entered from slammed shut behind them. Color rose up into her cheeks as she gave a slight jump, but that hand came back upon her shoulder. Who the hell was this guy? One of those men who thought woman were little and needed to be comforted at all times or they would surely break down or faint, she thought. Her frown deepened as she shook the hand off of her again.

They stopped at a door at the very end of the hallway, a blue laser beam shooting out from the wall and into the eyes of the redhead.

"Please wait for confirmation." The robotic voice bounced down the hallway, echoing back into their ears. The laser suddenly disappeared, the door breaking in half and retracting into the wall.

The hallway was filled with frantic people, all dressed in black like the man they were following. People were screaming back and forth, one man was slamming another against the wall. Another man punched the cement wall, pulling back his bloody fist. People ran through the hallway, in and out of rooms. But not two seconds from when they stepped into the hall, they all stopped and turned towards them. Silence hung heavy in the room, weighing them all down.

"Those two?" A man spoke, shaking his bloody fist in the air. That was when Madison realized that not a single one was actually looking at the President. All eyes were burning into Madison and the man behind her.

"Do we have any other choice?" The redhead asked, walking forward.

"Well, shit! One of us could fucking go! Look at them! What, are you out of your fucking mind? You dumbass! These peo-" The man started, cutting off in a scream as the red head grabbed his bloody fist and squeezed it within his own. All heard two distinctive cracks as two of his bones broke.

"Are you questioning me?" He gritted out.

"No." The man gasped out, ripping his hand away as the redhead let go.

"We can't send one of our own," The red head was now directing his attention to all the men in the hall. "Everyone here, we need. We're better off with two soldiers than two radiomen. We have another man in there looking at the boards, two men on the radio, and every one of you need to be here for your own duties. These our only choice. It's not like they can turn them around. They need all the help they can fucking get."

All the men seemed to finally get this, nodding their heads with wide eyes of understanding. One stepped forward, taking the President by the elbow.

"Sir, let me show you to our Coffee room." He smiled, leading Bush towards a door.

"Can someone tell me what the hell is going on here?" Unknown stepped up beside Madison, asking the question she had opened her mouth for.

Madison studied him. Square jaw, big build, tall frame. Stubble's were taking over half his face, bushy eyebrows set above amazing green eyes. His thin lips were curved into a deep frown, his well defined arms were crossed in front of a chest she was sure could stand on it's own. She unconsciously took a step away from him, slightly intimidated by him suddenly.

"You'll find out soon enough." Redhead spoke up, not even bothering to turn around to face him.

"I want to find out now." Madison cocked her head slightly at the southern drawl, her eyes still trained on the men in front of her. This comment seemed to cause an upstart in the crowd and Madison took a step slightly behind Unknown, in no shape to fight with her emotions and thoughts so out of whack.

"You'll find out...,"

"Kevin."

"Kevin, when I'm fucking ready to tell you." Redhead replied heatedly.

"I think you'll tell me now."

"No, I really don't think I will." Red head snarled, sweeping his fingertips across the gun in the holster at his thin hips. Madison scoffed at this, muttering something unintelligible under her breath. "Now, if you'll follow me."

Madison fell behind Kevin, once again following the redhead towards a door. Redhead opened it, stepping aside to let the two of them walk in ahead of him.

The room was large, maps covering almost every inch of the walls. Madison counted nine TV monitors in one corner, and besides these, most of the room was empty besides the table. A large conference table was set in the middle of the room. The redhead took the seat at the very far end. Kevin took the seat directly opposite on the end closest to the door. Madison gazed over at the red head and then Kevin, choosing the seat nearest to Kevin. They might not be friends but they were certainly allies in whatever the hell it was that was going on.

Kevin stared at her, his eyes seeming to penetrate right through her. Do you know anything about this shit? That look asked. Madison shook her head, glancing at the door before steadying her gaze on the red head. That last thing she needed was the angry crowd of men in black to rush into the room and kill them. Maybe this was a stupid or silly thought, but on this day? You couldn't put anything past her wall of reality. As far as she was concerned, anything could happen and very well might.

"My name is Don. This isn't my real name, but it's the one you'll call me. As you know, America just suffered from great tragedy and complete destruction. To put the loss into words would be blasphemous, so I'm not going to even bother. I'm sure your minds will wrap around it tomorrow morning when you wake up and realize this is no dream. That you woke up this morning to a nightmare, your own personal living hell.
..You should realize the facts now. America is destroyed. This goes will all your favorite stores, your favorite restaurants. Your car, your clothes, all of your possessions. Your apartment, house, trailer, whatever. Your dog, cat, whatever...gone. Your friends, your family members...they are all dead. Or will be. Your entire life has been wiped away. Out there...you simply do not exist."