The Superhero

Chapter 11

I stood in the roof opening of the humvee grasping the minigun, with sweating dripping down my face and my heart pounding like a bass drum. The driver of my humvee was following ten others with seven battle tanks behind us crossed Ohio Dr past the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial. The attack helicopters and fighter jets never came with us, as that would make them vunerable to the enemy in an instant. So they would come only if we summoned them. But when we reached Independence Ave, we came to a sudden halt. "HEY WHAT'S THE HOLD UP!?", one marine called on his radio. The engine of the first humvee, which was leading the way, died. "Ah shit, it must have overheated. We don't have time to fix it." After making room for the other soldiers in the other humvees and tanks, we continued onto Independence Avenue. 

We were about to pass the World War II Memorial and Washington Monument Grounds, when we spotted something strange in the dull evening sky, right above the White House Visitor Center. They looked like small brights dots, or in other words UFOs. The soldiers reported from a tank that according to their radar, it was the large steel suited SOW troops flying straight at us. "All people, get into position!", said Jupiter. We ran into our positions as we loaded our weapons and took aim at the troops. We stood by our cars and tanks with our fingers on the triggers as they flew closer "Remember, aim for weak spots", said Jupiter, "Standby...Standby...SMOKE EM!" We pulled the triggers and the bullets and missiles came straight at them. I focused on one troop pressing the buttons on the minigun, bullets spraying and buzzing until he began smoking and plummetted into the Tidal Basin. Two more troops arrived close and flipped over three tanks,  and and knocked some soldiers heads off with one punch. But we kept shooting at them until they were overwhelmed by the amount of gunfire and started to retreat back to the White House. "Shit, if they head back, they'll warn the leader," I cried. "They ain't heading back," said Commander Ray as he passed me a FIM - 92 Stinger. Me and Ray with his stinger aimed at the retreating smoking targets, locked on, and fired as they beeped. The bright white missiles followed the troops gracefully like a comet and crashed into them. They exploded into huge fireballs and plummetted all the way down in pieces. We checked on our whole team; five marines dead, three tanks active. 

We continued on, crossing Constitution Avenue, and also checking for mines with searchlights as the lampposts weren't bright enough. We slowly drove through 17th Street with our fingers, still on the triggers untill we found the White House. I was handed a pair of binoculars to see wahta was going on over there. Zooming through the lens, I spotted six SOW troops heading for the White House. Three of them flew over the Truman Balcony, while the other three waited outside to keep watch,"Okay, I see some troops, some flew over the White House, while the other are standing guard," I reported. "Hold on. Why would they fly over the White House if they're going to murder the President?" a soldier asked.  "Maybe it's because the SOW believe the president would probably be expecting them, and they're preventing anyone from getting in or out.  Now I may be a recruit, but I have an idea how to get to the president." "And what would that be?" asked Commander Ray. "See the Eisenhower Executive Office Building?" I asked as I pointed to that building close to us. "We have the snipers, Rattlesnake 1 take position at the windows of the Office Building and we keep the tanks, Jaguar 65 parked on 17th Street so that both eliminate any target that gets out, while the rest of us charge through and search the White House." After a small discussion, they agreed. There would be little risk for the snipers and tanks. So we ordered five snipers to get in position at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building windows and made a command to the humvee minigunners and tank operators to remain on 17th Street. And told them not to engage until we say so. To avoid futher detection, we ran through though some uncut grass, past the First Infantry Division Monument and reaching all the way to the President's Park. "I hope the president sealed himself in the PEOC," one marine said. "He should've have." "Quiet, you're gonna get exposed," I whispered. As we moved foward onto the White House South lawn, some SOW personnal launched with searchlights. "Get down!" yelled Commander Ray. We dropped on the the fresh cut grass and froze. "Don't move." We laid as still as we could. With our woodland suits blending in with the grass, the lights zig-zagged like it was a movie premiere. 

When the searchlights shut off and the personnal passed back, we got back up continued pressing toward the White House. I looked through my binoculars for any more SOW. I found more inside the WHite House; three in the Private Sitting Room, two in Yellow Oval Office, and two in the Treaty Room We reached the windows below the Truman Balcony  and Ray said, "All people get into position, Mike, King, Travers, Anderson, James, get to the windows of all three rooms, and ready your flashbangs." We each took a large window, holding out rifles and flashbangs, and waiting for Ray's signal. "Ready....FLASHBANGS UP!" cried Ray. We broke the tall beautiful windows with the backs of our rifles, pulled the pins form the flashbangs, tossed them into Private Sitting and Treaty Rooms and Yellow Oval Office. They exploded with a BANG, and the SOW became dazed. We hopped through the windows and running and gunning, damaging chairs, desks, painting, paperwork while some bullets bounced off, until we hit the weak spots that suits did not cover, killing them at the neck. 

"Targets down" I said with a smirk. "Okay, everyone in the Office." We all met into the office and Ray said, "People, the president is in the PEOC with her family and-" CLANG, CLANG! We looked through the center hall. It sounded like it was coming from the East Wing. "They must be trying to break in the PEOC," I remarked. MOVE IT! MOVE! screamed Ray. We sprinted down the center hall and through the East Sitting Hall where we came across torn limbs and heads of presidential security. We got closer downstairs ithrough a dark hallway to the clanging as it got louder and louder. Finally, we reached the PEOC room where the three SOW personnel from earlier, were punching the sealing door with their suit fists, trying to break it down. We inched up toward them and clicked our rifles at them. "STOP RIGHT THERE! SURRENDER OR DIE ASSHOLE! Your choice." One SOW troop chuckled and spoke in a familiar voice, "My, aren't we desperate." He spun around and unleashed laser darts straight at the abdomen. We shook and colapsed to the floor, holding our stomached, attempting to stop the bleeding, as the two other troops grabbed the dented door and yanked with all their might. The door came off, and the SOW troop walked in and holding three people hostage. Two middle - aged people, which were a woman in a black suit, red shirt, and low heels, a man also in a black suit and shoes and blue tie, and a female child about 123.4 cm and dressed in pink. It was the president, her husband, and daughter. As the two troops walked out of the PEOC, each holding the husband and daughter. The SOW leader had the president grasped tightly in one arm, and annouced, "By the way, your backup in the Office Building across the street, don't bother." He held up a remote detonator and pushed the button. I realized it was trick. The Eisenhower Executive Buildings must have been planted with bombs. They knew we were coming and staged the whole thing! "Just embrace it. You're weak! You can't stop us. Soon, this whole world will be mine and you will have no place here. Well, I have to go now. I must prepare the president for her execution. Goodbye." And he walked away with the president in his arm up the stairs. 

As the clanging of the footprints disappeared, I grabbed some cloth from the deceased medic and bandaged my stomach. And I injected a syringe of medicine in my arm. Then I crawled to Ray who had lost a great quantity of blood, and handed him spare towel. I was so scared and I whispered, "Ray, I'm sorry, I didn't know, I swear. I thought it was sa-" "Enough, Ray interrupted, we almost had them, now look at us. It's too late now." "Just hang in there Ray, please, I'm gonna call for help." But as I placed my index finger on my earpiece, Ray grabbed my arm and pulled it back. "I ain't gonna make it kid. But you are. Go, go after him." "What? stop it, Ray, we're leaving, we're all leaving," I pleaded. "I'm almost out, replied Ray. "James, when I saw back at bootcamp, training hard, you were like a superhero flying through. But I need you now, James. Promise me, you save the presidentn and everyone else." I was sobbing, knowing he was going to die. Finally I said, "Yes sir. I will." "Thanks." And Ray drew his last breath and died. I laid him back down on the floor and crawled inside the PEOC where I sat against the control panel and breathed heavely and I shut my eyes and fell asleep.