Black Dawn

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

Chapter 17

Maria and Kevin arrive the conference hall, but just as they expected, Adam's no longer there, as he's clearly being escorted straight to Derek. Even though it was obvious that this would be the case, Maria still held on to some unrealistic hope that they would make it there in time.

"We're too late. What if Adam's already been.."

Kevin immediately stops Maria before she lets her emotions get the best of her.

"You can't think like that, not now. Besides this is Adam we're talking about. He's the toughest man I know. You should know that."

"I know. But Derek's going to kill him, Kev."

"Not if we get there first. I know where they're taking him, so just.."

Kev's injured leg gives way, and he lets out an audible grunt, while being forced to lean on the wall for support. This is the first time Maria notices something wrong with Kevin's leg, since he was good at concealing it before.

"What's wrong with your leg?"

"Torture, when I was captured."

Immediately after saying that, Kevin realizes he may have said a bit too much.

"Torture? They tortured you? For what?"

"I don't really know, honestly."

Kevin gets nervous, as he is aware he got tangled up in his lies, but tries to make up for it.

"I guess Derek wanted to play with me. He's gone off the deep end."

Maria is conflicted. She doesn't trust Kevin's explanation, but Kevin has always been like a big brother for her, and Kevin lying to her about something is inconceivable. At the same time, Kevin's body language was off earlier when she asked about Kevin's involvement in the incident in the first place.

"I just find it strange they'd torture you for fun. Adam said it himself: his brother is a lot of things, but not a..."

Kevin gets noticeably agitated at the accusations, as he feels Maria is getting a bit too close to something he doesn't want Maria getting anywhere near.

"But not a what, Maria? Not a complete maniac? Not someone who would threaten thousands of lives with a biochemical weapon? What, Maria? Huh?"

Maria backs off, but her skepticism remains.

"This is not the time for this. We need to get to Adam."

"Yeah."

Maria's not stupid, though. She knows torture is done for information, not for fun. But what could it be that Kevin knows that Derek wanted to get out of him? Clearly something he doesn't want to share. Kevin immediately feels bad for getting aggressive.

"Look, I'm sorry. I don't know what they wanted from me, alright? I didn't mean to come off on you like that. Let's just save Adam, stop Derek and get the fuck out of here."

"No, it's okay, Kev. You're right."

Maria knows better than to push it any further. But that was the first time Kevin has ever been like that to her, so clearly something is up.

"Can you walk on that thing?"

"Yeah, I've been worse. They can't be that far, so let's go."

---

Derek is standing in a large hall, in front of what looks like a massive missile, pointing upwards towards a roof that has a hatch on it. Next to missile are a dozen large, blue canisters that are built to hold gas like substances. Everything looks set and ready, as Derek is admiring his work coming to fruition. Not everything is ready, but he knows he's closer to his goals than he's been before. Everything he has worked hard and sacrificed for.

His moment of self satisfaction is interrupted by Logan, who enters the hall with a heavily bandaged leg. It's a miracle he's still walking, but Logan's no ordinary man to begin with.

"You wanted to talk to me, boss?"

Derek doesn't turn his eyes from his creation.

"Isn't it beautiful, Logan? The beginning of our insurrection."

"Kevin has the serum. Without the serum.."

"Yes. But we'll get it. And then we will end the tyranny of the Order, once and for all."

"You had something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Well, this is a time for celebration, my good friend. Not only will we end the era of oppression, not only will I get revenge on my brother, but I now know who he is. I know who Simon Silverman is."

"Who is it?"

"Don't be impatient. Savor the moment. It's finally all coming to ahead. All of it. We will end the Post War, we will bring down the Order, and anarchy will take its place. It's going to be the wild west again, Logan. A world for men like you and me. Not for politicians, bureaucrats and suits."

Derek finally turns to face Logan and lets out his excitement and frustrations in an almost uncontrolled manner, which is rare for him.

"Years! For years I've been planning this. Planning to take them down. To make us free again. My worthless brother turned on these ideals, turned on himself and what he's supposed to be, but not me! Never me. I knew what I had to do, I knew what it would take. I would make our father proud, not him. And now that I know Silverman's identity.. Nothing will be able to stop us."

Derek gets lost in his thoughts for a moment.

"But! We have lots to discuss before my brother gets here."

---

Adam's still being dragged through the base, and has arrived to the third building of the facility. All but two guards are told to go to search for Maria and Kevin, since Adam is unarmed, and all but completely out of it. Adam is conscious enough to realize this, and tries to come up with a way to escape, though the situation looks rather grim.

The two guards have Adam by the arms, and are not exactly careful about being rough with Adam regarding the bullet wound. But luckily for him, the pain has been torturous enough to keep Adam relatively woke throughout.

As the bulk of the guards leave to go back to look for Maria and Kevin, Adam decides to risk it.

He pretends to lose his balance, and as he falls down for the guards to pick him up, this allows for Adam to reach through his pocket for his lighter.

"Don't you die just yet. Your brother will want to have a word with you before he does it himself."

Adam keeps the lighter in his clinched fist, and the guards fail to notice it.

As the guards continue to drag him on, Adam lights his lighter at the other guard's clothing, setting the shirt on fire.

The burning guard is in shock, and the ensuing confusion allows for Adam to use the confusion to elbow the other guard with all the power he has, and grab a hold of his weapon.

Adam is operating on instinct rather than anything else, as he fires away at both men.

The sounds of bullets firing attracts the rest of the team, however, as they hadn't quite gotten out of the building yet.

Pale as death and weak from blood loss, Adam can barely stand, and even holding the rifle takes up most of his energy, and he knows he can't stand up to an entire group of guards. His plan failed, he should have waited for a little while longer. Adam gives up.

"I let you down again, Maria. I'm so sorry."

Adam falls on one knee, but it's the thought of letting Maria down that makes him stop the self pity for long enough to find the strength to lift the rifle and pull the trigger. Adam takes down several of the guards, but can't aim straight. He tries to retreat with whatever energy and adrenaline he has in his body, but falls down as he simply can't go any longer.

As Adam finally slips out of consciousness, and the remaining guards approach his position, they are shot to the back of their heads in quick succession by Kevin who arrives just in time with Maria. As the guards are taken down, Maria rushes to the fallen Adam.

"Adam! Adam for the love of God!"

Kevin follows her, and reminds her to be careful.

"Careful! There may be more of them!"

Maria doesn't listen as all she sees is Adam on the ground. Adam is only a few feet away, but the run towards him seems to take forever. She prays he's still alive, prays more than she ever has before, for anything.

Kevin surveys the area, and doesn't seem to find any more of the guards.

Maria gets down to grab Adam and places his head on her lap.

"Come on, Adam. Come on. Stay with me, please. Just stay with me."

Instinctively, Maria checks on Adam's pulse, which is still there.

"Oh, thank God."

Kevin also kneels at his fallen friend.

"Is he still with us?"

"Just barely. We need to remove the bullet and take care of the bleeding, he won't last much longer. I can do it, I just need supplies."

"Unless they've switched things, I know where to get them. Keep him with us, alright? I won't be long."

"Please hurry."

Kevin rushes away to get what they need, as Maria stays with Adam. She can't hold back on her tears as she's both figuratively and literally holding Adam in the land of the living.

"Come on, Calloway. You're not leaving me now. You're not doing this to me now, not again. Please, Adam, stay with me. Losing you was the worst thing that ever happened to me. You promised me, Adam, you promised me!"

As Maria grabs a hold of Adam tighter, for a moment she forgets the past five years, everything that has happened in between, forgets the fact that she's married to another man, and for a split second, in her mind, she's back to being engaged to the love of his life, who right now is fighting for his life.

"I've never loved anyone like you, Adam, I never will. Never. Please know that. Don't you dare leave me without knowing that, don't you dare, Adam."

Adam regains consciousness as those words come out of Maria's mouth.

"Maria?"

"Oh, thank God! Just stay with me. I'll save you, I promise you I'll save you."

Adam can barely form sentences.

"I was supposed.. to save you.."

This hits a nerve with Maria, as she goes through falling in love with Adam all over again.

"You saved me already. Years ago. You did. You've saved me already. Let me do it to you."

Adam grabs Maria by the hand.

"No, you need to go. I can't stand if.. Derek, he.."

"No! You stop that right now, Calloway. We talked about this. I'm here, with you. We're in this together. Neither one is leaving the other ever again, you understand?"

Maria takes a tighter hold of Adam's hand.

"I love you, Adam Calloway."

"I love you, too, Maria Miller. Jesus Christ, never doubt that."

"Then let me love you."

The two exchange a kiss. It's the first kiss Adam has had in five years, and the most loving, most passionate, most fiery kiss Maria has had in five years, ever since she lost Adam. It's a sense of electricity and love she wasn't aware she could experience again.

Adam and Maria get lost in time, as everything around them disappears for a small while, for the duration of a kiss. And it's like no time had passed since the last time. While they are in a war zone, fighting for their lives, in a sense, they are both right where they belong.