Chapter 9 - The Backup Generator
The busy control room was instantly plunged into absolute, terrifying darkness.
The station manager cursed loudly, realizing someone had deliberately severed the building's main power line.
Nolan knew that Hale and Kessler were ruthlessly tracking their every single move across the city.
They had completely shut down the station to stop the broadcast from ever reaching the public.
Ms. Davis pulled out her cell phone to use the weak, flickering flashlight app.
She desperately asked the manager if the building had a backup emergency generator.
He nodded frantically and pointed a trembling finger toward the basement access door.
He said the massive generator had to be manually primed before the power would return.
The sound of heavy tactical boots echoed loudly from the hallway outside the locked control room.
The corrupt police officers had finally tracked them to the news station.
They began violently smashing the reinforced glass window of the control booth with heavy steel batons.
Nolan told Ms. Davis to prepare the broadcast files while he went downstairs to fix the power.
He grabbed a heavy metal fire extinguisher for protection and sprinted down the dark basement stairs.
The dark basement was flooded with ankle-deep, freezing water from a recently broken pipe.
He waded through the murky, freezing water toward the massive red generator sitting in the corner.
He found the heavy metal priming lever and pulled it downward with all his remaining strength.
The engine sputtered weakly, coughed out a cloud of thick smoke, and then died completely.
Nolan screamed in pure frustration and yanked the heavy lever a second, desperate time.
Footsteps splashed loudly in the water directly behind his back.
Vice Principal Kessler stepped out of the dark shadows with a cold, incredibly cruel smile.
He held a heavy steel wrench tightly in his right hand, ready to strike.
He mocked Nolan, saying that a stupid kid could never defeat a system this powerful.
Kessler swung the heavy wrench viciously toward the back of Nolan's head.
Nolan ducked just in time, and the wrench smashed violently into the side of the generator.
Sparks flew absolutely everywhere, igniting a small puddle of spilled diesel fuel on the water's surface.
Nolan used the fiery distraction to tackle Kessler hard into the freezing, dirty water.
He scrambled quickly to his feet and pulled the priming lever one final, desperate time.
The massive generator roared to life, instantly flooding the building with bright, steady electrical power.
He ran back upstairs just as the heavy control room doors finally gave way to the police.
He looked up at the massive studio monitors and gasped in absolute, paralyzing horror.
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The screen was not broadcasting the evidence files they had painstakingly brought.
It was showing a live video feed of Jordan, tied to a chair with a bomb strapped to his chest.
