Hostile Takeover ❖ Jake Riley | ✓ [book 1]

15~ In His Distress a Man is Tested

"If we want to make a statement about a man's nature on the basis of his physiognomy, we must take everything into account; it is in his distress that a man is tested, for then his nature is revealed."

~ Paracelsus

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The sound of helicopters echoed outside as the first round of people were carried out; and rumbling motors would soon follow suite. A hundred SWAT officers crowded around Slater as he spoke, while another officer handed out gas masks to each of them.

"We have confirmation that Virus 1-8-6-4-9 is indeed what killed Terry Bosner of Marietta, Georgia. And while we still have no clue as to whether he was an innocent bystander or not, Dr. Vickers, Dr. Cannerts, and Dr. Tate have concluded that there may be more samples of this virus in their base. Therefore, we must take all protocols to ensure that we do not have another epidemic on our hands. Senior Officer Carnahan will be leading the operation, therefore, you will answer to him. Alex,"

Lex stepped forward and cleared his throat, "Listen, guys. I know that these four days have been rough, but at the end of the day, we all have our reasons for standing there. We have wives, kids, brothers, sisters, mothers. And don't worry Paul, I didn't forget about Bradley," The officers chuckled as Paul went bright red at the thought of his husband.

"I don't know what's going to happen today, I don't know who's going to come out, or what's going to be inside. All I know is that I am proud to serve with you knuckleheads, and I couldn't think of a better group of officers to protect our city. We've done it before, and we'll do it again today,"

The officers gave him a round of applause, but Jake just kept his hands folded in front of him, and he said a little prayer. He prayed that he'd get home safe, that he'd get to see Quentin again, and hopefully, never have another extreme situation such as this. And he said a prayer for Katie, to watch over them, and held them make it out of here alive.

"Alright! Alright!" Lex shouted over the officers, "That's enough sissy talk. Let's get down to the plan," he directed their attention to a large blueprint spread across the table, showing the building plans for Plucky's Pennywhistle's Fun House.

"There are two main entrances, on the West wing and the South wing. There's also the service entrance facing the North, and the loading dock next to it. There are four floors, not including the basement. We're going to divide ourselves into two teams; Team 1 sweeps the first and third floor, Team 2 sweeps the second and fourth floor. TARU's going to cut the power, so we'll only have thirty seconds per floor until the emergency generators cut in. That's how long we have to get the upper hand on these S.O.Bs,"

"Are we looking for anybody in particular?" an officer asked.

"Any stubborn bastard who resists. Also, be on the look out for this man," he took out a photo of Max's Academy photo, "We have reason to believe that this man, Max Ridley, is somehow involved in this ploy. Take him in alive, I repeat, do NOT fire on him," he said. Jake glared at the photo, feeling as though Max's happy doe eyes were taunting him.

"The bomb squad will be standing by, as will EMTs. And finally, please remember guys, we are not super human! Nobody tries to be a hero," he looked at Jake as he spoke, knowing fully well how Jake was going to take this.

"Alright. I'll be leading the first team, Officer Riley will lead the second team. Let's pair off and move out," he said.

The officers divided and split, and with their equipment in hand and at the ready, they piled into vans and began to the ride to the fun house. All sirens were off, and the police scanners were shut off to prevent their op from blowing up. Jake sat up at the front with the driver and kept his gaze out the window the entire time, wondering if Jenna had made it out yet. There was something that made the hairs on his neck stand on end, and he just couldn't shake it.