Disclaimer: I don't own them. I only take them out of the garage every now and then for a spin. With that in mind, please don't sue me.
Los Angeles, California 5:43 AM (Pacific Daylight Time)
Jeff Locke was in the middle of his routine security patrol. He had moved to Los Angeles three years ago to try his hand at acting. After all this time, he was still a nobody. He had a fairly decent job as a security guard (he owed the job to the fact that he was an ex-marine). It didn't pay too much, but at least the work was easy. He was security for a parking garage owned by one of the big companies in town. Most mornings, he just chilled out in his booth listening to the radio and reading the paper.
He saw the van parked on the fourth level. There was someone who parked here in the garage that drove an identical van, so he didn't think much of it. He just figured some poor bastard was in early trying to impress the boss. On closer inspection, he noticed that the van didn't have the authorization tag hanging from it's inside mirror. Everyone authorized to park here needed a tag. The poor guy probably taken the tag down and had just forgotten to hang it back up, but Jeff had orders to have all vehicles without a tag towed. Jeff remembered the last time he let an unauthorized vehicle "slide." His supervisor had chewed him out. Jeff decided that he would rather do without another tongue- lashing. He dialed the towing service and waited for an answer.
"Hal? It's Jeff. Yeah, how are ya buddy? Great, great. Listen, I have a black Ford van up here without a tag that I need to have hauled off. It's parked up here on the fourth level. Let me give you the plate number."
Hal Sparks hung up the phone and grimaced. He was hoping that he wouldn't get a call this early. He was the only person on duty at the moment, which meant that he would have to tow the van away. He grabbed the clipboard on which he had written the license number of the van in question. "Great," he thought. "A drive across town just as the morning rush hour was about to get started. As he climbed into the cab of his tow truck, he saw the sky light up and felt the ground begin to shake. "What the hell kind of earthquake is this?" he asked himself.
Georgetown University 8:59 AM (EDT)
Zoey Bartlet was waiting for her Economics class to begin. She had scheduled an intro level economics course this semester because it was the field her father had received his Ph.D. in. As the semester rolled on, though, she began to hate the class more and more. It wasn't that the material was difficult (especially not for a brilliant student such as her), but it so boring. Zoey stared out of the window as the woman sitting next to her tried to get her attention.
As Zoey stared out the window at the sprawling campus, the sky turned bright red. The floor shook and the windows shattered. She barely noticed the Secret Service agents rush into her classroom. She was literally carried outside to a waiting car. The car sped across campus to where a Marine helicopter was parked. She and her Secret Service detail ran onboard. Before they had a chance to strap in, the chopper rocketed into the air.
White House bomb shelter 9:30 AM (EDT)
News of the attack was slow in getting out. The reason for this was the fact that the main headquarters' of the "Big Three" networks were located in Manhattan, which was now an inferno.
CNN, being headquartered in Atlanta, was the first to run with the breaking news. A cameraman at the network's Washington bureau, was out on the roof of the Washington bureau headquarters providing live coverage of the destruction in the area.
Ina bomb shelter under the West Wing of the White House, Sam Seaborn was among those watching the coverage on a small television. The White House staffers were cramped in the small room that probably dated back to the beginning of the Cold War.
As they watched in disbelief the footage of smoke billowing over the Potomac River. "How could this happen?" asked Communications Director Toby Zeigler. "The most powerful country on the planet, and we can't even protect our own citizens!"
Charlie Young sat on the floor hanging his head. "My sister," he said to no one in particular. "My sister was at school. God, I hope she's all right." He was on the verge of tears. Since their mother had been murdered, he had been the only parent that his sister had.
Sam came over to Charlie and sat down next to him. "Don't worry, Charlie," he said. From the footage, it looks like the bomb went off outside of the city. I'm sure your sister's fine. The bomb couldn't have been that big, after all the White House is still standing."
"As far as we know," Charlie retorted.
Sam was trying to comfort his friend, but in a way he was also trying to comfort himself. How many friends had he lost today? He had friends all over Washington and Manhattan. Good friends. People he had known since college and law school. People with wives, husbands, and children. It was too much to bear. Toby's question was a valid one. "How could this happen to the most powerful country on the planet?"
Sam felt people begin to stir. He looked up to see Chief of Staff Leo McGarry entering. The room collectively pleaded for any new news on the situation. Overwhelmed, Leo held up his hand in a plea for silence.
If you've all been watching TV, then you probably know as much as we know right now. Five nuclear devices have exploded across the country. There was one in Manhattan, one in Detroit, one in Los Angeles, one in Seattle and one here in Washington. Right now it seems to have been a terrorist attack. For some reason, the bomb here in D.C. went off in Arlington rather than here in the city. If it had gone off in the city..."
"Then we wouldn't be here, "Toby finished.
Leo nodded grimly. Toby, Sam: the president's going to be addressing the nation in about an hour. We're saying, 'Our country will not be the victim of cowardly terrorists. We're going to find who did this and make them sorry.' Don't go into much depth, there'll probably be another address tonight where we can go into more detail."
"What about the press?" The question came from Press Secretary C.J. Cregg. She knew better than anyone else that the press would be hungry for any morsel that the White House Press Office could feed them.
"We'll do the press later today. When we know more. We've also been told that the Secret Service wants to evacuate the White House. There's structural damage to the building, and we don't know if the terrorists have something else planned.
Pennsylvania Avenue 9:30 (EDT)
Emergency vehicles were finally in the area. Nearly all vehicles within the blast area had been ruined if not totally destroyed, and that included emergency service vehicles. Because of this, fire crews, police, and rescue units from surrounding towns had to be dispatched to the affected areas. Their progress was slowed even further by the enormous amount of debris and fires that littered the area.
Donna Moss didn't know that, though. As she opened her eyes, she had no idea what was going on. All she could remember was the dream she'd had (it had to have been a dream) about being in a car accident with Josh. Her eyes tried to focus on something. She finally realized that it was Josh. Why was he with her?
"Donna?"
"Josh? What are you doing here with me?
"Donna, you're hurt. Don't panic. I'm sure there's help on the way.
"What do you mean? What happened?
"A bomb went off. Our car wrecked."
"A bomb in the car?" Donna was tired. She needed to go back to sleep, but Josh kept talking.
"No, a bomb...Donna? Donna, listen. You need to stay awake for me. OK? You're going to be fine, but you need to stay awake for me..."
As Donna lost consciousness again, Josh knew that he had to get her to a hospital. He turned to the guy with the glass in his leg. "What's your name?" Josh asked.
"Peter Burke," the man said offering his hand to Josh.
"Josh. Lyman. Josh Lyman. Peter, I know it probably hurts for you to walk, but if we don't get my friend to a hospital soon, I'm afraid that she'll die. Can you help me carry her?"
Peter had seen the condition of Donna's head wound. He knew that Josh was right. "Of course," he answered.
********************************************************************************
White House South Lawn 9:50 AM (EDT)
The helicopters began to touch down on the lawn. First was Marine One. Secret Service agents hustled aboard the president and his party. As soon as Marine One was airborne and on its way, two large Chinook transport choppers touched down to ferry away the rest of the White House occupants.
As Sam entered the helicopter, he mentally played back the president's departure. Leo had been with the president, as had the national security advisor and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Where was Josh, though? He hadn't been in the bunker, so Sam had just assumed that he had been with the president and Leo in the Situation Room. After all, Josh was the deputy chief of staff. He would have been with the president. Despite that, though, Sam hadn't seen him board Marine One with everyone else. He hadn't seen Donna either. Where could they be?
********************************************************************************
Andrews Air Force Base 10:05 AM (EDT)
As soon as Marine One was on the ground, President Bartlet was nearly dragged out by his Secret Service detail. They rushed him and his party across the tarmac to a fleet of waiting Suburbans. The small motorcade sped across the compound to a secure site on the base.
Shortly after, the two Chinook transports touched down. The passengers deplaned and were herded onto two waiting busses (one for the staff and one for the press corps). The two busses sped off to two different areas of the base.
********************************************************************************
Andrews Air Force Base 10:27 AM (EDT)
President Josiah Bartlet looked over the text of his speech as makeup was applied to his face. The makeup person left the room quietly. He and his daughter spoke in a corner of the room that they were in. The First Lady had been at a medical conference in Boston when the bombs went off; She was now in the air, on her way back to Andrews Air Force Base.
"Dad, what happens now?" Zoey asked.
"After I make my speech," the president said, "I'll be taken away on a plane that's used by the president in cases like this. You'll stay here with the Secret Service until your mom gets back. Then, you'll both get on Air Force One."
Although Zoey didn't like the idea of her family being apart at a time like this, she was smart enough to realize that extra precautions had to be taken in times like this. Of course her father would be in a more secure plane, a less recognizable plane. He WAS, after all, the President of the United States, and his country was at war.
"Baby," Bartlet addressed his daughter, "it's time for my speech. I promise, I won't leave without saying goodbye to you, though." Bartlet kissed his daughter and was shepherded into another room by Leo.
The cameraperson pointed at the president, and Jed Bartlet began to speak.
"My fellow, citizens. It is with a heavy heart that I speak with you today. An hour and a half ago, our country suffered a massive attack. This attack is unlike any other our nation has ever suffered. For the first time, weapons of mass destruction were used against our citizens. Although, it still very soon after the attacks, we have reason to believe that this was an act of terrorism against our country.
"No matter who is ultimately deemed responsible, make no mistake: these people will pay the ultimate price. For those who wish to do harm to the United States, I say this: Get ready, because your day of reckoning will come. America has a long memory, and we will find you no matter how long it takes. Let the word go forth that the United States will no longer be a victim of terrorism. If terrorists wish to be at war with the United States, then the war begins now. Thank you. God bless you, and God bless America.
As the red light blinked off, the president turned to Leo McGarry. "All right, let's go."
Los Angeles, California 5:43 AM (Pacific Daylight Time)
Jeff Locke was in the middle of his routine security patrol. He had moved to Los Angeles three years ago to try his hand at acting. After all this time, he was still a nobody. He had a fairly decent job as a security guard (he owed the job to the fact that he was an ex-marine). It didn't pay too much, but at least the work was easy. He was security for a parking garage owned by one of the big companies in town. Most mornings, he just chilled out in his booth listening to the radio and reading the paper.
He saw the van parked on the fourth level. There was someone who parked here in the garage that drove an identical van, so he didn't think much of it. He just figured some poor bastard was in early trying to impress the boss. On closer inspection, he noticed that the van didn't have the authorization tag hanging from it's inside mirror. Everyone authorized to park here needed a tag. The poor guy probably taken the tag down and had just forgotten to hang it back up, but Jeff had orders to have all vehicles without a tag towed. Jeff remembered the last time he let an unauthorized vehicle "slide." His supervisor had chewed him out. Jeff decided that he would rather do without another tongue- lashing. He dialed the towing service and waited for an answer.
"Hal? It's Jeff. Yeah, how are ya buddy? Great, great. Listen, I have a black Ford van up here without a tag that I need to have hauled off. It's parked up here on the fourth level. Let me give you the plate number."
Hal Sparks hung up the phone and grimaced. He was hoping that he wouldn't get a call this early. He was the only person on duty at the moment, which meant that he would have to tow the van away. He grabbed the clipboard on which he had written the license number of the van in question. "Great," he thought. "A drive across town just as the morning rush hour was about to get started. As he climbed into the cab of his tow truck, he saw the sky light up and felt the ground begin to shake. "What the hell kind of earthquake is this?" he asked himself.
Georgetown University 8:59 AM (EDT)
Zoey Bartlet was waiting for her Economics class to begin. She had scheduled an intro level economics course this semester because it was the field her father had received his Ph.D. in. As the semester rolled on, though, she began to hate the class more and more. It wasn't that the material was difficult (especially not for a brilliant student such as her), but it so boring. Zoey stared out of the window as the woman sitting next to her tried to get her attention.
As Zoey stared out the window at the sprawling campus, the sky turned bright red. The floor shook and the windows shattered. She barely noticed the Secret Service agents rush into her classroom. She was literally carried outside to a waiting car. The car sped across campus to where a Marine helicopter was parked. She and her Secret Service detail ran onboard. Before they had a chance to strap in, the chopper rocketed into the air.
White House bomb shelter 9:30 AM (EDT)
News of the attack was slow in getting out. The reason for this was the fact that the main headquarters' of the "Big Three" networks were located in Manhattan, which was now an inferno.
CNN, being headquartered in Atlanta, was the first to run with the breaking news. A cameraman at the network's Washington bureau, was out on the roof of the Washington bureau headquarters providing live coverage of the destruction in the area.
Ina bomb shelter under the West Wing of the White House, Sam Seaborn was among those watching the coverage on a small television. The White House staffers were cramped in the small room that probably dated back to the beginning of the Cold War.
As they watched in disbelief the footage of smoke billowing over the Potomac River. "How could this happen?" asked Communications Director Toby Zeigler. "The most powerful country on the planet, and we can't even protect our own citizens!"
Charlie Young sat on the floor hanging his head. "My sister," he said to no one in particular. "My sister was at school. God, I hope she's all right." He was on the verge of tears. Since their mother had been murdered, he had been the only parent that his sister had.
Sam came over to Charlie and sat down next to him. "Don't worry, Charlie," he said. From the footage, it looks like the bomb went off outside of the city. I'm sure your sister's fine. The bomb couldn't have been that big, after all the White House is still standing."
"As far as we know," Charlie retorted.
Sam was trying to comfort his friend, but in a way he was also trying to comfort himself. How many friends had he lost today? He had friends all over Washington and Manhattan. Good friends. People he had known since college and law school. People with wives, husbands, and children. It was too much to bear. Toby's question was a valid one. "How could this happen to the most powerful country on the planet?"
Sam felt people begin to stir. He looked up to see Chief of Staff Leo McGarry entering. The room collectively pleaded for any new news on the situation. Overwhelmed, Leo held up his hand in a plea for silence.
If you've all been watching TV, then you probably know as much as we know right now. Five nuclear devices have exploded across the country. There was one in Manhattan, one in Detroit, one in Los Angeles, one in Seattle and one here in Washington. Right now it seems to have been a terrorist attack. For some reason, the bomb here in D.C. went off in Arlington rather than here in the city. If it had gone off in the city..."
"Then we wouldn't be here, "Toby finished.
Leo nodded grimly. Toby, Sam: the president's going to be addressing the nation in about an hour. We're saying, 'Our country will not be the victim of cowardly terrorists. We're going to find who did this and make them sorry.' Don't go into much depth, there'll probably be another address tonight where we can go into more detail."
"What about the press?" The question came from Press Secretary C.J. Cregg. She knew better than anyone else that the press would be hungry for any morsel that the White House Press Office could feed them.
"We'll do the press later today. When we know more. We've also been told that the Secret Service wants to evacuate the White House. There's structural damage to the building, and we don't know if the terrorists have something else planned.
Pennsylvania Avenue 9:30 (EDT)
Emergency vehicles were finally in the area. Nearly all vehicles within the blast area had been ruined if not totally destroyed, and that included emergency service vehicles. Because of this, fire crews, police, and rescue units from surrounding towns had to be dispatched to the affected areas. Their progress was slowed even further by the enormous amount of debris and fires that littered the area.
Donna Moss didn't know that, though. As she opened her eyes, she had no idea what was going on. All she could remember was the dream she'd had (it had to have been a dream) about being in a car accident with Josh. Her eyes tried to focus on something. She finally realized that it was Josh. Why was he with her?
"Donna?"
"Josh? What are you doing here with me?
"Donna, you're hurt. Don't panic. I'm sure there's help on the way.
"What do you mean? What happened?
"A bomb went off. Our car wrecked."
"A bomb in the car?" Donna was tired. She needed to go back to sleep, but Josh kept talking.
"No, a bomb...Donna? Donna, listen. You need to stay awake for me. OK? You're going to be fine, but you need to stay awake for me..."
As Donna lost consciousness again, Josh knew that he had to get her to a hospital. He turned to the guy with the glass in his leg. "What's your name?" Josh asked.
"Peter Burke," the man said offering his hand to Josh.
"Josh. Lyman. Josh Lyman. Peter, I know it probably hurts for you to walk, but if we don't get my friend to a hospital soon, I'm afraid that she'll die. Can you help me carry her?"
Peter had seen the condition of Donna's head wound. He knew that Josh was right. "Of course," he answered.
********************************************************************************
White House South Lawn 9:50 AM (EDT)
The helicopters began to touch down on the lawn. First was Marine One. Secret Service agents hustled aboard the president and his party. As soon as Marine One was airborne and on its way, two large Chinook transport choppers touched down to ferry away the rest of the White House occupants.
As Sam entered the helicopter, he mentally played back the president's departure. Leo had been with the president, as had the national security advisor and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Where was Josh, though? He hadn't been in the bunker, so Sam had just assumed that he had been with the president and Leo in the Situation Room. After all, Josh was the deputy chief of staff. He would have been with the president. Despite that, though, Sam hadn't seen him board Marine One with everyone else. He hadn't seen Donna either. Where could they be?
********************************************************************************
Andrews Air Force Base 10:05 AM (EDT)
As soon as Marine One was on the ground, President Bartlet was nearly dragged out by his Secret Service detail. They rushed him and his party across the tarmac to a fleet of waiting Suburbans. The small motorcade sped across the compound to a secure site on the base.
Shortly after, the two Chinook transports touched down. The passengers deplaned and were herded onto two waiting busses (one for the staff and one for the press corps). The two busses sped off to two different areas of the base.
********************************************************************************
Andrews Air Force Base 10:27 AM (EDT)
President Josiah Bartlet looked over the text of his speech as makeup was applied to his face. The makeup person left the room quietly. He and his daughter spoke in a corner of the room that they were in. The First Lady had been at a medical conference in Boston when the bombs went off; She was now in the air, on her way back to Andrews Air Force Base.
"Dad, what happens now?" Zoey asked.
"After I make my speech," the president said, "I'll be taken away on a plane that's used by the president in cases like this. You'll stay here with the Secret Service until your mom gets back. Then, you'll both get on Air Force One."
Although Zoey didn't like the idea of her family being apart at a time like this, she was smart enough to realize that extra precautions had to be taken in times like this. Of course her father would be in a more secure plane, a less recognizable plane. He WAS, after all, the President of the United States, and his country was at war.
"Baby," Bartlet addressed his daughter, "it's time for my speech. I promise, I won't leave without saying goodbye to you, though." Bartlet kissed his daughter and was shepherded into another room by Leo.
The cameraperson pointed at the president, and Jed Bartlet began to speak.
"My fellow, citizens. It is with a heavy heart that I speak with you today. An hour and a half ago, our country suffered a massive attack. This attack is unlike any other our nation has ever suffered. For the first time, weapons of mass destruction were used against our citizens. Although, it still very soon after the attacks, we have reason to believe that this was an act of terrorism against our country.
"No matter who is ultimately deemed responsible, make no mistake: these people will pay the ultimate price. For those who wish to do harm to the United States, I say this: Get ready, because your day of reckoning will come. America has a long memory, and we will find you no matter how long it takes. Let the word go forth that the United States will no longer be a victim of terrorism. If terrorists wish to be at war with the United States, then the war begins now. Thank you. God bless you, and God bless America.
As the red light blinked off, the president turned to Leo McGarry. "All right, let's go."