"I understand. What do you need me to do?" He watched the younger man who appeared to be lost in thought. About what, the priest didn't care to think about. He could only imagine the pressure he was under.
Jack finally looked up. "I need to get those people out of the building, but I need to do so, without drawing attention to myself. If the realise I'm here they'll storm in, and I will not be able to disarm the bomb." His calmness was gone, the stress was pouring off of him. His voice was rushed, he was struggling to find a way out of his current situation, and he was running out of time. Suddenly a thought struck him, and his eyes lit up at the idea; he just hoped the priest would agree to it. It was the only chance they had, everything would depend on this.
"Sir, I have an idea, but I need your help."
Father Andrew didn't ask, he simply nodded. He would do everything in his power to help this man.
They made there way down the steps onto the main floor, Jack noticed how the room was considerably fuller now. Jack moved across to the entrance fast, the priest followed behind a little slower, having to stop to say hello to a few of the regular people who wanted to greet him. Jack stood so he was in direct line with the wide entrance, but a good ten feet inside the building too. They wouldn't be able to get anybody in without him seeing them clearly, it was as good a position as he was going to get. Father Andrew stood before him now with his hands at his sides, ready for it to begin. Jack took a deep breath and drew his gun whilst grabbing the man by his throat and holding the gun against his temple tightly, the other arm wrapped around his neck, making sure he had a strong grip on the man. This had to look real. A few screams could be herd as soon as the gun was visible, and people began to look around confused as to what the commotion was about. "Get your hands up in the air now!" Jack screamed, his voice cracking in the process. It was a large room and he wanted to make sure everyone herd him. He wanted the people to run out in fear, the faster they were gone, the better his chances of stopping this were. "Now!" He yelled as the people began to panic, most complying with his order. Sensing he had the peoples attention he continued. "Slowly, I want you to exit the building. Straight out this door," he added, nodding his head in the direction of the large open doors.
The people hurried outside, all petrified, reacting like any normal person would do under the circumstances. Jack scanned the room, looking for any 'hero's' who might be trying to hide somewhere. So far it appeared that everybody was complying with his order. With C.T.U already off the scene he wondered how long it would take for them to get here. Sooner than he expected a bunch of police men ran towards the entrance with their guns pointed inside, in the general direction of Jack. He could hear them telling him to drop the weapon, to give it up. Jack didn't flinch, he knew they were basic L.A.P.D. and wouldn't do anything until the big dogs got there. Not when the hostage was a priest, no chances would be taken.
"Stay where you are," Jack yelled in there direction. They did so, they had no intention of coming in. Especially when the other protesters were still pushing to get out, the room almost empty now. Jack waited until the very few people were left.
"Hey," He yelled at the small group who all froze in terror, "When you leave this building, I want you to close these big two doors, okay, you got that?"
He watched satisfied as the four people swallowed hard and nodded their heads, prepared to do anything to get out. They knew the chances of them surviving a hostage situation with a mad man would be slim, at best. The doors closed slowly, the group of cops not stopping them, they didn't want to have to clean this mess up if it all went wrong, they would let the Fed's take care of it.
The large doors slammed shut and the room was considerable darker. Jack let go of the priest and nodded at him, his silent way of thanking him, the priest guessed. Father Andrew also noticed the darkness of the room and moved onto the far wall. After the flick of a few switches the low hanging lights attached the ceiling by old fashioned chains lit up, giving the room more light and everything a shadow in the process.
"All right, that bought us some time. Where's the bell tower?" His earlier calmness had returned. He had to be in a still frame of mind while he disarmed the bomb. A slight twitch could set it off. He was already preparing himself for his task, taking his mind into the zone he needed it to be.
He turned to face the man when he realised he hadn't answered his question. Jack felt his stomach drop when he saw the confused, almost helpless look painted over the mans face.
"We don't have a bell tower."
