He pulled out the prong and the small tool with the sharp yet delicate edge, which would be sufficient for cutting out wires from the bundle of them. He surveyed the wires running through the side of the box as he tried to think back to his training days when he had passed the course with ease. The different slogans to remember which wires were friendly and which were not coming into his mind. Taking a deep breath he cut through the yellow and white, making sure to stay clear of the purple one that was nestled between them tightly, he knew that was a dangerous one. So far nothing had happened, which was good. 'Only a few more to go,' he told himself for reassurance.
Taking another long breath he snipped through the blue one after separating it from a black and green. He knew there was only one more wire to go, he was partially sure himself, and with the way the device was ordered, he was certain. The wires were set into bundles of three, some needing to be disable from each section. 'Just one more wire,' he thought to himself, and a minute and a half to do it.
He quickly separated the last set and felt his heartbeat quicken as he frantically tried to remember if it was the red or the green that needed to go, he had no idea. He closed his eyes gently and though back to the month he had spent in England, doing the course. They had sent him their along with three other promising candidates who looked like they would have a long and prosperous career in the service. They sent them to the Wellingborough institute for two reasons, one being so the people in there unit wouldn't know, and also because this institute offered the best training in this field. He could see the classroom they had been taught in, ten people in all, from various locations around the world, ironically no English pupils taking the course. He pushed his thoughts back to the colour coding slogans and thought through them rapidly. Something in his mind kept telling him "green for go," but he knew that was his logical thinking, not his detonation training.
He could hear the old frail professor telling them, he could practically see his wrinkled face as he spoke. Jack could hear him, red for...
"Jack?" His radio barked through a bout of static. "Jack its Tony come in."
"What's up Tony!" Jack snapped frantically, sure the man had just lost him his answer.
"Jack you gotta get out of the building Hammond just ordered troops in to get you, despite the hostage, dead or alive, he's pissed."
"Tony I found the bomb. Times running out. I'd not even make it out of the building if I set off now. Get them out."
"Jack I can't... we don't even know if we-"
"Just do it Tony!" Jack yelled as he turned the radio off and slung it over his shoulder and herd it clatter on the concrete somewhere behind him. He glanced back down at the red timer, 50 seconds.
"Come on Jack, think,' he whispered as he pinched the bridge of his nose. The memory wouldn't return, he couldn't se anything but the alarm, then flashbacks of the bomb attached to Chase's wrist, the devices both had that same red timer. He shook his head rapidly he had to stop thinking about that and concentrate. Only 30 seconds left!
His mind flashed to the priest upstairs, so dedicated to his faith that he would embrace his death. Jack realised that he wasn't as brave as the dear man, he had thought he wanted death, even pleaded for it recently, be he didn't. He was too much of a coward to ask for death, he was too scared of what the afterlife had in store for him. He was ashamed to think of Terri, if he did meet her again, he would have to face up to his letting her down, he knew he wasn't strong enough for that, dead or alive. He had to do this.
The alarms beep, it changed, becoming more high pitched and faster as it counted down the final 10 seconds. "Red means stop,' Jack thought, before hastily wondering if this was just a result of the traffic lights. He thought it over in his mind, he was totally unsure. He realised he had a 50 percent chance, if he didn't try he would die anyway. Grasping the delicate red wire, he slashed the small tool through it, then stepped back, terrified. His breathing was coming out in shallow rapid breaths, his palms sweaty and itching, he was absolutely terrified.
Everything seemed to go into slow motion. The sound the device made as the red wire was slashed, was loud pitched and on going, Jack was sure he'd blew it. He was a dead man. He looked down at the device through a blurry vision, the alarm had stopped still on 4 seconds. It took him a second to register this as he brushed his sweaty hair back and rubbed the tears from his eyes, wanting to be sure he was right. He couldn't see, his vision was getting worse, his hands were shaking, no, his whole body was trembling. He realised he was still hyperventilating and tried to calm down, but he couldn't. His efforts had him leaning against the wall, before he collapsed to the floor terrified. He closed his eyes as the walls started to spin and his chest began to ache. He whispered a slurred, 'Thank God,' as the darkness finally embraced him. Not death, he thought, just darkness. He could live with that.
