OKAY JUST A SHORT UPDATE, SINCE IT IS NEW YEARS. HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE AND CONGRATULATIONS TO KALEY AND RYAN.

WARNING

DEATH AND VIOLENCE IN THIS CHAPTER.

Chapter 15 - So Little Time

Leonard continued his search, going up to the next floor, and found one guard again. The next floor was the same, and each floor after that, the same, he was really having no luck. Going up all the stairs was also putting a strain on his breathing, so by the time he got to the 9th floor, he needed his inhaler. Howard had thought of that too, Leonard turned his head to a tube built into the lower left of the helmet, it was attached to his inhaler that was located in the pocket in the front of the suit. He brought up his gloved hand to the outside of the pocket and squeezed the inhaler inside, resulting in a steam of its contents going up the tube to his mouth and lungs. It wasn't as good as putting the inhaler against his mouth, but it was good enough, and after about a minute, he went to the 9th floor door to look in again finding only one guard.

Leonard looked at the clock on the heads up display, it had taken him ten minutes to get this far, it felt so much longer, but there were 6 more floors and at the rate he was going, he wouldn't have much time, if any to find and do something even when he got to the right floor. Leonard had a sinking feeling that he was not going to make it and he suddenly felt tired, thinking maybe he should just stop trying. His mind told him it would be better to just sit down and wait for the end, at least he could spend his remaining minutes thinking about the good things he once had in his life, like Penny. The thought of Penny however put a spark back in him and he started up the next flight of stairs, deciding to keep trying till the end.

Penny had been watching the clock and Leonard's progress, the same sinking feeling was overcoming her just like Leonard felt. There wasn't enough time, he wasn't going to make it, her mind ran that over and over like a broken record. She tried to will the clock to go slower and Leonard to go faster, but nothing happened, she couldn't help him. Penny in one desperate last attempt looked at Howard, "Please Howard tell him to leave the building, Please."

Bernadette looked at Howard too, "He's not going to make it is he?"

Howard didn't really know what to say, the desperation in Penny's eyes and the sympathy in the eyes of his wife. "I don't know." He then looked directly at Penny, and softly said, "He wouldn't leave anyway."

Penny looked down towards the floor, her heart felt crushed, she really just wanted to be with him when the end came, just to hold him one more time. She stood there for over a minute then turned back to the screen putting her hand along the side of it, like it was Leonard's face. "I love you Leonard," she whispered and tears dripped down her face.

Leonard made it to the 10th floor and peeked through the window, then blinked a couple times to make sure his mind wasn't playing tricks on him, there were three guards in the hallway.

"Base are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Tim Man, Roger, this looks like a prime spot for the item."

"Okay, I don't have much time so here it goes Base."

"Please be careful Leonard." Penny croaked out barely above a whispered. Howard and Bernadette looked at her, both putting their hands on her back, she was actually trembling.

Leonard took another quick look through the door window again, to determine each of the men's position, he was lucky they were all three together. He then took a breath, opened the door and walked through, he was hoping for surprise, he got better, the men stood there in shock at the sight of him, Leonard however wasn't in shock, so he attacked. The closet man Leonard just swung his arm at him, slamming the man's head against, then through the wall, he fell like a rag doll. The second closet man was in a chair, so Leonard lifted his foot stomping the man and the chair, shattering the metal chair, the metal parts penetrating the mans body in several critical areas, he was not getting up either. The third man started to react, bring up his AK-47 assault rifle to shoot Leonard, but he had waited too long, as soon as it was level, Leonard pushed his arm out against the barrel, using all the power the suit had, pushing the whole gun into the mans body, until it came out the other side and he fell to the ground.

Penny, Bernadette and Howard, watched in silence, it had happened so fast, that it almost seemed like they were watching a TV show and not something real that just happened. Howard realized Leonard knew he was watching, because Leonard didn't turn the helmet camera to the bodies, for very long, after it was over.

Bernadette said it for them all, she looked at Howard then Penny, "Oh My God."

It was a couple seconds later when Leonard came back on the radio. "Okay Base, Search help would be appreciated. I'm in sort of a hurry."

-Tin Man-

The F-15Es had reached their weapons release altitude of 30,000 feet, high enough that their over flight would not be heard as long as they stayed subsonic, as they flew overhead. They could see Los Angles below and were now lining up for a practice pass over the target to verify they could make the weapon release pass successfully. The pilot used his night vision goggles and RADAR to pick out landmarks, while the Weapons officer, scanned the ground with the aircraft's targeting pod, searching for the target for their two bombs.

Turner was sitting in his command vehicle when the sergeant notified him of the fighter aircraft status. "Sir those aircraft out of Edwards are making a practice run and are 5 minutes out. Their call signs are 'Hammer 1' and 'Hammer 2'."

Turner looked at the man. "Okay, let me know what they report after the practice pass. Also, give the order to Company B to begin their movement to location 'Charlie' and await orders."

The sergeant nodded, "Yes Sir." and relayed Turners orders. Company B, almost 200 men and vehicles now left the area to location 'Charlie' over a half mile from Turner's position, it would take them less than five minutes because the streets were empty. Turner had also secretly emptied the building next to their Terrorists building, only now having men around the perimeter, because he didn't really know if the second building would stand when the first building was destroyed.

-Tin Man-

"Tin Man, use the InfraRed (IR) scanner in your helmet, once you switch to IR you should be able to just stand outside the rooms and see if there is a high heat source in them, that should be the bomb. Just go one room at a time, it should really show up as a bright spot."

"Okay base, moving now."

"Howie, how are his chances?"

"Finding it are good, if it is on this floor. The bomb should be a high heat emitting source, because of the material it uses. Getting to it before they set it off, is a crap shoot." Howard looked at the girls again. "He is going to find it, then go in, there is nothing else we can do for him. Please you girls need to leave now, in the next few minutes you can be miles away."

"No Howard, I'm not leaving! If Leonard dies here, I die here!" Penny just folded her arms over her chest in defiance. Howard could see she was too far gone, he wouldn't be able to remove her without her going berserk, and she was stronger than him. She was a mess, her face streaked from crying and he could see a slight trembling in her hands. No she was never going to leave, he knew that for certain.

Bernadette looked at her husband, and she shook her head, she was not leaving either. Howard looked at the floor and then at the monitor, he hoped their deaths were as fast as Leonard's was going to be.