The Service

The Service (working title)
Introduction

As the building rocks from explosion after explosion, the confident voice of Jack Marshall echoes through the commotion.  He leads a group of civilians through the dust and debris carefully scanning the rubble for any sign of life.  He’s eyeing what appears to be a shoe protruding from beneath a desk in the corner when he hears a faint whistle coming from outside.  He holds up his hands and motions for everyone to stay still and be quiet.  His eye catches the shoe again and he begins to make his way across the room to the desk when he notices the whistle getting louder and suddenly realizes what it is.
“Everybody down!” he yells.
Marshall jumps back and tosses a rather large man down and throws himself on top.  Just as the two men hit the ground, a rocket propelled grenade penetrates the wall above them and explodes across the room turning furniture into shrapnel and scattering debris over the group of people now sprawled across the room. 
“Thank you Jack” the large man is yelling over the sound of another explosion somewhere else in the building. 
“Just keep up Sir.  We’re almost there” Jack responds.  He turns to the rest of the group and quickly takes inventory.  His numbers don’t match up.  He is about to ask for a head count when he recognizes the shoulder bag beneath a pile of rubble.  He tells himself that it’s better not to mention it to anyone and moves on.
“This is it everyone!” he yells.  “The target is just beyond that wall over there.  We’re going to have to make a run for it.”  He points across the room to a small hole that was opened in the wall by an earlier explosion.  “Do exactly what I do and step exactly where I step.  Run as fast as you can and jump over that wall head first.”
One of the people in the group became visually agitated when he noticed that part of the way to that rubble pile was exposed to the outside.
“W-what makes you think that no one will see us run past?” the young man said.
“By the time anyone out there has a chance to react we will all have already passed the point of vulnerability.” responded Jack “Hence the running.”
The man, still shaken, spoke again, “but then they will know what part of the building we are in.  There is no way I am doing this.  Anyone who does is going to get killed!”
Jack noticed that the others were starting to look worried as well.  He turned his gaze to the large man for a moment and then back to the group.
“What’s your name son?” asked the large man.
The scared young man looked terrified by the attention from the larger man.  I-I’m Jeffery Muldean sir.”
“Well Jeffery, I know that you are scared.” the large man said.  “Shit… I’m scared as hell too.  But Jack has gotten us this far and I have no intention of second guessing him now.  Besides, I know a few things about this building.”
“What kind of things sir?” he asked as another bomb exploded somewhere else.
The man took a moment to look at each person in the group.  “On the other side of that pile of rubble are 7 foot thick steel reinforced concrete walls.  We will be much safer there than we are here.  If you listen to Jack and follow his direct orders you will be just fine.  If you have a problem following his orders…you will follow mine.  Do you understand?”
A resounding “Yes Sir” came from Jeffery as he stood and readied himself for the dash across the room.
The man turned to Jack.  “We’re ready to go.  Lead the way.”
“Remember to stay close Sir” said Jack “and step exactly where I step!”
With that jack took off running across the room.  He looked to his left for a moment just in time to see a few men behind a barricade not thirty feet away take notice of him and scramble for their weapons.  “I hope they are all behind me” he said to himself as he dove head first over what used to be a wall only minutes ago.
         He tucked his head in time to roll out and come to a standing stop on the other side of the rubble.  He looked back to see that the large man had also made it and that everyone else was just behind him.  As the last man ran past the opening in the wall, another rocket propelled grenade made its way into the room just barely allowing enough time for the last of the group to make it to safety on the other side of the wall.
         Once the dust settled Jack yelled for everyone to head down a set of dark stairs to their right.  He grabbed the large man, made sure he was alright, and headed down the stairs into the darkness below.  He produced a small flashlight from his pocket and lead the way down a dark and damp hallway. 
         For the first time since the attack began Jack had a moment to catch his breath and start to take in what was happening.  Not only fifteen minutes ago he was in the cafeteria grabbing a cup of coffee in preparation for the start of his evening shift.  Now he was leading a group of strangers through the rubble trying to find shelter from a barrage of weaponry that was being fired from an unknown enemy in an unknown location.  “What went wrong?” he thought aloud.
After about two minutes he stopped and motioned for everyone else to do the same.  He raised a finger to his lips, signaling for silence, and then turned off his flashlight.  Through the sound of the fighting overhead Jack heard what he had thought were footsteps and waited to see if he was right.
He was.
At first they were quiet and few but now they were all around them.  They were growing louder.  Footsteps from every angle, every direction and then he heard something worse.  Weapons cocked.
Jack began to reach for his own weapon when he was suddenly pressed against the wall in a whirlwind of sound and light.  People were yelling and flashlights were turning on everywhere.  He resisted the best he could but the unseen assailants had the upper hand, surprise and numbers.
Jack was now face first against the cold wall with his arm bent to the breaking point behind his back.  Someone was yelling at him, someone that was obviously agitated, obviously violent.  As he felt his knee swept from beneath him he knew it was over.  As quickly as this hectic mission was thrown into motion, it had ended.  For all of the pain and uncertainty, Jack could only recognize his failure.  His mission was over.  The man he was here to protect was about to die.
“Codeword Flamingo!” yelled the large man.
Every man with a gun suddenly snapped to attention.  Jack was let go and fell to the ground in a whirlwind of confusion.  He fought through the pain in his arm and stood to face his aggressors.  It was all starting to make sense.
The lights in the hallway came on. 
Surrounding the group of people was a fully armed platoon of American Marines.  Some were looking to each other obviously confused by what was happening. 
The one that appeared to be in charge stepped forward and spoke wearily, “We were under the impression that you had been… well…that you had been lost in the initial attack Sir.”
The large man gathered his composure and then commanded “Lieutenant, as you can see I am very much alive.  Please see to it that you get agent Marshall medical attention and lead these eight people into the bunker.”
The Lieutenant swallowed hard and replied, “Yes Sir!.” He picked up his radio and called for confirmation of a secure line.
“Line is secure. Go ahead” crackled the radio.
“Lieutenant Ford to Whiskey Hold Alpha - We are heading back to base ten heavy - over.”
“Ten heavy Lieutenant, roger that.  We will have medical standing by.” replied the radio.
“Um, Whiskey Hold Alpha - One more thing… We will be returning with Phoenix1. - over.”
“Lieutenant, please repeat your last transmission.  It sounded like you said you had Phoenix1 in your possession – over”
“That is correct Whiskey Hold Alpha - We are in possession of Phoenix1.  I repeat we are in possession of the President of the United States – over.”