Knight Rider 2008 Alternate Storyline – Episode 5 – Countdown
Chapter 4
“Kat, I'm patched into the security cameras.” K.I.T.T informed her.
“Not now KITT, I might need to break a door.”
“While you do that, I will plot the safest route out of the building. I've already identified three potential assassins and informed the authorities.”
“Why is this locked?” Kat asked again as she pushed at the door. It still refused to open. “It's an emergency exit, why does it lock?”
“Perhaps it's not safe.” Corlan suggested. “I might be best not to go through there.”
“Well, what do we do now then?” Kat turned to him.
“We could wait here until KITT tells us it's safe to leave the building.”
Kat frowned. “I guess. This doesn't feel right though.” She leaned against the wall and folded her arms across her chest. She began to brood.
There was a sound below them of the stairway door opening. Kat stepped over to the stairs peering down. “Who's down there?” She challenged.
The only answer she got was the sound of metal hitting the floor and a silver sphere came into view. The downstairs door closed. There was a loud click as it was locked.
Kat looked down at the metal sphere, her stomach tightened. “What now?” She groaned.
The sphere began rapidly ejecting thick smoke. It soon filled the lower level and began creeping up the stairs.
Kat hurried back over to the door. “Stand back.” She told Corlan. “And cover your mouth and nose.” She tried kicking the door down, but it and the frame were made of steel. Her left leg was still too weak for her to use full force.
The smoke crept higher, slowly filling the small space. Corlan covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve. The smoke still seeped into his lungs, making him cough.
Kat held her breath. She pushed up her jacket sleeve, checking her watch. She adjusted something on the side. Then she held it up to the lock on the door. A red laser beam shot out of the watch, destroying the lock. She pushed the door open. “Come on!” She grabbed Corlan's arm and dragged him out of the stairwell.
She slammed the door shut and they raced down the hall as the smoke began to seep out from the edges of the door. Neither of them were very swift, with Corlan's age and Katherine still injured. But they managed to keep ahead of the smoke.
They entered a large, rectangular room with a long table in the center. Kat closed the double doors behind them. “KITT, we need a way out of here.” She said.
“The elevators are still malfunctioning.” K.I.T.T replied. “There is another stairwell on the north end of the building.”
Kat looked around the room. She spotted another door on the other end. She sprinted over to it and tried the handle. It was locked.
This door was made of wood though, so she prepared to kick it down. It was then that she noticed wisps of smoke seeping out from under the door. “Sorry, KITT. We can't reach the other stairwell.” She looked around the room again, but it only had two doors.
“There's got to be a way out of here...” She climbed up onto the long table, reaching up to the grate that lead to the ventilation shaft. She reached into her suit jacket, pulling out a flat vinyl case. She unzipped it and took out a screwdriver.
“What's that sound?” Corlan asked.
“What?” Kat looked over at him.
It was then that she heard it too. A tiny beeping noise. She looked around in confusion. Corlan pointed to the middle of the table.
Kat followed his gaze. Her heart hammered in her chest as she walked slowly down the length of the table, to the large brown paper bag placed in the middle.
She bent to her knees in front of it. Something told her not to touch the bag. Told her to just take Corlan and run like hell. But the hallways were filled with that smoky gas. And she had to know.
She reached out slowly, her hands trembling. She tore the paper bag away from the large, heavy box it covered. Large red numbers glared at her from a black screen, set into a huge silver box.
5:45 Beep.
5:44 Beep.
5:43 Beep.
She drew in a shaky, terrified breath. “KITT, please tell me you know how to disarm bombs.”
********
David regained consciousness slowly. His body hurt all over. He groaned as he rolled over.
He was lying in a small, dark space. He quickly took stock of his surroundings and belongings. His jacket was gone. His pockets were empty.
He felt around in the darkness. His hands found the back of a leather seat. He was trapped in a van then.
The back doors opened then. David squinted against the sudden light. It was the unknown man. David noticed that he now wore a white bandage on his cheek. “I got first blood, then.” He sneered.
David didn't wait for a reply. He launched himself out of the back of the van, right into the other man. He tackled him to the ground and they struggled. David fought like a caged tiger, relentlessly. His fist caught the side of the other man's head and his sunglasses flew off, skidding across the floor several feet away.
David paused, looking at the man's face. His eyes widened in shock. “No.” he whispered.
The other man flipped David off of him, then rolled over. They both regained their feet, facing each other.
The will to fight had left David. He studied the other man calmly. The taller man grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the wall next to the van. David didn't resist. “I won't fight you.” He gasped as the hand on his throat tightened.
David felt something hard press into his side. He heard a quick tck! as he felt a sharp prick between his ribs. His vision clouded immediately. He tried to struggle, but his limbs were dead weight. He felt himself sinking into darkness.
*******
“I'm downloading defusing techniques and applications now.” K.I.T.T said. “I've also informed the police about the timed explosive. They are evacuating the building and calling in the Bomb Squad.”
“How long will it take them to get here?” Kat asked anxiously.
“Approximately 8 minutes.”
“We don't have that much time.” Kat whispered.
K.I.T.T accessed Kat's eye-cam. The timer on the bomb read: 5:28
He finished downloading and opened up the disarming program Charles had made for him. “Can you get inside of the casing?” He asked.
Kat looked all around the bomb. She was careful not to touch it. “I don't see how it's attached. There are no seams, or screws. Maybe underneath.” She brought her hands up.
“Don't move it.” K.I.T.T warned her. “It's could have a mercury detonator switch. Moving it would cause it to go off.”
“Then, how are we going to disarm it?” He picked up a tiny edge of panic in her voice.
“You'll have to escape.”
“What about the gas?” Kat asked. The eye-cam moved to the door. K.I.T.T could see smoke curling along the floor. “We can't run very fast.” She reminded him.
He calculated the situation carefully. It only took him a few seconds. The odds of Kat and Andrew Corlan escaping with their lives was very low.
It took him less than a second to make a decision. “Stay where you are.” He told Kat. “I'll come and get you.”
********
Kat's face was incredulous. “KITT, how are you going to get up here? We're on the 55th floor.” She glanced quickly at Corlan, who seemed just as confused as she was.
“One moment. I'm still calculating that.”
“You've got less than five minutes.” Kat told him.
********
The man dressed all in black retrieved his sunglasses. He put them back on, then went back to the van. He checked on the occupant in the back.
David lay in the back of the van, unconscious. His hands were bound behind his back with duct tape. His ankles were bound together, and his mouth was covered.
The man closed the doors and locked them. He walked around to the Driver's side and got in.
The van was parked in the Knight Industries building's underground garage. It was empty now, as everyone had been confined to the first ten floors. Though by now, those floors would be evacuated.
He drove out of the the parking garage and sped quickly away.
