Chapter 11 Hide and Seek

Owen struggled to his feet, his eyes readjusting to the light. He found himself in what appeared to be the laundry room, surrounded by the kind of large washing machines one might find in a hotel.

Beneath them lay thick bed sheets and duvet covers, likely tossed down earlier, with McClane right beside him.

The two of them, with sore waists and aching legs, crawled out. Owen felt a chill of fear; thankfully, the laundry room was not far from the 40th floor. Had it been on the first floor, their fall, even cushioned by multiple layers of bedding, would have been fatal.

McClane was still dizzy, struggling to stand until Owen helped him up. Suddenly, they heard a chaotic jingle from the chute, followed by something flying out of the opening and crashing into the pile of bedding where they had just landed.

Exchanging a look, they both thought of the worst-case scenario and ran for the door.

"Boom, boom"

As they burst out of the laundry room, they were knocked over by the blast of an explosion. McClane, yet to stand, started cursing vehemently.

Owen tasted blood in his mouth, cursing the ruthlessness of the hijackers. Two bombings within ten minutes—they clearly intended to leave no survivors. "I'm not done with you," he thought grimly.

West Hollywood Police Station In the office, Chief Javier, with his bushy beard, looked oddly at his most reliable subordinate, George. Just minutes ago, George had burst into his office to report that the Zhongchen Building was being held by terrorists.

The source was Steve Owen, one of his detectives, but attempts to call back went unanswered.

Chief Javier's initial thought was to dismiss it as a young person's prank. After all, this was Los Angeles, the heart of Hollywood, a melting pot of people from around the world.

However, he quickly dismissed that thought. There was something off about this situation.

Not just him, George also couldn't reach Owen, which added to the suspicion that something had gone terribly wrong.

Deciding to verify for himself, Javier called the executives of Magel Corporation in the Zhongchen Building, a star company within his jurisdiction and a major taxpayer in Los Angeles. The calls to President Aokimura, and then to Vice President Laise, went unanswered.

Feeling a sense of foreboding, Javier tried the other executives, only to find their phones also unreachable.

Hoping against hope that nothing was amiss, Javier grabbed the internal emergency line and announced, "Attention everyone, this is Javier. Drop whatever you're doing and get to Zhongchen Building on Bergli Street within five minutes. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill. I want to see you there in five minutes."

The station erupted into action.

Officers, puzzled by their boss's sudden order but knowing better than to question it at such a time, scrambled from the building into their cars, sirens blaring as they raced out of the station. Patrol cars across West Hollywood changed course amidst chaos, heading towards the Zhongchen Building.

From above, one would see countless police cars converging on one location, their sirens a chorus of urgency.

At the same time, Los Angeles media buzzed with excitement.

Most notable news departments, always monitoring police frequencies, picked up on the chief's orders and sensed a major story. Crews, armed with cameras and microphones, rushed towards the Zhongchen Building.

On the 33rd floor of the Zhongchen Building, Owen and McClane ran through the fire escape, their last bullets spent. Now, they only had a grenade, recently acquired from a hijacker's corpse.

From somewhere, the hijackers seemed to have pinpointed their location, appearing in front and behind them, making escape seem impossible despite their efforts.

The duo was baffled, even after Owen faked entering a floor and switched fire escapes—there were four in the building—yet the pursuers followed as if guided by a tracker.

Realizing the surveillance hadn't been disabled, they started deliberately destroying cameras. After faking another entry, the hijackers were fooled, confirming their guess.

With the problem identified, they began a real-life game of hide and seek in the building, moving from one floor to another, misleading their pursuers through destroyed surveillance.

The blonde man, frustrated and enraged by their elusiveness, vented on the surveillance team, threatening dire consequences for Owen and McClane.

Unbeknownst to him, they often narrowly missed encounters with the duo, who relied on luck and quick hiding to evade capture.

Listening to the blonde man's angry passage outside, they felt the thrill of their risky evasion, a dangerous game of cat and mouse within the walls of the Zhongchen Building.