“Get up. That’s right you, with the face. GET UP.” I feel a sharp pain in my side as a heavy boot, kicks me. Attempting to blink away the bright spots behind my lids, I find myself lying on my side unable to move. My hands are bound firmly behind my back and my head is swimming from what feels like 100 hammers pounding on the back of my head. The base of my neck feels wet and slippery most likely from blood oozing from a possible gash somewhere back there. Groaning, I sit up and try to get my bearings. I look around and instantly recognize Kelly, my partner, huddled in a corner crying softly.

“SHUT UP!” a voice bellows from my right. Through my foggy vision I see a large man with a scar over his left eye. He is waving a knife in front of him. “Keep crying and I will make sure you never cry again!”

I start to recollect & tick off the events of the past 72 hours. First, a mad man was sending in death threats promising to kill thousands if his requests weren’t met. That must be Mr. Scarface to my right. Second, informants were able to locate the bomb Scarface placed on a platform at the base of the AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys and currently where the biggest event in the U.S. sports was happening, the super bowl. Third, I was on a mission with my partner to deactivate the bomb. We had 3 hours to stop it before it killed everyone in the stadium. When we finally got down here we were ambushed but were able to take out everyone except Scarface who surprised us from behind. Now I’m stuck here with a bomb and no options to get out. Yup, I can see the bomb now with…oh crap…only 15 minutes left!

I instantly look around to Kelly who had quieted since the last threat from Scarface. We lock eyes and she can see a plan forming. Instantly, she begins to howl and Scarface jumps and runs toward her, knife raised screaming obscenities. Quickly I assess what is tying my hands…zip ties…they cut into my skin and I can’t pull them off. Kelly whimpers as Scarface strikes her.

Angrily I do the only thing I can think of…I dislocate my thumb sliding my hand out and lunge at Scarface. He wheels around as he hears me approach. I knock him down to the floor with my weight, knocking the knife from his hand. It skids across the floor and I watch as Kelly scoots toward it to free herself.

“Disable the bomb!” I yell before getting slammed in the back by the recovered Scarface. I kick out at him and my foot connects with his stomach. He coughs in pain but brings his foot down on my dislocated thumb. I yell out and scuttle away from his next kick. Swaying, I get up. He rushes me and we begin to wrestle. My body is still recovering from whatever hit the back of my head so it is hard to concentrate and keep steady on my feet. Scarface grabs a pipe and whacks me on the side of my head. I see stars and stumble. I can hear the distant roar of the crowd as the game is about to start. I hear Kelly scream and I look up to see Scarface running toward her as she attempting to disable the bomb, punching in different codes on the keypad. Wearily I half run, half stumble toward him, placing my full force into him, knocking him off balance he sways sideways. I watch his eyes widen in surprise and his mouth turn into an O as terror overcomes his face. He falls over the side railing of the platform to his death.

I quickly turn to the bomb and see the red light flickering steady at 1 minute. I glace at Kelly standing beside it, a bruise on her flushed cheek. Relief floods her face and I know we did it. We stopped the bomb. I smile at her. We look up as we hear a definitive roar of the crowd seemingly cheering us on our success, although they have no clue as to how close to death they had come. A voice on the loudspeaker booms.

“Aaaaand there is the kickoff! We are now underway at Super Bowl LV!!”