American Detective: Starting as a Rookie Cop in an American TV Show

Chapter 1499 Chaos in the Special Zone (Part 5)

As a medium-sized, four-engine, multi-purpose tactical transport aircraft, the C-130 is only slightly larger than a Boeing 737 passenger plane.

While it cannot compare to strategic transport aircraft like the C-17 or the Cyrus Y-20, imagine a behemoth nearly 30 meters long and with a wingspan of up to 40 meters, fully loaded with munitions and carrying more than ten tons of fuel, rushing towards you amidst flames and black smoke, emitting a metallic twisting sound as if it is about to disintegrate.
After a deafening explosion, the entire special zone seemed to fall into silence instantly.

Everyone who witnessed this scene lost their ability to speak at that moment, and could only watch helplessly as the gunship, which had just been showing off in the air, crashed headfirst into the lowest level of the Capitol Building with extremely precise movements.

The entire Capitol Building is a three-story flat-roofed building, with only a three-story dome structure above the central meeting hall.

Above the dome is a small round tower, on which stands a bronze statue of the goddess of victory.

This bronze statue of the goddess of victory differs from the one in New York. She wears a feathered crown, holds a sword in her right hand and a shield in her left, and gazes directly eastward.

Unlike the White House, which faces south, the Capitol Building faces east and is positioned with its back to the Washington Monument.

Therefore, when AC130 landed in this direction, only a few people standing by the window, such as FBI Director Jim Womack and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Al Kleiman, who were talking privately at the corner of the stairs, could see it.

The remaining cabinet ministers and members of parliament, who were already seated in the central rotunda that could accommodate a thousand people, were whispering among themselves about the sudden situation outside.

Capitol Police and Secret Service agents responsible for security at the Capitol have opened all the entrances and exits, preparing to evacuate cabinet ministers and members of Congress according to emergency plans.

At that moment, utter disaster struck. Amidst unspeakable, terrifying sounds, the mural "Washington in Paradise" atop the central rotunda suddenly cracked, followed by the lights going out.

This neoclassical building, which has a history of more than 200 years, was burned down by the British and the locals in 1814 along with the White House, and was later rebuilt. It was demolished like building blocks.

Three massive bronze doors, weighing tens of tons each and known as the Columbus Gates, collapsed outwards on the east side of the building, instantly turning the magnificent structure into rubble. The lights went out and were replaced by a raging fire.

The remaining dozen or so tons of aviation kerosene on the AC130 crashed into the Capitol Building along with the aircraft, instantly sending flames soaring into the sky.

Meanwhile, on the National Mall, the Washington Monument, which appeared half its original height, was still pattering with stones.

Everything happened so fast that even Jack was a little overwhelmed.

Like the Victory Statue in New York, the Washington Monument is a hollow structure with a white marble exterior and a high-speed elevator that goes straight to the top.

The obelisk was damaged in a 5.8-magnitude earthquake in 2011 and had to be closed for repairs. It took nearly three years to complete the restoration and reopen it.

Jack was unaware of the horrific scene inside the Capitol; he was simply shocked by what he saw, a scene straight out of a disaster movie.

It took him a long time to come to his senses as he stared at the obelisk, its upper half blown off and its lower half teetering on the brink of collapse, and the flames and smoke shooting into the sky from the direction of Capitol Hill.

“Kate.” Before Jack could finish speaking, a sonic boom echoed through the sky. Two F-16 fighter jets were flying low at supersonic speeds, and the huge sound waves they generated woke the entire city from a state that had been paused moments before.

Screams, cries, panicked screams from passersby, sirens, and car alarms came from all directions, creating an unreal atmosphere. "If anyone contacts me, tell them I'm fine. Also, contact Deputy Director Joey Reicher of the Secret Service and tell him I need to know if Maureen is safe."

Although according to the "designated survivor" rule, Maureen should not be in or around the Special Zone at this moment, Jack was still somewhat worried about her safety.

After Kate replied "Received," Jack drove the "Mammoth" back on the road, heading towards the White House.

He was just a few hundred meters from the white house, and although the traffic was chaotic and people were occasionally seen shouting for help from the roadside.

But the District of Columbia is not as crowded as New York. The area around the White House is almost entirely surrounded by buildings belonging to various federal government departments, so there is no such thing as a rush hour.

Although the gunship bombarded the city from its high vantage point, the resulting chaos over the entire urban area far outweighed the actual damage.

To Jack's surprise, when he drove up to the iron fence of the white house, there were hundreds of fearless tourists taking pictures and watching the spectacle.

The lawn south of the White House is known as the Oval Lawn, where a concert welcoming the President and his wife was being held when Jack left.

At this moment, there were many cars parked on one side of the driveway of the lawn. Among them, an armored Cadillac had the flags of the two countries hanging on its front. A team of Secret Service agents were on guard in the driveway, but judging from their bewildered expressions, they had not yet fully recovered from the shock.

The rooftop, riddled with bullets from a 25mm cannon, was a scene of utter devastation, with several mutilated corpses lying behind the broken railings.

Several police cars blocked both sides of this section of Pennsylvania Avenue. Jack stopped his car, showed his ID, and said, "Officer, I'm here to help."

The chubby white police officer looked at Jack's badge with suspicion, then shrugged and pointed behind him, "I don't think the Secret Service will let you in right now."

Jack noticed that behind him, besides the tourists watching the spectacle, there were also quite a few people wearing badges or even holding musical instruments.

These people were clearly White House staff and the band members who had previously held a welcoming ceremony on the lawn; they had all been evacuated outside by the Secret Service.

Jack was getting anxious. He was waiting for Kate to contact Joey. With the Secret Service deputy director involved, he figured getting into the White House and bringing Zoe out shouldn't be a problem.

But he wasn't sure how much time he had left. The gunship was clearly just the enemy's first move, and the extent of the damage it caused was probably beyond their expectations.

The timing of the air-to-air missiles launched by the two F-16s was too coincidental; a gunship crashing anywhere else other than the White House and the Capitol would not have caused such extensive damage.

“Shouldn’t you consider further evacuating these people outside?” Jack also pointed behind him.

The portly officer patted the radio hanging around his neck, which crackled and hissed. "We're still waiting for orders from above. The whole city is in chaos."

(End of this chapter)