American Terrorist — Tyler Chin-Tanner

An examination of the current American political climate through the lens of four average citizens taking extreme measures to disrupt a rigged system.

After a cross-country trip to investigate environmental activist groups, reporter Owen Graham returns to NYC to meet with Shannon Lim, a scientist who recently quit the EPA in protest against their policies. Before Owen can get to her story, he receives a tip about a bomb threat at the nearby headquarters of an insurance company.

Unbeknownst to the authorities, there is no actual bomb threat. The commotion was caused by Hannah Bloom, a public-school teacher suffering from bipolar disorder who was trying to get her insurance to cover the medication she needs.

Owen and Shannon arrive at the scene but only make matters worse. To top it off, the NSA agent tailing Owen due to his association with environmental terrorists tries to arrest them all using excessive force and Owen ends up killing him in self-defense. Owen, Shannon, and Hannah flee the scene in the confusion of the bomb scare.

The three of them seek help from Owen''s childhood friend, civil rights attorney Michael Clark whose long history of defending immigrants and marginalized people makes it easy to paint him as an accomplice.

Now fugitives, the four of them head to the only allies they have left, the environmental activists that Owen befriended. They use their network to move the four of them around and set them up with a system of posting their activities online and building a following through social media. In the midst of these events, the budding attraction between Hannah and Owen blossoms into romance.

Freed from their normal lives as law-abiding citizens, our four heroes experiment with new, radical solutions to persistent problems: breaking into the homes of foreclosure bankers, holding up pharmacies to distribute overpriced medicine, and even blowing up smoke stacks causing air pollution.

Meanwhile, the F.B.I. is closing in on them, leading to a violent confrontation where Shannon is killed and the other three narrowly escape. As the leaders of the movement, Owen and Hannah announce a public appearance at the National Mall in Washington D.C. where they will make their final plea to the world. Will the NSA let them get that far? Their drones patrol the area with orders to shoot on site. But Owen and Hannah have a different plan. They appear in a different location, while Michael goes to the Mall to make the speech.

A missile is launched and destroys its target. Who is killed and who survives? The reader is left to decide.