Jason Shaw is looking forward to spending the Thanksgiving weekend in Washington DC with the colonel and his son Peter, not least because the colonel has promised to take Jason to a firing range. Although his father is a police detective, he won't let Jason handle a gun and sends him to self-defense classes instead. As a storm descends on Washington, the secure building in which the colonel works is taken over by terrorists and Jason is the only one not taken captive. As he roams the unfamiliar building with the power out, searching for an escape route and trying to evade the gunmen, he must choose between using an unfamiliar weapon or relying on the skills he learnt in self-defense class. When it becomes crucial to his survival, which will he choose?