They end up being pursued by another "salt and pepper" teamof murderers. These killers resemble the real-world D. C.-area snipers of 2002: One is a youthful apprentice and the other a malign leader, and they kill with a combination of careful calculation and spur-of-the-moment brutality. Yet their story differs because the police never catch up with them. Instead, the protagonists Clay and Karras figure out that the killers are coming and snuff out the threat themselves.