Van Ness’ scream died out, leaving his gasping breaths as the only sound in the operations center. Blood had soaked the forearm of his suit jacket and stained the left side of his chair, and it dripped from the spokes of his wheelchair.
Munoz couldn’t believe his eyes.
Everyone in the immediate vicinity had frozen. The guards. The operations staff manning the consoles. Even the hybrid creature, who maintained Cafferty in a tight headlock to the point where his face had started to turn purple.
Outside, creatures threw themselves at the glass dome in increasing numbers. Perhaps hundreds, all forced into the light for reasons he didn’t understand. Lashing their tails against the wall. Raking the thick graphene glass with their claws. The powerful turrets groaned against the creatures’ telekinetic attempts to stop them. Red-hot laser beams sliced the monsters apart as fast as possible to defend the command center from the sudden onslaught. This unnerving, soundless spectacle sent a shiver down Munoz’s spine. Even if they somehow managed to survive the Foundation, which he doubted, he guessed it wouldn’t be long before the creatures figured out a way to tear them all to shreds.
The razor-sharp claw—now dripping with Van Ness’ blood—hung by Edwards’ side.
“I’m so very sorry, Albert,” Edwards said, peering down at his frantic boss, who desperately tried to wrap his necktie around his severed wrist as a makeshift tourniquet.
Having completed the knot and slowed the bleeding, the old German glared up at his number two. “Why, Allen?” he spat.
“Because this was never supposed to be about revenge.”
“It’s part of our mission! Part of your damned twenty years of loyalty!” Van Ness fired back.
“It was part of your mission. The Foundation exists to save humanity from these horrid creatures. On that, I still stand with you. But this private war . . . this vendetta . . . is solely yours. And I cannot allow it to continue. I’m sorry, Albert.”
“I understand, my dear friend. I am so very sorry, too.”
Edwards looked confused. “What do you—”
Suddenly, a laser beam sliced a hole through Edwards’ forehead, and his eyes widened in shock. Slowly, the laser beam moved downward, slicing his face in half. Edwards’ lifeless body crashed to the ground in an instant, blood pouring out of his neck, hot viscera filling the room with its stench.
Munoz traced the laser back to its source—a small weapon clutched in Van Ness’ remaining hand, by his right side.
Seizing the moment of terror, Bowcut slammed her elbow hard into one of her guards’ guts, instantly knocking the wind out of him. The burly man hunched over, only to be met by her knee smashing into his face, breaking his nose. He crumbled to the ground.
The guard watching over Munoz swung his gun around to fire at Bowcut, but she had anticipated that and was predictably faster, blocking his arm as he pulled the trigger, sending a bullet ricocheting off the impervious glass dome. The bullet careened off the walls until it lodged itself into the back of a worker’s skull at the central command station. His head crashed against a keyboard. Blood spilled across the workstation.
Bowcut’s fist landed squarely in the guard’s face. He staggered to the side, freeing Munoz momentarily.
Van Ness raised the laser weapon to slice a beam through Munoz and Bowcut, but Cafferty swung his leg and kicked the gun from the German’s hand before he had a chance to fire.
The hybrid creature immediately tossed Cafferty like a rag doll against the wall. He hit shoulder first and slammed into the ground, wincing in agony.
Bowcut charged the hybrid and crashed into it with all her might. The creature barreled back into Van Ness’ wheelchair, knocking his control tablet to the ground.
Munoz, sensing his opportunity, scrambled to his feet as the hybrid swung a right hook at the side of Bowcut’s head. Its fist connected with a dull thud, and she stumbled backward.
Four more guards rushed into the operations center, weapons drawn.
We’re outnumbered, Diego thought. And outgunned. Come on, Diego. Think of a way out of this.
From the ground, Cafferty kicked a rolling chair at the first guard, tripping the man up. He followed it up with a bone-crunching elbow to the man’s jaw.
The guard hit the stone floor like a bag of bricks. His gun flew from his hand and skidded away, coming to a rest next to the recovering Bowcut.
“Kill them all!” Van Ness shouted, reaching down for the control pad.
Munoz leaped for the device, snatched it and the severed hand, and quickly backed away. Amid the confusion, he pressed the cold index finger on the home button and the screen flashed to life. Then he started navigating through every application.
“Diego! Turn ’em off!” Cafferty yelled.
No shit, Tom.
“On it, boss!” he shouted back, finding the commands to take the bombs offline one at a time. He executed the order for the thermonuclear weapon underneath Manhattan to deactivate, then quickly deactivated London.
New York City safe. London safe.
Just thirty more cities to go . . .
Van Ness looked up at the monitors and saw the red circles around those cities blink off, one by one.
“Stop him!” Van Ness shouted at the three remaining armed men on their feet.
One of them aimed at Munoz, but Cafferty tackled him to the ground just as he pulled the trigger.
The bullet zipped past Munoz’s head and slammed into a server.
Stay focused, Diego!
But he momentarily couldn’t take his eyes off the ensuing death match. Bowcut had grabbed the loose gun on the floor. She spun on her knee toward a guard and pumped two rounds into his chest. He toppled backward and crashed against the ground.
The remaining guard fired at Bowcut. She screamed and collapsed to both knees after a round tore through her ankle. The man spun to face the unarmed Munoz and advanced with a sneering grin.
The guard had clearly underestimated Sarah, though. Munoz looked beyond him at her regaining her composure in a matter of seconds and retaking aim.
Bowcut fired twice, hitting the guard in his back with a centered mass. He face-planted on the ground right in front of Munoz’s boot. Diego rammed his heel into the man’s jaw, hard and fast. A second kick to his temple knocked him out, in case the bullets hadn’t done the job.
Munoz returned his focus back to the tablet and deactivated two more bombs.
Washington, D.C., safe. Sydney safe.
Fast, heavy footsteps pounded the stone.
Three more guards entered the operations center and sprinted toward the fight. Workers at their stations scrambled away from the chaos, ducking for cover to avoid stray bullets.
All the while, the creatures were slamming against the glass.
Bowcut spun and fired rapidly, taking one guard out, but missing the other two before they were upon her. One kicked her in the face, sending her flying backward, smacking her skull against the ground. Meanwhile, Cafferty wrestled on the ground with the guard he had tackled, trying to gain the upper hand.
Van Ness stared at the overhead screens with a look of horror. Munoz glanced up at him every time he took another thermonuclear device offline.
Atlanta safe. Los Angeles safe.
Van Ness roared in anger. He spun his electric wheelchair in the direction of the central command station computer.
“Tom,” Munoz yelled. “He’s gonna set off the bombs!”
Cafferty caught Van Ness’ actions in the corner of his eye as he wrestled with the guard. He finally spun the guard on his back, gaining the upper hand. He raised his fist to drive it home, but as he swung downward someone grabbed his arm midair.
Or rather, something.
The hybrid creature had caught Cafferty’s punch and was lifting him off the ground by his neck, slamming him hard against the wall. For the second time today the air was being choked out of him, as he watched Bowcut fight for her life and Munoz frantically try to deactivate more nuclear bombs. All of his senses were heightened, even as his pulse pounded in his ears.
Nobody else was coming to help end this madness.
Millions—billions—of lives depended on the three of them.
The cost of failure had never weighed more heavily on his shoulders.
This really is it.
Death or glory for a final time.
Van Ness approached the side of the central command station and pushed the dead worker’s head off the desk. The body slid to the ground, leaving a streak of blood across the keys and the execute button.
Two more pulsing red lights stopped on the overhead screen. Manchester and Dublin safe. Munoz, reliable as ever, continued to deactivate bombs. But he wasn’t fast enough—some bombs would go off if nobody could free themselves to stop the crazy old man.
“Sarah, stop Van Ness!” Cafferty rasped.
Bowcut tried to free herself from the two guards who were overpowering her, but it was no use. Cafferty knew she couldn’t reach Van Ness in time. She gave him a look of desperation. He returned the expression while attempting to wrestle away the hybrid’s powerful arms.
Six more black-uniformed guards raced toward the operations center. Their footsteps hammered closer, echoing around the ceiling and walls.
Gasping for air that wouldn’t come, Cafferty saw the enemy racing directly toward him. But he also noticed that the creatures had stopped attacking the glass dome and the turrets had stopped firing. It had become still in the nest outside.
Cafferty kicked the creature with all his might, but still nothing worked. He hung there, choking.
We’re out of options. It’s over.
His vision fogged and darkness began to overwhelm him. Van Ness smiled up at him from the command desk’s control panel.
We lost.
Suddenly, a laser blast swept across the room from left to right, cutting through all six guards at chest level. Twelve severed arms dropped to the ground. Weapons clattered next to them. The momentum of the men initially carried them forward a step, until the upper halves of their bodies separated from their torsos.
All of them simultaneously collapsed.
Blood and guts spilled across the polished stone floor in every direction.
A fraction of a second later, another laser beam sliced the hybrid creature’s arm right off, freeing Cafferty from its clutches. He fell to the ground, gasping for air.
The creature spun to face its attacker just as another laser beam sliced through it diagonally. It slid apart and crashed to the ground in front of Cafferty.
He looked up at his savior.
Ellen stood, taking in the carnage she’d just unleashed. The two guards Edwards had sent for her seemed to have not taken into account the fact that she still had the laser Van Ness had left in the room—probably because no one had expected her to win.
Their mistake. She had grown tired of being underestimated. There was nothing she would not do to ensure the safety of her son. She had to survive so that David could live, and she’d be damned if a group of fanatics was going to get in her way.
They gave her the weapon, and her instinct to protect her young—coupled with the training Bowcut had insisted on—was being put to deadly use.
She rapidly cut down the guards on Bowcut with precision. When no more Foundation soldiers remained, she rushed to her husband’s side.
“Tom, are you all right?” she said, clutching his face.
Cafferty struggled to gain his voice through his bruised neck. “Stop . . . Van Ness . . .” he growled.
Ellen whipped her head around. The old German raised his remaining hand, ready to slam down the execute button.
“You’ve lost, Cafferty,” Van Ness shouted. He swung his fist downward.
“No!” Tom screamed. Ellen tried to bring the laser up but knew she’d be too late.
Less than an inch from the button, however, Van Ness’ hand froze midair. His eyebrows furled, and he seemed to be concentrating hard to bring his hand down onto the button.
Nothing.
His arm wouldn’t move, and it shook, as if he was fighting an invisible force. A look of confusion spread across his face. For the first time, Cafferty witnessed a new emotion on Van Ness’ face.
Fear.
Van Ness’ eyes bulged. His backside jerked up a few inches out of the wheelchair. The sight paralyzed Ellen, and though her gun was up, she didn’t fire. She noticed as Tom scrambled to his feet and knew he was wondering the same thing she was:
What the hell is happening?
Van Ness’ body lifted into a standing position, seemingly on its own, as if his disabilities had suddenly vanished.
“What the . . . ?” Ellen muttered, watching the bizarre scene unfold in front of her. All eyes in the operations center were glued to the strange spectacle, except for Munoz’s, as he continued to deactivate more bombs.
Terrified, Van Ness rapidly looked in all directions, until focusing beyond the glass dome at the cavern. And then she understood.
“The creatures . . .” Cafferty said.
The entire nest of creatures had focused their telekinetic power to target Van Ness directly.
Seconds later, Van Ness’ frail, upright body slammed into the glass dome’s internal wall with tremendous force. He tried to push himself away from the glass with his right hand and his bloody stump, but collapsed against it, like he was being crushed by an ultrapowerful magnet. His screaming face pressed against the glass so forcefully that blood began to run out the corners of his eyes and his nostrils. His head was locked against the glass, unable to turn in any way, facing right at Tom. He glared at Cafferty as drops of blood streamed down his face and dribbled from his chin.
“Help . . . me,” Van Ness pleaded in anguish. “Hit the damned pedal by my chair. Launch the superweapon.”
Ellen looked over at Tom, who was watching indifferently, betraying no emotion on his face. But she knew her husband. No matter how much he hated Van Ness, how much he wanted the man dead (just as she did), Tom wasn’t a monster. He wasn’t someone who could easily kill someone or watch someone—even a person as evil as Van Ness—die without feeling the loss of life. Yet she also understood he didn’t want to show Van Ness he actually cared that he was witnessing the bastard’s final, pain-filled moments, because she felt the same way.
She took his hand.
He looked down at it, as if unsure of what he was seeing. Then he looked into her eyes.
“Tom . . . stop this,” she said softly.
He looked at her, incredulous.
“It’s over.”
“It’s not over, Ellen. All the lives lost because of this asshole . . .”
There was pain in his eyes as he struggled between all he had gone through and all he still wanted to do. She squeezed his hand.
“Van Ness started it. And I’m going to finish it.”
“There’s already so much blood here,” Ellen replied. “You don’t need to put any more on your hands.”
He turned back to look at Van Ness, and she saw his eyes go rapt by the sight. She watched, too.
It was gruesome. The glass remained impervious. Van Ness’ body and internal organs were not. His intestines were being pulled toward the edges of his skin, arteries and veins shifting inside his body as if a powerful vacuum wanted to suck everything out. As if the creatures wanted to tear every atom of Albert Van Ness apart.
He’d be dead in a matter of moments.
Van Ness’ screams grew in intensity. Blood trickled out of his ears, down his chest.
Ellen turned to her husband. Only she could break the former mayor’s gaze from what he most wanted in life—the death of this monster. He turned to look at her.
“Tom . . . stop this,” she pleaded.
“No!” He was shocked at her suggestion, and it pained her that maybe he was too far gone. “Ellen, no. He—”
“He’ll pay for his crimes, we’ll make sure of it,” she said quietly, cutting him off. “But Tom, not like this. This isn’t who I married. This isn’t David’s father.”
They gazed into each other’s eyes, all the love and hope she had ever felt trying to melt the ice she saw staring back at her. Somewhere in there—behind the bruises and pain and fear—was her husband.
She hoped.
“Show me . . . show him . . . you’re better than this.”
Cafferty’s mind thought back to when he almost lost Ellen because of his obsession with the Z train.
He was about to lose her again.
That’s not going to happen.
And as Van Ness was about to be torn apart, Cafferty slammed his foot down on the pedal to launch the superweapon.
In the cavern—now darkened from creatures attacking and taking out the globes—a shimmering cloud puffed out over the dome and spread in the stale air. Seconds later, the glint of a strobe arced into the center of the thousands of foil pieces, then activated.
Spears of light shot to every dark cave, crevice, and corner. Millions of refractions, lighting the place up to the point where Cafferty squinted and shielded his eyes from the intense glare.
Intense rays punched against the clusters of creatures. Faint shrieks emanated through the glass as they scattered and fled toward the nearest caves. It brought back memories of activating the IMAX in the Visitors’ Pavilion, only thousands of times more brilliant.
Released from the creatures’ telekinetic grip, Van Ness slid down the glass wall and lay prone on the ground. He struggled to push himself onto his back with his remaining hand, and the fire returned to his bloodied eyes.
Cafferty strode over to him. Not letting him die was fair enough, but he wasn’t going to be denied this next move. He hunched next to the old German.
“Mr. Van Ness . . .” Cafferty said, drawing back his fist. “New York sends its regards.”
Cafferty smashed his fist into Van Ness’ face, knocking him unconscious.
It’s over.