Day of Doom (29 page)

her, bewildered, until their pistols and other metal objects started flying off and sticking to the device.

“What  have   you  done,  Amy?” screamed Reagan.

“Given us a real chance, I hope.”

And then she had no more time to

think at all. The distant sounds now became far clearer. And nearer. The battle

was about to begin.

The last battle,
 
thought Amy. There was no escape possible this time. It was kill or be killed. She drew a quick breath and waited.

It wouldn’t be long now.

The Vespers were coming.

Not one of the three doors was thrown

open.

It, of course, could not be that easy.

The walls opened instead, hissing along on motorized tracks.

This caught the Cahills momentarily off guard as hordes of screaming Vespers poured through these openings, carrying guns and metal bats.

Then it was the Vespers who were

caught off guard.

A dozen of them holding guns were ripped off their feet and flew through the air, landing against the device, sticking to it, and being instantly electrocuted.

“Now!” screamed Amy. “Attack!”

“Charge!” bellowed Fiske as he ran forward.

They clashed in the middle of the room. Many of the Vespers had realized that the device had been turned into a giant electromagnet and had hastily dropped their weapons before they zoomed off to attach to the machine. But there weren’t as

many Vespers as before. And they couldn’t use guns.

Or knives, as one found out when he pulled a long blade and tried to slash Sinead with it. He was catapulted over

her and landed upside down against the

device.

All thirteen of the Cahills fought likedemons. Despite his injuries, Fiske kickedand punched like an enraged beast.

Hamilton, Jake, and Reagan moweddown Vesper after Vesper, using all oftheir strength and fighting skill.

Amy and Dan once more stood back-to-back, punching and kicking all Vesperswho came near them. Even Atticus and

Ted were swinging and kicking, althoughthey often didn’t hit anything other thanthemselves.

Amy watched with pride as Sineadslammed into two Vespers who were onthe verge of strangling Nellie, knockingboth of them unconscious.

Jonah was racing around, kicking and

singing a cappella, timing his kicks with pitch-perfect crescendos.

Phoenix was the first to go down under the sheer weight of the Vespers, who kept crowding into the room.

Little by little the Cahills were pushed back. They finally formed a circle in the middle of the room, and stood fighting side by side.

Jake and Amy found themselves shoulder to shoulder. They glanced at each other during a brief break in the battle.

“How you holding up, Ames?” he asked.

“Been better. You?”

“Could use some downtime.”

“Maybe we can go somewhere warm

after this is over.”

“Yeah, maybe we can.”

“We’re going to die, aren’t we?” asked Amy.

“Probably, but we’re going to take as many of them with us as possible,” answered Jake.

“I like your style.”

“Back at you.”

“ENOUGH!”

The voice boomed throughout the room and everyone suddenly froze in midpunch and kick.

Vesper One and Sandy entered the room. Sandy was pulling along a wooden cart on which rested a large wooden case.

The Vespers parted, allowing Vesper One to come forward, where he stood a few feet from his circle of opponents. He looked at Amy.

“It’s over,” he said calmly. “And

you’ve lost.”

“Who says?” asked Amy.

“He said,” snapped Sandy. “And he’s Vesper One. And I’m Vesper Two. And if you don’t mind, we’re on a tight schedule. We’re planning to destroy Chicago and we have to get a move on.”

Vesper One said, “So it’s time for the Cahills to admit defeat. Give up now and you will be spared. Resist further and every one of you will die a horrible death. You have ten seconds to decide.”

Amy and the others looked around at one another. Actually, they were all looking at her. She stood tall, put up her fists, and said, “I’ll take the horrible death, you freak.”

All the others put their fists up, too, and prepared to fight on.

“Have it your way,” said Vesper One. “Mercy isn’t really my thing, anyway.” He turned to Sandy. “Hand out the stone clubs.”

Sandy opened the crate he had rolledin and began to hand out long clubs thathad wooden handles and heavy stoneends.

When each of his men had a weapon, Vesper One looked at Amy and said, “I’mthrilled to be able to fulfill your last wishof dying a horrible death.” He turned tohis followers. “Kill them. Now!”

Before a single Vesper could move,one of the doors to the chamber wasblasted open by the force of six other Vespers being thrown through it.

What came through the door afterthem made everyone in the room, even

Vesper One, take a long step back.

Isabel stood before them. She looked

the same and yet she looked different. There was something ethereal about her movements. She seemed to be floating a few inches above the floor. It was as though she were no longer confined by the physical properties of the Earth. And if one looked closely she seemed fairly red in the face, almost like she had a bad sunburn.

Dan looked at Amy. “Wow. It really

did work.”

She hissed, “She’s red! What did youput in the serum?”

“Exactly what I was supposed to. Well, and some red M&M’s for taste. Youthink that’s where the red color came

from?”

A bloodcurdling scream escaping Isabel’s lips, she raced toward the outercircle of Vespers with such speed that itcaught all of them unprepared. Shesmashed into the front row of Vesperswith such force that it knocked ten of themhead over heels across the room. Others

threw  their  clubs  at  her,  but  she effortlessly dodged most of them, her body spinning and contorting in the most amazing ways and utilizing jaw-dropping angles and gymnastic ability. The ones she didn’t dodge she caught and sent flying back at their original owners with the velocity of a bullet and dead-on aim, dropping them all. She next lifted up three Vespers, their feet dangling ten feet above the floor, and threw them across the room, where they hit the far wall and fell to the

floor, dead.

Sandy had already made a run for the door, his face pale, his expression panicked.

He ran right into a still-soaked Cheyenne and Casper, who were coming through the doorway. They snagged the intrepid, if diabolical, weatherman and carried him off kicking and screaming.

Casper   said   nastily,   “Just   the scumball we wanted to run into.”

Meanwhile, like a flesh-and-bonemeat cleaver, Isabel raced through theranks of the Vespers, kicking, punching,and catapulting through the air. With eachblow a Vesper fell, while any attempts toland a solid strike against her failed. Shewas too fast, too nimble, and too quick-thinking. She seemed to know what the

Vespers were going to do before theyeven did it. She was like a dozen perfectfighting machines rolled into one.

Vesper One turned and ran towardthe Doomsday device.

Amy saw this and raced after him, Dan on her heels.

Jake, Sinead, and all the others ranaway from Isabel’s approach and hidbehind some crates. From there theywatched as Vespers flew around the room,crashing and dying as Isabel tore throughthem.

When   all   the   Vespers   werevanquished, Isabel stopped and turned tothe body of her daughter. She sailed overto her, lifted off the blanket, and stareddown at Natalie. And for one instant

Isabel looked closer to a human being than

she ever had. Then she put the blanket back and turned to stare at Vesper One, the degree of hatred in her eyes awful to behold.

Amy and Dan were within feet ofhim, blocking his escape.

Vesper One was not looking at them,or Isabel. His attention was on the Doomsday device. In his hand was thegear. In his other hand was a remote-control device.

With a flick, he turned off theelectrical power. The machine powereddown and all the Vespers and metal stuckto it immediately fell to the floor.

He rushed forward, the gear poisedin his hand.

“Oh, no you don’t!” screamed Amy.

She and Dan flew forward to stop

him from inserting the last gear.

But an instant later they were hurled to the side as Isabel pushed past them with astonishing speed.

She collided with Vesper One right as he reached the device. He stretched out and placed the gear in the niche. The device started to glow with power, even as Isabel and Vesper One fought each other.

In another instant they were both sucked toward the device as it came on full power.

“LOOK OUT!” screamed Sinead.

The walls and ceiling of the roombegan to shake. Bits of rock tumbled downand hit the floor, creating small craters.

The power surge in the devicebecame stronger.

As Amy and Dan watched from adistance, Vesper One was caught between Isabel and the device. He was slowly andinexorably being crushed between theunstoppable force and the immovableobject.

When he realized this seconds later,he panicked. But by then it was too late.

The walls and ceiling began to shakemore and more, as if an earthquake washappening. Huge chunks of rock were nowfalling from the walls and ceiling.

Jake grabbed Amy and Dan. “We’vegot to get out of here. The whole mountainis coming down,” he screamed.

Amy, Dan, and the others dodgedtumbling rocks as they raced to thedoorway.

Amy yelled, “But what about the

Doomsday device? We have to stop it.”

Fiske’s calming voice reached her. “Ithink we just did. Look!”

Amy shot a glance at the device. Vesper One appeared to have melted rightinto the thing. It seemed that his face wasnow part of the machine.

Meanwhile, Isabel was ripping at thedevice, tearing off huge chunks of it withher superpowered hands. The machinestarted to misfire, sending out massivesurges of electrical energy. And then itstarted to shake uncontrollably as Isabelcontinued to rip it apart.

As he ran, Fiske looked back andyelled, “She’s destroying it. But I thinkit’s going to blow any second.”

A few seconds later, an enormousexplosion occurred, lifting Amy off her

feet. An instant before that happened, all Amy could remember seeing was the device, Vesper One, and Isabel Kabra disintegrate into dust. The entire room shook once more, and then everything went black.

The first person Amy saw was her mother. She smiled and hugged her daughter, andspoke words that Amy had a hard timehearing. Then her father appeared next toher. His smile warmed every molecule in Amy’s body. And that was good becauseshe felt so cold.
 
Sooo
 
cold.