Armageddon by Kaitlyn O'Connor Read Free Book Online

it touched into ash. She screamed, scooping one of her prized possessions, an ancient stone African fertility god, from its display shelf as she dashed past and hurling it in the general direction of her assailant. A meaty thud, a scream, and the sound of a metallic object striking the floor rewarded her effort. Without registering much more in her mind than the errant thought that she’d managed to knock the pistol from the woman’s hand, Lena charged her attacker, slamming into her hard enough to carry both of them into the wall.

    Her fingers curled into the tunic the woman was wearing as she felt herself falling. They hit the floor in the hall in a tangle of arms and legs, and fury born of sheer terror sent Lena into a mindless rage of clawing, pummeling, screaming, and biting. She was vaguely aware of receiving almost as many blows as she meted out, but shock cocooned her from feeling any pain.

    It also shielded her from rational thought. The woman broke free before Lena realized she was trying to reach the weapon she’d dropped. Releasing a sound that was part scream and part animal growl with a mixture of anger and fear, Lean launched herself at the woman again before she could completely break free, struggling to grab the pistol first. Neither of them managed to do anything more than knock the weapon further from their reach.

    24
    Giving up the effort after a moment, Lean managed to lever herself on top of her assailant, grabbed a handful of hair on either side of the duplicate’s head and used the leverage to pound the woman’s skull against the floor. The woman screamed, clawing at Lena’s hands and digging raw, bloody trenches across the backs. Gritting her teeth, Lena pounded harder.
    Abruptly, the wiggling form beneath Lena managed to get a knee between the two of them, lifting Lena away and overbalancing her. She fell sideways, losing her grip on one handful of hair. The woman clubbed her on the side of her head with a balled fist.
    Pain exploded in Lena’s head and she lost her grip completely, pitching into the floor with the second handhold.
    Disoriented, Lena pushed herself up and launched herself forward as the woman made a dive for the gun again, but moments too late. Her doppelganger’s fingers closed around the butt of the weapon. A desperate tussle ensued. Lena managed to grab the arm holding the pistol, but she could not reach the pistol itself. The gun discharged as they struggled, shattering glass, furniture, ceiling tiles, and wallboard as each fought for dominance in a battle where they were evenly matched in strength, weight, and life or death desperation.
    Lena’s focus on the gun hand cost her. Seeing she couldn’t break Lena’s grip on her arm, the woman began pummeling her again with her fist and finally jerked her knees up, managing to drive a knee into Lena’s side hard enough it knocked the breath out of her. It also pitched Lena face first into the arm she was gripping, however. As she fell forward, her weight drove the woman’s elbow into the hard floor, paralyzing it from elbow to wrist. The woman lost her grip. Even as Lena crashed, the pistol went skittering across the floor once more.
    Both women scrambled to their feet and surged toward the gun again. Realizing the pistol had slid under her couch, Lena changed tactics abruptly. Trying to prevent the woman from reaching the pistol instead of beating her to it, Lena rammed her shoulder into her. The blow knocked both women off balance. As the woman staggered back a step, Lena fell against the woman and slid towards the floor. Coming down on her knees painfully, she grabbed at the woman, clawing along the woman’s clothing but failing to grasp a hold. Shoving herself to her feet again as the woman lurched toward the couch, Lena sprang toward her. The impact, when she struck, carried both them over the back.
    They rolled, with first Lena on top and then the other woman. Beneath them, Lena heard the crunch of broken glass,