Armageddon by James Patterson, Chris Grabenstein Read Free Book Online Page A

enormous black wings. “This is all for you!”

Chapter 20
    IT WAS THE Fourth of July, and the second-deadliest alien in the universe was enjoying the most spectacular “fireworks” display the nation’s capital had ever seen.
    He had already torched the White House, charring its ruins black.
    He had laid waste to the Lincoln Memorial, rolling the sainted president’s sculpted head into a rat-infested sewer.
    He had crushed the Capitol Building, flattening its Great Rotunda as if the cast-iron dome were nothing more than an aluminum Coke can.
    Meanwhile, his alien army was sweeping like a plague of locusts across the metropolitan area to usher survivors down into the abyss.
    His name was Abbadon.
    Hoping to enslave millions, he quickly assumed the guise of a concerned newscaster and infiltrated the earthlings’ television broadcasts, as well as their Internet, cellphones, and encrypted National Security networks. His face filled video screens everywhere.
    “People of Washington, D.C., if you wish to live, flee your homes and join me underground. The world as you have known it is nearing its apocalyptic end. Come to me and survive. Refuse me and die.”
    Everywhere, flecks of debris drifted down from the ominous sky like mammoth gray snowflakes. Those who wished to survive stampeded toward the underground entrances to Washington’s Metro system, where Abbadon had stationed his minions, all of whom, as had been decreed ages ago, now appeared with locust wings and scorpion tails.
    As more monuments and landmarks and office towers collapsed, riots erupted among those clawing their way toward the subway entrances. A few of the greediest humans took advantage of the chaos and leaped through shattered shop windows to loot the shelves.
    Two brothers fought each other over the last loaf of bread in a convenience store. Abbadon reveled in the sight. He delighted in the depraved indifference these terrified creatures now showed to those they had once considered their fellow men.
    Now it was every man and woman for him- or herself.
    The human animals were viciously turning on one another in their Darwinian pursuit of survival.
    All is as it was always meant to be
, thought Abbadon.
My time is at hand!

Chapter 21
    I COULD NOT believe my eyes.
    Washington, D.C., looked worse than it did in the movie
Independence Day
.
    All across the capital, buildings were imploding—coming down on themselves and sending up swirling clouds of dust and debris.
    Happy Fourth of July, everybody.
    This had to be Number 2’s doing; Washington had been the first city mentioned on his hit list back in the bat cave.
    “We need to be there,” I said to Agent Judge. “Now.”
    “A chopper is on the way. It’ll ferry us down to Fort Campbell, where we can hitch a ride on a C-140 transport plane. They’ve already loaded IOU’s ATV into the cargo hold.”
    “With all due respect, Agent Judge,” I said, “we’re going to need a whole lot more than an all-terrain vehicle to go up against the universe’s second-most-vicious alien outlaw.”
    “It’s an Alien Tracking Vehicle, Daniel.”
    “Still, I’d rather—”
    “Your father designed it for us. We still don’t know what half the gizmos and gadgets inside the thing do.”
    “Don’t worry,” said Joe, my own personal Geek Squad. “I’ll figure it out.”
    “We need to hustle,” said Willy. “Check out the creepy-crawlers Number 2’s found to do his dirty work.”
    CNN was airing live footage of Number 2’s insect-like minions herding terrified citizens toward the entrances to D.C.’s underground Metro system. The beasts appeared to be about seven feet tall, with curled tails, see-through locust wings, and hideous human heads. They used their pointed tails as cattle prods to drive the hordes of humans down steep staircases and into the subway tunnels.
    “Wait a second,” I said. “What do we know about their weaponry? How did Number 2 bring down all those buildings?”
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