After Dawn (Book 3 of the Into the Shadows Trilogy) by Karly Kirkpatrick

to them.
    President Stevens yelped and jumped out of his seat. "Her! It's her! She's real!"
    "What are you talking about, Wendell?" asked David Jones, Secretary of State, who sat to the left of the president. He leaned away from the president, his eyes wide in alarm. He pushed his glasses up on his nose. "She's just a girl."
    "No, she's not!" Stevens shouted. He tripped over his chair and nearly fell to the floor. He caught himself on the table. "She said she would come. She did, look, look at her! We've got to kill her now."
    The cabinet members exchanged concerned glances.
    "Oh my god." Wendell Stevens stood at the head of the table, his eyes glued to the ghoul who haunted his nights and made him fear his days. On the screen, she lit up like the sun. The picture went white before breaking up and losing the signal. The picture disappeared.
    "What happened, Michael? Where is she now?" Stevens demanded.
    "They destroyed the entire battalion. No survivors." General Kobayashi bowed his head in silence.
    Stevens face was white as chalk and glistened with sweat. "What about the mountain? Get some of those experiments from Dr. Todesengel and send them after her. After the prisoners."
    "The Air Force reported that the entrance of the mountain was completely covered with rock and debris." General Kobayashi shook his head. "We're unable to make contact with anyone inside the mountain. All communications there and at the camp were wiped out."
    "No." Stevens gasped. He sank into his chair and slumped forward. He ran his hands through his sweaty hair and loosened his tie. "She's coming for me," he whispered.
    The cabinet and ATC members stared at him.
    "There is only one option." Stevens giggled, his voice high pitched and shaky.
    "We need to nuke Las Vegas."
     
    *
     
    "He's out of his mind!" shouted David Jones, Secretary of State.
    "He's still the president," said General Kobayashi. "What can we do?"
    "I think it's time to invoke the 25th Amendment." David said solemnly. "He's looked awful for weeks, and I've seen him mumble nonsense to himself on more than one occasion. Something about green eyes."
    David turned to the vice president. A woman of fifty years of age, she wore a fitted black suit. Her blond hair hung in a perfect bob surrounding her face. Susan Morgan had been quiet for most of the day.
    "Come on, Susan. You can't honestly tell me you think that Wendell is in his right mind." He slammed an open fist on the table. "For Christ's sake, he wants to use a nuclear bomb on one of our own cities! On our own citizens! There is no way we can evacuate the city fast enough. And even if we could, I still wouldn't want to destroy an American city. I will not stand here and let this happen."
    Susan sighed and rubbed her face. Circles darkened her eyes. "He's right. I don't feel right about this either. And banding together is the only way to stop him."
    "What do we have to do?" General Kobayashi asked. He glanced nervously at the door, half expecting President Stevens to come back in. His assistant, Martin, had taken him to his room to lie down. Kobayashi hoped he stayed there long enough for them to figure out a solution.
    "Susan plus a majority of us in this room have to send a letter to Chuck and Lorraine. The President pro tempore of the Senate and Speaker of the House have all the power here. Once the letter is signed and sent, Susan is acting president," David said. "Can I count on all of you to sign? It'll be more effective if we all do it."
    Heads nodded in agreement around the large conference table.
    "Do we think Chuck and Lorraine will go for it?" Susan asked. She flipped open a laptop on the table in front of her.
    David pulled out his mobile phone. "We'll find out in a minute. I'll call and get them down here. And this might only buy us a little time. He can protest it, and if he does, he's in charge again until we can get Congress to vote on it. And they've got twenty-one days in which to do it."
    There was nervous