Book Three: Double Feature — 26.

Donna emerges from the stairwell into the tail end of a massacre. At the rear doors, polo-shirted soldiers brace for another attack while one lies eviscerated. Outside, half-tracks burn, Quonset huts are flattened, and bodies fall from the sky—evidence of King Sorrow’s rampage.

A deafening rotor thrum builds; an Apache helicopter spirals into the building, its impact vaporizing the squad at the exit and showering the hallway with flaming debris. Stunned and bleeding, Donna staggers into the lobby, where burning vehicles, dangling corpses, and distant gunfire testify to a collapsing defense.

Across the lot, a lone shooter—Salem—taunts Sorrow from a shattered second-floor window. Sorrow answers by hurling a streetlight like a spear, silencing him. A Sheridan tank is engulfed by a colossal jet of fire, explodes, and dies in place. When the screaming subsides, Sorrow vanishes into the smoke.

Donna climbs out through broken glass toward the leveled perimeter. The fence and gate are crumpled; a motorboat crushes the sentry booth. Dizzy and half-dreaming of Van, she moves toward headlights and the salt air of the Atlantic, ready to summon Sorrow again if cornered.

Colin arrives in a cherry Cadillac and catches Donna as she collapses, promising safety at the Briars. On the causeway, they encounter Mr. Francis, who Colin addresses as Paul Follett. Colin asserts control over what comes next, demands Donovan’s body be returned to Maine for burial, and warns of consequences if refused, then drives Donna away.