Mayday: A Kaiju Thriller

Chapter Twenty-Four

The gates at the shipping port were ripped off their rails. I drove over the cracked concrete, past a crane and between stacks of shipping containers. The light of my headlights glistened off the rough seas ahead. Flotsam was scattered amongst the waves, gleaming every time a new flash of lightning rolled across the sky. A freighter was tilted over to one side, its cargo tossing in the waves as the ship slowly sank. Closer in, oil spills burned with flame that the rain couldn’t dampen.

I stopped the car and got out. A moment later, Lindsey stepped out of the shadow of a stack of containers. Together, we sat down on the hood of the car and watched the burning waves.

“One of the passenger ships got out,” she said. “Then some of the freighters tried to load up with passengers and make it away. Grotesque intercepted them offshore. Just wrapped his tail around them and snapped them, one at a time, then swam around, swallowing survivors as they tried to swim back to shore. It was awful.”

I nodded. “I take it no one else tried to sail a boat out.”

“Some people scattered back into the city. Said they were going to find places to wait it out until help came. The rest are all around the waterfront, hiding in the underground stations, waiting until they think it’s safe. Every now and then, just when it looks like the coast might be clear, someone spots Grotesque’s spines carving through the water. He wants us to know he’s out there. He always was a sadistic bastard.”

“Any idea where the other Maydays are?”

“Last I heard Nasir was on the East Island. Someone said he hit Psi Division.”

I scratched my beard. “Maybe they were holding off until they knew Priya wasn’t there. I saw a crushed SUV on the way here. It belonged to Grotesque’s handler. I sent those handlers into the city, just to give me a distraction to get to Volkov. Now they’re dead too. Another waste.”

“Serraton was last seen leaving the island. Someone had a radio, it said an Alliance evacuation fleet was being sent from Japan. Serraton’s probably gone to intercept it.”

“Probably. I’d say we’re alone out here.”

“I’d say so,” Lindsey said, her eyes fixed on the water.

I glanced to my right, squinting into the rain. Tempest waded through the water less than half a kilometre away, every movement of his legs sending waves crashing against the coast and the shipping ports. His claws cut lines through the sea. He was growing impatient. Funny, how I could tell that. I felt like I was getting to know him. An old friend.

“Garcia?” I asked.

“I saw him go in ten minutes ago,” Lindsey said. “I didn’t even know that old sub base existed. But it’s not hard to find when you know where to look.”

“You can handle your half?”

“My half’s fine,” she said. “You’ll be the first to get killed if anything goes wrong.”

“Don’t remind me. I’ll make us switch.” I took my revolver out of my pocket, checked it was loaded. “Is your girlfriend somewhere safe?”

“She’s looking after the Dasaris. She’s quite taken with the boy. She always wanted kids.”

“You didn’t?”

“We’ll see.” She looked past me at Tempest. “He’s moving. Are we done with all this sappy shit?”

I grinned. “Don’t I even get a hug?”

She slid off the car bonnet and started walking away. “Don’t fuck up, Boss.”