Kaiju Winter: An End Of The World Thriller

by Jake Bible

  “You don’t think they’re on the same side?” Bolton asks.

  “There may not be sides,” Lu shrugs. “Just individual groups trying to survive. Just like us.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think you can apply this to our situation,” Bolton says. “Nice try, though.”

  “You know why I took that girl?” Lowell says quietly.

  “What?” Lu asks, turning on him. “The one you kidnapped?”

  “No, the other one,” Lowell snaps. “Yeah, the one I kidnapped.”

  “Hold on,” Bolton says. “We’re close.”

  He watches the red flashing coordinates in the CLD and starts jogging down the road.

  “This way!”

  Lu and Lowell jog after him and they come to a gravel road, completely weed choked and covered with ash. The ash is undisturbed, telling them no one has been on it in a while.

  “The signal is stronger that way,” Bolton says, pointing off to the right of the road. “But we may be able to follow this for a while.”

  He takes off at a fast walk and Lu and Lowell fall in behind.

  “You want to hear what I have to say or not?” Lowell asks. “Like your boyfriend said, there may not be another chance later.”

  “Why the sudden need to unburden yourself?” Lu says. “I honestly don’t give a shit why you did anything you did.”

  “Liar,” Lowell laughs. “It’s been eating you up inside ever since you read my file. That little piece of the puzzle didn’t fit and you’re the type of person that has to make sure everything fits, even if you have to force it to.”

  Lu glares at him then looks at Bolton’s back.

  “Fine. Tell me,” she responds. “I’d love nothing more.”

  “My plan was never to get away,” Lowell says. “I just needed to go to federal prison. Oregon State Pen wasn’t for me.”

  “You wanted into a federal prison? Why?” Lu asks.

  “I had my reasons,” Lowell says. “All part of something that started a long time ago. But this isn’t about that. I could have taken anyone hostage, but I specifically chose that little girl. Guess why?”

  “I don’t want to guess,” Lu says. “Just tell me.”

  “No, I want to hear your theories, see if they are even close,” Lowell says.

  “Whatever,” Lu says. “They didn’t find any signs you molested her and she said you didn’t force yourself on her orally, so you aren’t a pedophile.”

  “No, but you’re close,” Lowell says.

  Lu gives him a puzzled look. “Close? So, what? You wanted to, but didn’t act on it?”

  “Now you’re further away,” Lowell says. “Total wrong direction.”

  Lu thinks for a second. “Who hurt you?”

  “Me?” Lowell replies and starts to argue, but then stops. “More people than I would have liked.”

  “Parents? Uncles? Teachers? Who?” Lu asks.

  “The list is long,” Lowell says. “There are groups in this world that like to share. I was one of the things they shared.” He sighs. “So was that girl.”

  “Whoa...what?” Lu asks, stopping and grabbing Lowell by the arm. “What the fuck are you saying?”

  “The people she was with may have been her parents, but they weren’t tourists,” Lowell says. “They were part of a group that shares little kids with others. They were in Enterprise for a delivery. The girl hadn’t been touched yet. That was part of the bargain. Fresh meat.”

  “How the holy fuck could you even know that?” Lu asks.

  “I just knew,” Lowell shrugs. “There’re signs. I learned them all. I spotted the pattern right off and knew the girl wasn’t going to live longer than a couple of months.”

  “She didn’t come up as missing,” Lu says. “Those people were her parents.”

  “Right,” Lowell says. “And some parents suck. They were going to sell her. So I chucked my plans and grabbed her as soon as possible, got her across state lines and up to Spokane. As soon as I knew she would be safe, I let her go and waited to get picked up. The girl dodged a bullet.”

  “But she was returned to her parents,” Lu says. “If what you are saying is true, then she was right back in the same danger.”

  “Nah,” Lowell smiles. “I left those fuckers a note. Told them I knew exactly what they were and that if they hurt a hair on that little girl’s head I’d make sure some of my friends on the outside paid them a visit.”

  “Bullshit,” Lu says.

  “They live in Ann Arbor, Michigan now,” Lowell says. “The girl is a straight A student and the parents haven’t gotten so much as a speeding ticket. They went to Disney World last summer and had plans to go to Costa Rica this summer, but obviously that shit isn’t happening.”

  Lu eyes him carefully, looking for the lies. She doesn’t find any.

  “Why would they do that?” Lu asks. “Sell their daughter?”

  “Daddy had a hole in his arm,” Lowell replies. “Or between his toes and upper thighs, since a respectable college professor can’t be seen with track marks on his arms. The mom had been sucking cock for money since college. Pretty sure that’s how the two met. You take people like that, let them procreate, and horrible things can happen.”

  “But they looked so normal,” Lu says. “I saw their pictures in the files.”

  “They are normal, Marshal,” Lowell says. “Evil is normal in this world. I’d think you’d know that by now having seen so much of it. It’s the good people that are the odd ones out. Trust me.”

  “Hey!” Bolton shouts. “This way!”

  Lu gives Lowell a quick nod then runs up to Bolton.

  “What do you have?” she asks.

  “Through here,” Bolton says, pointing out an almost completely hidden trail. “Come on.”

  He takes off through the brush and Lu has to struggle to keep up with him. She looks over her shoulder and sees Lowell standing in the gravel road, his head turned up looking at the ash cloud above.

  “You coming?” she yells.

  “In a second,” Lowell says. “Something’s happening.”

  She’s about to try to get a look through the trees, but Bolton takes off sprinting.

  “Found it!” he shouts as he races up to a large crate.

  “How do you open it?” Lu asks.

  Bolton searches around the crate until he finds the right spot, and then he places the CLD against it.

  “There we go,” Bolton says as the crate starts to open. He looks over at Lu. “Last chance to talk before we both have to get back to work.”

  “No time to talk,” Lowell says as he rushes up next to them, his hand pointing towards the air. “Check it out.”

  They all look up through the trees and see the ash cloud rushing by.

  “What the hell?” Bolton asks. “What’s it doing?”

  “I don’t know,” Lowell says. “But the flying things aren’t too happy about it.”

  “No shit,” Lu says as she watches dozens and dozens of flying monsters flee the retreating cloud. “Whatever is going on has them spooked, that’s for sure.”

  ***

  “Doctor Hall?” President Nance asks. “It’s been hours and you haven’t given us anything.”

  “Yeah, hold on,” Dr. Hall snaps. “I almost have it.”

  He taps at his keyboard and the main monitor changes, showing the chasm as a thermal image. Deep inside is the wriggling mass and he gets up, his hand pointed at the monitor.

  “What you are seeing are tails,” Dr. Hall says. “Hundreds of tails.”

  “Tails?” President Nance says. “Tails to what?”

  “Whats,” Dr. Hall corrects. “And I don’t know. The mass is so thick that I can’t get readings on anything else.”

  “You’ve been sitting there for hours, placing orders like this place is a hotel and room service is unlimited, and all you can tell us is those are tails?” Admiral Quigley shouts then turns to the president. “Sir, I respectfully request permission to shoot this fuck
er between the eyes!”

  There are several laughs, but the laughs are outnumbered by the calls of agreement.

  “Hold on, Major,” Dr. Hall says.

  “It’s Admiral!”

  “Fine,Admiral,” Dr. Hall replies. “I may not know what the things are, but I can tell you they aren’t adults. That’s a brood, a nest of offspring. Whatever the creatures may be, they are not fully grown yet. If you,Admiral, can kill them now, then we won’t have to find out what they are supposed to become.”

  “How do we kill them?” Admiral Quigley growls. “That’s part of the reason you are here.”

  “I’d say nuke them from orbit,” Dr. Hall smiles. “Only way to be sure.”

  No one responds.

  “What? NoAliens fans in here?” Dr. Hall asks.

  “Doctor Hall, be serious or you will be arrested and spend the rest of your life down here in a very tiny cell,” President Nance says. “How do we kill them?”

  “Nuke them,” Dr. Hall says. “I wasn’t kidding.” He points at the monitor again. “See those black dots? Those are your MOABs. For whatever reason, they haven’t gone off. Send in one nuke and those go up too. Kablooey.”

  “Sir, that’s not an option,” Borland says. “Like I said before, the thermals above the site would send radiation across the world. We launch a nuclear strike and our people will be pariahs. We lose our home and any chance of refuge.”

  “Hey, you guys are the politicians and know what you’re doing,” Dr. Hall shrugs. “I’m just the expert brought in to give you answers. The answer I’ve come up with is you nuke the hell out of that hole or you wait around and watch those little tails grow up to be big tails. Personally, I’d rather live in that cell you promised me, Mr. President, than see what those things become.”

  President Nance looks over at Joan and she shakes her head. He looks down the table at each member of his cabinet and finds faces in agreement with Dr. Hall and faces in disagreement.

  “Any idea how much time we have, Dr. Hall?” President Nance asks. “That’s the other reason you are here.”

  Dr. Hall turns and looks up at the monitor and the hundreds of tails. “It could be hours or it could be days. I doubt it’s longer than a month. No animal would leave offspring exposed like that for very long. If they are anything like-”

  He stops and just stands there, his eyes watching the monitor.

  “Doctor?” President Nance pushes. “What were you going to say?”

  “Hold on,” Dr. Hall says absently. “Someone switch it to a normal view and pull out, please.”

  It’s the first time the man has said please since arriving and the whole room notices instantly. All eyes fall on the monitor.

  “Dear God, what’s happening now?” President Nance asks as the whole room watches the ash cloud starts to obscure the view. “Is it erupting again?”

  “It’s derupting,” Dr. Hall replies. “I know it’s not a word, but that’s the only way I can explain it. The ash is going back into the volcano. We’re losing the view.”

  “Jesus,” President Nance says. “Someone get me Dr. Bartolli! I want to know what the hell is going on now! How does a volcano derupt?”

  “Sir?” a tech says. “We have another incoming transmission form one of the sat phones.”

  “Dr. Probst?” President Nance asks. “I thought we lost her.”

  “No, sir, it’s from a different signal,” the tech replies. “A Sergeant Connor Bolton, Army Special Operations Forces. His credentials check out, sir. He’s on the ground and from what we can tell, he is only ninety miles from Dr. Probst’s site.”

  “I’ll get my boys on the line,” Admiral Quigley says. “Have them meet up with the man. The more intel we can get from the ground, the better.”

  “Do that,” President Nance says. “And I’m still waiting for Dr. Bartolli!”

  ***

  “This is Sergeant Connor Bolton speaking, sir,” Bolton says, his back suddenly ramrod straight as he listens to the president’s voice. “Yes, sir. I was part of the convoy of federal prison buses heading to Everett, sir.”

  Lu and Lowell stand there, half listening to Bolton as they stare up at the sky.

  “We need a better view,” Lowell says.

  “We also need to listen to Connor,” Lu says.

  “Soldier boy can handle himself on this one,” Lowell says. “Not like we can hear the whole conversation.” He reaches down and throws on one of the packs from the crate. “Come on.”

  “What do you need that for?” Lu asks.

  “Now that I have it, I’m not letting it off my back,” Lowell says. “This pack could mean the difference between life and death now. You should grab one too.”

  “We’re only going a few yards out to the gravel road,” Lu says. “What could happen?”

  Lowell gives her a smirk and rolls his eyes.

  “Right,” Lu says and picks up a pack for herself. “Stupid question.”

  They walk along the trail and come out of the woods onto the ash covered gravel. The trees are far enough apart that they have a way better view of what’s happening with the cloud above.

  “Where are they going?” Lu asks, watching the monsters soar overhead, flying in the opposite direction from the ash cloud.

  “Away, is my guess,” Lowell says.

  “Heading towards the coast?” Lu says. “God, they’re going to find nothing but people. We have to tell Connor.” She pulls on Lowell’s arm and drags him back into the woods.

  “I’m just glad they didn’t decide to come down for a snack before their trip,” Lowell says. “I haven’t eaten shit in over a day. I wouldn’t be much of a meal.”

  “There’s food in the packs,” Lu says. “Eat something.”

  “Nah, I’m good. I’ve gone days without eating. This ain’t nothing.”

  They get back to the site of the crate and see Bolton sitting there, his chin in his hands.

  “You’re done already?” Lu asks. “Can you call them back?”

  “Why?” Bolton asks.

  “Because the monsters are flying towards the coast,” Lu says. “It’ll be a slaughter when they get there!”

  “They know,” Bolton says. “I also found out they think they know what’s in the hole.”

  “The hole?” Lu asks. “What hole?”

  “Wyoming and most of Montana up to Missoula,” Bolton says. “It’s pretty much a two hundred mile chasm in the middle of the continent. And it’s filled with tails.”

  “Tails?” Lowell asks. “Did you say tails? Did he say tails?”

  “He said tails,” Lu replies. “What tails?”

  “There’s some nest,” Bolton says. “They’re trying to figure out what kind of nest.” He sighs and stands up. “If they don’t, then they might be going nuclear.”

  “They’re going to drop the bomb on US soil?” Lu asks. “That’s insane!”

  “What about fallout?” Lowell asks. “That shit’ll get in the air and spread.”

  Bolton points up. “They think now is the time,” he replies. “If they drop a nuke on the nest now while the cloud recedes then the radiation shouldn’t spread. They have experts.”

  “Why’d they tell you all of this?” Lu asks. “Little above your pay grade, isn’t it?”

  “Because they need me,” Bolton says as he picks up a pack. “They need a spotter on the ground when the nuke goes off.”

  “Uh...what?” Lu asks, her jaw dropping. “The blast will kill you.”

  “There’s a bunker we’re supposed to get to,” Bolton says. “I told them about you two and I have authorization to bring you with me. Once we get to the bunker, we seal it and wait for the blast. They have an inventory of the place and there are hot suits in there somewhere. We get there, find me a hot suit, nuke goes kaboom, and I hike it to the blast site to confirm the kill.”

  “All sounds good,” Lowell says. “And tell the president thank you from me for letting me come along for the suicide miss
ion. But, uh, how are we getting there?”

  “Someone is coming to pick us up,” Bolton says. “And we need to move ass to the rendezvous point.”

  “Someone? What someone?” Lu asks.

  “Rogue Team. Part of SEAL Team Six,” Bolton says. “Fucking Navy. I get dropped in the apocalypse and the goddamn Navy has to rescue my ass. I’d ask how the day could get worse, but that would be jinxing us.”

  “You feel that?” Lowell asks.

  “Shut up,” Lu says. “No time to fuck around.”

  Lowell ignores her and squats down, his hands on the ground. “No, I’m not joking. Feel the ground.”

  Bolton squats and places a palm to the dirt. His eyes go wide.

  “It’s big,” he says.

  “Really big,” Lowell responds.

  They both stand up and start turning around, looking for the source.

  “There!” Bolton shouts, pointing east. “Something is coming!”

  The ground starts to tremor, then shudder, and finally flat out shakes, as the head of a giant monster appears from the horizon, just visible above the trees.

  “It’s coming this way,” Lu says. “Guys? It’s coming right at us.”

  “Run?” Lowell asks.

  “Run!” Bolton shouts.

  They turn perpendicular to the monster and sprint through the woods, not caring where they are going, just so long as they get out of the path of what’s coming at them.

  ***

  “This is the drop point!” Taylor yells over the com. “Get set! The Chinooks are going to cable the Humvees down to the- HOLY SHIT!”

  The two Chinook helicopters hover a hundred feet above the road, but towering over them come two massive monsters. They run full out, their massive feet creating small earth quakes, sending trees crashing to the ground.

  “Put us down!” Taylor yells. “Put us down now!”

  The cables holding the Humvees in place to the bellies of the helicopters slacken and the vehicles slowly begin to lower.

  “I SAID PUT US DOWN!” Taylor yells. “GET US DOWN ON THE GROUND!”

  The whine of the helicopters’ rotors is overpowered by the deafening roars of the two monsters converging on them. Taylor looks out the passenger side window and sees the earth coming up at them fast and is glad his team wasn’t assigned two pussy pilots. Although, at the speed the ground is racing up at the Humvee, he wonders if maybe a pilot a hair more cautious would have been good.