Leaping fallen trees and rounding those that still stand, I close the distance, turning hunter into prey.
The Golyat hound comes into view. It’s a shriveled canine with so much peeling skin, it almost looks like hair. Its claws are long and black, matching its teeth. The rib cage is expanded, and tall bones grow from its back, matching its previously human counterparts. The glow of its gut moves in a nearly straight trajectory toward its ass, and I can’t help but wonder how fast the little bitch could work its way through a line of people, gobbling them up and shitting them out—a mobile, steaming fountain.
When the Golyat stops, I nearly collide with its shriveled tail. Rather than dodging, I leap up, clearing its backside, sailing past its spines and landing on its neck. Skin crunches beneath my feet, splitting beneath the force of my landing.
I plunge the machete into its flesh and give it an unnecessary twist. The beast goes rigid, spasms, and then turns its head to the sky and howls. The dry, ragged sound becomes a wet gurgle, and then it falls silent. The creature collapses beneath me, and I’m forced to jump away before falling into its liquifying form. I land, sense motion, and look up into a pair of narrow eyes.
The woman is a few inches shorter than me, slender, and dressed in green-dyed clothing that would let her blend in with the canopy above. Straight black hair hangs to her shoulders, giving her a sleek look. Her dark brown eyes are slender, and nervous. She looks from my eyes to my skin, her hand inching toward the knife sheathed on her side.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” I stab my machete in the ground, raise my hands and step away from the weapon. When she doesn’t respond, I ask, “Why are you out here? Beyond the wall?”
“Saw you coming,” she says, pointing at the wall above. “From there.”
I look up and spot a small hole, through which a second face looks down at us. Revealing the hole is a poignant show of trust. I wave to the person watching, and he—or she, I can’t really tell from here—offers a furtive wave back. A smile, too.
“I came to warn you,” she says, and she motions to the Golyat. “About them, but…”
A Golyat screaming in agony as it’s torn asunder by one of Del’s arrows finishes her point.
“Who are you?” she asks.
“Vee, of Kingsland,” I tell her. “Ancestor of Sigler. Friend of Queensland.”
A mix of relief and sadness overcomes her. “We have waited a long time to hear from you. From anyone. We thought we were all that was left.”
I step closer and she doesn’t flinch or go for the blade. “We are here now, and there are many more in Kingsland.”
“And you can kill Golyats?” she asks, looking beyond me now as the flesh peels away from the Golyat’s fallen skeleton.
“I can kill them all.” I smile. “We can kill them all.”
She climbs to her feet. “I am Bek, of Knightsland, descendant of Shin.”
Despite a lifetime of hardening, suffering, and perseverance, my heart breaks upon hearing those words. Tears in my eyes, I open my arms to embrace her and say, “Sister.”
Bek steps into my embrace, repeating my declaration of our bond. “Sister.”
Held in the arms of a stranger, I experience the tangible legacy of Plistim’s life: freedom is worth fighting and dying for, but it’s the bonds of family—and the love at our core—that endures.
Even when freedom is lost.
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
Dear Reader,
As the father of the ‘kaiju thriller’ literary subgenre, I feel a lot of pressure to come up with new and original kaiju stories involving monsters the likes of which no one in their right mind would ever want to come across…yet still can’t get enough of. My solution this time around was the Golyats. They’re big and nasty in the most visceral ways I could imagine. I mean, sure, Nemesis eats people, but at least she takes her time digesting them. Being eaten by a Golyat…it’s just a violation of what it means to be human…and that’s exactly what they’re supposed to be. They’re the worst of us gone awry and allowed to steep for hundreds of years, but they’re also a reminder that freedom, when it’s not defended, can be taken from us, by hubris, by our own government, or by hordes of giant monsters.
I hadn’t meant for The Divide to be any form of political commentary, but I suppose the massive, insurmountable gulf that separates pockets of humanity from each other is a metaphor for the state of America and the world at large. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could cross that divide before our world falls apart and ends up looking more like Davina’s? If you’re part of a book group: discuss!
If you enjoyed the novel and would like to see more kaiju thrillers (I’ve got more in the works), be sure to post a review on your online retailer and on Goodreads. Each and every one helps a lot. The more reviews the books get, the more retailers recommend them to readers, the more they sell, and the more I get to write…which, if you enjoy my novels, is a good thing for all of us.
Thanks for reading!
—Jeremy Robinson
ART GALLERY
To help inspire and evolve the Golyats into the most horrific monsters I could conjure, invoking hints of past creatures from some of my other novels, I turned to Liu Junwei, who goes by Shayudan (Shark the Painter). He’s the amazing artist behind the covers for Project Hyperion, Project Legion, and Unity. He’s also the cover artist for Project Nemesis and Project Maigo in China. Shark helped refine the visual look of the Golyat and my vision for them. The following art gallery includes designs for the Golyats, the Golyat bear, and Vee, as well as a few scenes from the story. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
Side note: if you’re seeing the full color images in the e-book (the Golyat head, and Vee), I colored those myself, so if you think the coloring is horrid, I’m to blame.
—Jeremy
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to Kane Gilmour, for putting in the extra effort to clean this one up. Now we know what happens when I write while on vacation! Big thanks to my amazing team of proof readers: Roger Brodeur, Jeff Sexton, Kelly Tyler, Julie Cummings Carter, Dustin Dreyling, Elizabeth Cooper, Lyn Askew, Sherry Bagley, Dee Haddrill, Becki Tapia Laurent, and Sharon Ruffy. You guys help me look like I can actually type! Extra big thanks to my fam (Hilaree, Aquila, Solomon, and Norah). Your creativity inspires and motivates me to keep my novels original. Love you guys.
Older e-reader? Click here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeremy Robinson is the international bestselling author of sixty novels and novellas, including Apocalypse Machine, Island 731, and SecondWorld, as well as the Jack Sigler thriller series and Project Nemesis, the highest selling, original (non-licensed) kaiju novel of all time. He’s known for mixing elements of science, history and mythology, which has earned him the #1 spot in Science Fiction and Action-Adventure, and secured him as the top creature feature author. Many of his novels have been adapted into comic books, optioned for film and TV, and translated into thirteen languages. He lives in New Hampshire with his wife and three children. Visit him at www.bewareofmonsters.com.
ALSO by JEREMY ROBINSON
Standalone Novels
The Didymus Contingency
Raising The Past
Beneath
Antarktos Rising
Kronos
Refuge
Xom-B
Flood Rising
MirrorWorld
Apocalypse Machine
Unity
The Distance
Infinite
Forbidden Island
The Divide
Nemesis Saga Novels
Island 731
Project Nemesis
Project Maigo
Project 731
Project Hyperion
Project Legion
SecondWorld Novels
SecondWorld
Nazi Hunter: Atlantis
(aka: I Am Cowboy)
The Antarktos Saga
The Last Hunter – Descent
; The Last Hunter – Pursuit
The Last Hunter – Ascent
The Last Hunter – Lament
The Last Hunter – Onslaught
The Last Hunter – Collected Edition
The Last Valkyrie
The Jack Sigler/Chess Team Thrillers
Prime
Pulse
Instinct
Threshold
Ragnarok
Omega
Savage
Cannibal
Empire
Jack Sigler Continuum Novels
Guardian
Patriot
Centurion
Cerberus Group Novels
Herculean
Helios
Chesspocalypse Novellas
Callsign: King
Callsign: Queen
Callsign: Rook
Callsign: King 2 – Underworld
Callsign: Bishop
Callsign: Knight
Callsign: Deep Blue
Callsign: King 3 – Blackout
Chesspocalypse Novella Collected Editions
Callsign: King – The Brainstorm Trilogy
Callsign – Tripleshot
Callsign – Doubleshot
Horror Novels
(written as Jeremy Bishop)
Torment
The Sentinel
The Raven
Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Novels
Hunger
Feast
Viking Tomorrow
Comics & Graphic Novels
Project Nemesis
Godzilla: Rage Across Time
Island 731
Copyright ©2018 by Jeremy Robinson.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address Jeremy Robinson at
[email protected].
Cover design copyright ©2018 by Jeremy Robinson
Visit Jeremy Robinson on the World Wide Web at:
www.bewareofmonsters.com
The Divide Page 34