Luke could see from the cuts and burns that were spread all over Chimera’s body that the kaiju had sustained significant injuries during his battle with the Olympians. Luke lifted Diana on top of Jason then he climbed onto the horse himself. He once more looked toward Chimera, “He is in pretty bad shape. We need to get him back to the ship so that he can rest and have Toombs look at him.” Luke waited until Chimera finished eating his food bar then he gave him instructions through his speaking horn, “Chimera, follow me.” As the trio walked away from the Mount Olympus, for the first time in weeks the clouds over the area began to dissipate. Jason and Chimera were roughly a mile from the shoreline when Luke noticed that there was a crowd gathering around them. The people who were following them were cheering and calling Chimera’s name. They were obviously aware that Chimera had driven the gods away who had been threatening them.
Diana looked behind them and said to Luke, “I can’t believe how well Chimera is reacting to having all of these people follow us.”
Luke shrugged, “Chimera’s entire training program has been designed to ensure that all of his interactions with humans are positive and therefore reinforcing. Chimera should not only tolerate people being around him but he probably enjoys it.”
Diana was amazed, “So far all that I have learned about monsters and mythology has held true, except where Chimera is concerned. Everything from ancient stories to Saturday night on the Syfy channel suggests that when people and monsters interact, the monsters end up attacking the people. Keeping Chimera away from people and having him attack other monsters and gods is one thing, but with all of these people around him aren’t you worried that he could turn on them if he gets spooked?”
Luke shook his head, “Not at all, like I said he has been trained to see people as beneficial to him. All of his interactions with humans have been positive for him.” Luke paused for a moment, “Let me explain this to you through monster stories. I may not know as much about myths and monsters as you do but let me use three famous fictional monsters to prove my point. The Frankenstein Monster, King Kong, and the Incredible Hulk. All three are monsters and yet all three can be seen as victims of their interactions with humans. All three monsters are hunted, captured, or attack by humans because they are different. To those creatures, humans are the monsters because all humans have ever done to them is hunt and hurt them. In the case of Chimera, he has only received food and positive attention from humans, because of that he not only has no reason to attack humans but more importantly he is motivated to cooperate with us.”
Diana laughed, “I knew there was a comic book geek in you somewhere. I just needed the right conversation to draw him out.”
Luke smiled and then he turned around to see the Argos in the distance as well as the canoe waiting to take them back to it. He urged Jason ahead and into the boat. Chimera stopped at the shoreline and waited for Luke to give his “Follow Me” command before entering the water and swimming back out to the Argos.
One hour later Luke, Diana, Parsons and Toombs were back in the briefing room where power had been partially restored. Parsons stood up from his chair and began to address the group on what his SEAL clean up team had found on Olympus, “As you know, we can confirm that Chimera was able to slay Cerberus and Echidna. The palace on top of Olympus is in ruins. There are multiple samples of blood that are not human nor are they Chimera’s. We can only assume that it is the blood of the Olympians; however, we can find no trace of the Olympians or their bodies. We did however find two large pillars that seem to be able conduct electricity as well as other forms of unknown energy. It is our current assumption that Chimera injured the Olympians and that they used these pillars to escape into one of the other dimensions which they have previously occupied. These pillars, as well as a perpetually flaming chariot, are being taken back to Virginia for study where we will determine how they work and if we can use them to prevent the Olympians from returning.”
He turned Toombs, “Doctor Toombs, if you could please fill us in on Chimera’s physical status.”
Toombs went to stand up but he looked in Diana’s direction as he was doing so. With her icy gaze locked on him, Toombs lost track of what he was doing and tripped over the leg of the table and fell to the floor. Parsons sighed as Toombs picked himself up. He dusted himself off then gave his update, “Chimera suffered several deep cuts and burns to his outer skin. In addition to that, it seems that his heart rate is slightly off. Given Mr. Davis’ report of multiple lightning strikes visible when Chimera had reached the top of Mount Olympus, it would seem safe to assume that several of the strikes hit Chimera, thus accounting for his irregular heartbeat. The good news is that with the enhancements made to his genetics he will recover fully including his heart in roughly about a week. However, I cannot recommend that we send him into battle prior to that.” Toombs then quietly returned to his seat.
Luke raised his hand, “With the Olympians gone, where do we go from here?”
Parsons shrugged, “For now, we are heading back to Virginia. We are still faced with expressed threats from both the Asgardian gods and the Mesopotamian gods. Ms. Cain will continue to search incoming data for any threats that can be linked to either or both of these sects. In the meantime, we hope that they don’t attack for at least a week. In that time, Mr. Davis you may go and spend some much needed time with your family. We shall also use that time to make repairs to the Argos’s internal systems. Furthermore, we are going to attempt to cover the hull of Argos in foam rubber. This will not completely shield us from another EMP but it will lessen the effects of any future attacks.”
Parsons looked over the three people before him, “I also want it to be known that you three have performed above and beyond all expectations. Your country and the very world owes you its thanks.” Parsons gestured toward the door, “Lady and gentlemen, please enjoy a well-deserved rest as we head home.”
The three civilians exited the briefing room and went back to their separate quarters. As Luke walked back to his cabin his thoughts were happily focused on seeing Melissa and the girls.
Chapter 23
Kurdistan, Iraq
The wind blew particles of sand through the hot desert night and directly into the windshield of the car that Omar was driving. His car was meager and it had no doors so that he could hear and feel all of the elements around him. In the distance, he could hear wild dogs howling at the moon. Omar looked up and thanked the Creator that the moon was low because it gave him plenty of extra light to see with. Despite what people who lived outside of the country might think, Iraq was still an extremely dangerous place. The danger was especially high if you were a Kurd as Omar was. If the wrong people found him out at night, they would kill him simply for being a Kurd. While he was aware of this danger, he felt deeply that it was worth the risk in order to reach his destination.
After driving into the desert for forty some minutes, Omar could see the meager sign ahead of him indicating his destination. He pulled the car to a stop in front of a sign that simply read Grave Site in bright red letters. Omar exited the car and walked up to the area where the ground was clearly disturbed, indicating the edge of the mass grave. When he reached the edge of the grave he stopped, knelt down, and said a prayer for the five thousand some people who were buried there.
Omar took a deep breath and searched his thoughts for a memory. The memory was from his childhood and it was extremely vivid. He was a man and as such he fought back the tears that were forming in his eyes as he tried desperately to find the memory. Finally, in the deepest corridors of his mind, he found it. In the memory, he was a four-year-old boy and he and his father were fishing down at the river. It was the only memory that Omar had of his father. Two days after the fishing trip, Omar’s father was murdered by those in power for no other reason than that he was a Kurd. Omar and his mother were only saved by neighbors of theirs who were horrified by the ethnic cleansing that was occurring. Omar’s father had not been so lucky. There were five
thousand other people in this mass grave but Omar had only come to it to speak to one soul. The one soul that meant more to him than any other soul in heaven. Omar had come here to speak to his father.
The grave was hundreds of meters long and Omar had no idea where his father’s body was in relation to the grave itself. Omar had always felt that since his father was a great man that fate had put him in the center of the gravesite. Omar walked to the center of the mass grave and began talking aloud, “Father, I have come here today to discuss a great matter with you.” Omar paused for a moment to compose himself, then continued, “I have met a woman, father. She is beautiful and caring and I mean to make her my wife. Though you are not with me in body, I know that you are still with me in spirit. I have come here to your resting place to ask for your blessing in this marriage.”
Omar stopped talking for a moment when he saw a figure walking toward him from the other side of the gravesite. The figure appeared to be an older woman. While many people came to the gravesite to speak to the dead, it was odd that a woman would come out here alone at night. She was putting her life in mortal danger. Aside from the fact that she was alone, Omar also thought it strange that she was coming from the desert itself. Omar had driven forty minutes from the city and this woman was coming out of the vast desert? Omar shrugged and thought that perhaps she was part of a nomadic family of goat herders. He reminded himself that he was here to ask his father’s blessing on the most important decision of his life and he quickly pushed thoughts of the woman from his mind.
He started speaking again, “She is a fine woman, father. She will honor our family and bear you many grandchildren to honor your memory and…” Omar stopped talking as he watched the form of the old woman walking directly over the disturbed ground of the massive grave. In a rage, Omar screamed at her, “Woman, how dare you walk there! Have you no respect for the dead beneath your feet?”
The old woman made no reply. She simply turned her face toward Omar and as the moon revealed her features, Omar began to scream in terror. Her flesh had a putrid yellow color and as Omar looked at her more closely he could see that her flesh was literally rotting off of her body. The only clothing that she wore was a torn and faded brown hooded garment that ran from her head to her knees. She was turning toward Omar when she removed the hood from her head and revealed her ghastly face. The woman had long black hair that was knotted and tangled. She had only a few teeth in her mouth that stuck out from the decayed flesh of her gums. Her most horrifying aspects were the hollowed out sockets that once housed her eyes. The woman was not a goat herding nomad. She was Akhkhazu, the Mesopotamian goddess of plague and death. She looked briefly toward Omar before turning her gaze to the ground below her. She opened her mouth and a sound like the wind whipping through the desert emanated from it and Omar thought that he heard the sound say “Rise!”
The ground that comprised the gravesite began to move and shake. Omar watched in disbelief as a skeletal head began to pierce the ground and reach up to the night sky. Omar was frozen with fear at the sight of the dead rising before him. The thought that his father’s body was among the newly raised dead drove the fear deeper into his heart than he would have ever have thought possible. The horror he was witnessing frightened Omar to the point where his body was not responding to his mind’s command to run to the car, but the sight of what happened next was more than his mind could withstand.
The bodies that were rising from the grave began to walk toward each other. As they came into contact their arms, legs, fingers, toes, and hair began to weave together. Some of the bodies began to bend at angles that caused their bones to snap and break. Once a base had been formed, the bodies began to pile on top of one another as their limbs and extremities continued to intertwine. Omar watched in horror as the corpses continued to weave themselves together into a Colossus of interwoven corpses. The Colossus was hundreds of feet tall and had the outline of man but with no distinguishable facial features. While the Colossus itself had no features, Omar could make out the faces of each and every corpse that was lashed together comprising the giant’s body. The sickening sound of bones cracking could be heard as the demon took a step and the faces of dozens of corpses served as his foot. The nightmare began walking toward Omar and he tried to run, but as he stood up, he caught a glimpse of the corpses that comprised the foot of the Colossus and there staring back at Omar was the decayed face of his father.
After so many years, his father’s face was little more than a skeleton but Omar saw that face every day in his memory and he knew every curve of his father’s face. By the structure of the skull alone, Omar knew that he had found the father he had come out to the land of the dead to speak to. The tears that Omar had fought to hide from his father now streamed down his face as the Colossus took a step toward him bringing the mangled face of his father right in front of his son. Omar was stricken with grief when he suddenly felt his skin burning. He tore off his shirt to find boils and lesions forming across his skin. He felt a wave of vertigo and then he fell to the ground. Omar was dying from a plague as the corpse of his father watched him from the body of the Colossus of Death.
Omar’s senses were failing as he beheld what happened next. Akhkhazu reached up into the night sky and waved her hand downward, beckoning something to descend from the heavens. The area around Omar went dark as the moon itself was blocked from the sky. A form far larger than the Colossus of Death landed next to the giant. Omar squinted his quickly failing eyes to focus his vision. What he saw was a massive eagle with the head of a lion. Omar briefly recalled the legend of Anzu, the ancient god of storms and wind. Omar rolled onto his back because the pain of the boils spreading across his stomach was too much to bear. He turned his head toward the horrors that were standing where the communal grave once was. Even in death, he was unable to tear himself from looking at macabre events taking place around him. Once more he heard the wind like sound of Akhkhazu speaking.
First, the goddess spoke to the Colossus, “Marduk has sent me to deal with the humans. Go and spread my plague to them. Let nothing stop you until the last human lays dead before you. I will remain here. From this place of death, I can channel my power into you.” The formless face of the Colossus nodded then turned to face the city from which Omar had come. Next, she looked toward Anzu. She pointed at the Colossus, “Follow him. Protect him from the humans and their weapons. Beware the leviathan that walks. His strength is such that he was able to topple Olympus.” Anzu roared then shot up into the sky. Omar could see him circling above the Colossus. The last thing that Omar saw was Akhkhazu returning to the middle of the grave where she sat down and folded her legs as if she was meditating. Omar took one last breath and then his suffering finally ended. As the Colossus walked past Omar, one of the bodies that had comprised one of its toes finally shattered into pieces under the weight of the corpses that it was supporting. As though it was a puppet controlled by a marionette, Omar’s corpse rose to its feet and walked over to the Colossus. The arms of the other bodies around the area of the toe where the previous corpse had shattered reached out for him. They grabbed Omar’s body and within seconds, his body had intertwined with the rest of the bodies comprising the toe of the Colossus. Omar’s body was only a few scant feet away from that of his father. Omar had come to the gravesite to ask his father’s blessing in marrying the woman he loved. Now with each step that the Colossus took, both Omar and his father were heading closer to Omar’s would be bride. Omar had dreamed that one day his father would meet his bride in the afterlife, but as the Colossus reached the edge of the city, Omar’s dream became an all too real nightmare.
Chapter 24
Virginia
Luke was walking down the long corridor toward Chimera’s holding bay with his family. Melissa had known all along what Luke what was working with but due to security reasons she had been unable to actually see Chimera. That all changed when the general public became aware of Chimera and his role in the war against the invading gods
. Luke’s oldest daughter Stacy had also seen him with Chimera on television and she had questions about the monster. Luke explained to her that Chimera was Daddy’s friend and that he was working with Daddy to save the world. Sally was happy that Daddy was doing well at his new job as a rescue hero. Once Chimera had been given the week of rest that he had required, Luke had managed to get approval from Parsons to take his family to see the kaiju.
When they had reached the doors at the end of the corridor, Luke bent down and put his eyes up to the retinal scanner. The light shined on them and the door opened. Stacy ran over to him, “Daddy, can the computer look at my eyes too?”
Luke hugged her, “Sorry, honey, the computer will only open the door for Daddy and a few other people. If I put your eyes up to it the computer would shut down and not let us in.”
Stacy replied with a dramatic sigh, “Okay, Daddy.”
The door opened and they were immediately hit by the smell of Chimera. Luke winced a little while Melissa began to gag, and Stacy screamed, “Daddy, it smells like a huge fart” and the eighteen-month-old Sally repeated her sister with, “Stinky fart.”
Melissa looked toward Luke, “My god that smell is awful! How do you work with it every day?”
Luke shrugged, “You become a little more desensitized to it each day. The smell is always there but it becomes a little more tolerable each day that you are exposed it.”
Melissa was coughing as she replied, “Well I don’t know that I will want to come down here often enough to become used to the smell.”
Luke reached over and kissed his wife then he switched on the lights to the corridor. He then picked up both girls in his arms. Luke was grinning from ear to ear as he walked with his family down the foul smelling corridor. After the affair in Greece and the journey home, he had been able to enjoy three full days with his family. He had filled Melissa in on most of the details of his adventures with Chimera, although he purposely left out the most dangerous parts to him and the gory details of Chimera’s battles. After the three days, he had spent the next week working with Chimera a few hours a day then returning home to his family.
Chimera: Scourge of the Gods: A Kaiju Thriller Page 10