Pulling away from her and taking a step backwards from her position at the ledge’s railing, Doula Mate Denkirch wiped at the blood now dripping from where her claws had marked him. He stared at her in shock. Grand Doula Minerva could feel the anger seething within him but he said nothing more. Denkirch merely nodded and backed even farther away.
“There may come a time that you truly decide to challenge me, Denkirch, but it will not be today,” she said firmly. “There is too much at stake for us all for such petty bickering over power to put it all at risk. The future of the Greenery must take precedence. Even now as we speak, the Techs push farther and farther into our domain. The two of us must remain united until they have been driven from our land and crushed beneath the scaled feet of our children.”
“Yes, Grand Doula,” Denkirch answered though she would be a fool to believe that his agreement was heartfelt.
A trio of women dressed in bright red robes approached their party from the other side of the ledge above the Hatchery. They were the leaders of the kaiju mothers. Their job was to oversee the kaiju during the hatching process and assure that the kaiju grew both as intended and as quickly as possible.
The tallest of the ladies in the red bowed deeply to her as the Grand Doula moved to meet them.
“My lady,” the kaiju mother said. “What brings you by? We have heard the stories of the Techs’ push into our lands. Is the Hatchery truly at risk?”
The Grand Doula’s lips parted in the beginnings of a snarl but that snarl abruptly melted in a wide smile. Her voice was calm and controlled as she spoke. “You and your mothers have no reason to fear, Mother Gretch. No Tech shall ever set foot within these sacred walls.”
“That is good to hear.” Mother Gretch smiled back at her. “By this time tomorrow, our new batch of children shall be born and growing towards adulthood. They are many, however, and their needs are great, so I am afraid I cannot linger to show more of just how blessed we are to have them.”
“I understand, Mother.” The Grand Doula nodded formally. “Use your time as you must. I have no doubt that these will our strongest warriors yet.”
Mother Gretch bowed again in response to the formal compliment and then turned about, the other two kaiju mothers following her as they disappeared in the direction they had emerged from.
“Tomorrow,” Grand Doula Minerva cackled wildly. “Tomorrow, the tide of this war will turn and the Techs will not only be driven back but in the days thereafter, the streets of Steel Heart will run with blood.”
****
Joster could sense that he was no longer alone. Something was following him across the sands of the Waste. He was so tired it took all his will to keep moving. His sweat-slicked fingers held tight to the Tech revolver he had looted from the abandoned jeep he had stumbled upon. Joster held the weapon ready, as it was his only means of defense against whatever it was that followed him. His lungs ached as he sucked in another breath. Part of him wanted to lay down in the sand and surrender to what fate had in store for him no matter what it may be. He had been on the move for so long now that rest of any kind was all he wanted almost to point of accepting his final one if that was the only choice left open to him.
The Waste was home to many things, not all of them human. Yes, there were scattered tribes of nomads that roamed the sands, left over from the Old World and caught between the warring city-states of the Greenery and Steel Heart, but surely if it was a human pursuing him, he or she would have made their move by now. His haggard muscles tensed tighter as he thought of the wild kaiju who also called the Waste their home. He knew that none of the wild kaiju were true kaiju. They were of the smaller breeds, the ones bred to engage Tech infantry or perhaps merely to serve as cannon fodder.
Wild kaiju were truly frightening things. Gone was any semblance of control that those of the Greenery once had over them. The beasts were no longer bound by the psychic commands issued to them except but by the most powerful of telepathic senders. They were creatures of instinct who only cared about their next meal and remaining alive and free. Joster knew full well that he lacked the degree of psi-power to control such a beast or likely even convince it that he wasn’t food to be shredded by its fangs and claws. The wild kaiju were completely unrestrained in their aggression and more fierce than even the best of the Greenery’s warrior kaiju of their size.
Joster came to a stop where he was, his shoulders sagging from the lack of strength to hold them upright. He turned about, his tired eyes scanning the darkness of night for any sign of his pursuer. His guts went cold as he saw the pair of yellow, glowing eyes flash in the distance before they disappeared behind one of the large rocks that lay about in this section of the Waste. His worst fear confirmed, he thought of raising the barrel of the Tech revolver to his temple and ending it all right then and there. Doing so would at least spare him the effort and pain that would surely come when the kaiju grew bored of playing with him and moved in for the kill.
His best guess, based on how high the eyes appeared to glow above the sand in the brief moment he had glimpsed them, put the wild kaiju at standing roughly seven feet tall at its shoulders. The Tech revolver he knew contained six rounds but he had no clue as to what kind of stopping power the weapon had. He doubted it was enough to stop such a creature, even if fired all six of them into it. Attempting to make a run for it would be equally as useless more so given that he could barely keep himself on his feet as it was. The beast would easily overtake him if it had the desire to.
Joster kept as still he could, his gaze fixed on the rock that the wild kaiju had taken cover behind. There seemed to be nothing else to do but wait for the monster to make its move as he discovered he didn’t have the courage to use the Tech weapon on himself. He raised the Tech revolver in the direction of where the creature was hiding. When it did show itself, he would be ready. He didn’t have to wait long. With a roar that seemed to shake the night, the wild Kaiju emerged from behind the boulder. It didn’t come around one of the sides of the boulder, it came over it. The wild kaiju leaped onto the boulder’s top and then to the ground in front of it, charging at Joster. He felt warm liquid running down over his legs as his balder released itself and he squeezed the revolver’s trigger. The weapon’s barrel flashed. The bullet smacked into the center of the kaiju’s chest. Yellow blood spurted from where the bullet entered the creature’s flesh. Shocked the shot had gotten penetration, Joster realized the revolver must be loaded with armor-piercing rounds. He squeezed the trigger several times again in rapid succession as the wild kaiju closed on him. His second and third shots dug into the wild kaiju’s chest near where the first had struck the monster. The kaiju gave a pained screech and stumbled in its run. His fourth shot made contact with the softer flesh of the monster’s throat. In an explosion of yellow fluid, it tore a gaping hole there. The kaiju’s screech was cut short, becoming a sickening gurgling sound as it shook its head about, slinging blood over the sand in the process. The monster had stopped its advance. That was the important thing. Steadying his two-handed grip on the Tech revolver, Joster aimed his fifth shot carefully. He put a bullet directly between the monster’s glowing eyes, and at last, it toppled over. Its body lay twitching on the sand, a pool of yellow forming around its thrashing form.
Standing there watching the kaiju die, Joster couldn’t believe his luck. By all rights, he should be dead. Somehow, he had pulled himself out of the fire though and it was the kaiju that had been sent to Hell in his place. Tendrils of white smoke snaked upwards from the Tech revolver’s barrel. He was tempted to walk over to the kaiju and use his last round to put it out of its misery and make sure the thing was dead. He didn’t though. The monster was clearly dying. It was only a matter of time. Joster didn’t dare turn his back on the creature so he stood there until it was completely still and he was sure that it had passed on. Only then did he lower his weapon and wipe the sweat from his brow. There was nothing he could about his urine-drenched pants except allow them to dry as he continued his jou
rney southward.
“Nice shooting, son,” a voice called out to him from the darkness.
Joster whirled about jerking up the revolver again the direction the voice had come from. Beneath the light of the moon and stars, he saw an older man standing nearby. The man wore an outfit of leathery armor that looked to be composed of kaiju hide. There was a double-barreled shotgun strapped to his back and a machete sheathed on his right hip. In his hands, he carried a spear with a wooden shaft and a piece of jagged steel that served as its head.
“Stay where you are,” Joster warned the old man.
“Easy, boy,” the old man warned him in return. “If I wanted you dead, you would be dead. I’ve been following you and that kaiju for the better part of an hour.”
Joster’s eyes bugged at the old man claim.
“I was already tracking him,” the old man gestured at the kaiju’s corpse, “and about to close in for the kill when he got your scent and took off after you. I suppose I should thank you for killing him for me. Saves me some effort.” The old man smirked.
Joster still kept his revolver trained on the old man.
“Put that gun down and we’ll get us some dinner going. I don’t plan on keeping all of him for myself.” The old man laid his spear on the sand, drawing a large knife that was sheathed to the side of one of his boots. As he rose up, Joster saw him glance at the Tech revolver.
“Don’t make me ask you again, son,” the old man said. “There’s no reason more blood needs to be spilled this night.”
Joster lowered the revolver and croaked, “Who are you?”
“You can call me Worm,” the old man laughed. Seeing how uneasy Joster remained, he asked, “You’re from the Greenery, aren’t you? Defense force, right?”
Joster nodded.
“Yet you’re carrying a Tech weapon,” the old man commented. “I guess that means you’re either a traitor or your unit got its butt kicked so bad you ended up out here in the middle of nowhere on your own. I’m guessing the second. That sound about right?”
“I was part of a convoy headed for the capital,” Joster answered. “We were hauling a shipment of bio-gel. They hit us hard and fast. Most of us died. When those who did live through the attack pulled out, I was left behind.”
“And now you’re trying to get home,” the old man said. Joster realized it wasn’t a question but a knowing statement.
“Yeah, I am.” Joster frowned.
“You look like Hell warmed over, son,” the old man told him. “How long have you been out here walking?”
Joster just shrugged. He had lost all track of time.
The old man set to starting a fire out of scattered bits of long dead wood he dug up from the sand. It ignited easily as Joster watched him.
“This portion of the Waste used to be a sort of oasis for a while. There was a pool of water over there that bubbled up out of the sand. It was enough for some real vegetation to grow here for a time. This wood is from the small trees that were just beginning their life when your war swept through here. Don’t really understand what happened but something, whether it was the earthshaking from all the mechs and kaiju or some unintended missile strike in just the right spot, but the water dried up.”
Joster didn’t have a clue what to say so he continued to watch the old man as he left the crackling fire and moved to the kaiju’s corpse.
“You ever ate kaiju, boy?” The old man knelt next to the dead monster and sliced off a section of the creature’s hide to get at the meat under it. He cut away a long strip and carried it back to the fire. “Not as bad as you’d think. Kind of tough but then so is life. At any rate, it’ll keep you alive and that’s what matters.”
The old man took a seat, cross-legged by the fire, cooking the kaiju meat over it on a short metal rod he had taken out of the pack he had shrugged from his back and sat next to him along the double-barreled shotgun he had removed from his person as well.
Joster took a seat across the fire from him. He kept his pistol out and ready but made sure to hold it in as non-threatening a way as he could.
“You live out here?” Joster finally asked. The smell of the cooking meat had set his mouth to watering and his stomaching rumbling.
“Not everybody is either from the Greenery or a Tech, son,” the old man snorted.
“Everyone that matters is,” Joster said unable to stop the words from coming out. He was half-afraid the old man would try to kill him for saying them.
“Maybe.” The old man flashed him a wry grin. “Your Greenery and the folks in Steel Heart certainly have the power and the numbers, but that don’t necessarily mean as much as you think it does. I like to think that when the two of you of finally killed each other off, my kind will still be out here, living life and shaking our heads at just how crazy you both were.”
“Crazy?” Joster asked, anger flaring up inside him.
“I’m living on wild kaiju meat, son, baking in the sun every day, while you live in a city where miracles happen yet all you and your people do is make war instead of enjoying what you have. Tell me, what is sane about that?”
“We don’t have a choice,” Joster challenged him. “The Techs would wipe us out if we didn’t fight back.”
“Aye,” the old man nodded, “and you would do the same to them. Let me ask you this, boy, why? The Greenery and Steel Heart both are raping what’s left of this world and for what? War? Wouldn’t all that time and energy be better spent on making this world whole again?”
“That’s what we’re trying to do!” Joster exclaimed.
The old man shook his head. “No, son, it isn’t. Not really. You folks in the Greenery think you’re better than everyone else. Heck, a good portion of you ain’t even human anymore. All that matters to you ‘bettering’ the human race because you think the rest of the world should be like you and if they aren’t, well, then they aren’t real humans anyway. I’d wager you Greenery folks don’t have even a fraction of a clue what humanity really is or is all about. I can tell you it sure ain’t making yourself into animals and plants like you folks do with your vaunted genetics.”
The old man had crossed the line from being insulting to outright blasphemy. “So you’re saying the Techs are right?”
“Hell no, son!” the old man shouted. “Their way of polluting everything in the name of progress and replacing what green is left in this world with iron and steel is just as bad. They’ve lost their souls to their machines and gadgets just as much as the Greenery has abandoned their souls to a vain quest for genetic perfection.”
“Then which side are you on then?” Joster asked.
The old man looked him in the eye and said, “I’m on my own side, boy. I believe in freedom, God, and being true to one’s self. Those are the things that really matter in life, not whether you can graft cat eyes into your head so you can see in the dark better or stick bits of circuitry into your skin so you can interface with some lifeless A.I. or giant robot body.”
“I don’t understand,” Joster admitted.
“I suppose you wouldn’t, boy.” The old man sighed. “It’s not a quest for perfection through genetics or machines either one that makes us who we are. We’re born as we were meant to be. It’s as plain and simple as that. We’ve all only got one life to live, and I would rather spend mine living it than taking the lives of others over something as pointless as either of your ideologies. If the powers that be of your Greenery and those in the fortress city of Steel Heart could understand that, well, this Waste would likely have long been healed and the world would be a better place to live in, now wouldn’t it?”
The old man took a piece of the kaiju meat which had apparently finished cooking and handed to it. “Here. Eat it. You’re going to need the strength.”
Joster accepted the meat. Looking it over, it wasn’t really something he wanted to put in his mouth but it smelled heavenly to his empty stomach. Joster took a small bite, grease from the meat washing over his tongue. Despite how i
t looked, it tasted as good as it smelled. He scarfed the rest of the meat down so quickly he swallowed chunks of it whole.
“Slow down.” The old man frowned, handing him another piece. “Ain’t gonna do you no good if you eat it so quick it just comes up again.”
“Thank you,” Joster managed to get out around a second mouthful of kaiju meat.
The old man produced a silver flask from the lining of the kaiju hide he wore, taking a long slug from it. When he was done, he offered it to Joster who accepted it eagerly.
Whatever was in the flask burned at Joster’s throat like liquid fire. He made a pained face as he lowered the flask from his lips.
“Good, ain’t it?” the old man reached to slap him on the shoulder. “Found it in the bowels of an almost ripped-in-half mech a few weeks ago.”
“Now you get some rest, son,” the old man urged him. “I’ll keep watch. The sun will be up before we know it.”
Joster didn’t argue. Something deep down assured him that he could trust the old man. As crazy as he might seem, he didn’t strike Joster as a man who killed without reason. Joster knew he had nothing of value except the Tech weapon and its last, single bullet. Surely that wasn’t worth a human life.
Stretching out on the sand next to the fire, Joster closed his eyes. His exhaustion dragged him into sleep almost the moment they were closed.
****
As the sun began its ascent into the sky, the city of Canton, or rather what remained of it, was still burning. Major Leiber had stayed true to her word in having Taskforce Beta burn it to nothingness. Campbell sat on the hood of an ammo truck, watching the flames. A large group of Steel Heart infantry and support vehicles had caught up to the taskforce in the night. Much of the night had been spent reorganizing the taskforce’s ranks to accommodate them, repairing damage done to the mechs and surviving hover tanks from the battle, and reloading the mechs and tanks alike.
Geddy, inside Entropic Rush, had stayed in his mech to watch over Taskforce Beta in case a unit of Greenery forces showed themselves seeking revenge for the loss of the city. Normally, more than one mech would have been on watch, but intel suggested that there were no kaiju in the area and a single mech was enough to go up against any rag-tag forces that might be dumb enough to try something after the defeat of Canton.
Kaiju Wars Page 5