Game Over

Chapter 61





I’D ALWAYS ENJOYED Godzilla movies, but I’d never found them to be particularly scary. Watching a guy in a rubber lizard suit step on model-train sets just isn’t the sort of thing that gives me goose bumps. But looking out at the ocean right then, I wondered if perhaps that puzzling lack of fear of an enormous, fire-breathing, radioactive dinosaur didn’t stem from a certain lack of imagination on my part.

Having suddenly experienced something like it firsthand, I can tell you it’s incredibly disconcerting to witness the ocean boiling over like an overfilled pot of pasta as a forty-story crested reptile strides up into the shallows.

The creature’s footsteps shook the ground so violently that the sand on the beach seemed to liquefy. The few trees toppled, and the dunes behind me undulated.

I didn’t for a second think this was the real Godzilla. (Well, okay, maybe I did for half a second.) But when I noticed the creature had four black, lifeless eyes, I knew Number 7 and Number 8 were proving their boast that they could indeed take on any form they wished.

Kildare’s formulas raced through my mind. Would I be able to put my crash course in chemistry to good use? Certainly the principal reagent—salt water—was available in sufficient quantities. There was just one question to answer: had I done enough cramming to pass the final exam?