Screeching in agony, the male fluttered erratically above the ruins. Barely able to stay aloft, the MUTO was mortally wounded, but Godzilla wasn’t done with him yet. With the last of his strength, Godzilla charged at the injured creature. Battered and bleeding, he drove the male through a fifty-story skyscraper two blocks away, destroying the building. Thousands of tons of glass and steel and concrete caved in around the monsters, entombing them in a mountain of fresh debris. The male’s dying howl was lost in the deafening roar of the skyscraper’s collapse. A tremendous cloud of smoke and dust rose to hide the destruction.

The city streets shuddered.

* * *

Another tremor, even stronger than before, shook the blacked-out subway station. Dust and debris fell from the ceiling and the subway entrance caved in. Trapped in the dark with dozens of equally panicked strangers, Elle screamed as the impact knocked her off her feet.

* * *

Sparks sprayed from the bottom of the damaged warhead as the soldiers dragged down it down an evacuated pier at Fisherman’s Wharf. A tour boat offering “See the bay” cruises was tied up in a slip. Cursive writing on its prow identified the boat as the Angel of the Bay. Commandeering the vessel, the troops lugged the warhead up the gangway.

Quinn raced ahead of his men to reach the helm. Prying open the ignition panel, he struggled to hot-wire the vessel, while keeping one eye on the bomb and the burning city behind them. The monsters appeared occupied at the moment, but it was only a matter of time before one of the MUTOs started tracking the recovered warhead. Quinn wanted to be well out to sea before that happened.

He realized that the odds that he and his men would be able to get away from the bomb before it exploded were shrinking by the minute, but he couldn’t think about that now. Their lives would be a small price to pay if they saved San Francisco from going the way of Hiroshima. That would still leave the rampaging monsters to deal with, but someone else was going to have to get that job done. Just keeping the warhead from destroying the city was good enough for him.

He trusted that every one of his men felt the same.

The pier rattled and shook. Looking up, Quinn spotted the female charging onto the hilltop where Chinatown had once been. Lieutenant Ford’s work, no doubt. The eight-legged creature was silhouetted against the blazing fire consuming her nest. Quinn smiled grimly. He hoped the murderous monster choked on the fumes.

So much for your babies, bitch.

Now they just needed to get the bomb clear of the city. Sweating, he revved the engines, which fired up noisily. The ship’s lights came on.

All right, Quinn thought. That’s more like it!

* * *