This was his chance, he realized, to find out the truth at last.

* * *

Along with his fellow scientists, Serizawa stared down into the abyss, which was lit only by the intermittent strobing of the emergency lights. The steel-mesh net over the pit remained intact, further obscuring his view of the creature below, which had obviously survived their attempt to electrocute it. Despite the danger posed by the monster, Serizawa marveled at its obvious strength and endurance. They had sent enough voltage through the grid to fry a great white whale, but the creature was still alive and free from its cocoon.

We waited too long, he realized. It’s grown too strong.

The erratic lighting frustrated him. Straining his eyes, he could make out only the vague impression of some gargantuan form moving below. He caught sporadic glimpses of gigantic red eyes and gleaming fangs. The biologist in him was anxious to see the adult form of the organism, now that it had completed its metamorphosis from the larval stage that had hatched from the Philippine egg sac fifteen years ago, even as he feared for humanity as well.

What exactly had just emerged into the night?

Beside Serizawa, Whelan gasped as the shadowy beast pressed up against the cable netting, testing its cage. The creature heaved upward, shaking the entire pit. Steel scaffolding and support beams began to buckle alarmingly. Tortured metal screamed in protest. The crow’s nest bucked beneath Serizawa’s beneath feet, and he had to grab onto a window sill to maintain his balance. Graham stumbled against him, her face pale.

“Evenyone out!” Whelan shouted. “Now!”

His palm slammed down on a panic button.

* * *

A bewildering assemblage of steel gantries and elevated walkways circled the site of the former power plant, overlooking a sinkhole of Biblical proportions. Joe made his way through the unfamiliar complex, heading toward the center, even as a mass evacuation got underway, triggering a distinct sense of déjà vu. Hundreds of fleeing workers, many wearing radiation suits similar to his own, rushed past him, descending from metal catwalks and stairways in a desperate exodus. In their haste, nobody noticed an unfamiliar face amidst the crush. Joe jostled through the tide of humanity, like a salmon fighting its way upstream. He alone was heading toward the source of the chaos—and the inhuman howl.

I have to see it, he thought. I have to know what’s down there.

Another deafening wail could be heard above the tumult. He forced his way along the gantries, drawn by the sound of the creature. The terrifying screech was proof that he wasn’t crazy after all, that he had been right all along.

He hoped Ford understood that now.

* * *