Read Online Godzilla 2000 by Marc Cerasini - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Marc Cerasini
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the kitchen table.
Millie Peaster's cakes smashed on the linoleum floor.
Again, the house shook as the huge insect slammed against it. Oswald tumbled backward and bounced against the sink, dropping the shotgun.
When he bent down to retrieve his weapon, he slipped on splattered icing and fell to the floor. Upstairs, he heard his wife's horrified screams and the sound of walls shattering.
"Millie!" he cried, struggling to his feet. "I'm coming!"
Clutching his shotgun, Oswald rushed to the steps. But when he looked up, instead of the upstairs hallway, he saw daylight. The creatures had ripped off the roof and part of the second floor! Oswald heard his wife scream again. But this time, her cries were cut off - as if Millie had been swept away in a tornado. Oswald remembered the cow and gagged.
"Millie..." Oswald moaned as he staggered up the stairs. When he reached the top, the house quaked again.
A shadow fell over Oswald Peaster, blocking the daylight that streamed through the hole torn in his roof. The old man raised his head and stared upward - right into the multifaceted blue-green eyes of one of the gigantic monster insects.
"Get away from my farm!" Oswald shouted, his legs spread wide. Despite the crumbling house all around him, he stood his ground and aimed the shotgun at the slavering, snapping mandibles of the insect monster.
"I said , get off my farm!" He squeezed the trigger and fired both barrels at point-blank range, but the shotgun blast didn't even slow the creature. The insect closed its gripping claw around the old man's waist. Under the crushing pressure of its grip, Oswald finally gave up.
The useless gun dropped from his limp hand as the man was lifted high into the air. The last thing that Oswald Peaster saw was the insect's dark, looming, gigantic maw as the bony mandibles snapped shut, crushing the life out of him.
* * *
Within three hours, the swarm of gigantic insects, which numbered nearly a thousand, had swept across Osborne County. The ravenous creatures devoured everything in their path. Fields of grain, storehouses of feed, livestock, poultry - and even people - were consumed by the marauding insects.
By noon, the authorities had been alerted to the danger. The National Guard was sent to investigate the destruction, and military units moved from Fort Leavenworth toward the insect swarm. But for many, it was too little, and far too late.
Rural communities had been destroyed, their citizens devoured without any warning whatsoever. No one knew where the mysterious creatures came from, or where they were headed.
By late afternoon, dazed refugees with faraway stares and tales of horror began arriving in the surrounding towns of Russell and Alton. At first they came in a trickle, their faces pale with shock. Later on, as Word of the monstrous swarm spread via the Emergency Broadcast Network, the trickle became a flood.
Cars, trucks, buses, even tractors and horse drawn wagons, jammed the few highways out of Osborne County.
At sunset, a National Guard unit arrived in the largest town near the epicenter of the invasion, a town called Natoma. As three Blackhawk helicopters, fully armed and carrying a complement of troopers, flew over the beleaguered town, the National Guardsmen could not believe what they saw below them.
Natoma was in ruins.
Houses, churches, and businesses had been destroyed, and there was absolutely no sign of life. Even the trees had been stripped of their leaves, and many had been devoured whole. Only splintered stumps remained.
The commander of the guard unit ordered his troops to search the shattered streets in an attempt to find possible survivors who might be trapped in the rubble. At ten-thirty that night, they were rewarded for their trouble. One of the soldiers thought he heard a baby crying. Within thirty minutes, the National Guardsmen had spread out and located the source of the sound.
The men frantically dug through the smashed remains of a two-family house
Millie Peaster's cakes smashed on the linoleum floor.
Again, the house shook as the huge insect slammed against it. Oswald tumbled backward and bounced against the sink, dropping the shotgun.
When he bent down to retrieve his weapon, he slipped on splattered icing and fell to the floor. Upstairs, he heard his wife's horrified screams and the sound of walls shattering.
"Millie!" he cried, struggling to his feet. "I'm coming!"
Clutching his shotgun, Oswald rushed to the steps. But when he looked up, instead of the upstairs hallway, he saw daylight. The creatures had ripped off the roof and part of the second floor! Oswald heard his wife scream again. But this time, her cries were cut off - as if Millie had been swept away in a tornado. Oswald remembered the cow and gagged.
"Millie..." Oswald moaned as he staggered up the stairs. When he reached the top, the house quaked again.
A shadow fell over Oswald Peaster, blocking the daylight that streamed through the hole torn in his roof. The old man raised his head and stared upward - right into the multifaceted blue-green eyes of one of the gigantic monster insects.
"Get away from my farm!" Oswald shouted, his legs spread wide. Despite the crumbling house all around him, he stood his ground and aimed the shotgun at the slavering, snapping mandibles of the insect monster.
"I said , get off my farm!" He squeezed the trigger and fired both barrels at point-blank range, but the shotgun blast didn't even slow the creature. The insect closed its gripping claw around the old man's waist. Under the crushing pressure of its grip, Oswald finally gave up.
The useless gun dropped from his limp hand as the man was lifted high into the air. The last thing that Oswald Peaster saw was the insect's dark, looming, gigantic maw as the bony mandibles snapped shut, crushing the life out of him.
* * *
Within three hours, the swarm of gigantic insects, which numbered nearly a thousand, had swept across Osborne County. The ravenous creatures devoured everything in their path. Fields of grain, storehouses of feed, livestock, poultry - and even people - were consumed by the marauding insects.
By noon, the authorities had been alerted to the danger. The National Guard was sent to investigate the destruction, and military units moved from Fort Leavenworth toward the insect swarm. But for many, it was too little, and far too late.
Rural communities had been destroyed, their citizens devoured without any warning whatsoever. No one knew where the mysterious creatures came from, or where they were headed.
By late afternoon, dazed refugees with faraway stares and tales of horror began arriving in the surrounding towns of Russell and Alton. At first they came in a trickle, their faces pale with shock. Later on, as Word of the monstrous swarm spread via the Emergency Broadcast Network, the trickle became a flood.
Cars, trucks, buses, even tractors and horse drawn wagons, jammed the few highways out of Osborne County.
At sunset, a National Guard unit arrived in the largest town near the epicenter of the invasion, a town called Natoma. As three Blackhawk helicopters, fully armed and carrying a complement of troopers, flew over the beleaguered town, the National Guardsmen could not believe what they saw below them.
Natoma was in ruins.
Houses, churches, and businesses had been destroyed, and there was absolutely no sign of life. Even the trees had been stripped of their leaves, and many had been devoured whole. Only splintered stumps remained.
The commander of the guard unit ordered his troops to search the shattered streets in an attempt to find possible survivors who might be trapped in the rubble. At ten-thirty that night, they were rewarded for their trouble. One of the soldiers thought he heard a baby crying. Within thirty minutes, the National Guardsmen had spread out and located the source of the sound.
The men frantically dug through the smashed remains of a two-family house
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