Reach MONARCH

-.-.-.-.-.

The room was small, and dim with pale yellow light. Small fingers reached out to deftly flick a switch, and a radio jumped to life with a sudden hum. Needles quivered as their respective gauges flickered with a similar yellow light.

Madison couldn't help but feel comforted by the cramped confines. The soft light didn't quite chase all of the darkness away, but gave the room a homey feel. The initial hum of the radio's activation quickly went away, replaced by the calm, quiet hiss of static.

Again, her hand reached out, this time to press down on the intercom. Abruptly, the static stopped, leaving the room in dead silence.

"Hello…?"

Hesitantly, her voice broke the silence with a single spoken word. It was uncertain, but clear. She took her hand off the intercom, allowing the static to return. The seconds stretched by as Madison waited for a response. When she got none, she wet her lips and prepared to try again.

She leaned in and asked, a tiny bit more courageously, "Is anyone there?"

The static continued to hiss, jumping up in volume at one point, but that was all. No sign of a response from the other end.

Madison hit the intercom again, the button making a sharp *click*. She exhaled, about to speak again but second-guessing what she wanted to say. She reminded herself of what she was attempting to do, why she was even here, in the first place.

"I-I'm trying to reach…"

A sudden thought jumped into her head, forcing her to cut herself off. Doubt spread through her mind and into her heart, making her tremble. What if they couldn't help? What if they wouldn't? What if her efforts were for nothing?

But the hesitation was only for a second. Madison quickly forced the doubt away and spoke once more into the mic, stating her request plainly and clearly.

"I'm trying to reach MONARCH."

As soon as Madison finished the sentence, she took her hand away from the intercom as though it were a poisonous spider. Her fingers flexed and curled into a fist in an attempt to shake off the clammy feeling, and she waited with bated breath for what would happen next.

She didn't have long to wait.

The radio hummed and whined, a sound that made her heart race with excitement. Her call had gone through and there was someone on the other end. The noises the radio was emitting became stuttered and distorted, and Madison looked around as she awaited the response that she was sure was on its way.

"Mayday mayday we need help –"

The dread had only barely began to build when a huge, horrible noise crackled through the speakers. It was a low, powerful sound that thrummed through the walls and floor and vibrated into Madison's very bones. The rumble was like that of thunder, or a mountain splitting open…

"Everythi– is– starting –"

Her heart rate doubled. She listened with increasing horror as the man on the other end continued to speak, but his words couldn't be distinguished over the powerful tremors – only his rapidly-increasing panic.

And then came the stuttering shriek that whined through the speakers, a primal cry that split the sky and rent the earth, a keening wail that all lesser creatures instinctively feared. Madison felt a horrifying sense of terror reach out from her innermost core to constrict her bones with ice-cold tendrils, the unmistakable sound echoing through her memories as loudly as it pounded against the walls that held her safe.

"Please, is anyone out there?!"

She wasn't safe. Not anymore.

The screech rose, and the man on the other end started to scream for help.

Her own inner fear threatened to engulf her. Madison tucked her legs against her torso and her shaking arms reached up to place her hands against her ears, fighting down the growing urge to panic. Already, images she wanted so badly to forget were flashing before her eyes, feeding her fear until it felt ready to explode out of her.

The shriek reached a crescendo, turning into a screeching howl of triumph that threatened to overwhelm the speakers. The sound was all around her, surrounding her, consuming her. The girl squeezed her eyes shut, her breaths coming hard and fast. The feeling that the monster's victorious cry was meant for her was impossible to ignore.

She'd never been safe to begin with.

Madison spoke a single word in a harsh, horrified whisper.

"No…"

-.-.-.-.-.

Well, I'm quite late to the party. The teaser dropped almost two months ago and I'm only just seeing it now. The hype for Godzilla's return to the big screen is most certainly real.

I suspected it watching after the official trailer (dozens of times – it's seriously that good), but now I'm thoroughly convinced that our pal Ghidorah has it in for Madison. The terrifying part is… why? Like, dude, you're a 500-foot-tall three-headed lightning dragon of death, why are you messing with this tiny insignificant mortal?

Anyway, this scene doesn't have a lot of context, but Madison seems to have a pretty horrified reaction to hearing the chaos on the other end, so my assumption is that she's already encountered Ghidorah at this point, and is maybe even trying to run away from him.

Only two things I know for certain. Speculation is lots of fun, and this movie's going to be dope AF.

(Reviews pls.)