Nightfall

FOUR

FRIDAY – 12:32 PM

"Hold on," she gritted out through clenched teeth as she spun the wheel and punched down on the accelerator, sending her department issued Charger bouncing up onto the sidewalk.

When the air raid alarm had sounded, people driving their own vehicles out of the city must have panicked and caused numerous traffic collisions, blocking a good portion of 7th Avenue past 20th Street. Most had abandoned their cars in the middle of the street, and taken to foot. Some were still there, a mixture of ages, wandering around in a short of daze.

There was about four dozen people heading for the 18th Street Station. Beckett wanted to tell them that the subway was down, but perhaps they already knew that, and were simply hoping to use the underground as a temporary emergency shelter. It was a prudent idea, but getting off the island of Manhattan was better. Beckett ground her teeth at the sight, angry that Colonel Rourke had abandon these hapless people.

However, despite her strong desire to help, she wasn't really in a position to do so. She was, in a sense, going rogue in helping Castle get to Alexis.

Still…

Honking the horn, Beckett slowed the Charger to a crawl and rolled down the window, needing to at least do something, even if it was the very minimum she could offer. "You all need to leave now," she shouted out at the stunned people milling around their idle automobiles. "It isn't safe. Head for Chelsea Park or the Lincoln Tunnel."

Most of the people just seemed to ignore her. She repeated her instructions, adding that she was a detective with the NYPD, just in case her title would sway them. It didn't work. Those who had stopped to listen to her just shook their heads and turned back to follow the rest of the crowd to the subway entrance. However, a small group, three young professionals—two women and a man—seemed to heed her advice. Beckett was pleased to see them heading in the direction of Chelsea Park.

However, her smile faded as a sudden thought crossed her mind.

"Kate?" Castle asked, always observant, noticing her worried expression.

"I just hope that there's someone there to help them when they arrive," Beckett answered. Colonel Rourke had said that they'd been ordered to pull out. She just had to believe that there was at least some still holding position at the Chelsea Park command post to assist those still remaining in the city in evacuating to safety.

Shaking her head to clear it of those grim thoughts, Beckett focused on the task she'd set herself to. Unable to do anymore for those choosing to shelter in the subway, Beckett maneuvered the car through the mess and drove further down 7th Avenue, looking for a clear path to get over to Greenwich Village. She kept with driving on the sidewalk, grimacing every time the Charger struck some obstacle in their way. The paperwork was going to kill her if the stress from this crisis didn't get her first.

They were passing the Wells Fargo Bank on 17th, when suddenly a family of four darted out into the street. Beckett slammed on the brakes as Castle cursed besides. She blinked her eyes, breathing a sigh of relief that she hadn't struck the young family. The mother was clutching a little girl—no older than three, and the father was holding nine-year-old boy in his arms. They all just stared at each other in stunned shocked at the near collision.

Beckett rolled down the window and stuck her head out. "You need to get off the streets," she instructed after identifying herself as a police officer. "There should be an evacuation convoy on 8th Avenue, heading towards Jackson Square Park. If you can't meet them, then head for a subway and bunk down."

"Thank you," the young mother said, nodding to her husband, and then headed off.

Beckett sighed, wishing she could do more.

Turning the wheel, she turned left down 17th. Castle cocked his head, and frowned.

"Um… Beckett, aren't you going the wrong way?" he asked. "Or do rules of the road no longer apply?"

She offered him a sideway glance and a barely there smile. Yes, she was driving the wrong way down a one-way street, but seeing as there were no other cars present, and they were in the middle of a crisis, she wasn't hurting anyone doing so. Besides, she need to get off 7th, it was too crowded with abandoned automobiles.

"It's more efficient this way," was her short reply. "Trust me, Castle."

"I do, implicitly."

"Good," Beckett nodded, and turned her focus back on driving, mentally mapping out a route that would get them to Canal Street.

After loading up in the armory, and while on the way to the Twelfth Precinct's motor pool, Beckett had used the walkie-talkie one last time to make contact with Esposito, checking to see if he had reunited with Ryan, and that her two detectives were getting their asses off Manhattan as ordered. It worried her a bit when all she had got back was static, but eventually Esposito's voice came through.

Beckett had shared a relieved look with Castle as they loaded up her Charger, when they learned that Esposito had found Ryan and that the two of them were presently hitching a lift with Lieutenant Barrow's team, and would make it out of the evacuation zone safely. During her brief conversation with Esposito, Beckett learned that Lanie Parish, her best friend, had already made it out, and was currently working to help set up a triage center in the Meadowlands to deal with any potential injuries that occurred during the evacuation. People panicked, sometimes enough to unintentionally injure others in the process. According to Esposito, from what he'd been told by his on-again, off-again girlfriend, most of what Lanie had seen so far had been bumps and bruises, nothing too serious yet. Beckett worried that that might change soon.

Gripping the steering wheel tightly in her hands, Beckett knitted her eyebrows together as she pushed her foot down harder on the accelerator, picking up speed. Castle's eyes went wide and he braced himself against the dashboard and passenger door as they zoomed around Washington Square Park.

"Are you trying to kill us?" he asked as she skidded around the corner so fast, they almost rolled.

Beckett flicked a quick glance over. "You wanna drive?"

"No," he gulped, eyes bobbled. "I'm good."

She pursed lips, suppressing a smirk as she gunned the engines, speeding past New York University as she righted them up towards Broadway. With a sharp turn, they skidded onto Broadway, heading South. Fortunately, with the evacuation orders issued earlier that morning, the street was clear. There were, however, a few random abandon cars here and there, but nothing Beckett couldn't handle.

As they approached Bleeker Street, there was a strange rhythmic vibrating that had nothing to do with the revering engines of the Charger. Castle frowned and glanced around, eyes narrowed.

"You hear that?" he asked.

Beckett shrugged, hearing nothing but the car engine as they sailed through the Broadway-Bleeker intersection. Her kept her focus on maneuvering them around some abandoned cars that were blocking their way down Broadway. Houston Street was in sight. From there they would be three New York city blocks from Castle's loft. She turned wide around a red sedan that was sitting in two lanes, then nearly clipped a white van that had been left, engine still running, diagonally across the street.

BOOM!

The ground vibrated with the sound. Beckett eased her foot off the pedal, slowing the car down just a bit.

BOOM!

It sounded again, reverberating off the streets and building. A low bellow, almost like a disgruntled growl followed. Beckett didn't know what to make of it. Something just wasn't right about it. Shaking her head, she pushed back down on the accelerator, taking them towards Houston Street. Focused on getting them across the wide intersection, Beckett revved the engine and punched forward.

Suddenly, without any warning whatsoever, Castle yelped beside her and reached for the wheel.

"Castle!" she shouted, startled, completely caught off guard. What the hell was he doing?

Beckett hit the brakes, and the car skidded to a stop hard and fast. The seatbelt yanked into her shoulder and she grimaced, gritting her teeth. There was going to be a bruise there. She glanced over at Castle, ready to give him a piece of her mind for grabbing at the wheel. Was he trying to kill them? But the words died on her tongue when she finally saw what had caused him to act so recklessly.

Her eyes turned into saucers and her mouth dropped in a silent gasp of terrified shock at what she was seeing.

A large dark shape, nearly as tall as a skyscraper had plowed through the storefronts on the corner of Houston and Broadway. Gripping the steering wheel, Beckett leaned slightly forward, craning her neck as she stared up with a mixture of awe and horror, trying to see more. The shape, whatever it was, was big, really big. Powerful muscles rippled beneath what appeared to be a scaly hide. It almost looked like a bipedal dinosaur—a large horned tyrannosaur, maybe?—but crossed with an amphibian and a feline. It was so tall, she couldn't even see the head, just a good portion of its clawed foot and the leg, at least that's what she assumed it was a leg. She watched, in a kind of stunned dread, as it moved.

A loud, ear-piercing screech like roar resounded from up above them, presumably from the creature's head.

BOOM!

"Beckett!" Castle reached over to tap her shoulder, waving his other hand to the right.

Rolling down Houston Street were two tanks, and a small battalion of soldiers. One of the tanks had just fired. But it had missed, striking the building behind the creature, sending shards of glass and concrete raining down. The ground vibrated as the two tanks rumbled forward into the intersection, their guns swiveling to follow the lumbering movements of the creature. The soldiers formed up rank around the tanks and raised their weapons, firing at will.

"Holy shit!" Castle cried, almost grinning. "It's like were in a Godzilla movie!"

Beckett managed to refrain from rolling her eyes, because he was right. The creature did somewhat resemble the large movie monster. But, she thought, this one looked far more vicious and was definitely real.

A tank crossed in front of them, and stopped, two soldiers at the rear spotted them, and one held up a hand, signaling them to stay put. The tank rocked a bit as it settled into position. They watched as the cannon rotated around and arched up, taking aim. There was a loud boom as the tank fired.

The creature roared, bucking back violently in the building. The ground shook as if from a mini-earthquake, and Beckett held her breath, not really knowing what they could do but watch. Castle looked torn between delight and utter terror as the battle continued right in front of them.

Several soldiers got too close and the creature swung out at them with a strong tail as it formed up in a defensive stance. Beckett felt a strange sort of pity for the thing. It was, after all, just an animal. How it ended up here in New York, she couldn't say. But it was definitely something unique. Even if it posed a threat to her city, she really couldn't condone killing it.

The second tank rolled into position, gun craning up as the operators took aim.

The creature let out a loud, siren like wail, moving back into the crumbling mass of the destroyed building, like a cornered animal. But then, quick as a flash, it struck out. Its large body moved with the speed and agility of a much smaller creature. The soldiers on the frontlines cried out as the beast stomped on them, slashing with powerful arms that ended in four digit claws. Other soldiers were sent flying into the air from the whip like flick of the beast's powerful tail.

The large clawed foot, three toed—like a dinosaur—came down hard on the front end of the forward tank. To everyone's surprise, the metal bent and cracked under the force. The rear tank jerked as its treads wheeled to move it back, right into them. Castle let out a very unmanly scream as it tore through the front hood of the Charger enough to permanently disable the vehicle before the driver inside the armored tank realized that there were people inside the car. Outside, soldiers were shouting and yelling, still firing futility at the creature as it advanced.

"Castle," Beckett said, snapping out of her stunned stupor. "Get out. Now."

She unbuckled her seatbelt, and watched him do the same. Kicking her door open, Beckett swung out onto the street, wincing as the tank fired off another round at the beast. Jogging around the rear trunk of the Charger, she grabbed a hold of Castle and tugged him back with her as they both stared up at the creature, needing to crane their necks back far to even glimpse its blunted crocodile-like head.

God, it was massive! It moved with a raw strength and power that was unlike anything Beckett had ever seen in any living animal, and she'd watched a lot of the nature channel in her time.

"What do we do?" Castle shouted over the din of gunfire.

Heart jackhammering inside her chest, Beckett shook her head. "I don't know."

The tank fired up at the beast again, this time hitting its mark center mass in what she assumed was the creature's torso. But it did little more than make the thing angrier. It roared, so loud and deafening that Beckett had to press her hands over her ears in a useless manner that did nothing to stifle the awful noise. The tank lurched and rolled backwards, fully crushing the Charger. Beckett snagged Castle arm and pulled him back before they too could be crushed.

"Fall back! Fall back!" she heard the surviving soldiers shouting.

Not waiting to see what would happen next, Beckett grabbed Castle's hand and pulled him along with her as she backpedaled away from the scene. His larger hand engulfed hers, squeezing in support as he followed her. She looked over at him, seeing the terror she felt echoed in his face. Together, they turned around and ran. Her heart thumped wildly beneath her chest as she raced forward, legs pumping. Her panic fueled with adrenalin. Castle kept pace with her as they sprinted down the middle of the street, surrounded by retreating soldiers, some who stopped to lay down useless cover fire.

BOOM!

The tank rumbled back as it launched off another futile round as the monster advanced on its attackers. It was terrible, like being stuck in the middle of a disaster movie.

Beckett scrunched up her face, worried that they'd get caught in the retreat and trampled by the surge of bodies, not to mention the charging beast. The raging animal wouldn't care that neither she or Castle hadn't attack it. Thinking fast, Beckett yanked Castle with her as she dived towards the sidewalk. She quickly withdrew her Glock, took aim and fired, shattering the glass façade of a Crate & Barrel.

"Castle," she called, pushing him forward, one hand curled over his trembling shoulder.

Beckett jumped in behind him just as the creature advanced down Broadway, thundering loudly and lashing out at the surrounding buildings, sending shards of glass, metal, and concrete tumbling down. Castle ran ahead of her, darting around display cases as the ground shook beneath their feet. Outside the tank was still firing uselessly at the creature, only making it angry. Beckett glanced behind them. The monster stumbled back as it was struck, crashing into the storefront.

"Castle!" she shouted, reaching for the writer, urging him on.

The front of the building started to collapse, the world around them quaked as the whole building seemed to yawn before surrendering to the pressure. And then darkness took her.