Most of could never fathom in a million years what had happened in San Fran. I am not one for exaggeration but when I first saw what was left of it, I shed a tear for all that was left and all that was lost. As the helicopter stayed a safe distance away but close enough for me to take pics of the carnage below, I wept for my country…I wept for humanity.
But they say the show must go on, and I had a responsibility to take the best shots I could. It was surreal, taking pictures of what used to be the Golden Gate Bridge, now fangled beyond recognition. What undeniably used to be a symbol of the city was now no more. Wiped out in a matter of minutes.
Sadly the symbolic bridge was not the only casualty of the Kaiju rampage. The iconic Fisherman's wharf was gone too. All I could make of it were famous signs now buried under rubble. A once vibrant section of the city was reduced to nothing. Decades of pride and history, eradicated by an alien scourge. If given time, the city could rebuild these landmarks, though it would never really be the same. Not with all the memories lost to the crazed monster. This would be a tough wound to heal.
Alcatraz ironically was now used as a shelter. The most famous prison on the West coast and inspiration for many a literary work had now been converted into a holding ground for survivors. Many San Franciscans had been evacuated there on short notice. Accommodations were being made to move them to other states but I knew it was paramount I talked to them, their stories would be invaluable at such a time. I tried not to be inhumane as I sought them out to take their pictures. They were just as shocked as I was at what happened to their city.
I am not one to get overly political, being objective is pretty much a golden rule in my line of work. But I must say, going around Alcatraz, talking to the survivors, exposed me to all sorts of folks. I have always been worried about the insular nature of our media, how it tends to portray us as the only nation that matters. There's little reason for people on these shores to know about anything outside their comfort zone, unless of course it involves some scandal or some royal across the pond. People were telling me that Trespasser was some foreign creature bred in some lab by our enemies to destroy us. Some went as far as saying this was some government conspiracy to enable them test some of their secret weapons. Others were even more distrustful. Everything from one of our biological weapons mutating into a giant bug and getting loose to a demon spawn from hell coming to earth to wipe us out was bandied around. Some of the chatter was so silly I almost felt like packing up my things and going back to Lagos. Yet despite all the crazy talk, there were people trying to piece together their world that had just been shattered. Little kids who will forever deal with the trauma of watching Trespasser ravage their neighborhoods clung to their parents, scared and terrified by their new surroundings. Families huddled together in the once famous cells of Alcatraz, giving each other support, wondering if the worst was yet to come. I tried to respect them as I snapped their pictures, but even I felt guilty that my family was safe thousands of miles away.
But for how long I wondered? The thought persisted, even I was unsure we had heard the last of the Kaijus. K-Day as it would be infamously called, would forever be etched in the consciousness of us all. The day we finally met something that was strong enough to wipe us all out.
Soon after this, the Pan Pacific Defense corps were created. A global outfit with the sole goal of protecting and monitoring the Pacific Ocean in case the aliens were to show up again. Theirs was not an easy task, but someone had to do it. Little did they know they would be put to test quite soon, but I digress.
We mourned with the people of San Francisco and resumed our lives. We pushed the Kaiju attack into the back of our minds to focus on healing our wounds. Expensive government initiatives to get the lost city back were announced and before long construction commenced on building the new and improved Golden Gate Bridge. One by one, people started moving back, to rebuild their destroyed homes. To reclaim their communities. Give it to the people of America, their never say never attitude has done wonders for them. Alas, the calm and peace would only last for so long. Cabo, Manila and Australia would get visits from this extra terrestrial creatures and in devastating fashion. Millions of lives were lost.
At this point in time, the only known way to kill off a Kaiju was to nuke it. Australia was the only country that managed to lure the thing away from its densely populated cities before nuking it. But even this was without severe damage to famous landmarks and property. A Kaiju cannot be controlled, tricking it only enrages it more.
I on the other hand had a job to do. I got my first shot of a Kaiju in Australia. Its probably the defining moment of my career, one I will not be forgetting anytime soon. That shot has been viewed by millions, enhanced by modern technology to give the most precise close up of our would be destroyers. That picture also made something very clear to the human populace, the Kaijus hated us. You could see it in those unthinking, unfeeling eyes of it.
Its goal was simple, kill…destroy…kill.