Chapter 39: The Horrors of Mondo Island.
The floating Black Shark warship continued to retreat away from Mondo Island until it was over the ocean. Once there, it dove down into the water, disappearing into the depths. Kong stood there watching suspiciously, not letting his guard down until he was confident that it was really gone for good.
"I guess Kong didn't return to Farou Island like the experts presumed after all." Reinhart remarked, crawling up next to Brock through the brush. Both of them were staring at the giant ape in awe. "I wonder why he picked here of all places?"
"Probably just out of convenience." Brock replied coolly.
Kong suddenly turned and looked over in the direction of the two men. Both Reinhart and Brock froze, taken by surprise. Could he have heard them talking? Kong's huge brown eyes seemed to narrow on their position, and then he just stared. The air grew heavy with tension. Though Reinhart and Brock were both well concealed in the undergrowth, it felt like Kong was looking right at them. Reinhart's heart pounded. He was ready to panic and run. Brock sensed Reinhart's anxiety and grabbed his arm to encourage him to stay still. A mistake made at that juncture could be critical.
Before anyone could do anything rash, Kong turned completely around and then started moving away from the area. Apparently, he hadn't noticed them after all. Reinhart breathed a sigh of relief. The group as a whole had dodged major trouble twice in less than an hour. Their problems were far from over though. The first priority for the unit at that moment was survival. Of course, being rescued was a close second. To their advantage, they still had an operational helicopter and the radio inside of it.
"Should we get on the horn and send out a distress signal immediately?" Reinhart asked. "Get help on the way as quickly as possible?"
"No, that would be jumping the gun a bit." Brock replied plainly. "If we were to transmit a message right now, we could attract unwanted attention from those bastards who attacked the Tallahassee. They don't know we are here. I'd like to keep it that way. Therefore, we should wait a couple of days before sending out a mayday. Give them a chance to leave the area first. Whoever they are, they think they've accomplished their mission by destroying the crashed ship and the Tallahassee. It would be wise to let them continue to think that way for now. Maybe in two days we can send a coded message."
"Wouldn't Kong keep protecting us if they came back though?" Private Masterson asked as he crept up with Corporal Sunderberg, joining the conversation. "He scared them away pretty good just now."
"Are you kidding?!" Brock asked exasperated. "Kong is not some sort of hero who is here to save us. Do you have any idea how many people he has killed over the past couple of years? It's not Godzilla-level numbers, but it's still a lot. And worst yet, Kong is an intelligent animal with a very long memory. Mankind has given him plenty of reasons to hold a grudge. I could run down the list, but it would take too long. Here are some of the toppers though: Kidnapping him off his island on two separate occasions. Once as an adolescent and once as an adult. And much more recently, we forced him to fight against Godzilla. The results of which you can still see in his battle scars and the hunks of hide Kong has not grown back yet. Do you think he is just going to forget about all of that and go out of his way to look out for us? I wouldn't count on it. At this point, it would be foolish to see him as anything other than a threat. We're best off avoiding him as much as possible."
"Okay, so what should we do first then?" Reinhart asked.
"We're going to be running low on food before long." Brock answered. "The provisions we have on hand weren't meant to last days, let alone weeks. We weren't meant to be here for very long, but it's likely we're going to be here for some time now. We need to be prepared for that. We also require a source of fresh water. We're going to have to break up into smaller parties and forage for both."
"Any idea where we should start?" Corporal Sunderberg inquired.
"Yeah, when we were scouting for the derelict ship in the helicopter, I saw a mountain spring further inland." Brock replied. "I think that would be our best bet for water. There are bamboo shoots all over the island. Aside from eating them in a pinch, we can also use them as improvised spears for fishing and hunting."
"Couldn't we just use our rifles for that?" Private Masterson asked confused.
"We could, but that would risk bringing Kong down on our heads." Brock countered annoyed. "Our best bet is to keep a low profile. Use our firearms only as much as we need to. Ideally, only in self-defense."
"Why don't we just use the helicopter to fly out of here?" Private Masterson asked.
"Look around you!" Brock scolded, starting to lose his patience. "Can you count?! There's about sixty of us here. The chopper can't even carry a fraction of that out of here, and even if it could, there's nowhere else to go. We're not in range of any inhabited islands. Certainly not any that would have gas for extra trips back and forth to get everybody. No, we need to stick together."
"Okay, it was a bad idea…" Masterson admitted sheepishly. Brock looked around and thought for a moment.
"Alright, anybody who is a technician, start rebuilding the camp." Brock instructed. "We're going to need shelter. Reinhart is in charge. Anyone who is a sailor, get started with bamboo spears and then try your luck on the beach. Whoever among you has rank is in charge. Just be sure to be back before dark. Marines, you're with me for jungle recon. Get everybody's extra canteens. If we do find a fresh water source, I don't want to have to make two trips."
…
Two days later, the survivors were well on their way under Brock's leadership. They had found the spring he'd described, located several sources of food, and built the foundations of several shelters to keep the elements at bay. They'd also built a large firepit. It was risky, but necessary for cooking and purifying their water. Brock just hoped it wouldn't attract Kong or anyone else's attention. Even though they were doing quite well, Brock was still concerned. Feeding sixty men every day was a tall order. They had gone through all of their MRE rations already and where now fully reliant on the island's bounty to survive. The pressure drove Brock to make a decision. Though he'd prefer to give it at least one more day, Brock decided it was time to call for help.
The next morning, Brock had his men pull out the helicopter from its hiding place amongst the trees and prepare it for takeoff. The plan was to fly the chopper as high up as it could go, to boost its radio signal as far as possible. Along with the pilot, he sent Corporal Sunderberg along to make the transmission. Brock determined he needed to keep his boots on the ground to ensure everything was running smoothly in the camp. Some of the men were already starting to get lazy. The group needed to stay disciplined and focused on their tasks to ensure their odds of survival stayed high. Brock walking around kept everyone on their toes. Nobody wanted to get on his bad side by getting caught slacking off.
After just a half-hour, the helicopter was ready to go. The turbines started turning, and within moments, the machine rose from the makeshift landing zone. Brock watched the chopper closely from his nearby perch in the cliffs. Corporal Sunderberg gave him a thumbs up from his window as they passed by. Brock saluted him back casually as the mission got underway.
Higher and higher the helicopter rose. After a while, it was just a speck in an ocean of blue sky. Finally, it seemed as though the chopper had hit its altitude ceiling. The helicopter held its position and Brock assumed they must be transmitting. Brock only hoped the radio had the range to do so. If not, the next step was to send the chopper flying northeast, constantly transmitting until they were down to about a half a tank of fuel and forced to turn back. Hopefully, they could establish contact right away though, and the second step wouldn't be necessary.
After two minutes had elapsed, the helicopter was still holding position. It was a good sign. Hopefully it meant that they were in contact with someone. Brock almost allowed himself to feel good about the situation, but then he noticed something wrong. The helicopter was descending again. Rapidly. It was too fast for them to have made contact and relayed all of the necessary information to command. Brock thought perhaps they were having engine trouble, but then he saw the problem. He could see what appeared to be a giant bird quickly approaching the helicopter's position. For a moment, Brock assumed that it was one of the Rodans, but then he remembered that both of them had been killed.
The pilot of the helicopter managed to dodge as the huge bird made its first pass at them. Both the machine and monster plunged towards the ground afterwards. As the beast swooped around, coming for the helicopter again, Brock got a better look at it. The creature was almost completely covered in drab brown feathers, all aside from its bald head. The beast resembled a vulture or condor, only immensely larger. The Condor screeched as it drifted on the wind, announcing its presence to everyone below. The rest of the camp quickly started to take notice of the drama unfolding above them. A chorus of shouts, filled with terror and anger, erupted all over the base. The marines quickly readied their rifles.
It was already too late for the helicopter though. The Giant Condor pounced on the main rotor with its talons and pulled it entirely free from the rest of the aircraft's chassis. The remaining tail section and cockpit of the chopper plummeted to the earth and exploded on impact, killing both the pilot and Corporal Sunderberg instantly. Rifle fire rang out as furious marines tried to get some measure of revenge. Even Brock opened up with his new M-16 assault rifle. The Condor kaiju wasn't nearly as big as other monsters they'd encountered before. The bird was perhaps only one-eighth the size of one of the Rodans, so it was possible they could actually hurt it with small arms. However, as it turned out, the marine's bullets were still pathetically ineffective against it.
The Giant Condor wasn't satisfied by the results of its attack on the helicopter. It hadn't come away with anything it could chew on. Thus, the monster plunged downwards at the camp and snatched up two sailors, one with each of its talons. The men screamed in terror as they were carried away. Sadly, whatever came next, they'd be alive and conscious for it.
Brock was left spitting mad. He had been caught utterly unprepared for such an event, and he'd lost four men, as well as the helicopter, as a result. Hopefully their transmission had gotten through, because they certainly weren't going to get another shot at it. And worse yet, Kong was obviously no longer the only Kaiju on the island they needed to be on the lookout for. Brock wasn't sure if the smoke from the fire had given their camp away, or if it was the noise from the helicopter that had ultimately brought the Giant Condor to their doorstep. One thing was for sure, he wasn't going to take an attack like that laying down. Almost immediately, Brock came up with an idea. They would be ready for it next time.
…
The following day, Brock had his men build up the campfire so that it would be even easier to spot from the air. Then he lined up his soldiers and hid them amongst the trees in the cliffs. Once they were all in place, the men sat there just waiting to see if their visitor would return. Almost like clockwork, the Giant Condor was back again. From high above, it circled the camp, looking for anyone standing around to pick-off. The soldiers needed the Condor to get in close to the ground so they could get a good shot at it. Brock wouldn't risk any of his men, so he went out into the open himself, keeping a wary eye on the sky.
As soon as Brock had entered the clearing, the Condor came swooping down at him like a hawk upon a fieldmouse. Brock took off towards the tree line, luring the monster into the kill-box. Brock soon realized he wasn't going to make it though. The Condor was closing in on him too fast. Recognizing that, Brock fell to the ground and then rolled over with his rifle pointing upwards. When the kaiju was nearly upon him, Brock suddenly wasn't so sure this had been a good idea.
Green laser-fire poured out of the end of Brock's muzzle and arced up towards the approaching Condor, taking it by surprise. The bolts of energy singed through the monster's feathers and impacted into the flesh below. The Condor started to slow down and then swerved to avoid the blasts. However, he flew directly into the waiting ambush. The other marines and sailors opened up on the monster, each of them armed with one of the advanced weapons they'd taken from the derelict ship. Dozens of energy bolts shot out from the cliffside and many of them found their mark.
The Giant Condor shrieked in pain, finding his would-be prey was no longer easy pickings. The monster glided back upwards, taking more fire along the way. It quickly became apparent that the soldiers could hurt the monster with their new weapons, but they weren't quite strong enough to kill him. The Giant Condor withdrew, missing several large sections of plumage all over his body and wings. If it attacked Brock's party a third time, it might risk losing its ability to stay airborne.
…
Another day passed and the survivors held a ceremony for their fallen comrades. The Giant Condor did not visit them again that day. Perhaps it had learned a lesson about flying nearby the camp, but that didn't mean it wasn't still a threat. The enormous bird of prey could still easily snatch men while they were out foraging. Therefore, they'd need to be even more careful now.
For a few days, things went on as they had before without incident. But that sort of luck wasn't to hold. Soon, a mysterious new threat revealed itself. It started when one of the sailors went missing while spearfishing. There was only one obvious suspect in the disappearance, but it didn't seem to be the work of the Giant Condor. The man in question had simply disappeared. No one had seen or heard anything. The following day, another man went missing in the same area. Again, no traces of him to be found and no sightings of the giant bird were reported either.
Brock did not like those sort of mysteries, so the next day, he went along with the sailors to keep an eye on things with six extra marines in tow who were armed with laser rifles. If the sailors couldn't safely fish anymore, it would put a lot of pressure on the group's other sources of food to keep up with demand. Thus, it was paramount to secure this food source. Brock found himself a nice sandy hill under the shade of a palm tree to keep a lookout. He spread the marines out to cover as much of the area as possible while still being able to support each other if trouble should arise.
Even with the extra protection, the sailors couldn't help but feel exposed walking out onto the beach. They were timid leaving the shelter of the tree line, and didn't venture very far out into the water. Brock didn't mind them being cautious. He preferred not to lose any more men in this operation. One day without fresh fish wasn't going to impact the group much in the long run. He just wanted to see what was behind the disappearances. Something was out there to get his men. Being there personally, he could feel it in his bones. He just didn't see anything.
…
Nearly three hours later, there had been no real action to speak of. Brock and the other marines were starting to get bored and tired. Being on edge for three hours straight was taxing on the mind and body. It was difficult to maintain a high level of focus indefinitely, even for a veteran soldier. The skies were clear, the water was calm, and there wasn't anything stirring in the surrounding jungle either, aside from perhaps a gentle breeze. Even the sailors on the edge of the water seemed to be relaxing their guard a little bit. Despite its obvious flaws, Mondo Island still had some beauty to it. Its beaches were certainly one of its more attractive features.
Brock opened his canteen and took a swig. He found himself thinking it might be nice to retire to an island like this someday, minus the infestation of monsters, of course. The sailors were starting to make catches with their spears, actually doing their jobs instead of just pretending to. Everyone was beginning to forget there was a looming threat. The sailors began venturing further out into the water. Brock's attention narrowed onto one of the sailors who was coming back to the beach with a fairly impressive fish. However, it was not the notable catch that had his interest, but rather, a dark patch of water that was coming in with one of the waves behind the man. The sailor didn't notice it since he had his back turned towards the ocean, but Brock recognized the danger immediately. Something big was moving under the water towards the sailor. Alarm signals shot throughout Brock's body, driving him to act.
"LOOK OUT!" Brock shouted, bringing his rifle up and dashing out from his cover towards the sailor.
It was already too late though. The mass under the water was moving fast, and Brock didn't have the right angle to take a shot at it. The sailor stopped in his tracks, not understanding the nature of Brock's warning, but realizing that something was horribly wrong. There was an expression of terror on his face as he began to understand that his life was in jeopardy. Without warning, the black silhouette sprang out from under the water and snatched the sailor with incredible speed, pulling him back under the water in an instant. The attack happened so fast that Brock barely had time to process it as it happened. The light blue seawater gushed red as the sailor had a huge chunk of his torso bitten away.
The other sailors slowly became aware of what was happening, despite not actually seeing it go down. They understood well enough when they saw the plume of blood spreading outwards from where their friend had just been. They all ran towards the safety of the beach as quickly as they could in sheer panic, each of them knowing it could have easily been themselves attacked just then. Brock stood at the edge of the surf aiming his weapon. There wasn't exactly anything to shoot at though. He could only see thrashing in the water and more blood churning up. Brock had a cold sweat on his brow. He wanted to help the victim, but there was little he could do at that point.
All of a sudden, the sailor's head sprang to the surface and one of his hands shot up reaching for help. Brock could see that the man was somehow still alive. The sailor cried out, which prompted Brock to go further into the water to try to reach him. Brock knew it was dangerous, but he suppressed his own survival instincts. The other marines arrived at the edge of the water, but none of them were bold enough to follow Brock in. They had all seen what happened and were rightly terrified to the core by it.
Brock fought through the incoming waves, slogging through the surf trying to reach the badly injured sailor. The man's face was pale with blood loss. Brock was in the water up to his waist and just mere feet away from him now. As Brock reached out for the sailor, whatever attacked him came back and pulled the man under the water. Brock couldn't do a thing about it. Whatever it was, it had to be extremely powerful to have taken him so easily. The sailor didn't come back up a second time.
Not seeing any other alternative, Brock retreated backwards towards the shore with his weapon ready. His common sense was coming back to him, and he felt awfully stupid being waist deep in the water with an unknown predator lurking just beneath the waves. Waterlogged, Brock trudged into knee high water, but he still didn't feel safe. He could see the dark mass of the aquatic predator starting to move again. Apparently, it was done feeding on the sailor and he could see it coming for himself now. A stack of water rolled up over the black mass as it neared the shore. The other marines opened fire, trying to support Brock, but they started to back away, fearing for their own lives.
Finally, the monster revealed itself. The creature lurched forward, its jaws aiming to clasp around Brock's torso, only missing because Brock tripped and fell backwards into the sand. Brock fired his weapon repeatedly, putting several green bolts directly into the creature's face, which was merely a foot away from him now. The monster turned away from the blasts, moving back towards the water. That put Brock out of any immediate danger, and he could now take a moment to see it for what it was.
Brock had been expecting a shark, but in its place was a massive, white-scaled Sea-Serpent. Its body was so long that Brock could only see the front half of it. The head and neck of the creature were turning in the sand while its body disappeared into the water. The Serpent looked over to Brock with its predatory yellow eyes. It was very snake-like, aside from the fact that it had a mouth full of bloodstained teeth and an eel-like tail that Brock could see poking out of the water as the creature thrashed to get back into the ocean.
Brock could hear water on the surface of the Sea-Serpent's body sizzle as the other marines poured more and more fire onto it. Much like the Giant Condor, they could inflict superficial damage and hurt the Serpent, but they couldn't quite penetrate far enough down to hit anything vital. The Serpent slinked away and disappeared back into the water. Brock wiped away saltwater from his face and just glared out after it. His men came over to offer him a hand up. As they got Brock to his feet, he wondered what they should do next.
…
Unlike the Giant Condor, the Sea Serpent didn't need to expose itself to attack Brock's men. The next day when they came back to the beach, Brock found himself a spot high above in the cliffside to look for it, and sure enough, he could make out the serpent's long and dark silhouette in the waters just offshore. It had gotten used to the sailors' fishing patterns and was out there waiting for them. Spearfishing was off the table from that point forward. The sailors would have to restrict their activities to the beach alone, collecting clams, crabs, and whatever other edibles they could find. Even so, the camp's food reserves were going to be tested by this turn of events. Given the situation, Brock decided that the marines would have to do more recon patrols to try to find an inland stream which might offer them a safer alternative for fishing.
Life was getting tougher on the island in general. The mountain spring, which was the survivor's primary water source, turned out to be in close proximity to King Kong's lair. Kong had burrowed a cave into the side of the mountain above. Thus, supply-runs for water brought the men into close contact with him. There was no reasonable alternative though. They would just have to be careful to avoid him.
The worst news by far though, came while the marines were out looking for a new source of food. They discovered that there was another major kaiju threat on the island, and it took the form of a Tyrannosaurus Rex-like monster. Though it was fair to say that this creature would eat a T-Rex for breakfast, literally. Just at a glance, Brock estimated that the new monster was easily as tall as King Kong, meaning it stood around fifty meters in height. Since an average T-Rex stood generally around four meters tall, that meant this newly discovered beast was roughly twelve-times more massive. An eye-watering figure for the survivors.
Aside from its size, there were a few other notable features that made this new monster stand apart from a Tyrannosaurus. First, the shape of the Kaiju's head was quite different. It was curvy and sleek. That didn't seem to fit with the traditional bone structure of a T-Rex. Second, it had two enlarged teeth near the front of its mouth that were just a little longer than the rest. Third, and perhaps the biggest difference, had to be its arms. The monster's upper appendages were way too large to ever be confused with that of a T-Rex, and it had three clawed fingers instead of two. Additionally, the monster had a single row of small jagged armored plates running down the length of its body leading to its tail. One final distinguishing feature was the tail itself. It had an unusual dagger-like spike right at the tip that looked out of place. The monster's coloration was a mixture of dark blue on the backside and faded yellow around the abdomen.
With the discovery of yet another colossal threat, Brock had some tough decisions to make. His first instinct was to relocate basecamp, but there was a major hitch with that strategy. Being optimistic, and assuming a rescue party was already on its way, the best chance the survivors had to be found was to remain near the crash zone, which stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the interior jungle terrain. Still, Brock needed to have some sort of a backup plan in mind if the new monster, who he had dubbed Gorosaurus, were to come knocking. Brock decided to take inspiration from Kong and set the men to digging a cave into the ridge that was nearby the camp. If they couldn't move, then they could at least have the option to hide. Brock also instructed the foraging parties to avoid going too far west to dodge contact with Gorosaurus.
Little by little, the survivors were getting boxed into their own little section of the island. The count was up to four kaiju threats they needed to evade while at the same time being able to sustain themselves. As the days went by, it got harder and harder to maintain that balancing act. The food supplies began to dwindle.
Finally, hunger began to outweigh sensible judgment, and several men, led by Private Masterson, decided to strike out on their own to find a meal. Masterson wasn't a particularly bright marine, but he was smart enough to leave in the early hours so that Brock wasn't awake to stop them. Altogether, ten men had elected to join him. Once Brock woke up and found out they were gone, he immediately set out after them. It wasn't hard to pick up their trail. As he feared, they had gone west.
…
Private Masterson and his party walked for over an hour before they found a large stream. The spot appeared to be teeming with fish, so the men began to settle in with their spears. As it turned out, the location was a fantastic source of food. There was a deep pool right next to a waterfall and a creek running out of it. Aside from the great aesthetics, the area proved to be quite fruitful. The untapped bounty of the stream yielded superb results. Within two hours, the men had piled up a fat stack of fish. Masterson's mouth was watering. He was so hungry that he couldn't wait until they got back to camp to eat. He lit a fire next to the stream to start cooking right there on the spot. It was a fatal mistake.
While Masterson was in the middle of frying the fish, he looked over to the nearby pool and noticed a rippling in the water. He didn't understand what was causing it. The disturbance was strangely moving against the natural flow of the current from the waterfall. Masterson set down the stick he was using as a cooking fork and crouched down to take a closer look at the water. The rippling soon stopped on its own though. Masterson thought everything was okay until the water cleared, and then he noticed an enormous reflection staring down at him from the pool.
A cold sweat formed on Masterson's brow as he realized Gorosaurus was standing right behind him and bearing down on the group. Too late, Masterson realized that the clattering of the nearby waterfall had muffled the sound of Gorosaurus' approaching footsteps. The other men downstream were oblivious to the monster's presence, still happily staring down at the water, fishing. They hadn't heard anything either and the strong flow of the running water under their feet had kept them from noticing the impact tremors.
Masterson summoned all of his courage, stood up straight, and then turned to warn the others, but he didn't get a word out before Gorosaurus' jaws came snapping down onto him. Masterson was killed instantly and swallowed in a single bite. The other nine men noticed the movement and turned to see the end of the grizzly sight. Only then did they recognize the depth of their mistake, and how deep the shit they were standing in really was. The men drew their laser pistols and shot up at Gorosaurus, thinking maybe they could drive off the monster like the Giant Condor and Sea Serpent before him. They were dead wrong though.
Gorosaurus' tough hide absorbed the weapon fire without any difficulty. The monster took one step forward and then scooped up the next man in line up into his mouth. The soldier died with a courage-shattering crunch, just another light snack for Gorosaurus. With that, the rest of the party broke ranks and tried to run away. It was a useless gesture though, they couldn't outrun Gorosaurus. With just two giant strides, the monster was right back on them and devouring even more men. One by one, he picked off each man until no one was left. The last man standing only saw bloody teeth bearing down on him before everything went dark.
From above, Brock had seen the whole thing go down. It had been an outright massacre. It was too late to do anything to help, so Brock wisely stayed hidden to avoid detection himself. When it was all over, Gorosaurus let out a satisfied roar and then moved out of the area. Brock went down to see if there had been any survivors, but Gorosaurus hadn't left so much as a finger of any of the men behind. All ten of them had perished. Gorosaurus, however, left the fish the dead men had caught sitting idle by the stream. Brock didn't waste the opportunity and bagged them up. There was no sense in letting the protein go to waste when he still had forty-three other men back at camp to feed.
Once Brock had gotten a little ways away from the site of the slaughter, he stopped, leaning his weight on a tree with an outstretched hand. He dropped the salvaged bag of fish to the ground. For the first time in a while, he was totally alone. Nobody was watching him. Without the weight of leadership and the responsibility of keeping up the group's morale by projecting an image of a man in total control, Brock broke down and cried.
The pressure of the situation was starting to get to Brock. Too many men had already died on his watch, and so gruesomely. It was pushing him towards the breaking point. Could he have done something different to prevent this turn of events…? He didn't know. Brock re-ran the series of incidents from the last couple of days over and over again in his mind. He came to no satisfying conclusions. He couldn't absolve himself from the blood that had been spilt, but he couldn't quite condemn himself either. The only thing that was certain was the situation for everyone was terrible and only getting worse.
Brock took a deep breath in. He knew he had to re-collect himself and keep moving. He couldn't afford to just sit there feeling sorry for himself all day. The only thing he could do at that point was keep moving forward. There were too many other men back at basecamp who were still relying on him to just give up. Brock wiped away his tears and then picked up the fish. In a sense, the moment of weakness had been good for him. It helped relieve some of his stress. It felt good to get it out, but now he had to resume his position of strength.
…
Once Brock got back, news of the splinter group's demise was a hit to the morale of the other survivors. Though their deaths meant there was more food to go around for the rest, it was still a hard pill to swallow. All of the men who died had friends among the remaining survivors. More hard decisions had to be made. If Brock didn't find another source of food fast, he'd be facing more men trying to go out on their own within days. Striking out south was the only realistic option. Perhaps the best approach was to migrate with most of the men and leave just a skeleton crew at the main camp as a safeguard. That way, if a rescue party did arrive, they wouldn't be missed.
Brock decided to sleep on it and make a decision in the morning. Only he didn't get the opportunity. During the night, he woke up to the sound of screaming. Fearing that Gorosaurus had somehow tracked them down, Brock grabbed his laser rifle and got ready for a fight. There wasn't any giant monster to fight though. Brock looked around for the camp sentries to figure out what was going on, only to find that they weren't there. All three of them were missing and nobody knew what happened to them. Their weapons were found on the ground, but the men were gone. There was a trail of blood leading into the jungle, but no other clues as to what happened.
Brock's plan to move camp was instantly put on hold until he could figure out what was going on. It couldn't have been the Condor, the Serpent wouldn't dare come that far inland, and Gorosaurus or Kong were both too big not to have left some kind of trace behind. No, it seemed as though they were facing a new kind of threat. The next day, one of the bodies was discovered out in the jungle. It had been eaten down to the bone. It was a bloody mess. Brock was hoping that they were dealing with some type of human threat, but that didn't appear to be the case.
After making the grisly discovery, Brock switched gears and focused his attention to making the camp more defensible. He started by moving as many men as he could inside of the cave so whatever was attacking them could only approach from one direction. That night, no one was to sleep. Everyone would be taking up a weapon and keeping watch. Brock didn't have the luxury of modern military defenses, but since they seemed to be dealing with an animal of some sort, Reinhart suggested that they should make an improvised fence out of sharpened bamboo shoots and place thorny vines in front of them. Brock didn't really think that would stop anything from entering the perimeter, but it might at least give them some warning if anything broke through. He liked the idea and had men set about getting it into place.
The makeshift fence took all day to get into place, and it only covered the innermost section of the camp that lay directly in front of the cave, but it was at least something. Before evening set in, Brock pulled out the last trump card he had up his sleeve. He began to outfit his men with the captured pieces of body armor they'd taken off the dead crew of the derelict ship, along with their swords. If it came down to close combat, the combination of both could give the soldiers an edge over whatever was attacking them. Just as it was starting to get dark, Brock placed lit torches all around the perimeter of the fence to light up the area. Their enemy didn't seem to have any difficulty seeing in the dark the night before. Perhaps a little light could hinder their presumed nocturnal eyesight. But if nothing else, it would certainly help the soldiers see a little better.
With all of the preparations made, it was now just a waiting game. Everyone felt a little silly wearing the armor, particularly the helmets, but no one made any kind of jokes about it. The situation was too serious for levity at that point. A full third of the survivors were already dead, and unless they were able to defend themselves from this latest unidentified threat, nobody was going to last long enough to be rescued. The rate of attrition Mondo Island had inflicted upon the group thus far had been ghastly.
Brock needed a win badly. Spirits were at an all-time low. The true terror of Mondo Island was that death could come to anyone at any time anywhere. A safe space was non-existent there. The party's numbers had been whittled away day after day, and something new and frightening was popping up constantly. As soon as they learned to avoid one danger, a newer and more deadly one took its place.
As night closed in, Brock's mind began to wander to dark places. He imagined that he had died during the first attack on Mondo, and what he was living now was simply his own personal Hell. His eternal punishment was having to watch his men die in horrific ways every day and not be able to do a thing about it. Brock dashed away the notion and decided to walk along the perimeter fence to get his mind off of it. He looked out into the trees and didn't see anything. He listened and only heard the regular jungle noises he'd gotten accustomed to. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Brock began to move back towards the embankment where most of the other survivors were hiding with their weapons ready. He crested the mound and then settled in to wait on the other side. Whatever they were waiting for hadn't seemed to have arrived yet. Brock hoped they would soon, or keeping the men up all night would be for nothing. They'd miss out on a day's worth of work the next day for no meaningful gain. Next to him, Reinhart was calmly chewing on a soft leftover bamboo shoot. There was a fair amount of nutritional value to be found in them. Lots of vitamins. He offered Brock a bite, but he passed. Brock hadn't developed a taste for them just yet, and he wasn't quite that desperate. It was dead quiet. Brock had issued strict orders for no talking unless absolutely necessary.
Suddenly, there was a snapping noise out beyond the perimeter of the camp, and everybody heard it. Guns were brought to the ready. Soon after, there was rustling in the bushes. Something was definitely moving out there, but it was beyond the light of the fires. No one could quite tell what was happening. Then Brock saw something moving on the other side of the barricade low to the ground. Whatever it was, it jostled against a section of bamboo before moving on further down the line. Finding that there was no obvious way through the fence, the intruder stopped and pushed against the bamboo. When that didn't work, a pair of sharp fangs pierced through to the other side of one of the bamboo shoots and bit through it, sending the pole falling over.
Brock was tempted to take a shot at whatever it was, right then and there, but he hesitated. He wanted to get a good look at it first. Half of what made this enemy so scary for his men was the uncertainty of not knowing what it was. Brock could see the shadows of more creatures creeping up on the wall, following in the footsteps of the first. They too started to work on breaching the defenses. Brock still held steady and signaled for everyone else to continue holding their fire. The first intruder chewed through another pole until it toppled as well. Very quickly, it had eaten away a hole big enough for its body to pass through.
Just as the creature was coming into the light of the torches, one of the technicians panicked and opened fire on it with his laser rifle. He wasn't a well-practiced marksmen, and it showed. The green laser bolt missed the creature and hit the nearby torch instead, toppling it over. The creature realized that it had been detected and rushed forward towards the defense line. Silhouetted in darkness, it was hard to make out exactly what it was. It was almost crablike, but roughly the size of a large dog, and almost as fast as one.
"Open Fire!" Brock commanded with a roar. The rest of the men started shooting like it was the first day of open season. More of the creatures breached the defenses and started to charge at the embankment. The night lit up like the Fourth of July as men fired wildly at numerous targets. Brock managed to hit the lead creature with his rifle, which slowed it down, but didn't immediately kill it. Brock poured several more shots into the intruder until it finally stopped and fell over. The other men weren't doing as well though. Many of the remaining survivors were technicians who weren't used to combat.
One of the crawlers managed to make it all the way to the defense line and jumped on one of the men. The creature tried to bite him, but the man's advanced armor was able to hold its mandibles at bay. The beast simply couldn't penetrate the robust metal. Brock rushed over to the man, drawing his sword. With one hand, Brock tore the creature from the soldier and threw it down to the ground violently. With the other, he brought his sword down hard, activating the energy bar as he did. The creature was easily sliced in two. Seeing that, many of Brock's men threw down their rifles and drew their swords. The horde of creatures was nearly upon them anyways. The fight from then on was going to be decided hand-to-hand.
It was a fight the creatures lost decisively. When all was said and done, the crawlers managed to kill one of the engineers by biting him in the neck, bypassing his armor protection. Otherwise, it had been an outright slaughter. Twelve creatures in all had been killed in the melee. Not even one of them had gotten away. They'd been outsmarted and outfought. The advanced technology gave Brock and his men an unparalleled advantage.
After the fighting, Brock closely examined one of their slain adversaries with a torch. The creature was definitely some sort of crustacean, and it was a mean-looking specimen. It had a crimson coloring to its shell, with spikes protruding outwards in several places. It had three large crablike legs sticking out of each side of its carapace, along with numerous smaller ones located underneath its abdomen. It was a small wonder the things could move so fast. Nearby the creature's nasty-looking mandibles were a pair of claws that seemed slightly undersized for most crustaceans but were clearly strong enough to grasp onto prey. The specimen had one feature that was very strange for a crustacean, and that was a long forked tail. It had almost no eyes to speak of, and what it did have was practically indistinguishable from the rest of its shell. It was a strange fish alright.
"These aren't exactly your typical king crab." Brock noted, looking over to Reinhart, hoping for answers. Judging by the look on the good doctor's face, he had none to give.
"Jesus, is this yet another type of kaiju?" A marine asked, pushing on one of the slain crustaceans with his boot. "This place is a second Monster Island in the making."
…
The good news following the battle was that the group's immediate food troubles had been alleviated for at least a couple of days. The odd crablike creatures made for very good eating. They had plenty of meat on them and loads of very much needed protein for the men. Breakfast the following morning was a well-earned feast. A part of Brock hoped that more of them would turn up at some point.
"You're doing a good job you know." Reinhart told Brock quietly while both of them were enjoying their breakfast. Brock just stared at him, not sure what to make of it. "Keeping us alive and together I mean." He clarified. "The plain fact of the matter is, it's harsh here. Nobody could have predicted the hardships we'd face. Even if you made no mistakes, this island would still inflict a hefty toll. But every loss has made us stronger and wiser." Apparently, Brock hadn't hidden how upset he'd been well-enough after getting back to camp the day before, and Reinhart noticed.
"You've taken all of this pretty well too." Brock replied, trying to take the focus off himself. "Better than I'd expect from a guy who spends most of his time in a lab. This isn't becoming a little much for you?" He inquired.
"I've seen people get eaten alive before, it's nothing new." Reinhart replied in a cold, matter of fact sort of way. Brock just stared at him stone-faced. He hadn't expected Reinhart to say such a thing, and he didn't want to ask any more about it either.
After breakfast, Brock decided that he needed to attend to the group's next most-pressing issue personally. The marines were supposed to have gotten fresh water the day before, but instead, they had spent the day building up the camp's defenses. With all of the extra work, water consumption had gone up. They were now running precariously low. Addressing the problem couldn't wait. Dehydration was much more of a hazard to the group than starvation. A man could go many more days without a bite to eat than without a drink of water.
Brock set out with a group of ten soldiers. He had an internal debate with himself on whether it was wiser to change the men back into their camouflaged uniforms to blend in with the forest, or to remain in the advanced armor, just in case they ran into any more of the crawlers along the way. Brock begrudgingly chose the latter option. There was no telling how many more of the crab-like creatures were roaming about the island, but he suspected lots more.
Fortunately, they didn't encounter any of them in the jungle on the way to the mountain spring. However, they did stumble upon something else once they arrived. It turned out, changing their established pattern for the water runs was unwise, for that day, Kong was sitting at the basin of the river getting handfuls of water for himself. The whole group halted in their steps, and everybody went dead silent, recognizing the level of threat that lay before them. Brock held up his hand and motioned for everyone behind him to take cover. The rest of the men quickly found bushes or trees to hide behind. Brock slowly backed away. Kong had not noticed him yet. He spotted something in Kong's right hand as he retreated. A mass of red wriggling bodies. Kong had a hand full of the same crab monsters that had attacked the survivor's camp the night before. The great ape brought them up to his mouth and chomped down on them like they were popcorn shrimp.
'Maybe they are why Kong chose this island.' Brock mused to himself. 'There's certainly plenty of them to eat around here. Yeah… Kong needs protein to regain his strength and heal up from his fight with Godzilla. Mondo could just be a pitstop for him.' As Brock continued to carefully back away, Kong began to stir. He lifted his head and sniffed at the air. He'd caught the scent of something, and it wasn't hard to figure out what. 'SHIT!' Brock's blood turned to ice water. Kong was likely smelling him and his men. "Go!" He whispered to his men, waving his hand earnestly, urging them to abandon their hiding places.
Brock and the rest of the party disappeared into the jungle before Kong could spot them, but they could hear the rumble of the giant ape getting up to come investigate. Not wearing camo seemed like it was going to come back to bite them in a bad way, but even if they were wearing it, Kong could still smell them out in any case. Brock heard tree trunks snapping behind him as Kong began to follow the group into the jungle. They were in real trouble now. It didn't seem likely that they'd make it back to camp before Kong overtook them. Brock had an idea though. He changed direction sharply, leading his men southward.
For a few moments afterwards, Kong kept moving east trying to follow their trail. He'd seemingly lost track of them. But then Kong stopped and backtracked. He quickly realized that the scent trail had made a ninety-degree turn. Within moments, he was after them once again. It was curiosity that drove Kong for the most part, trying to figure out the odd smell that was out of place. The real question was, what would drive him once he caught up to the soldiers? Brock and his men didn't want to find out. They ran for all that they were worth, managing to stay just ahead of Kong as he pursued them. But they couldn't keep up that pace forever.
Just as Kong was nearly on top of them, Brock found what he was looking for. The group came to a clearing and discovered Gorosaurus milling around in search of prey. Kong came charging in behind them, breaking out into the open. He discovered Brock's party running out ahead of him, but he didn't have time to process what to do about it because he was almost immediately confronted by Gorosaurus. Kong chose to ignore the tiny humans for the time being, and turned his attention to the other monster, who posed a much greater threat to him.
Brock looked back over his shoulder to see that Kong was no longer chasing them. His gambit had paid off. Kong and Gorosaurus were both too preoccupied with each other to bother with them. Brock wisely led his men away from the two titans as they began to close in on each other. There was no sense in staying between them. Luckily, there was an outcropping of rocks which looked like a promising place to take cover. The party clambered up into safety and then turned to watch the battle unfold.
Gorosaurus showed very little fear of Kong. Either the two hadn't met yet, or Kong's ragged state simply reduced his aura of menace. Gorosaurus saw him as little more than a warm meal in waiting. Kong on the other hand, was fairly wary of Gorosaurus. He kept his distance at first. Perhaps his defeat at Godzilla's hands had shaken his confidence. In a superficial way, Gorosaurus was similar to Godzilla in several respects. They were both reptilian, they both stood at roughly the same height, they both had long tails, they both had spines running along the length of their backs, and they both had sharp teeth.
Kong issued a warning, roaring and raising his hands up to make himself look bigger. Then he beat his chest wildly to intimidate his foe. The threat display did little to impress Gorosaurus though. He roared in kind, challenging Kong. The two monsters set about circling each other, sizing one another up.
Surprisingly, it was Kong who made the first move, shooting forward and trying to catch Gorosaurus with a punch that had all of his bodyweight behind it. Kong miscalculated though, missing and stumbling forward. Gorosaurus took full advantage. He reared back on his hindlegs and kicked Kong with both of his feet in a fashion similar to a kangaroo. Both of Gorosaurus's feet dug into Kong's abdomen, knocking the air out of him. The force of the blow also knocked Kong backwards, sending him rolling. Kong however, in a modest feat of agility, used the momentum to roll all the way over and back up onto his feet.
Kong's failed attack emboldened Gorosaurus, who confidently strode forward and kicked Kong a second time while he was still trying to recover. At that point, Kong wasn't in much of a position to counterattack. He was still trying to get a good breath in after getting the wind knocked out of him. The best Kong could do was turn sideways and take the impact of Gorosaurus's next attack on his shoulder. Gorosaurus's double-kick still hit very hard though, and Kong was once again sent rolling.
Kong slowly got back to his feet, slightly dazed. He had recuperated enough though and was now able to consider fighting back. With his head clearing, Kong started to get angry. The adrenaline began to pump through his muscles. Gorosaurus moved in to kick Kong for a third time, but it was a mistake trying to use the same attack three times in a row. Kong was learning quick and managed to entirely dodge the powerful blow. Gorosaurus maintained his balance however, utilizing his tail to recover instantly.
Kong took advantage of Gorosaurus's failed assault and tried to catch him off guard with another punch, but Gorosaurus's reflexes were much faster than Kong anticipated. The saurian caught Kong's fist in his mouth and bit down hard. Kong pulled back, trying to free himself, but Gorosaurus's jaw strength was extraordinarily strong. He had a nastier bite than Godzilla, that was for sure. Kong only managed to tear his arm up wrenching against Gorosaurus's teeth.
Realizing he wasn't getting anywhere, Kong quickly changed tactics and put Gorosaurus into a headlock with his free arm. He pulled Gorosaurus downwards, pile-driving his head into the ground. While the move certainly did some damage to Gorosaurus's face, the impact also forced the giant saurian's teeth deeper into the flesh of Kong's arm. Afterwards, Gorosaurus was so stunned by the collision that he released his bite. Kong's fist was damaged, but free.
"He's no Godzilla, I'd give Kong the edge here." Brock remarked, observing Gorosaurus's awkwardness in trying to get back to his feet.
Gorosaurus didn't have quite the same level of brawling skills that Godzilla displayed when fighting against Kong in close quarters. It mostly boiled down to the fact that Gorosaurus's arms were smaller by comparison. They weren't very useful for wrestling, grappling, or pushing himself up. In stark contrast, Kong sprang right back up to his feet and went on the attack. He beat down on Gorosaurus wildly, using both of his fists like hammers. At first, Gorosaurus just lay there absorbing the blows. Then he started to register just how much damage Kong was inflicting.
Gorosaurus turned on his back and then kicked up with his powerful legs. He caught King Kong right under the chin. Kong was rocked by the blow and stumbled backwards. His knees felt like Jello. Gorosaurus took the well-earned respite to get back on his feet. By the time he did though, Kong had shaken off the effects of the kick to his face.
The two monsters squared up for a second time. Kong had already learned some valuable lessons from the encounter and planned to use them going forward. He charged in and tackled Gorosaurus, immediately taking him to the ground to deprive him of the use of his powerful legs. Kong took up a position to the side and rolled Gorosaurus the other way so that the saurian's legs were facing away from him, ensuring Gorosaurus couldn't possibly kick towards him. Once in that position, Kong unleashed a flurry of ground and pound attacks on Gorosaurus.
There was little Gorosaurus could do at that point. Kong had taken complete control of the fight. He had no way of countering him. After several more strong blows, Gorosaurus' legs went stiff and he stopped struggling. Kong appeared to have knocked him out. Kong stood up and celebrated. It hadn't been such a tough fight after all, he thought. Once he'd figured out Gorosaurus was a one trick pony, it was easy enough to defeat him.
Kong went to move away, only to feel a strong pain emanating from his leg. He looked down to find that Gorosaurus had been playing possum, or perhaps it was simply that he hadn't actually been knocked all the way out. Whichever the case, Gorosaurus's jaws were clamped down hard on Kong's shin. Taken off guard, Kong was rattled and did the only thing he could think of. He stomped down on Gorosaurus's face with his free foot, only he couldn't get much force behind his stomps with his other leg being trapped the way it was. Kong's attacks were largely ineffective. Having no other alternative, Kong knelt down and started to beat Gorosaurus with his fists again. Those attacks were also mostly ineffective.
Enraged, Kong put both of his hands inside of Gorosaurus's mouth. He harnessed all of his considerable strength to force the saurian's jaws open. Within moments, Kong had freed his leg, but he didn't let up. He forced Gorosaurus's mouth open even further, starting to strain the limits of how far it could go. Blinded with rage, Kong was ruthlessly trying to break Gorosaurus's jaw. Gorosaurus, however, wasn't just going to sit there and let Kong do it though. He had one final ace up his sleeve, and now was the time to play it.
While Kong was focused on his face, Gorosaurus brought up his tail and positioned it directly behind Kong. Gorosaurus struck hard, burying the spiked tip as far into Kong's back as it would go. The move caught Kong completely off guard. He turned to see if another monster had struck him from behind while his back was turned. He released Gorosaurus's jaw in the process. Gorosaurus pulled his tail back out, it had served its purpose.
Kong backed away, trying to assess the damage he'd taken. He reached around and saw a modest amount of blood when he pulled his hand back, nothing that was remotely close to fatal. Just as Kong decided he was okay, something else started to happen. He found that he was having trouble focusing on Gorosaurus. He felt tired and his vision was blurring. The secret of Gorosaurus's spiked tail was revealed. His barb contained a neurotoxin, and he'd pumped a fair amount of it into Kong's system. It wasn't enough to put the great ape out, but it was enough to slow him down.
Feeling unsteady, Kong knelt down to the ground and reached behind him. Gorosaurus saw the opportunity to go back on the offensive. He stepped forward, advancing on Kong. Just as Gorosaurus got close, Kong's arm came forward and he threw a glob of brown muck at his face. The sludge hit Gorosaurus in the right eye, and he came to a halt instantly, trying in vain to wipe it away with his undersized arms. Speckles of the material overshot Gorosaurus and landed in the rocky ridge where Brock and the rest of the survivors were still hiding. They were partially covered in the mystery sludge.
"God damn it, I really hope this is mud…!" Brock cursed, flicking his wrists, having yet to identify what the sticky muck on them was.
While Gorosaurus was still blinded and confused, Kong pulled up the largest tree he could find, and then slammed it into the side of his opponent's head. Gorosaurus was staggered and fell completely over. Kong fell over as well. He had put all of his weight into the strike and didn't have the equilibrium to steady himself afterwards.
"Holy shit, Kong hit a home run with that one!" Brock nearly cheered he was so impressed.
"Hey Sarg, it is just mud after all." One of the soldiers remarked. "Kong must have taken it from the riverbed, there's still sand in it." That bit of news was a relief to everyone involved.
Out on the battlefield, Gorosaurus had finally had enough. He'd thrown everything he could at his opponent and Kong was still putting up a hell of a fight. The giant saurian turned tail and then retreated back into his own territory. The battle was over. Through sheer grit and determination, Kong had prevailed.