もののけ | monster | soshiro hoshina (Kaiju No. 8)

ごじゅう | fifty

もののけ | kaiju | monster

50

RAID ON TACHIKAWA BASE
(PART 1)

[A lengthy chapter ahead]

Soshiro

TWO WEEKS. FOURTEEN AGONIZING, sleepless nights have passed since Kiyomi left for New York, and every second that ticks by feels like another stone added to the weight already crushing my chest. I've done nothing but stare at the screen, endlessly refreshing the news, searching for any update, any shred of information that might tell me she's okay. But all I find is devastation, ruins that I can barely wrap my mind around.

New York is in ruins. The reports are grim, a relentless barrage of bad news that never seems to end. Almost half the population has been wiped out, not just in New York, but in neighboring countries as well—places like Canada and parts of the Caribbean, which have been caught in the crossfire of this nightmare. The entire region is drowning in chaos, swallowed by a tide of destruction that no one could have foreseen.

The monsters Kiyomi is facing are just like the ones here in Japan. I can bet she's thrilled that there's finally some action happening over there. They're not just big, they're almost impossibly strong, with Fortitude levels that rank them as the most powerful creatures ever recorded in America's history. The lowest of them, has a Fortitude level of 9.5, and the others are even worse, creeping closer to the unimaginable threshold of 9.7.

The American Anti-Monster Defense Forces are stretched thin, barely holding the line even with the assistance of Kiyomi's troops and herself. I heard that half of Gen's forces were deployed as backup, but even that might not be enough. Every report that comes in makes it clear just how dire the situation is. The monsters are relentless, and even with all the firepower they've thrown at them, the cities are still crumbling, one block at a time.

I can't reach Kiyomi. It's like she's disappeared off the face of the earth, swallowed up by the chaos she's fighting to contain. No calls, no messages, nothing. Her last messaged was two days ago. I've tried her every line of communication, but there's only silence on the other end. It's killing me, not knowing where she is, what she's facing right now. I know she's out there, probably in the thick of the battle, but that doesn't make it any easier. If anything, it just makes the fear that much worse.

I don't know where she is right now, but I know that woman is okay. I have to believe that, even if every fiber of my being is screaming otherwise. I'm just the one overthinking, letting my mind run wild with the worst-case scenarios. A heavy sigh escapes my lips as I lean back in my chair, the familiar creak of the worn leather somehow grounding me in the present. My eyes, however, remain glued to the tablet in front of me, scouring the news for any hint, any sign that Kiyomi might be safe. But there's nothing new, just the same recycled headlines about the chaos in New York. No updates, no reassurance. Just silence.

It's late—almost midnight, and the world outside my window is eerily quiet. The darkness feels heavier tonight, pressing in on me from all sides, but I push the feeling aside. I can't afford to let my emotions get the better of me, not now.

These past two weeks have been a blur of monotony, each day bleeding into the next with nothing to distinguish one from another. I've buried myself in routine, trying to fill the void her absence has left behind. Training. Working out. More paperwork than I ever thought possible. Training the soldiers. Waiting for Kiyomi's messages, though they never come. It's all I can do to keep from losing my mind, to keep from drowning in the worry that's become a constant companion.