Free Kaiju Apocalypse by Eric S. Brown, Jason Cordova Page A

Kaiju had gone insane.  Many beasts were attacking each other, tooth and nail, and those that weren't, stumbled and moved awkwardly as if their brains had suddenly short-circuited.  All eyes went to the monitor showing the towering Mother Kaiju as the great beast thrashed about wildly.  The pincer of its remaining arm snapped open and closed on the flesh of its own face. 
     
    Cheers went up all around the command area.  Yeltsin felt as if he had just been gut punched.  It was one thing to hope for a miracle and a whole other to see it delivered to you.  With the Kaiju driven mad by some unseen force, they actually had a prayer now.  They could turn the tide of the battle and push the monsters back into the ocean. He struggled to keep his voice professional as he shouted, “To the streets!  Long live Lemura!”
     
    With that on the lips of the men and women in Control Central, the battle to reclaim Lemura began.
     
    ****
     
    Yeltsin moved through the streets, training from another time and place coming back to him as he led his bastardized platoon through the ruined streets. The Kaiju everywhere were in disarray, but still very dangerous. They quickly found that out as two Dog Kaiju grabbed an unarmored colonel and dragged him off into a darkened alley, his screams loud and piercing until they were abruptly cut off. Yeltsin tossed a few grenades into the alley and moved on.
     
    “This is Lemura Actual,” Yeltsin said over an open circuit, tapping his comm into every comm unit in Lemura. “Minister Yeltsin, for anyone confused. I am leading the efforts to take back our streets. If you still have your weapon and ammunition available, I urge you to join me in taking back your city, your home, your life. This is for Lemura. Long live Lemura!”
     
    So rang the battle cry of humanity. Pacifica, Atlantica... they were the fallen beacons, no longer lighting the way for humanity to survive. They were gone, swept away in the oceans of time. They would not be rebuilt. They would be memories of failure, of lost lives, of abandoned hope. They would only exist in song and story, and even then, their importance would be lessened in human history. That was Minster Yeltsin’s legacy, and it was one that he was not ashamed to admit striving for.
     
    Gunfire erupted ahead of them. Yeltsin watched as a man and his three sons barreled out of a ruined apartment building, old hunting rifles in their hands as they joined the battle. A lone Dog Kaiju attacked the family, who valiantly fought back. The father was dragged to the ground, ripped apart by the Kaiju. His sons killed the beast. Yeltsin nodded approvingly.
     
    “Now is the time, people of earth,” he whispered fiercely. “Now is the time to take back our city, our planet.”
     
    A soldier fell, and a citizen took his place. Yeltsin noticed but said nothing to the woman, who was fearfully clutching an old revolver in her hands. There was a steely glint of determination in her eye. Yeltsin would not discount the woman, or any other person who stood up to fight. This was humanity’s final stand, and every man, woman and child capable was a soldier now.
     
    “Forward!” he cried out and led the way, men and women following closely behind him. The Mother Kaiju, severely injured and apparently cut off from the Overmind, was still a severe danger. The small arms would likely do very little actual harm to the massive Kaiju, but even enough bee stings can kill a bear.
     
    The Mother Kaiju roared painfully somewhere nearby as more fire poured into her exposed flank. The turtle shell, which offered near-invulnerability in the front of the beast, did not cover her back as well. The thick scales of the Mother were all that stood between life and death for the beast. He checked his belt for grenades and saw that he had ten left. Others in his growing group had more, and he saw that one civilian who had joined them was carrying a large bundle of claymore explosives. He blinked