Zilla V.S. Rodan Chapter 2: Work

Madelyn and Taylor lay on that piece of rubble for what seems like hours with their lost child. The two simply watch as the giant creature destroys the buildings around New York Bay and evades the helicopters trying to bring it down. Luckily, they’re not going to be out there much longer. A swarm of helicopters with the painted, bold letters “MONARCH” come flying out to the crash site of the boat. As the helicopters begin to circle the area, all two of the survivors wave their arms as much as they can and yell out for help. Thanfully, they catch the attention of one of the helicopters, and it releases a ladder for them to climb up it. The two climb into the helicopter, all the while Taylor tries to carry Max into it. It’s tough, but he manages to do it. The two climb in, and the soldiers on board begin to check them for wounds. It’s only now that Madelyn and Taylor notice their wounds, and begin to feel the pain set in. Taylor has multiple small cuts along his body, but has one long, but shallow one that might need stitches. Madelyn has a broken index finger and her face has a trickle of blood running down it from a shallow wound on her forehead. The soldiers that were looking at Max immediately gasped whne they saw his backside. They check his vitals and give an odd motion, a wave of their hands. Madelyn and Taylor know what that means, though. “He’s alive!” says Madelyn. “There’s no amount of words that can express how sorry I am for you, Maddie…” says one of the soldiers. “HE’S ALIVE VICKY, I KNOW HE IS!!!” Yells Madelyn. “Ma’m… I’m sorry but Vicky’s right…” “RICK, DON’T YOU DARE TALK BA-” “Madelyn…” Says Taylor, stepping in front of her before she tears the soldiers apart. The look on his face says it all. The two stare at each other, not saying or anything. The only sounds that can be heard are the spinning blades of the helicopter and the sounds of destruction from New York Bay. Suddenly, Madelyn’s face contorts in pain and grief and she begins to sob. Taylor soon follows her footsteps and they both hug each other, trying to help one another through the pain but unsure about how to even help themselves. It’s a very long, painful flight back to MONARCH Headquarters…

“Are you sure you don’t want a few days off? I mean, this job is important, but you just-” “I function fine, just send me out on a chopper next time my squad has to do something. That creature needs to be stopped.” “... Fine, but as soon as this is over you are going to take mandatory time off. It’s not healthy to bottle up emotions, especially something like this, Enden.” “Thanks, sir, but the most important thing right now is to stop that thing.” “Alright, now go rest. Your troops are heading off on another chopper in an hour to commence Operation Tracey.” “Um… sir… what’s Operation-” “We’ll debrief everybody right before they head off, so just be back here in about 30 minutes.” “Yes, sir!” Madelyn salutes her CO and walks off, planning to head to the 7th level to go speak with Taylor. However, along the way she’s stopped by one of the members of her squad, Vicky Mendoza. “Sarge… how’re ya holdin’ up?” says Vicky in her distinctive thick Southern accent. “I’m fine, private. I just need to change into my uniform, and I’ll join you guys in the briefing room.” “Ma’m… I don’t believe that’s the best of ideas…” says Vicky, with a concerned look on her face. “I’m fine Vicky. Besides the most important thing is to deal with this new titan.” “I are ya sure ‘bout-” “I’m fine, Mendoza.” “All right. Blackbirds for life!” Vicky puts her hands together and starts waving them up and down, as if they were wings on a bird. Madelyn weakly chuckles and says, “God damn, even in the middle of an actual titan attack you guys can’t stop doing that sign you came up with.” “Come on, yer our Sarge! Why ain’t you doin’ it like the rest of us?” “Because it’s so ridiculous!’ “Aw come on! I know ya want to!” Madelyn snorts, salutes, and walks off. As she walks off, Vicky yells out, “I know I’m gonna getcha to do it someday! Just ya wait!” Madelyn just keeps walking. She knows what Vicky’s trying to do, but nothing can really take her mind off of what just happened. No amount of Blackbird signs could erase the memories of- She shakes herself a little before she gets into the elevator. Kaiju destroying Manhattan first, then she’ll deal with personal issues. Finally, the elevator arrives to its destination and she reaches the analytics and information gathering level of the building, or as what Taylor affectionately calls it, the Nerd Level. She walks towards a particular desk of the Nerd Level containing the biggest nerd of them all, Taylor. “Hey Taylor, can I speak with you in private?” Taylor quickly adjusts his glasses, shuts his laptop, and says, “Sure honey…” The two walk over to the elevator, and Taylor asks, “Madelyn, how are you holding up?” Madelyn hesitates for a second, wanting to be honest but trying to be strong for her husband. “I’m fine, I just need to deal with this creature first, then I can think about… you know…” Madelyn trails off, beginning to be overwhelmed with memories- “Maddie, it’s ok. You don’t have to try and act all tough with me.” “I’m not, I just need to stop this Kaiju first!” Taylor thinks for a moment, and then realizes what’s going on. “Maddie, you can’t just keep working yourself so hard, especially not with some vendetta against a giant animal-” “You’re doing the exact same thing!” Taylor pauses for a second, and the replies with, “No, it’s not the same thing. Me working soothes me and takes my mind off of what happened. I’m trying to help people at the same time and get rid of this creature, and my work here doesn’t risk any lives unless I make a lapse in judgement or jump to conclusions. Your work endangers not only your life, but the lives of your entire squad and puts you in the middle of the most hectic situation imaginable. Right after all this, especially with revenge in mind, is going to cause a lapse in judgement. That lapse in judgement can get you, your squad, and all of the city killed! That’s why you can’t over exert yourself, it’s going to come back and bite you in the ass later! Especially when you’re not confronting what happened, you can’t hide from it for forever Maddie! You have to deal with the fact that Max-” “I’m the one hiding from it?!! I’M THE ONE HIDING FROM IT?!!!! You’re the one trying to analyze the fucking shit of a giant reptile in facing what’s happening!!! You’re being fucking hypocritical!!!” It’s then that Madelyn comprehends what she just said and how loud she said it. A good portion of the othee people in the room are staring at her, even from the sound dampening windows. “Taylor… I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it like-” “No… you’re right… I am hiding from it…” Taylor looks at her with a single tear in his eye and says, “Maddie, if you’re going to listen to anything I say, then listen to this. Please, for your sake, for my sake, for the sake of your squad, and for the sake of the entire city, please, please confront what happened. I know that you of all people have a problem confronting the past, but please… it’s the best thing for your health…” Madelyn considers it for a moment, but then says in a hushed voice, “I can’t… you know I can’t…” Taylor leaves without another word and heads straight for the bathroom at an incredible pace for fairly obvious reasons. Madelyn sighs and heads back to the elevator and goes down to the second floor below ground level, containing the locker rooms, training rooms, etc. She goes into the locker room and changes. She has about 20 minutes until the briefing and she needs to get her shit together beforehand...

I apologize fellow Southerners but I don't know how to write accents very well... Might as well try with my own accent first!