Godzilla Returns by Marc Cerasini Read Free Book Online Page B

nod.
    As Will cautiously approached the windows, people inside the ferry were still talking excitedly. One woman's panic-filled voice cut through the noise. "Kim! Kim!" she cried frantically.
    Kim turned when he heard his mother calling him. He rushed across the heaving deck to her side.
    "Mom!" he cried. "We hit some rocks. Floating rocks! I saw them moving!"
    Kim's mother ignored his words. She pulled her son close and held him. The whole ship vibrated as the engine strained to move the ferry. The ship seemed to be stuck, as if it had run aground.
    Just then, several crewmen ran into the cabin. They began taking down inflatable life rafts that were stored in the cabin's ceiling. One of them produced a bullhorn.
    "We must abandon ship," the sailor said through the loudspeaker. "The hull has been ruptured and we are taking on water. Please remain calm. Emergency calls have already been sent. Help is on the way. As a precaution, we will now board the lifeboats in an orderly fashion. Please remain calm."
    Of course, his words had the opposite effect. The passengers were thrown into a panic once again. Women sobbed. Men cried out. Some of the crowd tried to take the inflatable rafts away from the sailors. Fights broke out.
    Though Will Adams knew almost no Korean, he understood the pandemonium all around him. This ship is sinking! He glanced down at Soonji. Her face was white with panic. She clung to the deck as if it were a lifeline.
    A sinking lifeline , Will thought glumly.
    Nearby, Kim's mother clutched her son close. She could imagine no more horrible fate than drowning. It had been her lifelong fear. But she did not worry for herself - she prayed only for her young son's life.
    Meanwhile, the young American stood up and looked out of the cabin window, toward the bow of the ship.
    Suddenly, he gasped and took several steps back.
    Kim, his mother, and a few others turned when they heard Will cry out. They, too gasped as a dark shadow rose up and fell across the bow of the Pusan ferry.
    As the frightened, unbelieving passengers and crew watched in awe and horror, a giant monster rose up out of the Sea of Japan with an ear-shattering roar!

CHAPTER 7
GOJIRA!

    May 29, 1998, 7:18 A.M.
The Pusan ferry
Sea of Japan

    "It's Gojira! " one of the sailors screamed. All eyes turned to the large windows.
    The sailor let go of the uninflated raft he held and it dropped to the deck. The sailor hit the deck, too, and curled up in a quivering mass of fear. A nearby passenger - a burly man - quickly snatched up the raft and pushed for the exit. Another man grabbed the raft out of his hands, and a fight broke out.
    In seconds, the Pusan ferry erupted in pandemonium. One woman screamed and fainted. She hit the deck hard because everyone else was too startled by the appearance of the now-legendary monster to catch her. Other women, and many men, too, began to scream. Children sobbed in fear.
    Will Adams looked up as the shadow fell over him.
    Godzilla! he thought, taking two steps backward. He stared awestruck at the apparition standing before him. Gojira - the Japanese name for the prehistoric monster known worldwide as Godzilla - was supposed to be dead.
    Hell , Will thought, Godzilla never should have existed in the first place!
    As Will stared at the creature, panic swept through the rest of the passengers. All semblance of order was gone. People rushed for the exits, thinking they could escape the creature by jumping into the Sea of Japan. Will stifled his own panic and observed this incredible freak of nature with a critical, objective eye that would do his reporter father proud.
    Godzilla looked like a Tyrannosaurus rex , but on closer examination the resemblance was slight. The creature had a tiny, wedge-shaped, almost feline head, a bull neck, and a wide, barrel-like chest. The three rows of spikes - which Will had at first thought were gigantic rocks - clattered as the creature towered over them.
    Godzilla was almost completely