Up From The Deep by Vaughn Jackson (highly recommended books txt) 📕

like before. Brannigan landed a swift kick to the groin that elicited the only real pain response he’d seen from the man since this started. He shoved the man away as hard as he could and sprinted to the side of the ship. He needed the man angry. Angry enough to charge one more time. Brannigan was banking on him being stupid enough not to see what was coming.

“So I blow you up, you live, come all the way back out here to kill me, and you can’t even touch me. Tragic.” Brannigan spat a glob of blood onto the wooden deck of the boat.

“I touch you,” Ivan said.

“Oh? I didn’t know we rolled the same way. Sorry though, I prefer my men with a little less space between their ears.”

Ivan furrowed his brow in confusion.

“You’re an idiot,” Brannigan explained.

“No.”

“Oh, don’t be upset,” Brannigan said, dodging a fist the size of his head, “stupid isn’t the worst thing you could be. In your case, you’re also ugly, so at least you’re good at multi-tasking.”

Ivan growled a low rumbling sound like a wild animal. A warning the captain chose to ignore. His emotional reactions are like that of a child, he thought. I can literally taunt my way to victory.

He gave a quick thumbs up to Raymond who still had his gun trained on Ivan in case things went bad enough that sinking the ship would be a preferable outcome.

“Come on, big guy,” Brannigan shouted, “let’s dance.”

Another kick to the groin, followed by an uppercut to the jaw that crunched the bones in Brannigan’s knuckles. The strike must have made Ivan bite his tongue because a steady stream of blood now poured from his mouth. The man spat on the deck before throwing a punch that managed to take Brannigan by surprise. It caught him at the temple with enough force to blackout his vision for a few seconds. He collapsed to his knees and vomited.

“What’s that…three ribs and my skull you’ve cracked?” Brannigan shuddered as he tried to rise to his feet. Vertigo almost put him back to his knees, and he choked down a second wave of nausea. Not good.Concussion, or brain bleed? Both? Can’t take another hit. Can’t last long either way. He looked out at the bay to his back. One last shot at this.

“Come on, you overgrown fucking oaf! You wanna kill me so bad, stop being a little bitch and do it before I bore myself to death. I’m right fucking here, and I don’t have all day.” The force of shouting rattled Brannigan’s cracked ribs and sent his vision diving down a fuzzy tunnel, but he stood his ground. He got the response he wanted.

Ivan let out a shriek of rage before charging headlong straight at him. Brannigan did the only thing his body would let him do; he collapsed, right as Ivan was upon him. The man tripped over Brannigan’s body, sending him careening off the ship and into the water of the bay. Raymond rushed over to Brannigan’s side.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Depends, is he drowning?” Brannigan choked out.

Raymond looked over the side. “He’s flailing. Panicking. Drifting away from the boat with the current.”

“How far?”

“Twenty, maybe thirty feet?”

“Shoot him.”

“What?”

“Shoot him. In the head. Then get down.”

“But the dead man’s trigger…”

“Water will stop the shrapnel. Boat can handle the pressure wave. Shoot him, we’re not monsters.”

Raymond nodded in agreement. He aimed for Ivan’s head and squeezed the trigger. The man’s flailing stopped, and Raymond dove to the ground. A few seconds passed before the explosion rocked the boat, sending both Brannigan and Raymond tumbling to the other side of the boat. A spray of bay water and blood rained down on them from above.

“Fantastic work, Captain,” Raymond said.

“Yeah, not to rush you or anything, but I think I need a hospital.” Darkness rushed in from the edges of Brannigan’s vision and swallowed him whole. He could no longer feel the deck of the boat, just the weightless sensation of falling into nothingness.

Chapter 15

“Lieutenant Greenwood,” General MacPherson barked.

“I’m here, ma’am.”

“Captain Brannigan has been severely injured in the line of duty. You are hereby appointed to lead any and all task forces in relation to Tempest and the ongoing kaiju threat.”

“Ma’am.”

“You are dismissed.”

Greenwood lingered.

“Lieutenant?”

“Will the captain be alright?”

“His new injuries in conjunction with his previous injuries have put him in a bad way. He’s in God’s hands now.”

Greenwood saluted. “Understood.”

“But,” the general added, “the man had an annoying habit of not ever staying down. Dismissed, for now.”

Greenwood gave a slight grin and stepped into the hallway.

“What’d she say?” Devonte accosted her as soon as the door shut behind her.

“Inspector Dehane called in. Brannigan’s been hurt, bad. They had to take him to the nearest hospital instead of bringing him back here.”

“Where is he?”

“No,” Greenwood’s voice hardened. “We need you and your friend here trying to solve our giant reptile problem. Got it?”

“But—”

“No buts. Focus. Brannigan knew what he was getting into. He did his job, now you need to do yours.”

Devonte lightly rubbed at his injured shoulder. “And what exactly can I do?”

“What?”

“Brannigan’s our best soldier, Skylar’s the real kaiju expert, Raymond’s the detective, you’re an all-round badass, and me…I’m a hacker operating at half speed. You can’t beat kaiju with code.” He slammed his good fist into the wall. “What the hell is the point of me in all this?”

“Who found your friend?” Greenwood said without missing a beat.

“What?”

“Who found your friend? It’s a simple question.”

“I-I did?”

“You sure about that? You don’t sound sure.”

“I found Skylar.”

“I thought so,” she said. “And who kept Tempest from getting their hands on the monster summoning device?”

“Me.”

“Mhmm. Now, who’s going to stop whining like a bitch and go make themselves useful?”

Devonte’s mouth hung open while Greenwood stared at him. He cleared his throat and said, “I am.”

Greenwood cupped her hand to her ear.

“I am,” Devonte said louder, glaring up at her. “Thanks, I needed the pep talk.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I just told