Spring Valley, California 4:30pm

In Spring Valley, the streets of the town was now filled with military personnels and vehicles patrolling the streets for the safety of the citizens after the griffon attack, while other personnels were preparing for a mission ordered by the US Navy Admiral Joseph Ace.

Matthew Cade was seen taking a truck to his location where he will have a meeting, and he has been sitting in the back of the truck with his brothers for six minutes now. A brief second later, the truck came to a stop near the sidewalk.

"Okay everybody out." A ground soldier ordered as he and his colleagues pulled down the door of the truck. Then, twenty US soldiers including Matthew got off the truck. "Be alert, we're well in range of this new Griffon's EMP. So from here on out, its on the ground or it's not at all. Let's go!" He ordered.

A brief second later, Matthew heard a loud toot toot noise, he looked in front of him and saw a rail freight transport train driving on the train tracks with soldiers on one of the platforms behind the train. The platform was also carrying a large bomb. A brief second later, the train stopped.

"Alright listen up! This train and these weapons are headed to San Francisco." A soldier on the train platform informed "Anyone who are not part of this mission, disembark now." He ordered. Then, five soldiers got off.

When Matthew heard the information, he turned around and began to make his way to a shop where his superiors are trying to come up with a plan to lure the griffon to San Francisco as well as comprehending the railway path.

"That's a negative lieutenant." The tech sergeant told him "This is a high-risk mission. That train is a national asset, not Amtrak." He finished. Then, he walked up to a table.

"Are we good to go?"

"Just about."

"From the look of the casing on those Minuteman ICBMs guessing the digital module's been bypassed." Matthew assumed "And you're prepping for a full analog retrofit." He told him with an incredulous expression.

"Is my jaw suppose to drop by your intelligence?" The tech sergeant asked with a perplexed expression. "I know, you're EOD. I got my crew, and they know what they're doing." He told them as he began to walk to one of his men where a checklist will be given to him.

"Aim the pointy end at the monsters right sarge?" The soldier will the checklist asked, and he nodded to him. Then, he grabbed the checklist in his hands with a smile. After that, the soldier walked away.

"When was the last time you let one of your guys put their fingers in a live bomb?" He asked, but the tech sergeant didn't know how to reply due to him never placing his hands on a bomb before when he joined the US military "Look, this is what I do. This is my job." He told him sternly.

The tech sergeant didn't even bother to continue the conversation anymore due to him being busy with his mission. So, he turned around and began to walk to the exit of the shop however, Matthew called him again.

"Tech sergeant." Matthew called, and the soldier stopped once again to turn around and face him "My wife and son are in San Francisco right now. I need to get on that train, so please." He begged.

The tech sergeant began to ponder about this for a bit. A brief second later, he let out a sigh and gave the EOD officer a nod.

In a hospital in San Francisco, there were dozens of patients seen being transported to the hospital while doctors and nurses rushed to get to the sickbay to treat them, while anxious relatives were waiting anxiously for the news of their family's condition. On a table station, Matthew's son Kyle was seen on the large table while watching a news broadcast about a giant griffon that was destroying Las Vegas, and he had a concerned expression on him.

"Kyle, your mommy is gonna be right back." A nurse told him in an assuring tone. Then, she picked up a phone "Emergency, can I help you? What? Oh yeah, just a sec." She told the caller. Then, she turned around and looked at Melissa who was seen pushing a hospital stretcher with a patient on it out of a station.

"Melissa, this is for you." She told her.

"Tell them I'll be there in a minute." Melissa told her as she continued to push the patient to his room.

"Melissa, its your husband." She told her which made her stop in her tracks.

Melissa then walked to another wall telephone in the hospital after sending the patient to his room, once she got to it, she grabbed the phone, pressed the number buttons and placed it next to her right ear.

"Hey."

"Melissa?" Matthew said as he stood up straight.

"Matthew? Oh my goodness."

"You alright? Where's Kyle?"

"I've been trying to call you everywhere."

"You okay?"

"I'm fine. Kyle's with me right now." She told him.

"Great. Because, I wanna get you both out of San Francisco."

"Can't believe that this is happening." Melissa said as she leaned against a wall "Matthew. You okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine Melissa don't worry." He told her in an assuring tone.

"Baby, I'm so petrified right now, there are monsters in California." She told him in an anxious tone.

"I know. By consider this, I'm gonna be at the hospital by sunrise." He told her in an assuring tone. "Then I'll get you and Kyle out of San Francisco and to a safe place." He finished.

"Okay, but please try and be quick."

"I will. The military has a plan to deal with these things. So, don't worry." He told her. "I'm coming to get you both, okay?" He asked.

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you too."

After that, Matthew ended the transmission and stuck the phone back into its place. Then, he ran out of the building to where the train was preparing to travel.

"Okay let's go!" Yelled a soldier.

When Matthew heard this, he quickly put on his helmet and ran to the freight train where he will hitch a ride to San Francisco. Once he got to the platform where the large bomb was placed on, a soldier offered his hand to him and Matthew instantly grabbed it, after that, the soldier pulled him up on it.

Back in the aircraft carrier in the ocean, the US Navy Admiral was seen talking to someone on the phone about the warheads that's going to be transported to San Francisco.

"Yes sir. Yes, warheads are on the move."

"Splendid." The Admiral said in a satisfied tone. After that, he put the phone back into it's place. Then, he looked at the captain and gave him a nod.

"Alright people, let's get a move on." He ordered, and all of the officers obeyed him "I need to know the exact location of Gilda ASAP." He told them.

Then, the Admiral began to walk to another section of the control room to monitor the the two Griffons. But suddenly, Toshihiro walked up to him which made him stop in his tracks due to him knowing that he might have objections.

"What do you want doctor?" Joseph asked turning around.

"Please don't do this." Toshihiro said with a desperate expression.

"I understand your concerns, doctor. But I am sacrificing lives every minute trying to steer one if these things out of population centers." He told him sternly "And now, two more are on the way." He reminded him.

"There are millions of lives at risk. So all I want to know from you is: will it work and will they be killed?" He asked.

"We tried that before." Toshihiro reminded pointing at the monitor.

"We're taking doable yield. Megatons, not kilotons." Johnny told him "Nothing can withstand that blast. Makes the bomb we tried to kill it with '54 look like a firecracker." He finished in a confident tone.

However, Toshihiro still disagrees with this plan. He still trusts Thorax in helping them fight off the two Griffons to restore balance.

Somewhere on the railway tracks in 10:30pm, a group of US ground soldiers and Matthew were seen riding on the train carriage platform where the bomb was placed in, while one soldier was driving the train. During the trip to San Francisco, Matthew has decided to take out a large panel on the bomb with some help.

"Okay, one, two, three!" Matthew said as he and the soldier both took off the panel.

"I though these nukes was remote controlled sir."

"The griffons can knock out electronics from a mile away including detonators." Matthew told him which shocked him a little. A brief second later, he and the soldier replaced another large panel onto the bomb "Can't even get in range without these things wandering everywhere which is going to be difficult and frustrating. But this, on the other hand, is old school. Clockwork." He finished.

"Takes a licking keeps on ticking." The soldier joked which made Matthew chuckle as well.

Suddenly, the tranquil moment was put to an end when an explosion was heard in the distance. Matthew turned around and saw a a huge fire across the mountain which traumatized the soldiers. Then, without warning, the soldier driving the train immediately pulled the lever down and it began to stop while making loud noises which nearly knocked the soldiers over. A brief second later, the train has stopped.

Matthew and the soldiers looked up over the hill and saw gunshots, rockets, and explosions happening in the distance.

"Holy moly."

Then, all of the soldiers got off the train and started to make their way to the front of the train where a captain was seen trying to contact his colleagues on the other side.

"Charlie, this is Echo." The captain identified "Are we clear to drive across the bridge?" He asked, but, all he got was static, so, he tried to call again.

"I repeat, we got a cargo headed for the coast, are we clear to drive across the bridge?" The captain asked again. But again, all he heard were static noises.

Matthew then walked forward past the captain with an assault rifle equipped on him and looked through the tunnel. When he did, he noticed something unusual through the tunnel, so, he decided to do an investigation.

Inside the tunnel, four soldiers, one of them being Matthew were all seen walking through the large tunnel with assault rifles aimed left and right as well as it's flashlight component shining everywhere, so that it would be feasible for them to see.

After walking in the tunnel for three minutes, they all have made it out of the tunnel and were now standing on top of a bridge.

"Do you guys think it's intact?" Matthew asked them as he lowered his assault rifle.

"Doesn't look impaired to me sir." A soldier on his left told him.

"But, we still need to do a quick sweep to corroborate that it's safe." One of them said in a logical tone.

Then, the four soldiers decided to split up into two groups with two soldiers taking a ladder down to the bottom of the bridge, while Matthew and another soldier took the top.

On the bridge, Matthew and the soldier were both seen scrutinizing their surroundings with their assault rifles aimed left and right to see if there were any hazards around the place that would provoke detrimental harm to the transportation process. However, during the walk, the soldier that is on the bridge with Matthew tripped on the tracks and fell on it, dropping his rifle in the process.

"Dang it." The soldier muttered with an irked expression.

On the ground, the two soldiers were also seen scrutinizing their surroundings to see if there were any hazards. But suddenly, a gun fell in front of them which startled them both.

"Gosh."

Then, both soldiers felt a slight heat presence behind them, both of them turned around and saw an orange glow heading towards them which got them baffled. But, just when the glow began to get closer to them, the two soldiers jumped back, and a flamming tank bumped onto shore which a brief second later continued to be pushed by the water currents in the river.

The two soldiers stood back up again and turned around to see a bunch of flamming military debris flowing in the river which shocked them both.

"What in the world?"

Back on the bridge, Matthew and the soldier both have reached to the end of the bridge after tip toeing for a total of four minutes.

"Bridge is intact." Matthew told him, then, the soldier grabbed his radio and began to report back.

"Echo, this is George, the area's clear to move out. Over." He told them.

"Copy."

On the other side of the tunnel, the soldiers were all seen getting back on the train to continue with their journey on transporting the atomic weapon to San Francisco. A toot was heard and the train began to move.

Under the bridge, the two soldiers on the ground were seen still observing their surroundings, and they saw nothing. They first thought that everything was okay but suddenly, a large sound was heard behind them. The two soldiers turned around and saw a long brown and yellow coloured leg lifting up from the ground which startled them both.

On top of the bridge, Matthew and his fellow colleagues could see the large leg in the bridge too.

"Hit the deck!" Matthew exclaimed as he and the other soldier lied down on the bridge on their backs.

Matthew and the soldier looked to their right and saw another giant griffon walking next to them on the ground, Matthew noticed that this griffon is completely different compared to Gallus, he must assume that it was the second griffon that the tech sergeant told him about.

A brief second later, the griffon bent down and began to walk underneath the bridge, once it was under it, Matthew and his colleagues can feel it's breathing and growls. Suddenly, the soldier's radio began to flash red.

"Lieutenant, help me turn this off."

When Matthew heard this he tried to reach out for the radio but suddenly, the giant griffon rose up again above the bridge, and Matthew noticed that this griffon was 300 feet tall!

The griffon then took notice of the two soldiers after it stood up straight, it attempted to study them but then, it heard a loud toot noise in front of it, so, she let out a growl and started to walk to the source of the sound. While walking, Matthew noticed that the Griffon's belly was quite large, could it be carrying eggs? Ten seconds later, it disappeared into the mist.

Matthew and his colleagues both stood up straight when they saw the creature heading towards the train's location. A brief second later, growling and shouting noises were heard in front of them which shocked the both of them.

Both soldiers tried move forward to see what was going on, but suddenly, the freight train was charging towards them while on fire which made both Matthew and the soldier's eyes widen in horror.

"RUN!" Matthew shouted.

After that, Matthew and the soldier both turned around and started to run away from the out of control freight train. While running the soldier behind Matthew looked to his left and saw a giant yellow claw heading towards him.

"Lieutenant Matthew!"

But it was too late, the griffon has hit the bridge and knocked the soldier off of it.

"Duncan!"

The freight train was catching up to Matthew really fast, and there was no way that he can outrun in on foot. So, he turned to his right and jumped off the bridge, with the front of the cargo train falling with him.

Once Matthew splashed into the water, he looked up and saw the burning freight train falling down towards him. Luckily, he was able to swim out of the way in time. After dodging the train, Matthew swam up to the surface and took a deep breath, then, he looked at the giant 300 feet griffon and saw it munching on the bomb, however, a component of it fell down to the ground, a brief second later, the griffon swallowed the tip of the bomb.

Back in sea, marine soldiers on and in the aircraft carrier have noticed that Thorax is currently changing his route.

"He's going under!"

"Boats, sound the collision alarm. Frame 180." An officer in the aircraft carrier watchtower ordered.

One marine officer looked out of the window and saw the green changeling known as Thorax diving under the ocean which got them perplexed.

In the aircraft carrier control room, the Admiral was seen studying a map of the routes that Thorax, Gallus, and Gilda might take to San Francisco. But suddenly, the three pencils on the table rolled to the left which drew Joseph's attention.

"Thorax has dived under admiral." Nova informed.

When Joseph heard this, he turned around and looked at the monitor which showed a video of Thorax diving down into the water.

"Changing course and moving fast. I've got him at 34 knots and picking up speed." She added. "But, the bright side is that, he's not going to outrun us." She told him.

Toshihiro looked at the monitor real quick and began to think about Thorax's current hurried behaviour now. After thinking of a brief second, he has figured out what he was trying to do.

Shore 8:30am

On a shore in an area, bodies of US soldiers who were on the train transporting the bomb to San Francisco have unfortunately lost their lives, except for one at least. In the middle of the shore, Matthew Cade has survived the sudden onslaught of the griffon, he let out a cough and opened his eyes after hearing what sounds to be like a whirling noise of a helicopter.

Matthew rolled himself over and saw a transport helicopter flying to his location. So, he stood up and began to stagger his way towards the helicopter. He then saw the helicopter lifting a part of the bomb that he and his colleagues were transporting.

"Sir!" One of the soldiers called his superior, he then gave him a signal and the superior looked behind him and saw an injured soldier.

"Medic!" He shouted.

San Francisco

In a hospital in San Francisco where Melissa works in, military personnels and doctors were seen evacuating citizens and wounded patients out of the hospital.

"Sir these patients are my responsibility. Where are you taking them?" Melissa asked one of the soldier's.

"Across the bridges." He replied simply "Critical and children only." He added as he walked away.

"Shelters are going to fill up fast." Rose told her as she walked up to her "Trust me, the kids will be safer outside of the city." She finished. Then, she continued to guide the children's out of the hospital. And Melissa told her.

"I can take Kyle." She offered.

"N-no, my husband's on his way." Melissa told her.

"If you change your mind, the buses leave in ten minutes." Rose informed her, then, she turned around and began to guide the children to the buses.

Melissa began to ponder about this situation for a bit, right now, her husband will be returning to the hospital soon to pick her and her son up, but, will he make it in time? After thinking for a brief second, she made up her mind.

Outside of the hospital, people were seen being evacuated from the city on military trucks, while the children were seen being evacuated on school buses, helicopters were seen in the air too, and in one of the helicopters was Matthew. And he saw the bomb being flown to somewhere else.

"Hey! Where are they taking the bomb?"

"Twenty miles offshore, convergence point. We're gonna lure them there." The soldier replied.

In San Francisco bay, the transport helicopter was seen lowering the large bomb on one of the frigates in the ocean. Once it was near the boat, eight US marine officers placed their hands on the sides of the bomb and gently lowered it on a holder.

Back in the parking lot of the hospital, Melissa was seen carrying her son Kyle while trying to look for a bus. Then, a brief second later, the sounds of a car honking made her turn around.

"Wait!" Melissa said as she ran up to the bus.

The driver of the bus then opened the doors and Melissa placed Kyle in it. She noticed that Rose was in it too which made her very relieved.

"Okay Kyle. Rose here is going to take good care of you and take you to a safe place okay?" Melissa told him. "Daddy's going to be back soon, and me and your father will immediately pick you up. I promise." She finished.

"Don't worry Melissa, as long as he is with me then, everything will be okay." She assured her with a smile.

Before she let her son go, she gave him a peck on the fore head and stepped back from the school bus doors, the two of them said goodbye to each other, and the driver of the bus closed the doors and began to drive to the place where soldiers will shelter the kids in.

Author's Note

Two chapters completed in a day! I hope you all enjoyed it!