Sakura Amano's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

Sakura stood at the edge of the industrial sector, watching the evacuation begin. Cars streamed toward the north exit, a slow-moving river of headlights. Families packed what they could carry. Emergency crews directed traffic at every intersection. She'd given them twelve hours, but the kaiju was moving faster than her projections. It would reach the bridge in six. She reached the bridge twenty minutes later. The structure was old, built thirty years ago when the city was half its current size. She walked the length of it, one hand trailing along the railing, until she found what she was looking for: a steel beam twisted upward from the support structure, warped and rust-stained, bent at an angle that made her ribs ache in sympathy. Someone had wrapped caution tape around it years ago, then forgotten about it. The metal had been compromised long before today. She pulled out her phone and called the evacuation coordinator. They needed to reroute everyone to the eastern routes immediately. The coordinator argued—the eastern routes would add two hours to the evacuation time. Sakura looked at the twisted beam again, imagining what would happen when the kaiju's weight hit this exact spot. She told him two hours was better than none. He hung up to make the calls. The bridge was empty now, the last of the evacuation vehicles already across. Sakura stayed, staring at the warped metal. She'd bought the city time by forcing the evacuation. Now she'd bought them a chance by clearing the bridge. But she'd also given herself exactly what she'd wanted for three years: a place where the kaiju had to come to her, where she could face it alone without anyone else in the way. Her hand moved to her left eye, the one that wasn't there anymore. She'd told herself she was protecting the city. Standing here, watching the empty bridge and knowing what was coming, she couldn't pretend that was the whole truth.