No Exit by Taylor Adams 2

It didn’t matter, because Ashley was only looking at
Darby as he spoke, his words clean and composed, revealing
his Crest-white teeth: “See, golly, I just love kaiju movies. And
… the thing I find fascinating about them is this. The human
heroes — Bryan Cranston and that bland Sergeant Vanilla guy,
in the 2014 Godzilla reboot, for example — they’re just
placeholders. They’re ciphers for the audience. Do these puny
humans have any effect on the actual plot?”
He let his rhetorical question float for longer than
necessary.
“Nope,” he finally answered. “Zero. Their role in the story
is entirely reactive. Godzilla, Mothra, the MUTO’s — the true
stars of the show — they’re going to fight and settle their
business, and the humans can’t possibly hope to stop the
carnage. Does this make sense to you?”
Darby didn’t answer.
“No matter what you try, the monsters are going to do
what they want.” Ashley leaned forward, creaking his chair,
and she whiffed his moist breath as his voice lowered into a
husky croak: “See, the monsters are gonna fight, and flatten
skyscrapers and smash bridges, and all you can do is get the
hell out of their way, or you’re gonna get crushed.”
Silence.
She couldn’t look away. Like staring down a rabid animal.
His breath was overpowering. Like boiled egg yolks and
bitter French Roast, curdling with meat-like odors. Sixty
minutes ago, his tongue had been a warm slug in her mouth.
But now his boyish smile returned, like slipping a rubber
Halloween mask back on, and in another moment, he was back
to being the jovial chatterbox she’d first met. “So, what about
you, Darbs? What’s your favorite type of movie? Horror?
Ghosts? Torture-porn?”
“Romcoms,” she answered.
Lars giggled by the front door, a raspy noise that reminded
her of a chainsaw on idle. Ashley traded glances with his