THE GIGAS

pg. 4

The hot sun scorched the landscape around us as we waited patiently again in the protective shelter of the recreational center.

Joseph had discovered a full length double sided mirror screen hidden in the back of the gift shop. Its interactive interface kept trying to refresh itself to the internet for updates frequently. Luckily it was untouched by anybody in its original state.
Well, except for its probably extremely outdated software.

Sometimes in certain areas we were passing through on the road had accessible data still flowing along mostly bigger metro areas and near cities.

The internet had survived for five full years as far I know without any body doing any real maintenance to it hardware or software wise with no problems. But slowly as time went on we noticed it disintegrated into lower and lower accessibility . I don't know what could have been done any ways to keep it going. Would there even be enough people left with internet technician training to keep fixing it?

The few people grasping at survival who were living there in the hotspots often jealously guarded the area. As we all have it know Knowledge is power and its power helps to make lives much easier.

I didn't stick around for too long to find out if they were friendly or not when we encountered them. Often there were stragglers who would rather hope for a small piece of the life we had before then face the grim reality that life will never be as easy like it was or ever will be.

Joseph eagerly filtered through its files soaking up all the information it had. Turning to face me often he would repeat the information he would find.

" Sage, did you know that an atoms nucleus is made up of neutrons and protons which denote their atomic weight in relation to their spot on the periodic table?"

I half heartedly payed attention to him nodding every couple sentences.

Did we miss them or are they just running late? Its been days that we' ve waited.

This place makes me nervous enough already, even though the location is remote and lonely. The landscape hardly has any type of cover or natural resources to survive off of. Rolling sands constantly polished the surface smooth hiding whatever creature scurried across it and the heat radiates from the landscape long after the sun sets.

" Ok, committee of streaks....I think that we missed Logan and Skylar" frowning at them.

Junior turned to look at me with wide eyes.

Fear.

I recognize the realization dawn across his young face. The darkening of his soft pale facial hair cast a grey shadow over his down turned mouth.

We need to return.

The RV will probably not be able to moved next year until we find new tires.

Joseph groans looking absolutely distraught. He really likes spending his time reading with the mirror. His new toy is going to be left behind.

I didn't see where Ruth had gone but knowing her she is somewhere exploring some corner of the center. I gruffly massage my closed eyelids, trying to make up a concise plan.

Right, the god awful creation that I planned to weld together as a backup is the only thing that could possibly replace the rv. The parts needed for the construction are strewn around the hangar. Its going to be a bitch moving around in it though. Making it work and be practical will be a challenge.

Joseph suddenly quieted completely with eyes narrowing.

"Listen" he said stilling our group.

A deep roar softly filtered past the walls of the building. It was barely even audible at first.