THE GIGAS

pg.4

I walk into the living room, not surprised to see Joseph and Ruth sitting on the kitchen table. Ruth's eyes glint in the low light, the deep yellow color illuminated in the light hiding her green and brown flecks. Her eyes flint from the small round mirror in front of her to focus on me.

I start to pass by when I heard Ruth say "Hey, I want to go the bunker, Im tired of traveling "

I stop and sigh. " Im sorry I know you must be tired but you know we can' t go there too much someone might find it"

We found an abandoned bunker on an old military base when we were traveling a newly discovered road through the desert. Its our base camp where we stockpile our supplies and disappear to rest for a while away from the world.

I gently hit my face and squeeze my nose bridge in irritation."lets talk about it later, k?"

" Then when?!" She says exasperated. I whispered gently " After....just after I take a nap, we can talk about it then"
She mumbled something but I didn't pursue it, Im just too tired.

Joseph got up to follow me as I start to get to the hallway that leads to the bunk bed. I hastily start to take off my holster and hoody shirt. Joseph gently tapped my shoulder to get my attention I turned around just to crushed with a massive bear hug. He pressed his face into my undershirt and sniffed deeply. He must have missed me. I squeeze him into me, returning the bear hug.

He visibly relaxes as I gently let him go, I notice his eyes are dilated even in the low light. He walks quickly away to resume his spot and fidget with whatever the kids have gotten a hold of this time.

The room is dim the small curtains obscuring the light outside, the worn mattress slowly sinking with my weight as I sat in it.

" I should take off my boots" I mutter to myself. I slowly bend down to untie my boots. The sole herniates slightly when I walk and the outside is well scuffed from daily living. Practical items are extremely hard to scavenge. I stole this pair from a corpse lying out in a lone junkyard.

" Hey! You guys better keep watch and wake me before the sun starts lowering too much!!"

" We know!! Geesh.." Ruth' s voice answered annoyed.

I throw myself on the top of the ragged comforter not bothering to take off the rest of my clothes. I don't think that my clothes are that dirty any ways.

I scrunch up the flimsy pillow underneath my head making myself as comfortable as I could possibly get. I felt my eyelids droop heavily over my eyes. The Concentration it took just to focus was way too taxing on my body.

I let the exhaustion of my body pull me down into a seemingly dreamless sleep. Darkness persisted in my unconscious mind. Ebbing and flowing the darkness pushed me to a bright orb that I reached out to grab when I got close enough.

In my palm the orb felt weightless and shined brighter than any star I had ever seen. I looked closely at the delicate shell that contained the light fascinated. My hand flexed for just a second firmly which was all it took for the orb to shatter into pieces. The dispersing light sucked me into an unknown dimension.

I closed my eyes as the space around me grew considerably brighter.

I slowly open my eyes, testing the new surrounding brightness.

I felt the fleeting warmth of the sun and the still air. I look up to see a young sapling tree swaying. Struggling to even produce a small amount of shade.

A grey glittering concrete side walk stretched out to a empty road.

I feel the color drain from my face.

" Where are you going!?" I turn around to see a small woman barrel out of the front door of an equally small but delipated house. My mouth moves before I can think of a response " Mom, I am tired of fighting. PLEASE let it go". My eyes widen at the statement.

" No No No, you don't seem to UNDERSTAND. You stupid child. He left you.....he left me!"She inched her way slowly to where I was with each word "He doesn't want YOU, he has a new family!"

Her hand snatches my throat dragging me toward her. The pain in my throat as I plead for mercy intensifies as the woman starts to stretch before my very eyes.

Her face liquifies to something not human. Smooth with big dark eyes. My feet suddenly dangle off the ground as the the transformation keeps going.

Her mouth opens and her teeth fall out in a steady stream. Only to be replaced with several rows of small sharp canines.

She sucks in a breath and I feel the need to scream in terror.

I gasp and let out a small strangled scream. I feel my shirt plastered on my skin drenched in sweat, the room had darken considerably. I try to get up but find I can't move my head at all.

My eyes turn to the direction my hair is being detained. I see a small body huddled against my own. Joseph, he must have wanted to take a nap with me after finishing playing. His body was trapping my hair underneath.

So with great care I tug my hair out from underneath him. I don't know what time it is but it seems pretty late from the sunlight left outside.