After The Change: Monumental (Patreon)

If she could think anything beyond the immediate and horrific terror of her situation Jess might have been thinking about luck, and coincidence, and how lightning could strike twice. Well, not lightning exactly, but let’s say misfortune. It’s supposed to come in threes but in this case twice was enough.

Jess and Holly were independent civilians travelling between encampments. Jess had recently seen her long term relationship break up and decided that the claustrophobic confines of the small town of Woodvale were not where she could best get the space to rebuild her life. She was heading to thee slightly larger Pleasantville City. Apparently neither pleasant nor really a city but a change was needed. They were leaving the comparative safety of a small encampment in a wooded valley for a larger, more exposed, but more heavily militarised settlement in the mountains and they had to cross about a hundred miles of open plains to get there. After a couple of hours of good progress they blew a tyre. Not necessarily an ender in its own right but much more dangerous to be out in the open without transport. With transport you could outrun giants smaller than 50ft at a push but without transport any mini could spot you and you were goner. It seemed their luck was changing when a convoy happened upon the road. Only a handful of LAVs with support but enough for a sense of security, and they were heading in the same direction. So they hitched a ride.

It wasn’t without its downsides of course. As it turns out the convoy had been out scouting the Western Trail looking for signs of communities on the edge of the Habitable Zone and possibly a way through to the unconnected South. They had been out there for three months without contact, and the men were restless. It was going to be a long drive to Pleasantville. 

Almost before they had a chance for the lewd comments and staring to commence the alarm was sounded and the LAV they were riding in lurched forwards, accelerating into overdrive. Over the radio crackle they heard words that sent a chill down their spine, “Brace of Goliaths on our tail.” 

“How big is a Goliath?” Asked Holly

“It’s not a rating.” Answered one of the Lieutenants. He poked his head out of one of the hatches. “Fucking huge though. BRACE!”

The LAV lurched upwards, becoming airborne and weightless for what seemed like an age before it came crashing down. From that point Jess’s mind was blank. She couldn’t hear or smell, and her vision was blurred, sharp, black and bright all at the same time. Everything was simultaniously horrifically fast and eerily slow. 

The giants were indeed fucking huge. They had caught up with the convoy almost instantly. That, it would seem, is what happens when at well over 2000ft, their steps could carry them over 100 times faster than the LAV at top speed. All Jess could see and feel was a sky full of tanned flesh and incredibly blonde hair whipping everywhere. The Gs she was taking in the LAV were unbearable and she blacked out several times. When she next came to she was in a warm wet pool. Not water, more viscous, and full of bubbles. The rough pink ground lifted and shifted and writhed around her. Her eyes were open and she came to her senses as her gut brought her back to reality to fight against the undulating landscape and the trashing bodies around her. Somewhere nearby was gunfire and screaming. Then a flash of white stone. A sudden realisation made her wet skin tingle. She was in a mouth. She was in the mouth of a “her”. And she was being smeared against a wall of incredibly firm flesh of a “him” by a powerful tongue. Then she had another realisation. She was going to fight. She was going to live through this day and she was going to be stronger for it. The first thing she had to do was to avoid becoming a stain, and then she’d take it one step at a time.