Newt hated when his name came up in rotation for being sent out into the field. What’s worse, his would be an extra long expedition. Supplies were getting low, and the nearest towns and cities were getting picked clean by this point. So, Newt and the three other guys he was going out there with would be traveling much further and then making a wide loop back to our survivor’s camp. Newt wished he didn’t have to go, he was more a researcher, a scientist, not one of these muscle-bound gunmen who could take an otherworlder on with nothing but a knife and pure, muscley determination.
Liam came over and helped Newt finish getting his gear on. “Don’t worry, little man. Just stay in the middle of the group and we’ll keep you safe.” He assured me with his usual smile. Liam was a big man, they all were, at 6ft 8in with broad shoulders and chiseled muscle covered a health layer of fat o smooth out the edges. His brown hair was cut shorter on the sides and floofed up into soft spikes on top. Green eyes crinkled at the edges whenever he smiled his warm, reassuring grin.
Newt just nodded, trying to return the smile, but it felt closer to a nervous grimace.
“Give it a rest, Li. The nerd’s going to be a prissy baby no matter what you say. So long as he does his job and doesn’t get the rest of us killed, he can turtle between us all he wants.” Riko said, securing his rifle with the straps of his gear. He was, as usual, the biggest and most dangerous-looking of the bunch. Massive 6ft 10in body bulging with muscle and now clad in his black uniform from his days in SWAT; his job before the world got overwhelmed by otherwrolders five years ago. His long black hair was pulled back into a tight tie at the nape of his neck, dark brown eyes locking with Newt’s for a moment, a cruel light in them telling Newt he almost enjoyed the smaller man’s fear.
The other two members of their group stayed out of it, just making sure they had everything.
Kane was almost as big as Riko at 6ft 9in, and muscles just as big and well defined even from under his tactical gear and supply pack; the large pack that could fit Newt inside if he curled up, almost looked small on his powerful shoulders. His dark brown hair was shorter than Riko’s, but still long enough to need a tie to keep most of it out of his face. His blue-grey eyes were constantly moving, not in a panicked way but more like an old cowboy in the movies, one who seemed relaxed but was ready to pull his six-shooter at any second. Kane’s weapons of choice were far more deadly though, another rifle raided from a military camp a while back, a handgun from the police station Riko used to work at, another handgun that’d belonged to him from the start, a machete on his back under the pack, and a combat knife strapped to his leg. He and Riko were close friends and often worked out together and shared supplies, they even shared a room; though that wasn’t unusual with our limited space.
Mark was the final member of the group. He was the shortest, aside from Newt, at 6ft 3in. he was a little tubbier than the others, but still muscled in a noticeable way. If the others looked a step away from being bodybuilders, he was more like a brick wall with his somewhat more rectangular body shape. His belly stuck out more, straining his tactical straps a little, but Newt knew this man could still outrun him in both speed and distance with ease; Mark might look big and slow, but he could be shockingly fast when he needed to be. His brown hair was cut short all around, only a small spikiness on top. His red-brown gaze swept towards Newt for a moment, and the smaller man again got an odd vibe from the guy. Newt had always felt a strange uneasiness around the guy, like there was something not quite right about him. He carried the bulk of their supplies, his body seeming to handle the large duffle bag better than any packhorse.
Shaking off the nerves as best he could, Newt once again ignored the odd feeling he got from Mark and avoided eye contact with Riko. Liam was right, everything would be fine. The rout was planed to the best of their abilities, they had enough supplies for a week and would no doubt find more as they traveled. As long as Newt did as he was told and stayed in the middle out everyone’s way, they’d kill anything that attacked them, and it would all be fine.
It wasn’t all fine. Not fine at all.
The first day had been fairly uneventful, as was mostly expected with it being within the camp’s usual patrol and savaging radius. But that first night, something went very wrong. It had all been fine, until Newt went to go to the bathroom and had a far too close encounter with some freaky creature. He’d just gotten his pants down around his ankles after digging a hole, when a weird little slime thing shot out of the bushes and launched itself at his face!
He’d fallen backwards with a cry, reaching up to try and smack the thing off him. but it latched on and smothered him. he tried to kick and flail, but the thing was forcing its gooey self into his mouth and nose, cutting off his air. He was so disoriented, he’d swear the thing was quickly getting bigger. When his darkening world felt like he was completely buried under the slime creature, the muffled sound of thundering footsteps hit his ears and seemed to scare the creature off.
Gasping for breath, Newt crawled away from where the creature had run, trying to recover his senses. He heard shouting voices as the others arrived, kicking up dust as they went. Newt was still recovering from his close encounter, choaking up slime and trying to get it out of his nose, eyes, and ears. He didn’t pay much attention to what the others were saying at first, but he eventually noticed someone kept calling his name. choking out the last of the slime to free his airway completely, Newt looked up to where the voice was coming from.
At first, he couldn’t make sense of it. huge forms were towering all around him. they couldn’t have been trees, they were too big for one, and two they hadn’t camped in a forest. Then a couple of the forms moved, massive arms swinging as the Freaking GIANTS visually swept the area. Panic rising in his throat, Newt looked over the nearest shadowy form, making out details in the dark.
Thick leather boots planted only a few feet (from Newt’s perspective) away, rocks the size of Newt’s head crunching unnoticed as the giant shifted his weight. Past them were dark pants that covered thickly muscled legs, a knife whose handle alone was six- or seven-times Newt’s size was strapped to the side of one leg. The thick belt with wo gun holsters marked the midway point on the giant’s body. Past that, was a set of beefy, bare arms holding a rifle that would crush Newt if it was dropped right now. past the arms, Newt was just barely able to make out a huge face with dark stubble along the jaw, long dark hair pulled back, and blue-grey eyes sweeping the landscape far beyond Newt’s ability to see from down here.
It was Kane!
He took one step forwards, Boot slamming down mere inches from Newt, nearly crushing him in one careless action!!!
That shocked the now very tiny man out of his frozen state. After being bowled over by the displaced air of the boot coming down, Newt got to his feet, wincing as he realized he was naked. Not really having time to worry about that, Newt looked over to the boot that had nearly ended him right then and there. He didn’t even reach the top of the rubber sole of the boot. He estimated he was less than 1/2 an inch tall now. the realization made him want to throw up. Pushing the panic down to mostly manageable levels, Newt looked beyond the boot.
The other three men were circled around him. Liam was furthest away, still calling his name every few minutes, though he was slowing down as he failed to get a response. Riko was to Kane’s right, the next closest giant to Newt; just his luck to be stuck between two of the worst people Newt might try to get help from. And Mark was to Kane’s left, further away and looking away from the group.
Newt needed help, obviously. He needed to get these guys’ attention. he tried yelling, waiting until Liam called his name then trying to call back in the ensuing silence. But it was clear none of the giants heard his tiny calls while he was at their feet. He’d need to do something else. Either get closer to their faces or try to get them to notice him physically; like, punching their ankles or something.
His time to figure this out was starting to come to a close though, as Liam finally gave up calling for him. the mountain of a man turned towards the others, rifle lowering to almost point right at Newt; making the tiny man gulp at the thought oof what would happen if that thing went off, there’d be nothing left of him!
“Spread out, twenty-foot perimeter, look for tracks. There’s signs of a struggle here, so it’s likely he was attacked, so look for blood. He might still be alive, but we need to at least try and confirm if he’s dead. Dr. Stenson said to bring his body back if nothing else.”
Newt was caught off guard by that last statement. Why would his boss insist on his body being brought back?
But Newt couldn’t dwell on this. The giants were about to move, and he might not have another chance to get there attention if they moved away. He could end up being left here, stuck at the size of an extra tiny bug, just waiting for something to come by and squash him, or even eat him!!!
He needed to move, now.
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