Tammy ran. For her life, she ran. The movement of her legs and her conscious thoughts were separate from each other; the immense pain that shot through her legs was muted by the adrenaline and panic that flowed through her like water. The only opportunity to look at the giant woman that had emerged from seemingly nowhere came in the middle of the night, when she walked out of her apartment to see what all the screaming and running was about. She thought she recognised the beast that kept expanding and growing, but she did not have any time to observe it further before she was swept up in a riot of terror. Despite the pain she was in, and the dehydration she was suffering, it was doubtlessly preferable to the pile of rubble that used to be her house- crushed when Hannah’s hand breezed through it in her expanding sleep.
When Hannah put her finger in the middle of the city, it landed unnervingly close to Tammy’s location. Dust and smoke overwhelmed her, and she became the victim of the shockwave that resulted from the impact. She sucked in the corrupted air, chocking as she did. Her vision was rendered useless, now she was at serious risk of being trampled, but she didn’t realise that until a sudden, heavy impact battered her shoulder. The pain from running was nothing compared to what she felt at that moment. Her mind was just clear enough to figure out that she had been kicked, and immediately following that, what little air there was in her lungs has kicked out of her by another unaware passer-by.
She knew she had to get up and get to safety. Painfully dragging herself in a random direction, a great weight came down on her back, to a great scream from her. Out of her mouth shot a small amount of blood. She pulled herself up against a wall, narrowly avoiding the rabble filling the streets with chaos. The smoke gradually cleared, allowing her to get a proper look at the foreign body that seemed to be mercilessly attacking the city. It was the largest object she or anyone else had ever laid eyes on. Even when it lay on its stomach, it was the height of a skyscraper. When it rose to its knees, it became nothing short of gargantuan. That’s when it hit Tammy. She knew exactly who she was looking at. Hannah. But it couldn’t be Hannah, she thought. There’s simply no way…
Her ears rang for minutes when Hannah screamed, she was lucky she didn’t go deaf from the explosion of sound. Glass rained down on Tammy like a gale. She was improbably lucky that the worst it did was cut her upper arm slightly. Her ears were still ringing when Hannah attempted to apologise; the ringing was great enough to block off her saddened apologies, though it wasn’t enough to block off her monstrously heavy breathing, and the catastrophic sound like a meteor when she started to fall towards the city.
The sun was blocked off by her toppling figure. Tammy stared up at it while it toppled. She shut her eyes, and prepared to die. The knowledge that she was going to be crushed beneath her friend was horrifying, but she shut her eyes knowing that even if she tried there would be no escape. With her eyes clenched, tears flowing down her face, the exploding crash came down… but not on the city. It landed to the side, in a maelstrom of dust and dirt. Tammy opened her eyes a few seconds later, contemplating whether she was alive or dead. Feeling up and down her own body, her fragile mind figured out that she was alive. Giving a sigh and a cough, she sat static as people rushed by, still in a frantic panic.
With legs made of jelly, she shoved herself up and re-joined the crowd of runners, still with a fear of what the downed titan was capable of. At this point, though still swift, the speed of the massive crowd had slowed down to less of a life threatening pace. Now, it was more of a scrabble to get distance between themselves and the titan. Hannah’s heavy breathing could be heard clearly, echoing in the air and through the streets. Blocked off by smoke, dust and buildings, Tammy found it impossible to get a good look at her monstrously scaled friend.
Hannah rolled her head slightly in her unconscious state, which was met by a raising scream, like being on a rollercoaster, from the crowd, despite it looking like she was miles away. After all, she had done so much damage to the city with a single finger; the prospect of suffering the wrath of her whole body petrified the fumbling groups. Tammy reflexively shielded her face, as though that would do something. With her high pitched tone blended in by the sound of mumbling and shouting, she muttered “I know her…” no one responded. “I know her!” she repeated, not sure why she was doing it, perhaps just to try and process her thoughts.