Emily sat at the dinner table looking at the wide open front door to the apartment complex.  She had been sitting there for over an hour, looking at the floor for even the slightest looking speck of dust to come in, praying it was Ryan.  However as the day went on, slowly ticking by, there was no sign of Ryan.  The longer Emily waited the worse she felt, as she needed to talk to Ryan.  Emily had so many questions going through her head right now. Why did he leave for so long?  Was he just taking a walk?  Why did he leave his communicator on the ground?  What was the point of doing that?  Did he leave and run away?   

Each question that Emily thought up produced another question to follow up on.  She wasn’t sure how she would react when she saw Ryan.  Would she be happy that he was finally back?  Would she be furious for not saying anything?  What if he didn’t come back?  Should she go looking for Ryan?  If she did, would Ryan be upset she got all panicky about him?  Did he need her help?

“Where are you,” Emily muttered as she bite her lip in distress and looking at the clock on her phone.  It had been well over an hour since she noticed he was gone and was bleeding into two hours.  Emily got up from the table and started to pace back and forth muttering as she worried about what she needed to do.  “Fuck it,” She said sounding upset but also worried.

Mary called out from the couch seeming just as worried waiting for Ryan to come back home, “What are you going to do?”

“I can’t wait for him, maybe he’s lost or hurt or… I don’t know,” Emily responded the best she could without freaking out.  “I don't understand why he would just up and leave like this.  It doesn’t make sense.”

Mary seemed to want to offer a reason but she too was at a lost.  Like she told Emily before, he never ran away before as a child.  Still, Emily just couldn’t sit there waiting all day for something that might not happen.  Feeling a sick feeling in her gut, Emily left the apartment and went outside into the hallway.  She had checked outside the apartment before, but she doubled checked again… just in case she missed something or if Ryan was just returning from whatever the hell he was doing.  Emily checked along the wall of the complex and didn’t spot him.  Continuing down one side of the hallway, she made her way past the stairs, too busy looking downward to spot one of their neighbors walking past.

Emily examined the entire hallway and didn’t spot much.  There was a small crack in the ground near a wall, but it seemed far too small for Ryan to fall or fit in.  In fact Emily would have barely registered the small cracked sized hole, if she wasn’t looking downward.  It was so insignificant to see that she was sure most people didn’t even know it was there.  Not seeing Ryan, Emily headed back to her apartment, where the door was still wide open.  

“You don't think he tried going down the steps, do you?”  Emily asked Mary who looked just as unsure.  

Not waiting for a response, Emily decided to check the steps again.  She climbed down each step, carefully checking each nook and cranny for any signs of Ryan.  Each step she passed by she felt her heart sink a little further in her chest as she didn’t see Ryan.  Part of her was glad that she didn’t find Ryan.  She was horrified of seeing a red stain or a part of Ryan left after an accident.  That was the most horrifying thing she could think of that might have happened to him.  He went for a walk or something and someone accidentally hurt him, or worse… 

Emily shook her head, she needed to stay positive.

Heading once again back to her open apartment after examining the entire stairway and main floor, Emily checked to see if Ryan came back while she went looking those few minutes.  There was no such luck.  

Emotions wild, Emily couldn’t help but snap and say out loud in an angry yet worried tone, “I swear when he gets back I’m going to implant a tracker on him or something!”  

“Dear, just try and stay cal-”

“I CAN’T!”  Emily blurted out, “I can’t stay calm!  I just… damn it,” Emily paced back and forth through the kitchen and living room, “He’s not here in the apartment, he’s not outside the door, he’s not on this floor, and he’s not downstairs.”  Emily complained.  “I mean where else could he have gone…”

Emily paused as she thought about it.  Maybe someone else saw where he went?  It was only now that she thought of asking the neighbors if they had spotted Ryan today.  Emily felt a ray of hope at the possibility that their neighbors knew something.  Emily hurried out the door not paying any attention to Mary wondering what she was doing.  Heading to the first door, Emily knocked on the door and waited for a response from their next door neighbor.

“Janice,” Emily called out as she knocked.  It took a few moments before the door opened and an older woman, in her late 30’s opened the door.  “Hey, Janice.”

“Emily?  Is everything okay,” Janice asked noticing something was clearly wrong.

“Yeah, I’m sorry for bothering you but, well I was wondering if you seen Ryan today?”

“Ryan?”  Janice repeated his name, “Well, actually no.  I haven’t seen him in a WHILE.”  Janice told Emily sounding perplex.  “Did something happen?  Is everything okay,” Janice asked again.

“Well, no, actually.  I can’t find Ryan,” Emily told Janice.

Janice smirked, “Sounds like you misplaced him,” She chuckled.  “Where did you last leave him,” Janice asked like Emily had misplaced her keys or her phone.

“Well, I last left him in our bedroom, but I think he ran away this morning,” Emily explained.  “I found his communicator on the ground this -”

Janice cut her off, “Communicator?  Like a shrinky, communicator?  For a shrinky?”  Janice asked confused.

“Well yeah, Ryan is a shrink-”

The look on Janice face was one of shock, surprise, and a tinge of delight, “Really?!  Oh, how far along is he?  He’s got to be pretty far if he’s using a communicator,” Janice asked.

Emily slowly nodded, “He’s um, kind of already done shrinking.  Look, I was just checking to see if he might be around or if you saw him.”

Janice shook her head, “Sorry, I haven’t.  But if I do, I’ll make sure to let you know.”  Something about those words sounded hollow to Emily.  Emily could see that Janice wasn’t being honest.  A feeling that hit Emily hard.

“I should get going,” Emily told Janice as she started to walk away.

“Oh, Emily.  If you find him, and ever need someone to watch him for you, I would be more than happy to help out.  Just let me know,” Janice called out.  

“...Yeah, sure.”  Emily replied with no real emotion behind it.  Emily didn’t like how Janice said IF and how she was so willing to watch Ryan.

Emily slowly digested her conversation with Janice.  Recalling her reaction to the news of Ryan’s size.  The change in attitude at Ryan’s shrinkism.  It was shocking that someone that lived so closely and for so long, would react like that toward Ryan.  They were neighbors.  Not wanting to dwell too much on Janice, Emily made a mental note not to invite her over ever again with Ryan still in the house.  

Trying the next closest neighbor, Emily went and knocked on the door to Charlie’s place.  Ryan came over here more often than anyone else in the complex, that was for sure.  Emily wanted to kick herself for not going to Charlie first, it was more likely that Ryan was at Charlie’s than with Janice.  Emily went to knock on Charlie’s door.  However Janice reaction made Emily pause.  Charlie was different, right?  Emily feared the worse but went ahead and knocked anyway.

The young 23 year old opened the door greeting Emily.  Charlie was one of the younger residents in the complex, which might have been why he and Ryan bonded so easily.  They both had some things in common.  Still, Emily felt like maybe she should keep Ryan’s shrinkism a secret if he didn’t already know.  “Hi Charlie, hey I was wondering, have you seen Ryan recently?  Haven't seen him all morning.”

Charlie shook his head as he looked like he was trying to recall seeing Ryan.  “Mmm, no not really.  Everything okay?”

“Oh yeah, everything is fine,” Emily lied.  “Was just curious, I’m sure Ryan went to grab something to eat… oh, Charlie… maybe you can decided a stupid bet I had with Ryan.”

Charlie shrugged, “Sure I guess.  What is it?”

“Well,” Emily gave a weak laugh as if it were a joke, “We were messing around and Ryan asked… this is stupid but, if he were a shrinky, would you treat him different?”

Charlie snorted, “Ryan?  A shrinky?  He’s like 26 or something right?” Charlie laughed till he saw that Emily was being serious about the question.  Charlie shrugged, “I don't know.  Shit, to be honest?  I’d treat him like any other shrinky.”

Emily felt her body stiffen, “What?”

Again Charlie just shrugged, “Yeah, I mean IF he were a shrinky, why wouldn’t I treat him like a shirnky?”  Charlie went further on with the thought, “Even if I knew him before he shrank, once you become a shrinky, that’s it for you… but don’t tell him that,” Charlie laughed, “I don’t want him holding a grudge of a dumb hypothetical question.  “Anyway, tell him we need to hang out soon, feels like it’s been ages.”

“Uh, yeah I’ll tell him.”  Emily responded feeling even more dead inside at Charlie’s words.  

“Alright,” Charlie said as he started to close his door.

Emily left the front of Charlie’s apartment and headed back to home.  She didn’t feel like asking anyone else if they had seen Ryan.  It seemed clear that even the most hospitable and friendly neighbors were not the same if you were a shrinky.  It terrified Emily to learn that if someone that was friendly and knew Ryan for a few years would treat him as a normal shrinky, than what would a random stranger on the street do to him?  It made Emily shiver and nearly break down at the thought of her poor little Ryan coming across some very twisted monster.

“Where did you go,” Emily muttered as she head back to the apartment feeling worse than when she left a few minutes ago.  

Ryan sat silently under the bush still recovering.  He didn’t want to talk to anyone as he tried to come to terms with what had happened.  Willow saved him or to be more precise, saved the supplies that just happened to be attached to him.  He was almost positive she would have just let him fall down that man hole without much more than a blink in his general direction.  

Ran shook his head as he tried to not imagine what it would have been like to fall down that dark hole and into oblivion.  To drown in the current of water and have his body never be found by anyone.  He could still feel his body being dragged with the water’s current and being tossed off the sidewalk and toward his doom.  Still wet and cold, Ryan tried his best not to show any signs of trauma from such an event.  Ryan looked up from the ground he was sitting on and saw that Brand and Thomas were too busy checking their packs for whatever they were looking for.  Willow was once again looking out from under the bush through the slight drizzle of rain, as if looking for the next impending disaster to hit them.  Katty on the other hand, was the only one standing off from the others and closer to Ryan.  She was just close enough to talk to him.

“Are you okay,” She asked sounding worried.  Probably the only one in the group that cared.

“Y-yeah…” Ryan said still recuperating.  He was a little glade that they weren’t moving anymore because of the rain, he would have time to rest and recover from the horror he just went through.  Ryan was sure his legs weren’t able to move just yet.

“Why didn’t you listen to Willow,” Katty asked perplexed and confused.

Ryan looked at her like she said something crazy.  “Why didn’t I… I thought you agreed that she’s kind of a-” Ryan looked over to Willow who seemed to be out of ear shout.  However he felt like maybe he shouldn’t say the word.  “You know,” Ryan said giving her a look that she confirmed with a nod.  “I thought she was just being all talk.  I didn’t know rain would be so… difficult,” Ryan said finding the term for the experience.

“Well of course,” Katty told Ryan as if it was common knowledge.  Katty saw that Ryan was new to this knowledge and gasped, “You’ve never been outside before have you?”

Ryan shook his head, “No, not really.  At least not like this, during a down pour,” Ryan told her.  Looking back out from under the bush he could still see a few droplets of water the same size as before that knocked him off his feet.  The splashing of the water in the distance made Ryan flinch a little.  “I guess I should have said something sooner,” Ryan remarked.

Katty sighed, “Well, I know I complained about her,” Katty brought Ryan’s attention to Willow who was still observing the outside world, “But that doesn’t mean you should ignore her advice.  She’s helped not just me but the others out plenty of times.  She’s not easy to get along with but, you should listen to her,” Katty told Ryan.

Ryan didn’t want to say anything but simply nodded.  He would definitely keep Willow’s words of advice and decision in mind.  Who was he, someone that had been a shrinky for less than a month, to think he knew what he was talking about.  Willow did seem like she knew way more about this new world he was in now.  Besides he owed Willow his life, even if she didn’t mean to save him, the least he could do was shut up and follow her decision and orders.

As Ryan was still recovering from his post traumatic experience, and Katty chatted about her dislike for being outside even at this size.  When Ryan finally felt better and got a hold of himself, he saw Willow pull back from the edge of the underbrush and walk toward the center near him.  Willow walked over to Ryan’s stuff and opened it without asking him.  Ryan was about to say something but held his tongue.  He didn’t want to piss her off any more than he already had.

“We should eat,” Willow told everyone as she pulled out some of the food in Ryan’s stuff.  She started to toss everyone portions of the supplies.  Ryan held onto the small chunk of food in his hands, feeling hungry after such an ordeal he had gone through, Ryan quickly consumed his portion.  He looked around  at the other four who were eating just as quickly if not faster.

“So what’s the plan,” Thomas asked, more toward Willow than anyone else.  She waited till she finished her food before answering.

“We rest for the day.  We’ll leave in the morning,” Willow told everyone.

Ryan didn’t know why it bothered him so much, but he really wanted to know where Willow was planing on going.  Not knowing the destination was a little troubling for Ryan.  Not that he had somewhere he wanted to go, or knew about, he just felt a little uneasy to be left in the dark.  “Sorry to ask again, but where is it that we’re heading to,” Ryan spoke up.

Willow answered with a curt and cold response, “You can follow or leave.  It’s up to you I wont stop you.  However like I said before, the food stays.”  Again there was no discussion on the topic, and it didn’t look like Willow was going to share he plan.  Ryan finally gave up and figured where ever they were going, it had to be relatively safe.  Ryan finished the last of his food and looked over to Katty who was already trying to find a decent place to lay down.

It didn’t look like it was going to get dark for a while, but the others were already starting to prepare for bed.  Ryan watched as the other three pulled out some form of old material to be used as blankets.  He was the only one with an actual blanket itself.  As Tom and Brand tucked themselves close to each other, Willow laid down away from everyone else, and Katty was close by without anything to sleep with.  Ryan grabbed his blanket and moved closer to Katty.  “Uh, do you not have something to cover up with?”

Katty shook her head as she lay on her side.  “I haven’t found anything yet, even though it’s been a while.”  Katty let out a bitter chuckle, “Thank goodness it hasn’t been too cold.”

“Um, well,” Ryan said sitting down near Katty, “We could share.”  Katty rolled over and looked at Ryan and it was now that Ryan had to quickly add, “I didn’t mean like in a weird way or anything!  Just like…”

Katty shook her head as she laughed, “Yeah I know what you mean.  Don’t worry I didn’t get that vibe from you at all.”  Ryan couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

As Ryan offered the other half of the blanket he ended up asking, “So did the others not offer or did you get a… VIBE from them?”

Katty snorted, “They didn’t ask, but to be honest if they did I wouldn’t have.  I would rather freeze than sleep using a plastic bag or an old smelly piece of newspaper as a blanket.”

Ryan didn’t say anything, but Katty’s view on what she would and wouldn’t do to survive seemed very prissy.  Ryan hadn’t been put in her situation for very long but he felt like he would take what he could.  If it was a torn piece of plastic or newspaper, it was better than nothing.  However, Ryan wasn’t going to judge Katty too much, she had only been a shrinky a little longer than himself.  Ryan tossed more of the blanket over toward the younger teen.

Ryan got comfy and looked around and spotted something that chilled his soul.  Willow was glaring daggers at him.  It was a warning look, like she was expecting to see Ryan doing something unsavory.  Ryan wasn’t that kind of person, but the look that Willow gave him made him want to scurry out from under the blanket just so she would stop glaring.  The moment Willow looked away from Ryan, he let out a sigh and tried to get some sleep.

As Ryan tried to sleep he found that his dreams were restless.  Once again like earlier, it was all dreams of being swallowed or hurt by Emily and now his mother was added into the mix.  After one of them swallowed him, he would end up in the other’s hand.  Chewed or swallowed whole, Ryan relived the constant torment of those two getting their kicks out of his pain and sorrow.  It was on the third time that his mother decided to chew a part of his arm off that Ryan shot up gasping at his numb arm.  A sense of panicky him him as he really thought he lost his arm… only to start to feel his arm coming back to life. .

It turned out that Ryan was sleeping on his arm and it went numb in his sleep.  Gasping and trying to calm his beating heart, he looked around.  Everyone was still asleep, Katty, Brand, Tom, and…. where was Willow?  Ryan didn’t see her in her sleeping bag, in fact her bag wasn’t even there.  Ryan sat further up as he looked around, a sense of fear and anxiety hit Ryan as he feared that Willow took off without them.  The last place Ryan looked was near the edge of the under bush, where Willow kept watch the other day.  Sure enough there she was, with her gear all ready and set, watching the outside like a guard dog.  

Ryan found he was already up, and deiced to join Willow or to at least try and get on some kind of good side with her.  Walking over toward her, Ryan was a few steps behind Willow before she spoke up, “Were going to need supplies.”

“Oh, uh, yeah… I think we have enough for-”

“A day,” Willow told him.  “I’d rather grab some more before were starving.  You didn’t bring as much as I thought you had.”  Willow said sounding a little disappointing in him, like it was his fault. She continued to look out into the world beyond the shrub.  Ryan watched Willow be... well Willow, as she kept looking from right to left for something to come out of nowhere.  Ryan and Willow both sat in the dark, as the sun started to rise and bring color to the blackened world.  It was slow, but the sun started to slowly rise up from the horizon.  Ryan watched the sky fill with the beauty of the sun before he sighed and decided to try and make some conversation with Willow.

“So… how long have you been a shrinky?”

There was a long pause as Willow didn’t speak.  Ryan had a feeling she wouldn’t say much but finally after a long pause she said, “A while…”

“A while,” Ryan repeated not sure how to take the information.  “So how long have you been in charge of this little group?” Ryan asked trying to at least keep the conversation going.  Willow turned toward him and gave him an uncertain look before she went back to gazing at the surroundings. 

As Willow spoke it seemed like she was hesitant explaining, when it came to names.  “A few years.  Brand was the first, I found him after his family was captured and… disposed of.  Thomas was next, he couldn’t stop worrying about how I lead the group.  Than there was Katty… Look I don’t like to talk about the others,” Willow quickly spat out like it hurt to say their names.

“Oh, shit, sorry.  I didn’t know.  I just… is there a reason?”  Ryan asked curious.

Willow gave Ryan a hard stare, which he was starting to get accustomed to,  before she went back to her gazing on the rest of the world.  Ryan figured she wouldn’t say much but as he was about to leave, Willow spoke with deep sorrow, “I’ve had too many …. not make it.  It’s easier to not care if you don’t know them.  To look the other way when IT happens.”  Willow told Ryan.  She was silent for a while before she said, “I sometimes dream about them.  About trying to help…”

Ryan stayed silent as Willow explained her plight.  He wasn’t 100% what she was talking about, but he just knew that it trouble her.  Willow had some dark demons bothering her, and Ryan couldn't help but feel like he should help.  He watched Willow as she looked lost in her memories.  “Uh, well you have us-”  Ryan stopped talking when Willow cut an upset and angry glare to him.  She seemed to still be in sorrow and rage about her memories that Ryan knew it was time to shut up.  He sat there in silence as Willow did her thing.  A deep inhale came from Willow as she continued to look upon the empty world of the sidewalk.  She started to calm down after a few more moments, but didn’t say anything.  Ryan wanted to talk some more but figured silence was best.  They sat there looking out at the slowly brightening world as the sun started to rise higher.

“We should start moving soon,” Willow told Ryan as she started to get up from the ground.  Ryan followed Willow’s action as he stood up.  Heading back to his blanket, where Katty was still sleeping, he tried to slowly wake her up.  It seemed like Katty didn’t want to, as both Brand and Thomas were easier to wake up than her, still Ryan had to give her a shake to wake her up.

“Katty, were leaving,” Ryan tried to tell her.

“Mmm, 5 more minutes,” Katty said pulling the blanket closer.

“I don’t think she’s going to wait that long,” Ryan told Katty giving her another gentle shake.  “Come on, don’t make me leave my blanket behind,” Ryan joked.  

Katty muttered something but finally started to get up.  “It’s been too long since I had a blanket… kind of forget how comfy it can be.”

Ryan didn’t say anything since he’s never really slept without covers.  Once Katty was up and Ryan had his blanket back, he packed up his stuff again and wrapped them up.  Hiking up his makeshift backpack he joined everyone near the sidewalk.  The sun was already out giving them plenty of light to see, but it had to be still early for most people.  There wasn’t anyone on the street or on the sidewalk. 

“Come on,” Willow said as she started to lead everyone on their continued adventure to where ever Willow was heading

Ryan fell into the similar marching order, with the others up front and Ryan in the back.  Katty was nearby as it seemed she was more fond of talking to him than the other three.  As they were walking along the sidewalk again, with the row of small hedges or bushes lining one side of the walk way.  It provided perfect cover for hiding when they would need to duck under them.  It was rare that they had to tuck themselves under one.  Someone walking by or jogging on either sidewalk along the road, someone coming out of their house to grab some mail or leave for work.  Luckily most of the giants and giantess were way to busy with their actions to pay too much attention or to even consider to check for shrinkies nearby.  

However everything was not so simple, they must have walked over a block or two.  Before they came to the first problem of the day, the side walk ended and there was a road to cross.  Normally it would take 3-5 seconds to walk across at normal size, but as Ryan looked out across the road, it was gigantic.  They would be out in the open for way to long, not to mention any possible cars that could be driving across it.

Willow didn’t seem too worried about any of Ryan’s concerns as she started to head toward the dip in the sidewalk that merged into the asphalt for bikes or wheeled transportation to cross with ease.  “Whoa, wait do we have to cross?  Shouldn’t we wait till later?” Ryan spoke up.  Sure enough Willow gave him a look that told him to not question her, especially after yesterday.  Yet, his concern must have been very dramatic or telegraphed for her, because Willow let out a sigh and started to answer him instead of ignoring him.

“If we wait too long it’s going to be too hot to cross,” She explained like she was dealing with a child.  It was now that Ryan realized that their timing was perfect. It was starting to get hotter now that the sun has risen slightly higher in the sky.  “Besides, we have to go this way, so it’s now or later tonight.”  Ryan thought it wouldn’t be so bad to say tonight but just as he was about to say it, Willow was already starting to cross the road.  The other three didn’t bother to consider the other option as they followed after Willow.

“This is stupid,” Ryan muttered his objections, as he quickly followed after Willow and the others.  Sure enough when they stepped out on the black top, Ryan could feel the warmth starting to radiate off the ground.  It was kind of hot, but he was sure it would have been so much worse if they waited a few hours longer, when it would be the hottest time of the day.  The thought of running across a burn hot beach came to mind, only much longer and no water at the end of the line.  Thankfully it didn’t take so long to run across as Ryan thought it would, but it sure was frightening. Ryan half expected a car to come down the street at any second, running over them.  Or maybe he would be lucky enough that someone spotted the five of them running across the black top and stopping in time.  

It wasn’t till they made it up the other side of the walkway that Ryan realized just how repetitive the neighborhood was.  The same kind of plant life lining the side of the walk way continued on this side of the road too.  It seemed far to covenant with the covering provided, but something told Ryan that Willow probably picked this path for this specific reason.  He was stunned by Willow ability to recall her surroundings that she might have seen or been through before.  It wasn’t something that Ryan was sure he could do it himself.

“So I’m guessing she’s been through here before,” Ryan asked Katty, since it seemed Willow most likely wouldn’t answer his question.

Katty shook her head and shrugged not knowing, “First time I’ve been through here.  She might have.  I just know that she’s determined to go to someplace far away.  Where that is,” Katty shrugged, “Again don’t know.”

Ryan’s curiosity about Willow increased, as Katty mentioned far away place.  Where or what could this place be?  Was this like some kind of journey that Willow makes or was she just a roaming traveler picking up random strangers till she reaches her destination?  Ryan really wanted to know, there was just something about her that was compelling to him.  Or maybe this was just Ryan trying to associate with other’s his size.  He would be lying to himself if he didn’t feel friendly already toward the others too, and he had only talked to Katty and Willow.  Maybe he should try getting to know Brand and Thomas a little better.

Ryan thought about it.  Wanting to get friendly with the others he started to walk a little faster to catch up to-

“HIDE,” Willow barked out as everyone jumped off the sidewalk into the bushes to the side.  Everyone except Ryan at first.  It took him a few moments to realize what was going on before he too followed after everyone else.  Ryan took cover under the dark shade of a small hedge as he tried to peer out at the reason to Willow’s sudden command.  Ryan wasn’t sure how Willow heard it before he did, but from behind them the sound of pitter patter coming up the sidewalk started to get louder.  Sure enough, Ryan spotted white tennis shoes jogging followed up by four brown legged paws of what could only belong to a dog.  Taking a wild guess by the size and color of the shoes, it had to be a young girl easily early teens.

Ryan wasn’t paying much attention as the feet started to come up to where they were hiding.  He figured they would pass by them like all the other foot traffic this morning.  However it was the four paws that slowed down that caught Ryan’s attention.  He immediately saw the black square nose of the dog pointing down at the ground.

Ryan gasped as he recognized the snout of the canine animal sniffing around just where Ryan was walking a few seconds ago.  Ryan let out a silent curse as the snorting and sniffing of the dog increased.  The nose started to get closer toward him as the dog was tracking him!  The large maw of the dog went off the sidewalk and headed toward the very spot Ryan was hiding.  The increase in sniffing deafened Ryan’s hearing as he stood frozen, unable to back up further from where he was as his legs were locked.  The massive sniffer, snorted one more time, blasting Ryan with a gust of hot air as the dog poked it’s nose under the bush and almost into Ryan himself. 

“Come on Mandy!”  The young girl called out, as the sound of a leash being tugged, yanked the dog out and away from Ryan.  “We’re almost home, don’t stop now,” the girl called out still trying to keep her walking pace and giving her pet a nice tug to bring her along.  The dog gave one more sniff before doing as her master ordered and left Ryan in peace.

By the time the dog and owner left, Ryan’s heart beat started to drop back down to normal.  That was way too close for his comfort.  So when Willow was already telling everyone to hurry up, Ryan couldn’t help but snap.  “Would you just hold up!  I was nearly found out!”

Willow shook her head at his outburst ignoring his outburst, “AND?  Your point is?”

“My point?!” Ryan was looking for someone to say something but once again, he was the only one acting like this.  “There’s got to be an easier and safer way to travel.  Like,” Ryan quickly pointed out, “We could be going at night.  Than we wouldn’t have to worry about crossing hot streets or people finding us,” Ryan told Willow.

“If you want to travel at night, go ahead,” Willow replied with a sarcastic tone.  “I’m sure you won’t have any issues with cats.”

Ryan felt all his anger vanish at the mention of cats.  “C-cats?”

Willow was already walking back to the sidewalk, “You’re in a neighborhood, I can fucking guarantee there’s at least a couple of cats roaming around at night.  At least during the day I can see and react better than in the darkness.  But hey I’m sure you wouldn’t mind trying to fend off a cat or two.  I’ve seen my fair share of what a cat do with shrinkies to know not to come across one.  Especially when they hunt at night.”  Willow remarked.

Ryan gulped at the comment.  Ryan wasn’t a cat person, but he heard enough stories about them.  Bringing dead mice or birds back home.  He never though about what they did to shrinkies, and the way Willow grimy told him from her “experience” that he didn’t want to know.  Feeling stupid for questioning Willow’s judgment, Ryan fell back in line and followed.  

Willow carefully observed Ryan as they all started to rest under another set of bushes outside of a random home.  Willow didn’t know how Ryan survived for so long, he looked to be about her age, so at the least he had to have been a shrinky for 6 years.  However he was acting like everything was so new to him!  It was like he just shrank recently.  He was completely oblivious to all the dangers or potential threats.  Maybe he had a sheltered life?  Was he someone’s pet for those years or got EXTREMELY lucky and had actual loving parents and family?  Willow shook her head as she finished the last of her food supplies.  It seemed everyone's food just ran out, and so now they would need to get more.  

Willow told everyone to get some sleep for a little while, they were going to do a supply run on this house.  Willow hated this, but sadly there wouldn’t be any other way to get food besides entering the home.  There were a few lights turned on, so someone was home, but Willow didn’t see who or how many lived in the building.  Sadly they really didn’t have a choice, they need to get something to eat for the next few days.  Willow glanced over at Ryan and Katty, the two newest ones to the group.  She was sure one if not both of them wouldn’t make it tonight.  It wasn’t rare for her to lose someone on a food run, especially someone new.

Trying to steel herself for the event that might happen, she saw the last lights turn off and signal the owner was going to sleep.  Willow stood up and grabbed her stuff.  She woke everyone up.  As they got ready, Willow checked the clearing through the lawn and didn’t spot anything moving in the yard.  It was hard to tell at night, but luckily there was some light from the moon and other homes that still had thier lights on.  

“Let’s go,” Willow told everyone as she rushed toward the house.  She didn’t know what kind of animal life was around, and sure as heck didn’t want to be out in the open too long.  Luckily the grass was cut short enough that it wasn’t too hard to run through and still see the entrance to the house.  It wasn’t too long of a run, but it did leave a few of the others out of breath.  The moment they were up against the side of the home, they took a quick breather.

“Wh-what now,” Ryan gasped catching his breath.

“We go in,” Willow told him.

“How?”

Willow was about to ignore the question, but once again the remark reminded her of a newly shrinky.  He truly didn’t know how to live as a shrinky.  “Unless you want to go knocking on the door and see if they’ll open it,” Willow dryly remarked, “We’re going to sneak in, through…” Willow said as she pushed her hand along the foundation and siding of the home.  She felt a small gap going upward… and warm air.  “Here,” Willow stated.  

Willow slowly entered the small gap and found it was tight, but accessible.  There was a little crawling around that needed to be done but soon she was going left and right in the small dark space.  Willow followed the air current like the many times before this.  It was almost like second nature to her as she easily found the path she needed to take.  Soon there was a small and dim glow in the distance.  Willow headed toward the light in the dark passage way and saw a small crack opening up.  Squeezing out of the gap left between the baseboard and a corner of a room, she peeked her head out and examined the new area.  It was dark, but the dim glow was coming off a TV playing in the room.  The TV on the entertainment stand was softly playing some show, movie, or something.  The sound of a deep snore coming from the couch brought her attention to the noise.  There, she spotted a large older man passed out on the couch, laying down on his back.  One arm hung off and touching the ground, while the other was flung over his head and arm rest.  His feet kicked up on the other arm rest, and a good handful of beer bottles were between him and the TV, resting on the coffee table.  He seemed passed out laying down on the couch.  

Relived to see the state of the drunken man, Willow continued to observed the room some more.  A few chairs were left in the room unoccupied, but telling Willow there was could be more people in the home.  Willow looked back behind her and whispered to the others, “One sleeping in the room.  Stay quite.”  Willow exited the small gap, barely large enough for her to squeeze through and stood on the other side of the wall.  As the others snuck out from behind the baseboard, Willow peered around more, seeing that the one story tall home, had a hallway past the kitchen leading deeper into the house.  The wall to Willow’s right that held the TV near it, ran toward the front door and another wall cutting toward the kitchen.  To Willow’s left was the other corner of the room, it ran along parallel to Willow’s right side, but it quickly opened up into a kitchen.  There was a round table with four chairs.  The kitchen had a counter running along the back wall with appliances but nothing stopping anyone from going to the fridge and back to the living room, making it seem very spacious.  

“Okay, let’s head to the kitchen and get what we can,” Willow told everyone before adding one more thing, “Everyone knows the rule.”  She turned her attention to the newbie of the group, Ryan. “No hero’s.  If you’re caught that’s it.  We leave you, no one is coming to save you, you’re on your own, got it?”  Willow saw the horrified look on the man’s face.

“What do you mean?”  The disbelief in his voice was clear.  

“Like I said, you’re on your own if something happens.”  Willow didn’t have time to explain anymore to the new guy.  She needed to find enough food to last for a few more days and whatever else she could use.  Willow pointed to everyone but Ryan and said, “Food.  Whatever you can find.”  All three of them nodded as she started to lead them all toward the kitchen.  As Willow started to walk on the carpet, she need a few moments to adjust from hard firm ground to the fluffy spongy floor.  Once stable, she followed along the wall of the living room, with the slumbering Giant sleeping away.  There were a few points when Willow froze when the sleeping man moved in his sleep, but that was all he did.  Thankful that he was passed out, Willow continued, making her way toward to corner of the room.  Once there she followed along the wall toward the opening of the kitchen.  Stepping off the soft carpet and onto the hard tile ground covering the kitchen, Willow scanned the dark dim room’s floor for any food.  The only light helping was the fading light from the TV in the other room, and the few windows letting in the moon light.

Willow and the others started to spread out and look for any kind of crumbs or scraps of food left behind.  Anything was better than nothing, as Willow was used to it.  She headed over to the table, which was closer to a large hallway leading deeper into the home.  Willow found a couple droplets of old food, pieces of lasagna, dried and hard.  She quickly started to stash them away in her bag.  She was about to call the others over when she spotted something horrifying.

RYAN!  The dumb idiot was standing in the open moon light looking upward.  What the fuck was he doing?!

 “YOU!”  Willow hissed trying to get his attention.  Heading over to him as fast as she could, Willow grabbed the man and yanked him out of the lighten.  “The fuck are you doing?!  Are you trying to get caught,” Willow asked with pure anger in her voice.

“Wh-what?  No-no,” he stammered before pointing up toward the counter top.  “I was looking for food, look,” he said pointing upward at the counter.  Willow followed his eyes and spotted a loaf of bread.  “I was trying to find a way up there,” He explained.

Willow shook her head, no it was way too risky…

“Just help with the crumbs,” Willow told him pointing to the small bits of scattered food around the table. 

“But there’s plenty of FRESH food up there,” he argued.

Willow wanted to hit him for being so combative, “Yeah and it’s too damn dangerous, we don’t have time to look for a way up…”

Willow stopped her speech, as she spotted the space between the counter and oven.  It looked like enough room for someone to wall climb up.  She could do it… she could climb up there.  It wouldn’t be too hard.  The appeal to eating something fresh weighted in her mind.  It had been far too long since she had fresh bread and not stale or moldy bits left behind.  Willow looked around one more time for any signs of danger…

“Fine,” Willow growled letting Ryan know how much she hated the idea. “I’LL go get enough to fill my bag.  YOU grab some crumbs,” Willow ordered him again pointing to the table she was just at.

Ryan quickly offered, “You sure I could come-”

Willow snorted at the thought of him trying to follow after her, “Yeah right, just get some damn food.”  Heading off toward the oven, she stood in the small crevice and looked on either side of her.  It wasn’t like the siding was going to give way, but she still tested it out of habit.  Finding it sturdy, Willow pushed her arms and legs into he wall and started to climb up.  Pushing and pulling with her legs and arm moving vertically upwards.  It took her a few moments to climb to the top of the counter but she made it.  Pulling herself up to the counter top from the small gap between the appliance and the counter itself, Willow looked down at the kitchen and spotted everyone.  Ryan and the others made their way to the dinner table and were picking up what they could.  Willow made her way across the counter and toward the bread left on a cutting board.  There was a fresh slice laying down already cut.  She would just tear off a couple good clump and leave with it.  

Once next to the board, Willow pulled her bag off and dumped out the crappy crumbs she found and went to rip off some bread.  Shoving a good couple of chunks into her bag Willow couldn’t help but smile.  The smell of the bread was heavenly and delightful.  Wanting to try the still fresh bread, Willow pulled off some for herself to try right now.  Bringing the bread up to her face, Willow bit into the fluffy freshly risen baked bread.  Willow could just die from the taste of it filling her mouth-

The sound of footsteps coming from off in the distance pulled Willow out of her world of bliss.  She spun around just in time to be hit by the blinding kitchen light flipping on.  Willow winched, and started to try and recover her eyesight as a new giant person entered the kitchen.  Her eyes were still adjusting, as Willow held her hands up to shield the light from her eyes.  Willow first caught two large feet approaching from the other side of the kitchen, as they passed the dinner table.  She spotted the blurry shapes of the others hiding.  By the time Willow’s eyes were accustom to the new light, the sound of the footsteps speeding up filled the room.  Willow had the pleasure of seeing a young teen boy rushing her before she could even move from the counter.  His enormous form filling all of her vision.

“Oh shit,” the boy whispered as his hands were already around Willow in a heartbeat.  “I caught a shrinky!  And a girl one too!”    

Willow felt the enormous fingers wrap around her as the boy snatched her up and held her up to his gigantic face.  Willow winced again as she felt the pressure around her body building to the point she thought she felt something crack and pop.  It would be a lie if she told herself she wasn’t afraid.  There was always a hint of fear at being caught.  Now in the grasp of this smiling and smirking boy, she felt the familiar feeling of fright rising up in her.  The delight in the boy’s eyes told her that he was already thinking up things to do with her.  She seen plenty of Giants and Giantess that captured shrinkies to know that it’s never ever a good thing.

The delighted boy chuckled as he reached into a cabinet and pulled out a clear cup and started to get some water from the fridge.  He started to speak, “I came to get some water, and I find you sneaking around.  I thought tonight was going to suck.”

Willow glared at her captive but didn’t remark.  Instead she struggled a little more only to have the boy gulp the water down and chuckle, “And a fighter too…”

Willow defiantly gave the boy another hard glare. If this was it, she wouldn’t show any form of weakness to the monster.   As horrible as the situation was for her now, the least she could do was keep him distracted for the others to get out.  Brand had been with her long enough to know what to do, he should be using this time to clear out of the kitchen or hid in a better spot.  She had already marked her self down as dead, hopefully it wouldn’t be meaningless for the others.

“Fuck you!”  Willow spat.  The boy only grinned more at those words.  Redoubling her effort to escape, if not to break free than to put on a good show.  It didn’t help as the boy didn’t so much as relax a muscle in his hand.

“Feisty, but I can’t have dad finding you.”  The boy held Willow over the glass cup before dropping her in the glass chamber.  Willow landed with a clink in the little ankle deep water with a splash.  “I’ll keep you in there till mom picks me up,” The boy explained heading out of the kitchen and turning the lights off.  He kept talking sounding thrilled, “Than when I get back home, we can play around without being disturbed.”  Willow now felt true terror from her captive.  It didn’t sound like she would be lucky enough for a quick finish.  This monster liked to play.  Willow shuddered and pulled her legs inward as she held herself.

Willow hadn’t felt this fearful in a long time.  It was almost comical how she tired to be brave and still was the frighten child her family abandon in the park.  Willow felt the cup set down on a nightstand next to a simple bed room.  There was a desk nearby covered in messy papers and trash.  A dresser in the other corner of the room and a TV with a gaming system across from the bed.  Nothing of use for her.

The boy gave Willow a mocking kiss through the other side of the glass as he laughed at how she reacted in disgust.  The boy soon turned off his lights and was in bed sleeping.  Willow couldn’t help it, she was tired, scared, and powerless in the dark.  Unable to do much she felt herself falling asleep horrified of what was to come.  But, at least the others weren’t caught.  

Her sacrifice for their safety would be last good deed she ever did in this cruel world.