Nobody ever thought it would happen to them, not really.

Those tested as susceptible may take out insurance or enrol as a Ward in a Guardian program. Those that had the money and a high chance of shrinking may fork out for a BunkerBag™.

You were not one of these people.

The shrinking epidemic was nearly over, everyone knew it. The mysterious virus had begun to die out much as it had started and instances were down to less than ten per week worldwide. The human race had survived and, strangely, was better for it.

With a plummeting population the issues caused in the stock market were a small price to pay for the environmental impact. As the total number of humans fell so too did global warming, flooding and waste. The leaps in technology the war on the virus had facilitated sparked a new era of prosperity for the survivors and old conflicts were forgotten as nations turned to each other for trade.

This music festival was a prime example, returning after a decade long hiatus to celebrate the fresh dawn. Then, at the eleventh hour, you shrank.

You woke to a frenzy of g force and agony as her massive fingers closed around you, crushing your ribs and ripping you into the air. You vomited whiskey and blood across her closed fist as she brought you to her face, those ice blue eyes struggling to focus on you.

‘What the,’ she chuckled, swaying in the gloom, ‘what the fuck happened? Oh man, look at you. You’re so, so fuckin’ tiny!’

Your vision faded as her grip tightened, your captor unaware of the deadly effect she was having on you. Compressed in her flesh your lungs failed to inflate, starving your mangled body of oxygen.

You tried to call out to her, to beg her to loosen her grip. Your words died with you, your head lolling forwards. Your life had ended in her hand, crushed by the carelessness of your drunken ex.

The revival, when it came was a lightning bolt.

You cried aloud in the palm of her hand, her fingers previously uncoiling so she could get a better look at the damage she had wrought. Cold air rushed into you as your ribcage and lower torso cracked back into position, your flesh knitting and your lungs inflating as though new.

‘What happened,’ you stammered, forgetting for a split second the vast woman that held you in the palm of her hand, ‘I’m alive, how am I alive?’

‘Holy shit,’ she giggled, pushing a strand of messy red-brown hair behind her ear, ‘you’re a, you’re one of those.’

You both said the word at the same time, ‘Resilient.’

Unbreakable, unkillable though subject to pain and dismemberment; rare, regenerating Shrinkies that we seemingly immortal. Able to survive almost any damage inflicted upon them, the Resilients were a scientific wonder.

Now you numbered among them.

‘Oh man,’ you started, standing shakily on her open palm. Your nap had left you sober, sober enough to understand the danger you were in.  A confused look lay upon her beautiful if unkempt face, her mind deep in a lake of alcohol.

When she got like this she was unstable, it was important to ensure her thoughts remained positive. ‘You, you look great. I’m so glad you’re here, that you found me!’

‘Yeah?’ she slurred, one eye closing to better focus on you, ‘why’s that?’

Her voice was like thunder causing a slight tremor to rise in your own. Though not your first choice of rescuer you had been together for four years. That counted for something.

‘Because,’ you spoke slowly, recalling how easily she could take offense or misinterpret the slightest of things, ‘because I wanted to see you. We said we were gonna stay friends. You remember that right? I’m really glad to see you, I hoped we’d get chance to talk.’

You hoped that a week to think things over combined with god knows how much she had drank would cause her to forget the worst parts of the break-up and believe your innocent lie.

Once again, luck failed you.

‘Friends huh?’ she mumbled, swaying from side to side, ‘Why would I, why would I wanna be friends with a piece of shit, a piece of shit like you?’

You called her name, crying out in protest and she began to tilt her hand. You clung to her finger, your hands clasping onto the ring you once bought for her and that, strangely, she still wore. Miles of open air expanded beneath you. Though your body was now able to survive the fall, your mind hadn’t quite caught up with this fact as you desperately kicked your legs and struggled to find purchase.

Her voice drowned out your screams of fear, your cries for help to anyone that may be passing.

‘Friends,’ she repeated, chewing the idea over, ‘no we’re not friends. You’re not even, not even human. You’re a fucking Shrinky, a fucking bug. You dumped me! You don’t want me, you don’t love me. You just want me to help you cos you’re all tiny and helpless. Fuck you!’

She dislodged you with a shake of her wrist sending you plummeting towards the plastic sheeted earth.

The wind burst from you as you slammed into the floor, your arms and legs breaking on impact. The ground beneath you rumbled as they twitched back into position, allowing you to roll over just in time to see her huge booted foot rise over you.

For the first time you appreciated how truly massive she was, an incomprehensible titan that rose into the sky and dominated the world. You had never been more afraid of anything in your entire life.

‘You’re fucking nothing,’ she said again, growling the words, ‘you’re worthless, a useless fucking Shrinky. Fuck you!’

You barely had time to raise your hands, not that it would have achieved anything, as her foot exploded downwards and obliterated you entirely. A short scream released a fountain of blood from your mouth before your skull and skeleton were shattered, folding into your flesh, reduced to a smear of conscious viscera pushed into the treads of her boot.

You rose with her as she stepped off of you, your tiny body popping back into shape. Lacking the viscosity to adhere to her sole you tumbled back onto the ground, bouncing once before her boot caught you again.

This time she hit you with the ball of her shoe, stepping on you several times in quick succession before grinding you into the plastic like a cigarette. The experience was unlike anything you could have comprehended before, endless agony pushing you to unthinkable levels.

The massive woman was relentless, barely allowing you to reform before inflicting another cataclysm of abuse upon you. You screamed into the mud crusted heel of her boot as it bisected you, dragging backwards to take your lower half and leaving a trail of intestines in its wake.

Her sole slapped down onto your torso as you regrew, pinning you in place.

In the heavens she panted heavily, sweat prickling her skin and plastering her hair to her forehead. It was too hot for this shit.

You breathed for the first time in an eternity as she stepped off of you.

‘Please,’ you sobbed, too weak to stand, ‘please no more.’

‘Shut the fuck up,’ she snarled.

The mud splattered toe of her boot shot forwards, almost decapitating you with a kick and sending you flying backwards across your tent. You hit the fabric wall and slid down it to rest in a dazed pile.

You recovered in time to see her huge hand reach down towards you, her fingers forming a descending cage that you could not escape from even if you had the energy to do so. Once again she crushed you in her fist, her iron hard fingernails slicing effortlessly into your body.

She rose into the sky, standing as straight as she was able. Your ragged breathes drew down alcohol laced air as you passed her full, pink lips. Her brilliant blue eyes peered at you in the darkness.

‘Please,’ you choked, each word rattling with blood, ‘baby don’t do this.’

Her laughter was thunder, ‘Baby? I’m not your baby. I’m your, I’m your fuckin’ God now.’

She ended the conversation by compressing your body into goo between her fingers. Her fist fell to her side as she left the tent, taking her new possession back to her own camp.