Jonathan Turner was a wealthy business man. He had a wife and kids, and overall he was doing well for himself. Alex Thompson was a single guy, living alone with his two cats, not really going anywhere in his life. Erik Talejo was a down-on-his-luck, homeless guy living on the streets of a town, trying to get by in life. These three men were very different people, but the three of them all had one thing in common. 

-

Jonathan entered his home after a long day of work. He greeted his wife, Irene, with a lovely kiss. Jonathan was a relatively tall person, at the very least he stood noticeably taller than his wife. When he came home today, however, he and his wife noticed that the difference between them wasn't as noticeable. The only thing they said about it were offhand comments, though. Maybe it was just their imagination? Regardless, it didn't seem important. Afterwards, Jonathan headed to the bedroom to change out of his work clothes, and into a more leisurely outfit. He barely made it a few feet into the room when it happened. 

--

Alex walked out of his bedroom and into the kitchen. It was his day off and he planned on not leaving the house at all. That was how he liked to spend most days, but he had to make money somehow and that required him to leave his house to go to work several days a week. Today was not one of those days. Alex didn't measure his height everyday, because why in the world would he. If he did do that, however, he would have noticed something strange. Not that he would have done anything about it, though. Regardless, it was time to feed his cats! He grabbed the bag food, the sound of which caused the cats to instantly come running towards him. He took up a scoop of the food and began to pour it into their bowls, and that was when it happened.

--

Erik sat against a brick wall on the outside of a building. People walked by and he asked them if they had any change to spare. He got a quarter here and there, and occasionally someone would give him a dollar, but for the most part, people walked by as if he wasn't even there. It was kind of humiliating for him, to be a grown man, and have other human beings walk by as if he were a piece of dirt. But it was his life, and at least he was still alive, and had his health, for now. Erik had also gotten a few centimeters smaller, but the poor guy never had a chance to even notice. Soon, nature called and Erik got up to take a leak real quick, but he had only managed a couple steps when it happened.

----

Jonathan Turner, Alex Thompson, and Erik Talejo were all very different people, but they had one thing in common: They were all infected with SHIV, which stands for the Shrinking Human Idiopathic Virus. 

--

Jonathan Turner looked at his surroundings. It was like an alien landscape, but everything still felt...familiar somehow. He took a second to think about what occurred. He had just spoken with his wife, and then went to the bedroom, but didn't get far into it. That was as far as Jonathan knew. He took two steps into the bedroom, and the very next thing he remembers is seeing the alien landscape around him. Then he started to look at the landscape more closely. He noticed a gigantic wooden building far off in front of him. From the far distance, he could tell it looked suspiciously like the same chest he and his wife had sitting at the foot of their bed. And the ground, it was very fibrous and made out of giant strands, and it was a beige color, almost identical to the carpet in their bedroom. And then he looked around more, and as much as he wanted to deny it, as much as his mind told him it couldn't be true, Jonathan figured it out. He was still in his bedroom.

Jonathan let out a monstrous scream but not a soul in the world heard it. Jonathan pinched himself to make sure it wasn't a dream. It wasn't. He had no idea why, he had no idea how, but he had shrunk. And not just shrunk a little bit, no, he shrunk a lot. It was impossible for him to measure himself at this height, nor did he actually want to know his size, but it was miniscule. On the plus side, his clothes had shrunk with him. It was a bit odd that they did, but with everything else going on, Jonathan didn't question it at all. He had attempted to walk through the fibrous carpet strands bigger than him, but it didn't work very well. That was when he heard a loud shout coming from outside of the room. It sounded like his name.

He heard the call again and turned around to face the gigantic door frame. The pathway itself was scary, but that was nothing compared to the massive figure that appeared in it a second later. Jonathan looked in complete awe. In the doorway was his wife, but she was not the same as he remembered her. She was titanic, or rather, she was still her normal height, and it was Jon who was now small. Regardless, the figure standing in the doorway didn't look human to Jonathan. He knew it was his wife, but there was something so monstrous about it. About how big she was. He barely had a second to contemplate anything as she took a single step and the sole of her bare foot encompassed the entire sky for Jonathan. 

In an instant the soft, warm flesh of his wife's sole smashed down upon him. The entire reason Jonathan wasn't obliterated outright was because the plush carpet provided just enough cushion to soften the blow. Just soften it, though. Jonathan did his best to let out a blood-curdling scream as a metric ton of force pressed down on him. He felt his bones creak beneath the pressure, as if he were about to explode. All light was extinguished and the only thing Jonathan was left with was the scent of lotion his wife used, and the taste of blood starting to pool in his mouth. The impact broke his nose instantly, his teeth were shattered, and nothing else was faring much better. But it wasn't over. His wife, Irene, had a habit of digging her toes into the carpet. The blackness above Jonathan left as he caught sight of his monolithic wife standing above him. It was hard to see through the black eyes, but he knew it was her. He couldn't even move a muscle before her big toe dug itself into the carpet right where Jonathan was. She had recently gotten a pedicure and her toenails were clean, pristine, and sharp. In an instant the toenail sliced right through Jonathan and eviscerated him. Blood and guts spilled out onto the plush carpet and onto Irene's nails, but it was much too small to be seen. He died after that impact.

Nobody heard from Jonathan again. Nobody knew what had happened. Irene called the police, did everything she could think of to find out what happened, but for a while, there was no answer. Once she learned about it, she assumed that was what happened. She told herself, and her kids, that it must have been a bug, or some other creature that had gotten him. She never knew it was actually she herself who ended his life.

--

Giant structures encircled Alex Thompson, leaving him trapped between them, with nowhere to run. He hardly noticed them, though. There was a much bigger threat looming above him. Two, actually. Even from his new found point of view, he knew exactly what he was looking at. Towering above him were his cats. He could see the strands of fur coming off. He had no idea what happened, or why, but it was obvious that he had gotten smaller, a lot smaller. His mind didn't want to believe it, because shrinking wasn't real, at least not in the sense that just happened to him. But there was no mistaking what he was looking at. 

His eyes were so fixated on the giant creatures above him he never really took note of the objects that surrounded him. It wouldn't have mattered anyway. He was simply too small to do anything about it. Before he knew it, his cat had look down upon him, well, not him, but the pieces of food he was surrounded by. The last thing Alex ever saw was his cat reaching down to eat the pieces that had dropped to the floor. He fortunately died almost immediately, and didn't have to suffer being chewed and digested.

It was a while before anything found out Alex was missing. His work only questioned why he never showed up, but it wasn't until he failed to pay his rent that his landlord went into his house herself. Thankfully the cats were still alive, though they weren't fairing that well. While his disappearance at first seemed a mystery, once the news came out, it was a pretty open-and-shut case that Alex had gotten killed by his cats. They were given to a local shelter.

--

Erik Talejo saw the giant hills and bumps on the concrete surface he was on, and simply sat there confused. He had no idea what he was looking at. He looked up towards the sky and it seemed as normal as ever. Just a standard light blue sky, with a few clouds rolling by. But the ground was just completely different. And then a rumbling was starting. Every second a shake would occur beneath his feet, and it got more and more pronounced every time. He looked around to identify the source, and once he turned around he found it. He didn't have to worry about finding a place to take a piss anymore.

In the distance Erik saw a woman, but there was something different about her. She was huge! Her name was Rebecca Samly, and she was simply out for her morning run. Erik saw her running and realized the tremors he was feeling was this woman stepping down as she ran. Not only was every step she taking making a bigger shake, it was making her appear larger, or more correctly, it was her getting closer. 
Erik did the only thing his mind could think do to in such an impossible situation and he began waving his arms above his head in an attempt to get the woman to see him and stop her footfalls. Needless to say, she never saw the puny man. Her footsteps drew closer and closer and before long Erik found himself falling over to the concrete sidewalk, unable to support himself from the force. The rough and ragged bumps of the sidewalk cut into his skin, but he was too afraid of the titanic woman to notice or care. He could hear the loud smack of rubber hitting concrete with every step she took. Erik couldn't tell if he was trembling from the force, or because he was that afraid of this woman. Most likely both. 

Erik was on his stomach now, facing the woman within a few feet of him. She was simply moving way to fast. It was mindblowing to see such a massive figure moving that fast. She was traversing what appeared to be hundreds of miles for Erik in seconds. In Erik's mind, it was hard to consider such a creature human at that point. No human could move that fast. The reality was, though, that she was human. Nothing had changed about her. It was Erik who was now less than human.
The last thing Erik saw was the sole of her running shoe crashing down upon him as she took a step. In his last seconds he could see pieces of dirt and rocks stuck to the sole and between the treads. It was Erik who was no longer human, he was simply dirt. Her shoe crashed down onto the sidewalk and Erik's body was crushed and exploded upon impact. His blood coated the sole of her shoe where he was smashed, but to the humans it would look like nothing more then a speck of dirt. Rebecca kept going on with her run, she would never know that she mercilessly killed somebody that day.

As for Erik, nobody ever heard from him again. To be honest, nobody really even noticed he was gone. He had been a faceless man living on the streets of a busy town. He was already a nobody to most people anyway. Once the news broke out, a handful of peopled noticed there were less homeless people on the streets, but not many gave it a thought beyond that.

--

Not only were all three of them were infected with SHIV, they were some of the first people to contract the virus. Their chances of surviving it were virtually zero percent. They were one of the first people to get it, but they definitely were not the last.

1.1  Average Guy 
My name's Ethan McDonnell, but you can just call me Ethan. I'm what you would call a pretty average guy. I'm a single dude living alone in my own little apartment. I got some generic job over at a cafe, just waiting for something bigger and better to come along. I know that's not a very good plan for life, but it's all I've got at the moment. I mean, does every twenty-six year old have their future decided? Yeah, I didn't think so. Okay, maybe most are dating someone, or are working towards or going to school for the job they dream of, but not everyone! 

My mom's been pretty supportive about it. Of course she wants me to go out and do something with my life, but she isn't making me. Well, not that she could make me, but you know what I mean. Anyway, it was time for me to get to work. As I said, I work at cafe down the street from where I live. It's not a glorious job, but my managers like me for my hard work, my coworkers are cool with me, and I make a pretty decent paycheck from it. Sure it's something people could consider a low-end job, but a job is a job and money is money. 

"Hey Ethan, what's up!" James, one of my coworkers said once he saw me come in. James was a pretty cool guy. He was a fan of video games and we talked a lot during work about the new stuff that was coming out. He worked here at the cafe with his girlfriend Leslie too. She's pretty cool as well, but sometimes it gets annoying when the two of them are together, and they spend time chatting when we're busy instead of, I don't know, working. But, it is what it is.
"Yo James," I said, walking past him to the back of store. We had an area in the back where employees could store their belongings while they worked. I had a bag with me that held my uniform, which was basically just an apron, as well as some of my personal belongings like my phone and stuff. I know a lot of people keep that stuff on them, but, I don't know, I just didn't feel the need. I was never on my phone anyway, why weigh myself down carrying it around. Yeah, I know it weighs like a pound, it's metaphorical.
"Hi Ethan," a familiar voice called behind me. I didn't even have to turn around to know it belong to Emily. "How are you?" she asked, coming up to me and putting her hand on my back. It was not in a "friend" kind of way. I definitely didn't know for sure, but it felt like she had some kind of crush on me, and she was not shy about showing it.
"Hi Emily," I said, not returning the same feelings behind my voice. I had to be honest, I did like the attention I got from her, but I wasn't really into her that way. I mean, sure she was attractive, but I just didn't feel that way. I'm not really good at being blunt, so I could never just outright tell her, but I tried my best to be as uninterested as possible when talking with her, maybe she would just stop acting that way around me. "I'm fine."
"You're fine?" she asked, confirming if that was what I said. She phrased it as if I was lying, as if it were impossible for me to be fine without her in my life. Well, I was, yes. I felt fine. "I'd be fine with you," She said. I just nodded and walked away. She followed behind me, because we were working at the same station today.

The cafe had two main stations, one where the cashiers were, they took orders and made drinks, and one where the food was prepared. I did pretty much everything, but today I was over with the food. That's where Emily always worked and every time I had a shift there I knew I was in for a hell of a day. As per usual, it was me and about four girls working on this side. I was one of the few guys that actually worked over here. I certainly wasn't going to complain working with a bunch of girls. To be honest I liked them more than guys. Plus they all liked me too. Not like that, like Emily, I mean, but just as a person. Pretty much everyone was cool with me. I guess it was my sick jokes I pulled out all the time...or maybe just my hard work. Hard to say for sure. Regardless, I got to work to get my eight hours done as soon as possible...though I guess it would take eight hours no matter what.

Six hours later and we were done with the lunch rush. It was chaotic but it passed the time quicker. While there was still work to do, it was mainly time for a quick rest. I stocked up the station as best as I could and got a quick breather. Some of the other employees got off work and headed home, leaving me with Emily and another girl, Tammy. Tammy was pretty quiet, didn't say much and just did her job, and did it well. That was enough for me to be cool with her.
"My feet hurt," Emily said, not really directly to anybody, but I knew she was really kind of talking to me. Instinctively I look down. She was wearing a pair of grey keds that looked pretty worn, they must have been a pair she wore often. She wiggled her foot back and forth as if giving me a show. I didn't really care.
"Well then get some new feet," I said. I told you I had some sick jokes. To be honest my feet were hurting too, it was what happened when you stood for several hours. At least for me, I just dealt with it. I felt like I had a pretty high pain tolerance, and I felt I was able to deal with some pretty extreme situations. I mean, I was never really put into any...but I felt like if I ever were I would be able to handle it fairly well. 

A few hours later and I was back at home and ready to relax. I didn't do much with my time, just spent it browsing the web, watching videos, and of course eating. I did love food, afterall. I didn't really get out of the house much, aside from going to work. I know I just said I could handle extreme situations which goes against this...well, there's a reason for that. When I was younger I had gotten pretty sick, and had to spent quite a long time in the hospital. It was a difficult time, and because of it I missed out on a lot of social time I should have had with my friends back then. Well, it might be obvious, but, thanks to my family, I got through it and made it to where I am today. I'm just glad I have my health, excited to see what life has in store for me next, that's all I can ask for. 

***

1.2 One Dad

Life's tough when you're a single father, and even tougher when you've got a nineteen year old daughter. At least that's how I feel. My name's Daniel Calister, or Dan for short, and my daughter, her name is Penelope, but I've always called her Penny. She's a sweet kid, always looking out for others, and making sure they are taken care of before she worries about herself. It's been rough for both of us since her mother died. I think that's why Penny is always helping out others; that's what her mother did. Sorry, I guess I've done nothing but talk about Penny. It's hard not to. She is my life now, she's all I have left. I don't think I could have gotten this far without her. 

I should probably tell you what happened. My wife, April, died three years ago after a terrible car accident. When I first heard the news, I didn't believe it. We were married for twenty-one years, and those were the best years of my life. It was hard for me to go about my day for weeks after it happened. It was hard for me, but I think it was even harder for Penny. She knew her mother for her entire life...I guess that goes without saying. But, you know what I mean, right? And she was only sixteen at the time too. I don't know how she dealt with it, but she's much stronger than I am, that's for sure. Sorry, I'm doing it again.

Let me try this again. Hi, my name's Daniel, but you can call me Dan. I work for the government at some boring desk job in the Department of Energy. It's not a very glamorous job, but I get holidays off and I get paid well, so I'll take it. I was able to make ends meet and give Penny a comfortable life, and as long as I could do that, I would work any job. 

"Hey dad, you ready to go?" Penny said, coming down from her bedroom upstairs. 
"Ready when you are," I announced. It wasn't like I was doing much anyway, just watching the anchor drone on about the news. Penny was currently in her last semester of  her sophmore year in college, enrolled at the local community college. The school wasn't terribly far away, but far enough away that walking was not an option. I ended up driving her there most of the time, otherwise she would take the bus. Penny had gotten her learner's permit back when she was sixteen, but after her mother died, she didn't want to drive anymore. To this day she still worries when I'm driving to work without her in the car. I realize she should probably learn how to drive at some point, but I would never force her. She would learn when she was ready, and until then I would do whatever I could to support her.

The ride to the school was pretty uneventful, as it usually was. We just talked about her school work, and her friends. The same old conversations we always have. That's not to say they were boring or repetitive. No, I loved hearing about what she had to say. Some of my buddies have kids, and sometimes their kids don't tell them anything about what's going on in their life. If Penny wanted to talk to me about something, I'd be there to listen. "There's a lot of work that needs to get done today," I told Penny once we arrived at the school. "So I'll be home a bit later than usual. I'll bring a pizza home, though, so don't worry."
"Cool! Just try and stick with pepperoni this time," Penny said, getting out of the car. "I can do without all that other stuff you want on it."
"Ha! Well I guess it'll just have to be a surprise tonight," I said. I didn't think there was anything wrong with some nice peppers on a pizza, but I guess that wasn't everyone's taste. After I dropped her off I went on my way to work, taking the path I always take. It was a pretty standard trip until I got onto the highway. Everything was going fine until some asshat decided to cut in front of me, going sixty miles an hour. Thankfully I was able to brake well enough to not hit them, and also have the person behind me not crash into me. Don't worry, I gave him a piece of my mind with my horn. But, more importantly it got me thinking. I spent a lot of time worrying about Penny, and how she helps me get through life, but...what would Penny do if something happened to me?

***

1.3 Vanished

He was running as fast as he could, away from the titanic woman, but when you're the size of a speck, that isn't very fast. Juan Demino used to be your average college student, working some retail job trying to get by. Now he's just another victim of SHIV. There was a mannequin at his work, and Juan had always stood eye-to-eye to it since he worked there. Recently he noticed that the mannequin appeared just a tad bit bigger. Surely it had just been his imagination, or the mannequin was different. The unfortunate thing was that there was simply no way for him to prevent his fate. That was the case for a lot of the initial victims. 

Juan had been working on the sales floor when it happened. The once five foot eight man was now but a lowly speck on the marble flooring. The pattern of the marble made him impossible to spot, not that anyone even knew to be looking for him, or even a human at all. It took him a bit of time to realize what exactly had happened. That was too long, however. The ground started to tremble beneath him. The deafening sound of clicking and clacking against the marble floor overtook everything. Juan covered his ears and turned around to the source. Off in the distance was some middle aged woman just walking down the path. Compared to Juan she was a goddess but in reality she was just a girl doing some shopping. 

She got ever closer to Juan with each step, and the clicking and the clacking got louder and louder. She had worn some high heels, to go with her nice black dress. Juan was frozen in place as the massive figure approached him. He was soon knocked to the floor as the tremors became too massive to stand up. He did his best to scream and shout to the woman, but it was completely worthless. She would never see the poor guy on the floor, nor would she ever know that she was responsible for his death. 

In a matter of seconds the giant woman had traversed, to Juan, several miles, and was already above him. The last thing Juan saw before he died was the dirty, worn sole of the nameless woman's shoe descending upon him. It was scuffed up and had little bits of dirt stuck to it. Juan was about to be one of them. The marble floor had no give at all, and Juan's body exploded upon contact. His body was turned to mush, and all that was left of him was a tiny, insignificant red dot on the sole of her shoe. His insides and outsides were mashed into paste beneath her weight, and his bones had crumbled into ash. The woman continued with her step, never halting for a second. She didn't even feel his puny body beneath her shoe. 

Juan was eventually declared missing, and an investigation was started. As his work was the last known place he was seen, it only made sense to check the security cameras and find any leads. Nobody expected what they saw on the video. The footage rolled, showing Juan walking through the store, just a normal day. And in an instant he was gone. The detective had to replay the video several times to make sure he was sure of what he was seeing. He went through the video frame-by-frame, and sure enough, one frame Juan had been there, and the very next, he had vanished. The only explanation was that the video file had been corrupted. That had to be it. It was impossible for someone to simply vanish from existence, in that short of time. The file had to have been corrupted, and skipped ahead. That had to be it. That had to be what happened.

It wasn't.