“What did that kid say to her?” Nathan thought to himself, trying to imagine what Wesley told his giant sister.

Nathan stared at the girl’s massive face, it was bigger than any broken-down billboard he’d seen in his life.

“Hello?” She asked again, clearly growing impatient with him.

“Y-yeah. That’s me.” Nathan replied.

She eyed him up and gave a disapproving look. He wasn’t anything special.

“Stand up so I can talk to you properly.” She said.

Nathan attempted to even sit up straight, but the damage from the fall he took was still too severe for his muscles. He tried to push himself to sit up with his arms but fell back down to the ground.

“I… I can’t. You messed up my back and legs.” He said, wincing with pain.

Isabel sighed and brought her hand to him. She wrapped her fingers around his body, feeling him up in the process. She felt how tight his body was, and all the muscle he had underneath his clothes. He was hanging between her fingers and she flipped her hand over, landing him in the middle of her palm. To get more comfortable, she decided to sit down on the ground. She lowered herself and touched the ground with her butt, then she crossed her legs. Nathan lied face up, carried by her hand a little distance away from underneath her chin.

“Who are you, and where are we?” She asked, the more inquisitive side of her replacing the angry one.

Nathan sighed, mentally preparing himself for the volley of questions she was probably about to ask.

“I’m Nathan, but you already know that I guess. From as far as I know, this planet is called Cansara. Right now, we’re in Sedicus, one of the many abandoned cities on this crappy rock I can barely even call a planet.” He replied.

“Abandoned? Why are all they all abandoned? Isn’t there anyone else here?” She asked.

“Well, all the places I’ve come across have been just like this one. Empty, looted, and lonely. I haven’t met anyone else here except for you two, just now.” His eyes darted away for a moment, before looking back at Isabel. “How did you end up here? And how’d you get so big? I’m sure you didn’t fit in that pod with your brother like that.” Nathan asked in return.

“I’m asking the questions here, okay? Don’t worry about me and my brother.” She said, narrowing her eyes at him.

Nathan stared back at her, maybe overextending his position in the situation.

“Now back to what I was saying. Why are you here? If this place is so abandoned like you say, then why is someone like you still here?” She questioned.

“Look, I…” Nathan looked away and closed his eyes, “I really don’t want to talk about that alright?”

“I don’t care what you want to talk about, answer me.” She demanded.

She closed her fist, trapping Nathan. His head barely popped out, between the base of her thumb and index finger. She tightened her grip on him, crushing him slowly. Nathan screamed out in pain, and tried to wiggle to release pressure, but he couldn’t move a muscle.

“Okay, I’ll tell you!” Nathan gasped.

Isabel smirked and released her grip somewhat, only giving Nathan a little breathing room. His muscles relaxed again, and he breathed out.

“I used to be one of the zookeepers that helped maintain the major zoo in Veran, one of the other cities, that is now also abandoned. It’s arguably the biggest city here.” Nathan said.

“Wait, a minute. You don’t look that old, how would they employ you at one of the zoos? And that would mean that you were here when this planet wasn’t so desolate. What happened?” She asked.

“Well, I uh…” Nathan scrambled to find an answer to her question, with each second that passed, her suspicions of him grew. “My dad was actually the worker, I helped him though. We didn’t have a lot of money, so we got whatever shack we could live in and we worked at the zoo. Under the employ of… Opuls.”

That last word grabbed Isabel’s attention.

“Opuls? There were Opuls here? What happened?” She said, moving in closer, very interested in the conversation now.

“I don’t know, it was some years ago, I was still a kid. I remember… My dad, the last time I saw him, he told me that some scientist in one of the many labs here released something. Some virus or parasite, that infected and mutated the animals. They broke out and went on a rampage. For a planet that was inhabited by mostly Opuls, even their military might couldn’t defeat the creatures. They ravaged the planet and any Opul that had a ship fled, leaving their servants and slaves here to die.” Nathan grew angry as the last line, remembering how awful Opuls are. They left him and many others to simply die, because of a mistake they made in the first place.

“Ugh, of course they’re all gone.” She sighed, putting on an annoyed pout. “Wait a minute, if everyone else either died or left, then how did you survive?” She asked.

“I’m sure you don’t want the whole boring story. Just know that I’m here now, isn’t that enough for you?”

“You’re right, I don’t care. Why did you come after my brother?”

“I was driving out on the outskirts of the city and I heard crash. I looked over and I saw smoke, so I guessed something crashed here. I was hoping there’d be some scrap I could maybe salvage, but when I got here I only saw your brother. He looked so scared and helpless, I told him I’d help him. He told me you were in the building and it crashed down, so I can only assume you were normal sized when you landed here. What did you do inside that building?” Nathan replied, trying one more time to get the answer out of her.

“I don’t know… I just remember touching some weird metal thing, and it sprayed some pink liquid on me. I was in too much pain to remember what happened next…” She looked down for a moment, before bringing her eyes back to Nathan, “Is there a way off this planet? I need to get home.”

Nathan scoffed, “Do you think if there was a way off this place, I’d still be here?”

She narrowed her eyes again and looked him the eye seriously.

“Don’t give me an attitude. I still have half a mind to crush you for what you did.” She said.

“I didn’t do anything but try to help!  I already answered your questions, can’t you let me go?!” Nathan pleaded.

“Fine, but you have to tell me anything you know about any possible ways out of here.” She replied.

“I don’t know, I’ve been just about everywhere here, and I don’t remember seeing any…” Nathan paused and tilted his head downwards.

“What? Did you remember?” She asked, bringing him closer to her face.

“Well, there was a building near the zoo I used to work at. They used it store the big cargo ships they used to import the bigger animals they had. But it’s caved in, there’s no way anyone would be able to clear that stuff. Except… Except maybe you.” He said.

Isabel widened her eyes and a smile started to form. She had some hope now, a glimmer of hope that she would be able to get off this planet and get back home.

“There I answered all your questions. Can you please let me go now?” Nathan asked, growing claustrophobic in her grasp.

“You have to take me there! I can’t let you go now!” She said, shaking her head.

“You… you can’t be serious. Please, let me go, I have to leave!” Nathan begged, his voice beginning to crack.

“I’m sorry but you’re going to take me to those ships.” She replied.

Nathan shook his head and looked up directly into Isabel’s eyes. He tried to make himself sound and look unafraid.

“No. You’re going to let me go, I already did what you said!” He said with a stern tone.

“Actually, I’m not sorry. Let me explain this situation to you, since you’re too stupid to realize it yourself. I’m bigger than you. You’re going to do exactly what I say, and should you disobey, I’ll stomp you into the ground, like the little bug you are. Got it?” She said, bringing him directly in front of her eyes.

“Bite me.”

She gave him a scowl and started crushing him in her fist. Nathan felt the massive pillars tighten their grip on him, continuing to push and push until he couldn’t even breathe in anymore. He started thrashing his head around, desperate to get a modicum of oxygen into his burning lungs. His vision started to blur, and his head felt like it was going to pop.

“This is how I die? All those years spent surviving this… hell. And I go like this?” Nathan thought to himself, a single tear falling from his eye.

“Isabel, STOP!” Wesley yelled, in fear for Nathan’s life.

Isabel snapped out of her rage, but a second too late it seemed. Nathan’s eyes closed, and his head slumped over. She could no longer feel his struggles. His body felt lifeless.

“Fuck,” Isabel muttered.

She opened her palm and lowered her hand down. His body was sprawled across her palm. His chest wasn’t rising. She didn’t care about him, or his life for that matter, but she needed him alive to guide her to the ships. She brought her other hand over and extended her index finger. She placed it directly on his chest and started to apply little bumps of pressure. Up and down her finger went, doing compressions to the best of her ability. For the breaths, she simply blew on him, hoping the air pressure would be enough to make it down to his lungs. She kept this cycle going for about a minute or so, until Nathan showed a sign of life.

He coughed and wheezed, shaking violently in Isabel’s palm. She couldn’t help but feel a pang of guiltiness while she viewed him struggling to stay alive, but it disappeared as quick as it came. He coughed one last time, before dropping back flat on her hand. Isabel watched closely and saw the smallest of movements from his chest. He was alive again, albeit unconscious.

She let out a breath of relief and wiped the small sweat droplets off her forehead.

“Having him knocked out like this will be better for now.” She thought to herself.

Isabel stood up and walked back over to Wesley, who had been watching in terror.

“Did you… k-kill him?” Wesley whimpered.

“No dummy, he’s still alive.” She said, looking back down at Nathan, who’s breathing had gotten a bit heavier. “He told me there’s still some ships here, but they might be far away. We have to get moving. Go grab that bag that I packed inside the escape pod, you’re going to need that. None of that stuff is big enough for me anyway.” Isabel said.

She was surprised at herself for moment, realizing how relatively well she had been taking the situation now. She didn’t have time to freak out about her new size or the implications it could have for her future.

Wesley nodded and scampered his way over to the pod, heading inside for a moment. Isabel watched as he emerged, carrying the canvas backpack with him.

“Come over here.” Isabel said.

Wesley came closer to his sister, and she started to bend down. With her free hand, she picked Wesley up inside her hand. He was laying down on her palm and Isabel laughed softly to herself, he was half the size of her middle finger.

“To make it easier, I’m going to put you on my shoulder okay? Hold onto my hair so you don’t fall off.” She said.

Wesley nodded, and Isabel lifted him up to her shoulder like an elevator. Reaching his floor, her right shoulder, he grabbed onto her golden locks. He got enough to help keep himself upright as he stepped onto her. He struggled to stay standing up, so he decided to sit down instead, with his legs dangling off. He looked over the edge and felt sick to his stomach almost instantly. The drop was incredibly far, and it would no doubt kill him if he fell over.

“Now for this guy.” She said.

She didn’t have any material around to properly tie him up, so she improvised. With her fingers, she pulled apart a few strands of her golden hair, and lifted Nathan up to them. With careful precision, she wrapped the hair around his body, several times, before tying it off with a simple knot she could undo later. She pulled her hands away and Nathan hung there, dangling a few inches away from her breasts. The hair was mostly resting against her chest, and Isabel had tied him a little higher than the very ends of her hair.

“Are you ready Wesley?” She looked down at her diminutive brother, who gave her a nod. “Alright then, let’s get going.”