Chapter 20
Morning light filtered through cracks in the boarded windows. Elias woke up slowly.
He was still on the edge of the mattress, one arm draped protectively around Joy. She was curled tightly against his side, her small face pressed into his worn hoodie, her breathing soft and even.
It felt strange, like a father sheltering his child after a nightmare. The memory of the giant's earth-shaking approach and its mournful wail was still fresh.
Carefully, he stood up from the mattress. Joy murmured in her sleep but didn't wake up.
Elias moved silently to the front window, peering through a narrow gap.
Across the fractured street stood the headless giant. It was terrifyingly close, perhaps only a few hundred yards away.
Its massive, tar-black form was utterly still, hunched like a colossal, headless gorilla.
Elias traced the distance with his eye – ten of its enormous strides would bring its massive fists crashing down onto the orange house's fragile walls. A cold sweat broke out on his back.
Thankfully, it seemed dormant for now. They only moved when the harpies commanded them at night.
He spun around, urgency flooding him. He crossed the cold floorboards back to the mattress. "Joy," he whispered, gently shaking her shoulder. "Joy, wake up."
"Yawn~~," she mumbled, rubbing her left eye with a small fist. Her blonde hair was tangled, her face pale with exhaustion from the sleepless, fear-filled night.
She blinked up at him, eyes bleary. "What's going on?"
"We have to move. Now," Elias said, keeping his voice low but urgent. "The giant… It's right outside. Across the street."
"Okay," she whispered, nodding. She pushed herself up, swaying slightly with fatigue, her movements slow and heavy.
Elias moved fast. He grabbed his backpack, the rough canvas cold under his fingers.
He dumped the remaining supplies onto the dusty floor: canned beans, a dented can of peaches, bottles of tepid water, a half-empty first-aid kit, spare batteries, a coil of rough rope, a roll of duct tape.
He shoved them back in, adding a flashlight and his trusty crowbar, its cold steel a familiar weight.
He tossed Joy her smaller, pink backpack – scavenged days ago. "Pack whatever else you have. Quick."
He rummaged through the sparse kitchen cupboards one last time, finding only a dented pot and a few packets of salt. He left them.
He handed Joy two cans of fruit, a bottle of water, and a flashlight for her supplies. "Ready?"
She nodded, shouldering her bag. The weariness was still in her eyes, but fear had sharpened her focus.
They slipped out the front door. The sheer scale of the giant across the street hit them.
It towered over the ruined buildings, a silent, obsidian monolith radiating dormant power. Even motionless, its presence was suffocating.
"Don't look," Elias murmured, taking her small, cold hand firmly in his. "Walk fast and stay close."
They moved quickly, putting distance between themselves and the colossal threat.
Elias scanned the desolate streets ahead and the broken skyline, his heart was pounding. The city wasn't just haunted by one giant.
As they turned a corner onto a wider avenue, he saw them – two more distant, hulking shapes, black silhouettes against the pale sky, standing sentinel over different sectors of the ruined city.
Three headless giants. Three walking cataclysms, waiting for nightfall and the command of the harpies.
It was like a nightmare that came to life.