An endless downpour had been the story of these last two days. I had pulled the massive man under a lip of the canyon as best I could, but his sheer size meant his shins and feet still stuck out. This worried me greatly. His condition had not improved. He was still unconscious and seemed to be running the most extreme fever I had ever felt. Being cold and wet would only make his situation worse. But what else could I do? If I used my clothes to cover him, then I risked falling ill myself. I had no blankets, and there were no plants at the bottom of the canyon to use as cover.

I had spent the first day looking for a way out. After discovering a radio in the bag, I had quickly made attempts to contact the CEF. However, the only sounds from the device were shrill cries of a feedback that was typical of holding two of the devices too near to each other or as a result of magnets nearby. So, after grabbing one of the knives he had taken from the crew, I walked down the canyon looking for a change in vertical walls. I would test the radio every so often, at times receiving an even more extreme response from the device.

After walking in both directions for over an hour, the only notable change in the canyon walls were the dimensions. More often than not they grew taller and in places thinner, but not once did I find a spot where the walls weren’t at least eighty feet or more. I had attempted to climb out in one spot that appeared to have some number of handholds, but had quickly found myself overwhelmed by the difficulty of the ascent. Rather than risk injuring myself I called it quits and returned to the giant.

It was on the second day, perhaps shortly before noon, that the rains had begun. At first they had been a simple late spring shower, and I had figured it would help to cool my savior’s fever down. But they had continued well into the afternoon, at which point I had begun to worry for his health. It had taken a monumental amount of effort for me to move him up the slight embankment and into the only cover within several hundred yards of where he had landed. It was a lucky accident I had chosen to do that, as that evening the drizzle had turned into a torrential downpour. I slept little that second night because of the lightning and thunder.

I had always loved the sound of thunder outside my room growing up. It was oddly soothing to me, the chaos of the outside world juxtaposed to the calm of the apartment. But now, sitting outside while tired, wet and hungry, the endless lightning and thunder rattled my nerves. The booms that shook the very ground I sat on, and the blinding flashes of light that illuminated the world only briefly enough to distort every shadow into yet another monster coming for me. The situation had me curled up like a child lost in a dark park. The man next to me was my only comfort, little though the aid he provided was.

I had hoped he would have some sort of rations. But even after checking every nook and cranny on him and his armor, I had found no such thing. My stomach growled angrily as it sent sharp pains through my abdomen. Groaning miserably, I watched the ever growing river that now flowed through the deeper side of the canyon opposite me.

Add that to the list of problems. A sigh escaped my lips at the thought. How long would the rain continue? At this rate I would be flooded out and carried off to who knows where by tomorrow evening. I would have no way of helping the man next to me. I was capable of keeping myself on the surface in mostly calm waters. Not the greatest swimmer, not the worst. But I had no doubt that in the turbulent waters before me I would struggle to keep myself afloat, let alone aid the giant. His fate would be sealed at that point.

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But there was nothing I could do. I was growing weaker by the hour, my lack of food and the cold slowly sapping all the strength from my very core. The sheerfaced cliff prevented me from climbing out, and now the running water prevented me from searching any further than a few yards from where I sat. The radio was drenched, meaning I risked damaging it if I turned it on. No chance of calling home at this point. All I could do was sit and wait. For the giant to wake; for the CEF to appear; or for something I had yet to conjure up in my imagination.

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Evening came without any positive change in my situation. In fact, it had only gotten worse. The water had risen far faster than I had expected, and it now lapped at the feet of the giant. His fever had grown as his hands became cold and clammy. His face remained twisted in discomfort, and released pained groans at random. I gently stroked his brow, hoping it would give his unconscious mind some comfort.

“I’m sorry. I really am. If I hadn’t been there you would have been able to fight.” I was really only speaking to distract myself. My stomach was screwed up in pain as it continued to scream at me for food. I had been shivering endlessly for hours, but no longer had the strength to stand and move for warmth.

“Perhaps it’s all my fault. Whatever attacked us was from my side of the bird. They all said I wasn’t fit for the expeditionary forces. I wasn’t raised for this.” I could feel my eyes and throat tighten on me. “I’m a daughter of the government you see. A spoiled rich kid. What was I doing with the grunts and workers of the armed forces anyways? That’s what they all asked me. I should just find a husband and work to increase our population. Or find my way onto the council, where I could live a comfortable life without any needs.”

The tears warped my vision, though I couldn’t tell if they fell or not thanks to all the water already running down my face. Perhaps they had all been right. I can’t really blame Niko for hating me so much. I had received special treatment from the beginning. The implant surgeries despite my low compatibility: the preferred jobs and safe assignments. Of course I had fought against it all. I wanted to prove my worth to my mother and father. Prove to my colleagues I wasn’t just some spoiled child. It had taken a lot of pushing on my end to even get posted as a door gunner. I just wanted to make my own way in life.

BOOM! The thunder deafened me and I clapped my hands to my ears. I kept them there as I looked at the water, growing ever darker by the second. Was this really it? Was I going to drown in the canyon, next to some giant I knew nothing about, with no way of escape?

“MŌ YADA YO!” I reverted to my mothers native tongue as I shouted my protest at the situation. That shout was answered by a strange cry from above. My heart jumped to my throat, and the fear nearly overwhelmed my already exhausted body. It was the same sound the other giants had made while chasing us. Had they come back to finish what they started? Was this really how things would play out? I picked up my knife and glanced at the giant.

“How much worse can our luck get?”