A second head rose up, just behind the first, eliciting a shout of surprise and horror from Chris, but not just from its presence. It was the thing’s appearance that unnerved him. It looked...human. But not. It stood tall like a person. Carried itself like a confident man. It had two arms. Two legs. Five clawed digits at the end of each appendage. Its face, while human in structure, was anything but. The mouth occasionally dropped open to reveal large triangular teeth, before snapping shut again. And like the first monster, it had angry yellow eyes, thick dark skin, spikes and a pattern of those explosive—what are they called? Membranes. Both creatures had thick backs, like protective shells. He knew that Nemesis hid her wings beneath a similar structure. Were these two capable of the same destructive force? Standing at least 300 feet tall, he didn’t doubt it.
The pair of giants stepped over the mountain, descending the far side like two hikers out for a stroll, indifferent to the lives they were crushing beneath their feet. The mountainside collapsed, sliding down in a rush of damp earth. Chris had no doubt that the village from which they started their journey was now destroyed.
The three Thai men wailed at the sight. As one, they dug their paddles into the water and struck out—upriver.
“What are you doing?” Chris shouted. The men didn’t reply, but Chris answered his own question. They were heading home. To their families. To find the dead. Maybe rescue some lucky survivors. These were brave men. But Chris did not share their commitment to the buried village. In the shadow of these two monsters, a part of his old self, which cared only about himself, returned with a vengeance.
After taking his phone out of his pocket, he slid to the side of the raft, looked down at the dark water and paused. He didn’t know what kind of wildlife might wait for him in the river, but as the world shook again, he doubted predators would be thinking about eating. Nearly tipping the raft, he slid into the water, keeping his right hand, phone clutched tightly, lifted up. Using his legs and left arm, he kept himself above water and kept his connection to the outside world dry.
The shaking impacts came rapidly. The giants, on level ground now, moved faster. He glanced upstream and saw the raft making good time back the way they had come. Beyond them, he saw the two giants, making steady progress...downstream. He needed to reach the shore. He needed to run!
A roar cut through the air, sending ripples through the water, which continued to stir with each giant footfall. Water splashed the phone. He sucked in mouthfuls, coughing and sputtering, but never slowing his hard swim. But the choppy water fought against him, pushing him back and forth. Downstream was the only direction he could move, so he leaned on his back, kept his phone hand raised up, and kicked hard.
Despite making good time, he began to weep five minutes later. The giants were gaining on him. Each thundering step brought them closer. To make matters worse, the current seemed to be slowing down. At first he thought that the river was widening, but a look to the side revealed the truth. The banks of the river were exposed, ten feet of mud and roots. As he twisted to look, his backside struck something hard, sending jolts of pain through his body.
I’ve been attacked! he thought. But then his whole body ground against something rough. His journey down the river had come to a halt. Chris lifted his head to find himself lying on the smooth stoned surface of a barren riverbed. A fish flopped nearby, slapping itself to death on the stones.
He sat up, trying to make sense of this new world. The mountain, he thought. It blocked the river.
The ground shook again. Without the water buffering the blow, it felt like he’d been punched. The stones in the riverbed rattled. And then, screams. Three high pitched voices he recognized. Yosakon, Gan and Tanipat. The three men, eyes wide, clothing dripping wet, scurried over the riverbed rocks. They stumbled and fell, covered in blood, but they never stopped.
And then Chris saw why. The monster that looked like Nemesis had arrived. It towered over the jungle, eyes forward. Its massive tail swept back and forth as it walked, leveling the jungle, sending trees flying. But it never looked down. Never acknowledged their existence. It was simply passing through.
We just need to get out of the way!
Chris shouted to his friends to follow him as he ran for the shore. They could never outrun the monster, but if they could just get out of the way, they might—
BOOM!
The riverbed beneath Chris’s feet lifted up and then fell away. He toppled forward, striking his head on a stone. A flash of white filled his vision for a moment and sent a wave of nausea through his body. He rolled over—and screamed.
A giant clawed foot with black and twisted skin descended toward him. He shrieked with primal fear, wondering what the end would feel like, wondering if he had a soul and wondering if he’d condemned himself to some kind of torturous afterlife. And then the giant foot struck.
Twenty feet away.
Chris bounced into the air, landing hard, but this time avoiding hitting his head. Rolling over onto his hands and knees, he managed to stay upright with each shift of the earth, which came more rapidly and more powerfully, now that he was in the gap between the two giants.
As the immense foot lifted up and away, he saw the three villagers’ bodies crushed into the folds of the foot, bloody and very dead. Before he could react to this sight with relief or horror, a loud rushing sound like thunder locked him in place, his breath held.