Brave (New Earth Saga)

Ch. 32

 Huddled in a basement full of the three restaurant workers, the 4 other guest, and of course the infamous Anthony Trust, I found myself growing more and more nervous by the second. Human sections of towns are designed not to be missed. In fact, it really shouldn't be easy for a giant to cross the border without permission. So what was happening?!

At first we waited calmly as the minutes passed by, where we felt no signs of a giant's approach. In a section of town like this, the building may not have been built with giants in mind, so when giants approach these buildings, they can cause quite a stir for us humans. The whole building shakes... and hopefully that's it. I mean, everyones heard a horror story or two about a rare rogue giant that's gone down in history, but most have never experienced anything of this nature. In fact, I searched my own slew of memories for any experience of that sort until one memory lept out to me.

I was young, and it was back when my mom and Joe were still dating, and I had an allergic reaction and wound up in the hospital. I remember passing out, and shortly after I woke up in the hospital, the entire building quaked when Joe approached. He had gone through the proper channels of getting a permit, and was clearly worried about me, given the anaphylactic shock situation that had taken place, but I can remember it being pretty scary from the inside of the hospital. It felt like an earthquake or something.

You know, this wasn't the first time I'd reflected on that day recently, for I finally remembered there'd been a random dude at the hospital with my mom. I think he even brought me to the hospital.... And yeah, I had recently thought about it when I connected the dots that the random guy had been Anthony Trust!

Oh no. I was literally shaken out of my spiral of thoughts when I, along with the other humans sheltering in this basement, felt the first sign of a giant's approach. First it was just a subtle quake, but very quickly the vibrations grew. The waitress who had made the announcement of a giants' approach in the first place, was praying in the corner as she held a cross. The man, I'm guessing, based on the apron he was wearing, was the chef, was literally crying. When I turned to see how Anthony Trust was reacting I felt my already freaked out quaking self become even more worried.

Oh no. No, no, no. I wasn't worried that our building was about to fall over. I wasn't worried that our lives were about to end. I was worried because Anthony Trust had a smile across his face that was growing with each vibrative step that came our way. Why would he be happy? Every human should be freaking out in this situation! As I thought about what could possibly bring Anthony Trust joy in this moment, a scenario I was really praying wasn't happening right now, hit me.

What time was it? I'm pretty sure the sun was rising, so it was probably well past 6AM. Mother Earth! There was no way a really overprotective, and now possibly overreacting giant didn't realize I hadn't slept at home last night. I hoped, I prayed Joe hadn't done something as stupid as break the law to come find me. But based on Anthony's face, I had a sinking feeling that may be exactly what was going on.

The quakes finally stopped, but slight vibrations could still be felt before an orchestra of blaring police sirens were heard. With the sirens blaring, and from our position all the way in the basement, it was difficult to make out what was being said, but one thing was easy to decipher. The voice of a giant. The voice of a giant male that even though I couldn't make out exactly what they were saying, I knew I recognized that voice.

I felt hot tears against my cheeks as my eyes caught the sight of Anthony Trust looking elated by the situation. Are you kidding me! Joe was probably so worried, and Anthony found such joy in causing him pain. Hadn't Joe been through enough! It's not his fault I was being a terrible daughter once again. Bloody heaven, this had to stop. Anthony Trust was NOT about to win this game he was trying to play.