Drew - Rough Waters
===
My name is Drew Gallows. Seventy-two hours ago, before I ended up on the island, I was human. I didn’t choose to lose my humanity—it was taken from me.
My parents and I vacationed in Acapulco during my summer break from college when it happened. I’m not even sure how it happened or why it happened. It just did. I was human, something happened, and now I’m downsized against my will. Everything’s been a blur from that moment to the time I step foot on the island. I think they used some kinda drug on me that made me woozy. Ever since then, I’ve been in and out of consciousness.
One thing I remember was being in some type of prison. If you can call it that. An airplane hangar made of glass walls. Me and like fifty other downsizers just sitting around while the giant world played in front of us like a movie. The air was muggy and smelled bad—that I remember. Images of humans walking around this dingy workshop flashed in my mind. That’s the first time I’ve seen people so huge, and I couldn’t believe I used to be one of them. Not too long ago, either. Were they the reason I was downsized?
No matter how hard I thought, I just couldn’t remember everything. I walked from the beach to the resort. Then darkness. Did I even make it on the resort property? I touched my neck and felt a little scab and soreness. I’m sure they drugged me. Stuck me in a downsize machine and threw me into this glass prison with countless others.
I wanted to be angry, but I couldn’t summon the strength. Curling up on the glass floor, I went to sleep, using my arm as a pillow.
-
There was shouting. Humans in uniforms. Hands in the air and weird looking guns pointed at people. The men in uniforms wore masks and looked like SWAT while they shoved other humans in civilian clothes to the ground. I heard Spanish and English being shouted by both groups.
It really looked like a decent action flick, with me getting a front-row seat to it. I wish I could’ve stayed up to watch. Maybe they had answers about why I was two-inches tall and inside some Texas Chainsaw Massacre looking room. I should’ve been drinking a beer with my dad at the pool. Not this shit.
-
When I woke up again, I wasn’t in the glass building anymore. Someone had moved me to yet another structure that was dark and unexplainable. Felt like a large conference room with no lighting or features. I sat in what I can only describe as a rollercoaster seat. Y’know the kind where you got restraints that go over your shoulder and then there’s another bar that goes over your lap?
It felt surprisingly comfy, like something a semi-truck driver would sit in. The seat rode on a suspension that made it feel smoother than a cloud. Any rattling from the building I was in, the seats would just compensate and bounce up and down, minimizing any abrupt motions. It also made napping pretty comfortable.
I’m not much of a social butterfly, so I didn’t bother asking the person seated next to me questions. I couldn’t even see, to be honest, because the restraints made that impossible. But listening, I could hear some chatter from the other downsizers that we were heading to San Diego and something about, “This nightmare will finally be over.”
I rested my head against the rubbery restraints and slept again.
-
The next several hours were the most confusing and terrifying moments of my life. Let’s just say there’s was a lot of movement, shouting, jostling, and near-death experiences. But, as a two-inch downsizer locked in a dark box, I don’t know what the hell was happening.
All I knew was the sound of a male human was holding the structure I was in. Something apocalyptic was happening in the outside world, and he was either hellbent on killing us, stealing us, or saving us. I don’t know which one.
I closed my eyes and tried going to sleep. I tried forgetting about everything. Maybe if I wake up next time, I’ll be in my hotel room with my parents?
-
I woke up when the ride ended, and we were dropped on solid ground. It almost felt weird to not be moving anymore. Outside, I could still hear the pattering of raindrops falling on the roof. Water pooled inside, about ankle deep; I could smell the unmistakable scent of briny ocean water. That just made me more confused. If I wasn’t so zonked out on drugs, maybe I would’ve paid more attention to what was going on.
Recapping things in my mind, I’m vacationing with my parents between semester breaks, then I’m downsized against my will and held captive in a Mexican sweatshop. Then, I’m in a black box strapped to a rollercoaster harness, and we’re getting flooded with ocean water—oh, and there’s like a hundred people in this box screaming and crying. Pretty normal vacation, right?
-
“I thought we were going to die,” said a human female from outside the structure.
“Count your blessings that we made it out of that in one piece,” a man said. His voice was freaking loud. Like, I could feel my chest and seat vibrate with his voice. I think he might’ve been close by or the one holding the structure I was in.
“What the hell do you have in there that’s so important,” another human female said, different from the one before. Her voice was younger and peppier. “You could’ve gotten yourself killed over some suitcase!”
I, along with the others, jumped in our seats when we heard a loud clicking sound coming from outside. A seam formed on the wall in front of, about halfway between ground and ceiling, splitting open. Then the entire roof of the structure went flying open. Rain with its fat droplets landed on us while a human girl looked down at us. She looked a couple of years older than me. Her wet blonde, almost white, hair clumped around her face. She wore a shocked and angry look on her face upon seeing us.
“Downsizers!”
Her voice boomed between all corners of the structure. Her giant eyes swept over our heads, revealing just how vast the building was. She closed the roof and kept speaking to the human male.
“There are hundreds of downsizers in there! Why do you have them?” she asked.
“I was saving them from a sinking ship,” he said. “What’s it look like?”
“It looks like you’re smuggling them?” The suspension in my seat bounced a good four inches as her thunderous footsteps walked beside our building. I guessed she was getting in the man’s face. “That makes you one of those low life pervs that sells and buys downsizers.”
“I didn’t know rescuing 315 downsizers would get me such high praise,” he said. I could practically hear his grin.
“Well, how else did you come across them?”
“I knew they were onboard. I also knew they were being ignored while everyone ran for the lifeboats. Okay? Can we talk about this later? We need to move up on the beach in case of high tide.”
“Where are we?” the other human woman asked.
“I can’t see anything,” the man said. “Let’s turn what’s left of the raft upside down and sleep out this storm. We’ll be able to see better at daybreak.”
They argued some more, ignoring us. After some time and more noise of a gigantic raft being moved around, the humans stopped talking. They went to sleep and so did I.
Ellis - Discovery
===
I sat there dehydrated, full bladder, with an ache in my lower back. They kept us strapped to the seats all night and other than a quick peek last night from the human girl; they seem to have forgotten about us inside the downsize transport carrier.
We couldn’t fly out of Mexico because of that freak electrical storm that rolled in and threatened to hang over the country for weeks. The government's grounding of all flights for weeks caused mayhem at the airports. I heard the cops talking about it. They said it would be best to transport us via boat. Jesus Christ. Who would’ve thought the storm that grounded planes was also bad for boats?
I don’t know the exact details of what went done. But the boat the humans put us on ran through some kind of catastrophe. Now we’re being lugged around by God knows who. But that human that peeked at us last night … Jeez … Despite how little ambient light graced her body, I felt my heart stop when she looked down at us. To say I was smitten was an understatement. I really, really wanted to see more of her and get to know her.
It's like when you see someone, and you just know they are the one. She was incredibly gorgeous and just fit my type. I haven’t been downsized that long and hadn’t had time to think about dating as a two-inch guy. I guess I’ve always pictured someone my size. But after seeing that giantess … I really hoped she was into mixed-sized relationships and was single.
As soon as they’d let us out of this damn carrier, I was going to talk to her and introduce myself.
-
The storm had passed overnight. I could hear the gentle waves on the beach and smell the sea air. Some of the other downsizers were waking up and grumbling amongst each other. Other than that, the carrier was mostly quiet.
One of the humans stirred and rose to their feet. I felt that pounding in the ground as they came up to the carrier to unlatch the front. I’ve seen a downsizer carrier before. Imagine a thick briefcase, and with it open, two to four rows of seats facing out and in. It’s like a troop transport inside a C-17. There were also a lot of mechanisms built into the carrier designed to provide a comfortable ride for downsizers. Stuff hidden in the walls, like springs, gyros, and other shit I’m not too familiar with. But the point is to give humans an opportunity to move a shitload of downsizers with as much comfort as practically possible.
If we were in a regular briefcase, I’m sure we’d all be dead. That ride last night was fucking rough, but it could’ve been deadly had it not been for the over-engineered transport carrier.
The roof above our heads opened up to reveal a human we hadn’t seen before. She was just as alluring as the girl from yesterday. This human had an adorable smile and blemish-free skin. She was African American with long locs of hair that went past her breast, like a dark version of Rapunzel. Her eyebrows were perfectly manicured, and her lips were pink pillows as large as mattresses. I could see a silver necklace made up of two loops around her elegant neck.
“You’re all not going to believe this,” she said with a smirk.
I could see she wore a red tank top as she leaned over our heads. I’ve only been a downsizer for … Well, I lost count. Maybe five days, including this one? But I haven’t had a whole lot of human interaction. Her enormous body over our heads was an experience unlike any other. I’ve been to New York and felt all the towering skyscrapers around me, making me feel small. But having something that big—alive and moving? It’s unreal.
Her right arm extended, and she pressed a button on the side of the transport carrier. We heard a clicking under our feet and suddenly all the shoulder and lap restraints came undone. Others, me included, groaned as we jumped out of our seats and stretched. Several doors opened on the side of the carrier, and we started funneling out of the carrier.
-
I looked around and saw there were three downsize transports all lined up together, with hundreds of us downsizers exiting and clumping up into one large group. The black giantess was standing tall in front of us with her hands on her hips, reminiscent of the Greek statue, the Colossus of Rhodes, in which ships would sail between the statue’s legs to enter a bay.
She wore khaki-colored pants that ended above the calves. She was barefoot, with her toes buried in the sand. I couldn’t stop looking at her bare midriff. Both her pants were too low, and her tank-top too small. I loved it.
Her eyes scrutinized us, like she was looking for something. She shook her head, causing her locs to snap like whips. Her hand pulled some of her long locs behind her.
“Notice anything odd, tinies?”
We looked around at each other, unsure of what she was talking about. Strange how we were all silent. The giantess commanded attention, and we clumped up in front of her like we were at an outdoor concert.
“Look closer,” she said, almost sounding frustrated with us. “It’s all around you.”
I admit my eyes were glued to her ever since stepping out, so I didn’t even know where I was. I forced my eyes off the beauty and looked at my surroundings. Beach. A big beach with uncharacteristic sand that led up a slope into green vegetation made up of palms and other tropical plant life. Looked like a dense jungle. Super green trees and grass and other shit I didn’t know the name of. Quite diverse, though.
Let’s see, past the jungle, I could see mountains jutting out from the canopy. One mountain looked like a volcano sort of, but I wasn’t too sure. All in all, it looked like we were on an undeveloped island. Great, I thought to myself. I’m fucking Gilligan, stuck on an island with hundreds of other people. At least giantess Mary Ann is hot.
“See it yet?”
See what? I kept looking, and I didn’t know what the hell she was talking about. There were a lot of murmurs coming from the downsizers, but none dared to speak up.
The giantess grunted. She took a step toward the boundary where the beach ended and green vegetation began. The giantess brought her feet into the jungle and slipped her toes between a palm tree so that her big and second toe hooked into it. She then scrunched her toes and yanked the tree out of the ground.
She then swung her leg around towards us and then splayed her toes. The palm tree fell in front of us with a thud, releasing a few coconuts. I pushed my way through the crowd to get a better look at the palm tree. Its stem was severely bruised and squished from where the toes gripped it. That shit alone took my breath away. If she could do that to a tree, then what could she do to a downsizer—
“See it now?”
I just wanted to yell ‘See what?’ back at her. It was just a fucking palm tree. I think the part that irked me was how frustrated she was with us. Like we weren’t seeing something so obvious—
“Oh, shit. Why is the tree small?” I muttered.
Those around me heard that. The palm tree was perfectly scaled for us, and so was the sand under our feet. The mountains in the background … I mean, they were huge and soared into the sky, but they matched our perspective.
I kept up with downsizing technology news for quite a while and knew quite a bit about it. Downsize machines could shrink humans and some animals if engineers designed the machine for a specific species. But inorganic material like sand and rocks were not possible. Hell, scientists haven’t been able to downsize grass, trees, or other plant life. Something about the photosynthesis. But fucking mountains and terrain! None of this was possible. Unless—
“I feel like a giant here,” the human said. “I think I might be a giant and you all are human height now.”
This revelation both elated and frightened me. For one, I wasn’t downsized anymore! I didn’t want to be fucking downsized in the first place! Some assholes kidnapped and shrunk me. So, to be human again was fucking awesome. But why was the human a giant? Like, literally a giant? Did something grow us together?
“You let them out?”
I heard the rumbling of the giant before I saw him. We all turned our heads towards him. He looked fit, with broad shoulders and a tightly trimmed haircut.
“Yeah, I let them out,” the giantess said, almost offended by the question.
He looked down at us. “Fuck,” he said under his breath. “You shouldn’t have done that without me.”
The giantess lifted a brow. “I must be hearing things. You tellin’ me what I can or can’t do?”
“No. Never mind.”
“No. Not never mind.” She mocked his voice. “Fucking tell me.”
I was confused by the statement from the giant as well, as I’m sure all the downsizers were. Why did he have to be around to free us? We were locked in those damn containers all night.
Looking back at the transport carriers, each one was a different size, with the smallest being half the size of the one I came out of. I couldn’t see why the giant man would’ve differed from the giantess in opening up the containers. We were all grouped up now. Hundreds of us. All standing around while these behemoths talked about us like we couldn’t speak for ourselves. Like we were kids waiting for the grown-ups to finish talking.
“There’s a number on the outside of each container. I wanted to make sure everyone was accounted for. But it doesn’t matter, I guess.” He closed his eyes and rubbed his face. “Listen, we need to get them water and figure out food.”
“Food?” the giantess asked. “They might be fine. There’s probably a teeny, tiny banana tree they can munch on, but what about us? This tiny shit ain’t gonna feed us.”
“I got some protein bars in my backpack. If we ration it, it’ll last. But you’re right. The island might have enough to sustain the downsizers but not us three. We have an ocean we can fish. Not only will that be enough for us but the downsizers, too.”
“Great,” she said, rolling her eyes. “We have to live off fish smaller than rice now?”
“Who said they’re that small?”
“Look around you! We are giants!”
The giant man looked deep into the island and then back at the woman. “I don’t think we’re giants. We’re humans still.”
“How do you explain this tiny island?” she asked, waving her arms. “Something grew us. That storm had something to do with it. You know I’m right! We’re fucking giants and them—” She pointed at us. “They’re humans now. It’s going to be crazy when the rescuers come looking for us.”
The giant shook his head. “It’s impossible we grew.”
“It’s impossible this island is tiny.”
The giantess crossed her arms, glaring at the giant, but he didn’t seem to notice her dissatisfaction in his answer. “Where’s the girl?”
“Girl? Oh. Kiernan. She told me her name is Kiernan. She wanted to look for a freshwater source, so she hiked deeper into the island.” He pointed off to an area behind him.
Kiernan. That name echoed in my head over and over. I had to find her! Holy shit, my mind couldn’t think straight. I didn’t give a fuck about what happened to me in the past week. Kidnapped to downsized, stuck on a deserted isle and having to survive until help came along … None of that shit mattered. I wanted to find Kiernan and get to know her. If she lived up to my expectations …
While the giants spoke, I slipped from the group and headed up to the dense vegetation. I think some of the downsizers called out to me, but I didn’t give a fuck about them. I wanted to find Kiernan.
Lucia - Observations
===
I know many people that would cave under pressure if they were in my wet, sand-filled shoes. Months of meticulous planning going down the drain and presented with a new challenge that could mean life or death—stressful? Sure. For normal people.
I sat on the beach and took off my white Keds and socks. The sand felt nice under my bare feet and made me forget for a second that the DPS shrank me and my compatriots the other day. It didn’t feel like I shrunk. The trees casting their shade over me, the sand stuck between my toes, the branches, twigs, grass—everything was scaled perfectly to me. A lot of us were questioning if we even got downsized. Maybe the three humans got … I don’t know, upsized or some shit. But that didn’t exist.
“I ain’t seen you before,” a man said, walking up to me. He looked … seasoned. Skin so tan it was leathery, with age marks all around his face. “Where’d you work out of?”
“Main,” I said, stuffing my socks into my shoes and setting them beside me. I stretched out my legs and leaned back, looking at the beach. People were wandering around, exploring their immediate surroundings. “Only started five weeks ago. My timing was perfect, huh?”
The man had a gritty life. “That shit’s too funny. Detained ‘n Downsized, and you ain’t got shit to show for it.”
“I guess not. But at least we’re out and not heading for jail, amirite?”
“For real,” he said. I could feel his eyes looking up and down my body, spending a little too much time on my feet. “What’s your name, pretty lady?”
“Lucia Argento.”
“I’ll call you Lucy.”
“I prefer you didn’t.”
“So, Lucy, you wanna mess around?”
Ugh. “Don’t know what you mean by that, but if you’re talking—”
“Fuck.”
“—about messing around by drawing a funny face in the sand. I think I’m down.”
“I meant fucking,” he said, squatting down, his knees cracking.
“You don’t need me that for that. Just go back there,” I said, pointing over my shoulder with my thumb into the jungle, “and go fuck yourself.”
“I was being nice by askin’ and all. I can just drag you over there with no problem. Tiny thing like you.”
I balled my hands into a fist and was ready to throw down when we felt a rumbling in the sand under us. The palms whipped and vibrated from the steps of a giant. We both look over and see the male giant coming up to us.
“Am I interrupting anything?” the human said.
I could’ve melted right there. The sun was right behind his head, giving off this halo effect that made him look like a god. His white shirt complimented his olive skin, which was a tad lighter than mine. He had a strong chin with a stubble and windswept brown hair off to the side. If he asked to mess around—well, my answer would’ve been a resounding “Fuck yes.”
“No!” the downsized man next to me said.
“Are you sure?” the human asked. “Things look a lot different from up here.”
“We’re fine,” I said up to the human. I turned to the scumbag next to me. “Ain’t that right?”
Scumbag grunted.
“We found some fresh water in our supplies. You should head over to the others and drink up before the humans do.”
Scumbag nodded and walked alone towards the giantess in the distant.
“Aren’t you going over?” he asked me.
“You’re so …” Hot! “My name is Lucy.” I giggled like a dumb high school girl. “What’s your name, mister?”
He rolled his eyes, but had a small smirk to show it was playful. “My name is Sebastion. But you can call me—”
“Seb?” I shouted.
“Sure.”
“So, Seb, want to mess around?” I was laughing. His reaction was priceless, but I can see him trying not to crack.
“Lucy, please go get some water. You sound a little delirious.”
“I’m not! I just want to know you a little better, is all! So, are you human or a giant, Seb?”
He squatted down until his knees impacted the sand like a pair of meteorites. A plume of sand whipped past my feet and legs. God! I loved his power.
“I’m human.”
“But why is this island tiny, Seb? Isn’t it more probable that you’re a giant than this island being shrunk?”
“I honestly don’t know why this island exists the way it does.” He took a breath while looking at the island behind my back. It gave me a peaceful moment to admire his body and let my mind wander towards naughty thoughts about him. “But that isn’t important right now. We need to survive. And that means you getting water right now.”
-
I trekked through the sand while he headed off to the torn raft further down the beach, putting an insane amount of distance with every step he took. I’m not all that smart when it comes to rafts, but I could tell it was one of those orange inflatable ones. Certainly, big enough for three humans and the containers we downsizers were in.
Seb held up the raft in front of him like a bedsheet. A gash ran across it, deflating it to a hunk of rubber. One thing was for certain, we weren’t leaving back on that thing unless they seriously repaired.
“Holy shit!” the giantess said. She held a water bottle in one hand and had the other held out in exasperation. “Are you all pigs or people? Drink the water and move out da way. Don’t shove your faces in it like a horse trough.” Then, under her breath, she said, “Motherfuckers.”
She used the lid from the thermos and turned it upside down, digging it halfway into the sand. It … well, it looked like a horse trough. She filled it with water while the downsizers came up to it to drink. The giantess yelled at us to form a line and wait our turn to drink. She didn’t like everyone clamoring over the upside-down lid.
“Okay, you had enough. Move!” She used her index finger to shove downsizers during the middle of a drink into the sand. As soon as they were out of the way, the next downsizer in the queue came up and dunked their face in for some refreshing water. “If you want more, get to the back of the line!” She shoveled up the downsizer in the sand with her index finger and catapulted him back to his feet. It seemed a little rough.
Couldn’t argue with results. She whipped up order among the 300 downsizers in a second. There was a long line for water and people drank fast, only to run back to the end of the line quickly, instead of trying her patience.
“How’s it going, Fleur?” Seb asked, walking up to the black giantess.
“Awful.” She shoved the thermos into his chest. “Listen, I don’t have time to play nanny for these tinies. I need to take a piss.”
“Okay, well, careful where you go. We don’t want to contaminate the island by going just anywhere.”
“Contaminate?” Fleur asked. She rolled her eyes and looked like she was stopping herself from saying something extra. “Whatever,” she said finally. “I’ll just take a piss in the ocean.”
She turned her back to us, unbuttoned her pants, and then pulled them down to her ankles. She was wearing orange panties that got swallowed up by her enormous ass cheeks. I’m not into girls, but I couldn’t help but admire her two full moons. They didn’t sag at all. Perfectly round and meaty. The kind of ass that came from both blessed genetics and working out.
A pang in my gut made me wince when I saw Seb staring at her rear end. He didn’t move a muscle as he watched this ebony goddess walk away from to the far side of the beach. Her booming footsteps faded as she faded into the waters.
I got out of my place and line walked towards Seb, who was still looking out towards the horizon where Fleur went. I wasn’t paying attention to my steps as my eyes were on the giant. It made me super uncomfortable to think he found the giantess attractive when he could have me, if he only asked.
I guess I should’ve looked at my steps, because before I knew it, I fell forward into a crater on the beach. My face hit the sand hard. And it wasn’t that soft beach sand from Mexico. It was that compacted sand you’d find at a construction site where heavy vehicles drive over. I pushed myself off the ground and looked at my surroundings. I was in one of Fleur’s footprints.
Her heel, actually. It was deep, like three feet at its deepest point. That was probably the moment I felt small. I got up and dusted myself. I walked like six paces across her footprint until I reached the spot where her toes were. It wasn’t a perfect print, since it was disfigured when she took a step. But I could see a small divot where her pinkie toe was. I placed my own foot on it for comparison. Yeah … I was small. Her pinkie toe dwarfed both my feet.
I climbed out of the footprint and yelled over at Seb. I waved my arms and shouted until he took off his eyes from the siren, taking a piss in the ocean.
“Huh?” he said, turning to look down at me. “Oh, did you get a drink?”
“Not yet,” I said. “Umm …” I giggled, not realizing I didn’t have anything to say. “We need more water. I think. How are you doing, Seb?”
“More water? Oh, right.”
He stepped around me and filled the cap with more water until it was full. He saw the long line of downsizers waiting to get a drink, while it took me another couple of minutes to catch up by walking around him.
“There’s plenty of space around,” he said. “You don’t have to line up like that.”
“Hey, S-seb?” I had my hands behind my back as I swayed my hips, trying to look extra cute to the giant. “I need to use the lady’s room, too.”
“Oh. Lucy, right?” He set the large thermos in the sand, looking like a water tower. “I don’t have a toilet for you. Can’t you use the ocean? Or just walk in the woods—”
“Seb! I’m a lady.” I felt my voice quivering as I talked. I knew some of the downsizers, if not all, were listening in. “Can you … I don’t know. Escort me? I’ll feel safer with you.”
He sighed. “I—”
“Just this one time!” I interrupted him. “Please?”
His eyes scanned the other downsizers. “Fine. But just this one time.”
-
I laid my back across his strong, rugged palm. My hands were behind my head as I looked up at him as he gave me a ride hundreds of feet in the air. The ride was smooth, but his booming steps shook his hand and rattled my teeth. I loved it! Hearing the trees crushing under his feet and his weight tearing through the Earth made me feel so giddy. I’ve waited for this moment for ages.
“Not a good idea to being this, Lucy,” he said.
“No?”
“No.”
“Oh,” I said. He had an annoyed look on his face while he watched where he stepped. He didn’t even glance at me. “Are you mad at me, Seb?”
“I’m not mad.”
There was silence between us until he found a spot to settle down.
“Because it sounds like you’re mad,” I said. The silence was worse than his curt replies.
“Go pee, please.” He lowered his hand to the ground in a clearing surrounded by trees. “When we get back, you’ll go mix with the other downsizers. We’re not friends, okay?”
I slid off his palm and bowed my head. I fidgeted with my fingers as I processed his words. They weren’t mean. He was looking out for me. But boy, did his words sting.
“We’re alone, Seb. Can we—”
“Stop.” He held up a finger. “Pee and let’s get going.”
“Why are you treating me like a dog?” I asked, fighting back real tears.
“I …” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say it like that. But Lucy, I can’t show you any favoritism. I got 300 plus downsizers out there, and if they see me giving you special treatment …” He shook his head slowly and looked away. Seb reminded me of a big, cuddly bear that was just looking out for me.
“Okay.” I unbuckled my pants and dropped them. He looked away and put a hand up to respectfully not stare at me. “You don’t want to watch? You couldn’t keep your eyes off Fleur.”
“This is different, Lucy, and you know it.”
-
He brought me back to the other downsizers and set me near the water. I could see what Seb was talking about. They were all giving me different looks.
“What was all that about?” Jean-Claude asked me. The man worked upper management at the main site.
“Doing what I do best,” I said to him as I dunked my head into the water trough. The cool water felt refreshing against my dry throat. “I’m working my charm on him.”
“Why? What do you suspect?”
“Don’t know yet. He seems harmless, but it wouldn’t hurt having a human on our side, huh?”
Jean-Claude rubbed his chin. He took a long breath before releasing it through his nose. He gave me a scowl the more he thought.
“Would you lighten up?” I asked. “I’m not going to tell him about us—about all of us.”
“See that you don’t. You should stop talking to him, though.”
“Fuck that noise. Give me a little more time and you’ll see. Through that human, we can run this island.”
He shook his head and rolled his eyes. “You think we are going to be here long? There must be thousands of search and rescue looking for us.”
“Whatever. Cling to that hope if you must. I know what I’m doing.”