Water, shotgun, stale crackers—all gone.
Baby girl kicked and I sat up on the trunk and rubbed my belly. “We’re fine, baby girl, but if you could bring me back to Daddy now, that would be great.”
She went still. Nothing.
Maybe she was protecting me. Maybe if she opened the link to Cronus, it would also open it up to everyone…
Or she had no idea what was happening and had glitched me here.
Grabbing the makeshift paddle, I scooped it across the water, and after a few minutes of this, a building appeared on the horizon.
A large red brick building that appeared to be on dry land.
“Thank fuck,” I breathed. “Don’t cuss,” I added for the baby.
#ParentOfTheYearAlready
After paddling for what felt like forever, my arms ached to the point where I could barely lift them. I had to lie on my back, panting and regain my strength with small breaks. The waves had died down, so I was just stationary floating with the sun beating down on me. I was going to need some water pretty soon. Was this water fresh or salt? Most likely since this was an alien world, it’d be full of crazy parasites and bacteria.
Come on, Cronus. Fucking find me!I’d begun the talking-to-myself phase of losing my mind.
After a short break, I found the strength to keep paddling, and eventually hit the edge of the water.
“LAND!” I screamed.
Hopping off the trunk, making sure the necklace was still securely in my pocket, I heaved the sins onto shore. Having the sins so close was starting to take a toll on me. Dark thoughts plagued me, and I knew it was from those bastards.
What if we never leave here? What if Cronus never finds me and I starve to death, or die of thirst or chimera attack? What if I’m not strong enough to save my daughter?
Trying to block them out as I heaved the trunk toward the red building, the scent of mildew wafted strongly in my direction. When I reached the door, the smell was almost unbearable. Leaving the sin trunk at the opening, I stepped inside, covering my mouth and nose with my damp shirt.
Inside, hundreds of wet books littered the ground—it looked like an old library destroyed by water. Even worse, the books looked recently wet, with lots of water pooling in places. The tide had clearly receded, but it would come back again, so this was not safe.
“What do I do?” I breathed. I wouldn't make it through the night here, and I desperately needed water after paddling.
In answer, a huge rumble shook the ground.
Ahh yes. Snow, heat, flood and now we were at the earthquake part of this whole trip.
#FML #ApocalypseWorld
The shaking stopped briefly before I was hit with an aftershock. This went on and on until I eventually realized it was no earthquake. It was footsteps.
Giant footsteps.
Rushing to a small cracked window, I peered through and spied an honest to gods giant. Over thirty feet tall with a gnarled face and vaguely humanoid features, he sniffed the air, looking in the direction of the red brick building.
Fear crashed through my fatigue, and with rapid breaths I backed up, trying to find another miracle. Right now I was human, pregnant, with no weapons. And my baby Titan appeared to be napping, because the belly had been kick free for a while.
“Wake up, baby, we got trouble.” I jiggled my belly a little and felt a squirm.
At the sound of my voice, the footsteps intensified until the red bricks shook and wobbled.
“Baby…?” I said again, more urgency in my voice. “Mommy has to protect you, but right now she's a little low on power.”
I mean, sure, I did magic stuff, but that was always because of the baby, right? I needed her cute little face, saving me like the hero she was.
More squirms and wiggles, and then the roof was ripped completely off the building. Covering my head, I ducked down low so that none of the debris smashed me to the ground.
