Left for Dead, Found a Family Instead

Nate’s head is pounding as he stumbles along in the dark. His hand is outstretched and planted on the wall next to him, mostly to help keep his balance. His brain is fuzzy and everything hurts. He’s only vaguely aware of what’s happened to him but even then, he doesn’t have the energy to actively think about it. He’s running on pure instinct right now.

Suddenly, his foot catches on something and he falls. He goes face first into the cold hard ground and it’s like a firework went off in his head because his already blurry vision goes white with an explosion of pain. It hurts so much, he starts to see stars.

He knows he needs to get up. He has to keep moving or else…or else…he-he can’t really remember why but he knows it wouldn’t be good.

But he can’t bring himself to move. He tries. A shaky hand goes flat on the ground beside him and he tries to push up but it’s useless. His arm falls and he’s left with only the feeling of something warm and sticky underneath his hand.

He lays there, unable to move, barely able to breathe. He just wants to rest and for the pain to stop. Is that too much to ask for?

His eyes have long since closed. He’s not sure when that happened but it did. His shallow breathing starts to even out and as he loses consciousness, the pain eases up just a bit.

He falls asleep despite the fact he’s not sure if he’ll ever wake up again.

***

“Tom, slow down before you trip and fall on your face.” Will said as they walked, the cool night air and the full moon making it a perfect night. The three of them, Tom, Will, and Ryan, had just finished eating at some new restaurant in town. It had been okay but they had really only gone because all of their other friends had been there. Despite the mediocre food though, it had been a fun night.

But Will was tired now and not really equipped to deal with a Tom who decided to have caffeine during their dinner. He was still running on the high and Will’s only saving grace was that Tom would eventually crash in a few hours.

But that was still a few hours from now and Will wasn’t sure if he could last that long.

“Oi, screw you! I have perfect balance, unlike some people.” Tom shouted and pointed towards Ryan. As if on cue, Ryan tripped on a jagged piece of sidewalk. He would have tumbled to the ground if not for Will reaching out and catching him.

“Thanks Will.” Ryan said as he straightened up.

“Course. Us tall people have to stick together after all.” Will said, and though he was expecting it, he still winced as Tom shouted at him.

“Hey! I’m tall too man, don’t leave me out of it!”

Will rolled his eyes and sent a look towards Ryan. Ryan chuckled in turn and Tom turned his head to glare at the two of them. That only made the two laugh harder and Tom turned back around to groan and run further ahead. “Just cause the two of you are giants among giants doesn’t mean I’m any less tall!” He shouted as he ran.

“Whatever you gremlin child!” Will shouted back and shook his head fondly. He may be tired and Tom could be a bit much sometimes but he still loved him like a brother. Besides, it was fun to mess with him.

He turned back towards Ryan to say something, so he didn’t see as Tom suddenly stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, causing him to walk right into him. “Tom, what the hell?” He asked, annoyed until he noticed Tom’s head tilted upwards, sniffing the air.

The teen turned to him, concern written on his face. “Don’t you smell that?”

Will frowned and sniffed the air as Tom did, noticing Ryan do the same. It was faint, even with his heightened sense of smell, but his eyes widened when he realized what it was. “Blood?”

“That’s…that’s definitely blood. What do we do?” Ryan asked, looking towards his friends in a panic.

“What else? We follow it.” Tom said, determined and Will couldn’t help but agree.

“Tom’s right. If someone is hurt, we should help them.” He sniffed the air again, trying to get a read on where it was coming from. He walked forward a bit and turned the corner, only to notice an alleyway. He sniffed again and his suspicions were confirmed when the smell of blood was stronger in that direction.

Tom and Ryan caught up with him and sniffed the air, slowly realizing the same thing Will just did. “Okay, be careful. We don’t know who or what might be in there.” Will said. Realistically, he knew they should be calling the police to investigate but he couldn’t help but feel like he shouldn’t. He didn’t know why though. He supposed he was about to find out.

“I have a taser.” Ryan said, pulling out a rather strong looking one. Tom blanked stared at him, eyes wide.

“What?! Why do you have that?!” Tom asked and Ryan winced before shrugging.

“Just in case! You never know what could happen, especially this late at night!” Ryan said, trying to defend himself. Not that he needed to. Carrying a taser around was actually a really good idea.

“That’s great.” Will said, cutting off anything else Tom would have said. “Keep that out and ready, just in case.” Ryan nodded and then the three of them walked into the alleyway. Will stayed in front of the other two and kept his eyes peeled as they continued to walk. The alley was a fairly long one but when they turned the corner and reached a dead end, they still hadn’t seen anyone.

“That’s weird…” Will murmured to himself, sniffing the air again. The smell was definitely coming from this alley but there was nothing here. Will would go so far as to say maybe they were smelling dried blood if not for the fact that it smelled way too metallic. Meaning it was fresh.

“Yeah, I could have sworn the blood was coming from over here.” Tom said, going to stand next to Will and frowning. Will thought for a moment, scanning the alley again. Maybe it was actually coming from inside one of the surrounding buildings? That was the only thing Will could think of except-

“Uh, guys!” Ryan suddenly shouted, panic clear in his voice. Will and Tom quickly turned around to see Ryan kneeled down near the far wall. Ryan looked between something on the ground and Tom and Will with the same amount of panic they heard in his voice.

Tom was the first to run over but Will wasn’t far behind. They both crouched down to get a look at what had Ryan so riled up and they froze when it finally came into view for them.

It was a human.

A tiny, little human that looked around Tom and Ryan’s age. He was passed out but that seemed to be the least of his worries. His clothes were torn, hanging off of him like rags, and as Will leaned in closer, he saw how half of the human’s face was burned. It was a blistering red that matched the darker red of blood that dripped down his head.

That was the other thing. The amount of blood covering the little human was almost impressive in a horrific way. Will didn’t even know humans had that much blood to begin with.

“Is he…?” Tom started to ask before trailing off. They all knew what he was going to say though. Was the human even still alive?

Will hesitated for a moment before reaching down and carefully scooping the human up. He made sure to be gentle, trying hard to not knock around the human too much. He brought him up to his face and really looked at him, specifically at his chest.

After a moment of not seeing anything, Will started to panic. But then, a shaky breath caused the chest to rise and fall. It was faint but it was there. Will let out a sigh of relief and held the human closer to his chest, ignoring the shocked looks sent his way by Tom and Ryan. He supposed he could understand the looks though, after all, he had always been vocal about his dislike of humans.

Will had always seen them as more rodent-like than anything. They lived in hidden colonies surrounding the giant land and hardly ever ventured into giant territory, something Will was always grateful for. But the few that did decide to sneak their way in were nothing more than annoying pests. Stealing food and fabric and anything else they could get their dirty little hands on. Will thought he was justified in not liking them.

Tom had always been indifferent to humans. Not quite liking them but not hating them either. Ryan, on the other hand, had always been sympathetic towards them. Especially for the ones who found their way into giant territory. Multiple times Ryan had tried to convince Will to see humans in a new light but Will was sNatern and it had never worked.

But now, seeing this little human hurt and half-dead, the same age as the two people he considered brothers, well…he couldn’t help that his heart went out to the little guy.

“We need to get home and get him patched up as soon as possible. He’s still alive but I don’t know how much longer he can hold on.” Will said, standing up and being careful not to jostle the human cupped against his chest. Tom and Ryan sprang up next to him with wide eyes.

“We’re really helping him?” Ryan asked as they headed out of the alley, hope in his voice. Will tried to not let the question hurt him. It was a fair one, after all.

“Of course.” Will said, looking back towards the two teens. “I’m not about to let a kid die out here alone. Even if he is a human.”

Ryan looked proud of him and even Tom had a hint of pride in his eyes. Will simply rolled his and turned back around, speed walking back to their place.

He really hoped they could help.

***

Nate hadn’t expected to wake up, if he was being completely honest. His memories were blurry at best but the pain he had felt…the way the cold had seeped into his body…he had not been meant to survive.

But now, the pain was still there but significantly less. It ached more like a strong headache than like his brain was going to explode. He reached up to rub at his head but paused when he felt something that was neither his skin or hair. It felt like…paper? Bandages? Was his head bandaged up?

That didn’t make any sense though. He had been alone, his colony had made sure of that. Hurt, exiled, and stranded in the giant city to be killed by either his injuries or a passing giant. Had another exiled human found him and taken pity on him? That had to be the only explanation, right?

Well, the only way he was going to find out was if he opened his eyes.

It took him a second. His eyelids still felt heavy and straining to open them just made his head hurt more but he finally managed to pry them open. He squinted at the harsh light around him and almost closed his eyes again before realizing if he did, he might not be able to open them a second time. So he settled for blinking away the blur in his eyes and finally took a look at his surroundings.

He…couldn’t really see anything from his position lying down. Just that he was inside somewhere. Actually, the ceiling was a bit too far up to be a human’s hideout…

Nate struggled to push himself up enough to sit, his arms were still bruised and sore but he finally managed to sit himself up. The sight he was left with made him wish he had stayed asleep.

Turns out, the ceilings were so tall because he was in a giant’s house. He was on some sort of coffee table in the middle of a living room. And the thing he thought was a blanket was actually a yellow sweater made to be worn by a giant.

Had…had a giant patched him up? But that didn’t make any sense. Nate had always learned that, if found by a giant, that was it. You might as well say your last prayers right then and there because you were a goner if that ever happened. So how was Nate still alive?

It seemed he was about to get his answer, as suddenly, the ground began to shake below him from giant footsteps. Even on top of the coffee table he could feel it. And then suddenly, a giant with blond hair and blue eyes that looked around Nate’s age entered the living room from what appeared to be the kitchen. He was looking back towards said kitchen and hadn’t seen Nate yet.

“I’m just gonna check if he needs his bandages changed. It’s been a few hours after-” The giant cut himself off when his head turned and his eyes finally landed on Nate. Nate tensed at the gaze but with how injured he still was, he knew there was no way he was going to be able to escape.

“You’re awake!” The giant shouted and then turned back towards the kitchen. “Guys! Guys, he’s awake!” Another sudden onslaught of footsteps started up after the giant’s yelling and then two more giants appeared next to the first one, and these two were even taller than the blond. If Nate was in any capacity to do so, he would have backed up a step in intimidation. Having three giants staring you down was terrifying.

One of the newer giants, the one with brown curly hair, stepped forward. He had a gentle sort of look in his eyes, something Nate never expected to come from a giant. It was strange. “Hey.” The giant spoke, thankfully a lot more quiet than the blond giant. “I know you're probably confused and we definitely have a lot to talk about, but first things first, how are you feeling?”

Nate blinked. “How-How am I feeling?” He repeated back as a question. His voice came out hoarse and he coughed a little to try and get rid of the scratchiness.

“Oh, there’s some water next to you if you need it.” The brown haired giant said. Nate looked over to see a bottlecap indeed filled with water. Or, what the giant said was water. He really shouldn’t be drinking something a giant’s offered him but he really wanted to get rid of the sandpaper like feeling in his throat, so he drank it. Thankfully, it seemed to be just plain old tap water and it felt amazing against his dry throat.

The giant waited for him to finish drinking before nodding in answer to Nate’s last question. “Well…everything still hurts a lot but not as bad as it did before. It’s…bearable now.” Nate said, finding no use in not answering.

The brown haired giant winced. “I mean, it’s not great that you're still hurting but good that it’s getting better at least.”

“We…we almost thought you weren’t going to make it.” The third giant said in a soft tone. Me too, Nate thought, and I’m still not sure. But he decided not to voice that out loud.

“Anyway…if you're up for it, we have some questions.” The brown haired giant said and at this point, it was clear he was the oldest out of the three giants. Nate shifted around nervously but…well, it was better to get this over with, right?

“O-Okay.” Nate said with a nod.

Nate was confused on where all this was going and terrified of the giants in front of him and yet, he couldn’t help but feel safe with them as well. That was probably just his head injury talking though, because who in their right mind would feel safe in the presence of giants.

The brown haired giant smiled. “Great. We’re going to come closer now, okay?” Nate nodded, it wasn’t like he could stop them. He tried to ignore the way they towered over him even more the closer they got. It was easier when they took a seat on the couch but they still loomed several feet over his head. Nate felt helpless, in more ways than one.

As they sat down, the blond giant leaned in close and Nate flinched back. The quick movement sent pain buzzing through his head but he did his best to ignore it in favor of the three giants he had the complete attention of. The blond hummed to himself and Nate had to wonder what he found so interesting about him.

“Yep, it definitely looks like we need to change that bandage of yours.” The blond said. Nate blinked, suddenly remembering the giant’s earlier words and raised his hand to touch the bandage around his head. It felt wet but when he looked at his hand, there was no blood. That was good, right? It meant the bandage was working.

“Better take care of that then. We can talk in the meantime though.” The brown haired giant said, and Nate better be learning their names soon because he was getting tired of referring to them as their hair color.

But then Nate realized what changing his bandages meant and started to curl in on himself. That meant the giant would have to touch him and Nate wasn’t looking forward to that. Just the thought that he had been touched and probably held while he had been unconscious was enough to make his skin crawl.

Nate watched as the blond grabbed the bandages sitting a bit away from Nate and cut them into tiny, thin strips. He laid them out and then looked to Nate when he was done. “May I?” He asked and, well, Nate hadn’t expected that. Why would the giant ask him? It was going to happen whether he liked it or not. But…being asked did make him feel better about it, he supposed.

“Yeah.” Nate replied, thankful for no stutter this time. The giant grinned and started to undo the bandages around Nate’s head. He winced a bit as the sticky end caught onto some of his hair but overall, the giant was being incredibly gentle.

“I’m Tom, by the way.” The blond, Tom, introduced.

“Oh, right. Introductions are a good idea.” The brown haired giant chuckled. He met Nate’s eyes. “Hi, I’m Will.”

“And I’m Ryan.” The quiet giant spoke up again.

“Nate.” Nate said and watched as Will and Ryan smiled down at him. Tom might be smiling too, but he couldn’t really see his face at the moment.

“Nice to meet you Nate. I know you’re probably confused right now but so are we. We found you in an alley half-dead last night.” Will explained and Nate winced. So that’s where he had managed to stumble to. An alleyway. Not the safest place but then again, Nate really hadn’t been in the best state of mind. He barely even remembered the events leading up to that point.

“We decided to bring you to our place to try and help you.” Ryan chimed in. “It was touch and go for a bit but, well, as you can see, you’re going to be okay.” Nate shifted a bit, questions swirling around in his brain.

“There we go! All done!” Tom’s sudden loud voice caused Nate to jump and he looked at Tom before touching his head again. It seemed just as well done as the last one. Tom sat back down on Will’s left, a proud grin on his face at his handiwork. “How does it feel?”

Nate’s hand slowly fell away and he stared up at the three giants with more confusion than anything else. “It’s…good but why are you guys doing this?”

The three giants seemed to be confused by his question. “What do you mean?” Ryan asked gently, eyebrows furrowed.

Nate bit his lip, wondering if he should even continue but his curiosity won out. “Why are you helping me? You-I’m…I’m human and you three are giants, that, this-this isn’t how any of this works!”

“And how do you think this is supposed to work?” Will asked and he appeared genuinely curious.

And Nate could feel tears prick the corners of his eyes as he gave his answer. “I-I was left in giant territory to die. Whether by my own injuries…or a giant.” He heard a gasp but didn’t know who it had been because Nate had dropped his head to look down at his own hands.

“Wait.” Will’s voice rang out and Nate looked up to meet his eyes. He looked almost frazzled. “So…you didn’t come here willingly?”

Nate blinked. “What?” Now it was his turn to be confused. “No human in their right mind would willingly go into giant territory! Coming here is a death wish, which is why humans who are exiled are sent here…like me.”

Will ran a hand down his face and left it there. “I thought…wow, I’m an idiot.”

Nate hesitated, looking between the three giants. They all looked equal parts devastated and like they had just realized something. “What’s going on?”

“We never realized…that humans coming here was a punishment.” Ryan decided to speak first. “I mean, I always felt sorry for the humans I heard about that lived in giant houses and lived off of scraps. But I never thought about the fact that other giants might…” Ryan trailed off, face going pale just thinking about it.

“I always saw you humans as pests.” Will’s voice caused Nate to jump and Nate met Will’s eyes, feeling his breath catch in his throat when he processed Will’s words. “But even I never would have thought of killing you.”

“Yeah, what the hell?! Who would do that?!” Tom shouted, loud as ever.

Nate was just…very confused. Did they really have no idea? Were they playing a joke on him? “I mean, from the stories I heard growing up…any and every giant.” Nate said, before remembering other kinds of stories he had heard. “Well, I guess not all giants were said to kill us. Most would and others…they’d keep us like pets.” Maybe that’s where all this was going. It did make sense, considering they healed him and everything.

Suddenly, Will’s head shot up from its position in his hands, his eyes wide. “Wait. No, no Nate, we aren't going to keep you as a pet!”

Nate frowned. “You…aren’t? But…but you healed me. Why else would you go through all that trouble?”

“Because you're a person!” Tom shouted and Nate’s ears rang from the volume. Still, hearing that come from a giant was…surreal.

“And you're just a kid.” Will joined in, voice sad and then questioning. “Why were you exiled in the first place?”

Nate bit his lip. “I…I didn’t have a family, back in my colony. So I was known to steal in order to survive. And then one day, they decided they were sick of it and…yeah.” Nate’s memory of the event may have been blurry but the fear he had felt that day, knowing he was going to be left in giant territory, was still fresh in his mind.

“So you’re saying they beat you for trying to get by and then left you here to die?” Ryan asked, the shock clear in his voice.

Nate nodded. “Bingo.” He said with a try at a smile, though it came off more as a grimace.

“Nate, that’s awful.” Will said and Nate let out a watery laugh.

“Yeah...” Nate looked down at his hands again, clenching and unclenching them. Questions still lingered in his mind, so he decided to voice them.

“So…you aren’t going to kill me or keep me like a pet. But then…what are you going to do with me?” Nate looked up at them.

“Well…” Will started after a small wince. “Finding you a new and better human colony won’t work. They're so hidden, we’d never find one.”

Nate nodded. Human colonies were hidden for a reason. They didn’t want giants hunting them down and exterminating them. Though, that also meant they were hidden from other humans as well. Nate had even less luck finding another human colony than Will.

“And we aren’t about to let you go back onto the streets, either.” Tom chimed in. He may be loud but he was genuine and Nate liked that about him. “We don’t want a…less friendly giant finding you. Or a rat.” Nate shivered. Yeah, no thanks.

“You could…stay with us?” Ryan said, all attention now on him. “Not-Not as a pet or anything, of course, but…as a roommate?”

Nate blinked. “You guys would really…let me stay?”

Will, Tom, and Ryan shared a look with each other before all three of them nodded. A matching grin on all their faces.

“I know all of this is sudden and…we still have a lot to learn, apparently.” Will said, before smiling again, softer this time. “But you’ll be listened to here. Treated like a person. We’ll keep you safe.”

Nate really liked the sound of that. And though the three giants still terrified him, he was starting to see that they really did mean him no harm. His earlier feeling of safety hadn’t just been a product of his head injury, it seemed. He really did feel safe here with them. And though this was the last place he ever expected to feel safe, it was…nice.

“I’d…I’d like that.” Nate said, a smile gracing his lips.

And as the three smiled back at him, all forms of gentle, Nate knew everything was going to be okay.