Nathan sat alone for a while, keeping his eyes trained on Isabel’s massive form. He watched her chest rise and fall, rhythmically. The continuous motion nearly lulled him to sleep again, but he shook himself awake and blinked a few times. While watching Isabel’s chest movements, he noticed a little lump emerge. He was a little spooked at first but relaxed when he remembered it was just Wesley, who had been placed there the night before.

Wesley had just woken up and began to yawn while he rubbed his eyes. He crawled across his sister’s breast and peeked over the edge, in search of Nathan. He looked to the top of his sister’s head and moved his way down to the section of hair Isabel had imprisoned him in. When he realized he was not there, he felt his heart skip a few beats. He frantically looked around his sister’s hair and started positioning himself to slide down his sister to get a better look. Nathan watched in amusement at first, but when he saw how distraught Wesley had become, he decided to call out.

“Kid, don’t worry, I’m still here.” Nathan said softly, wary of waking up Isabel too early.

The voice caught Wesley off guard and frightened him, sending him rolling forward off his sister’s arm onto the ground.

“Whoa,” Nathan said, “are you okay?” He said as he picked himself up and rushed over to Wesley.

Wesley coughed as Nathan kneeled beside him. “I’m okay.” He said.

“Here, let me help you up.” Nathan replied.

Nathan offered a hand to Wesley, and in return he grabbed it. He lifted him up and let Wesley dust himself off. He seemed to be fine, so Nathan walked back to the wall and returned to his cross-legged position.

“Why didn’t you leave?” Wesley asked.

“Hm?” Nathan looked to Wesley.

“You could have left. My sister hasn’t been treating you very well and you could have just run away since you got loose.” Wesley said, trying to understand Nathan’s actions.

“Well… You are definitely right about your sister’s people skills.” He said with a nervous chuckle. “But if I left, I don’t think you guys would have made it too long. Even with your sister the size she is.” Nathan answered.

Wesley stayed silent for a moment. He decided to sit down cross-legged like Nathan, seating himself directly in front of him only a couple feet away.

“Is it true, what you said?” Wesley asked.

“Is what true?” Nathan asked in return.

“The virus that messed with the animals.” Wesley asked, a trace of fear could be heard in his voice.

“Well,” Nathan began, “I’m not absolutely sure about the virus, to be honest. That’s just a conclusion I made with all the information I have. The beasts that roam this planet weren’t native here until this planet collapsed, at least as far as I know.” Nathan noticed Wesley started trembling again. With a sigh, he continued, “Look Wesley, I’m not trying to scare you, but there’s a lot of dangerous and deadly animals that tread this planet. Most of them probably created from whatever tests all those crackpot scientists performed. But listen, from my time here, I’ve noticed that many of the animals and creatures have certain weaknesses. Weaknesses we can exploit to survive. So, don’t worry. With my knowledge of them, and your sister here, we’re safe.”

“Only most have weaknesses?” Wesley asked.

“Well yeah, most. There’s some monsters out there that…” Nathan looked away for a moment, then brought his gaze back to Wesley, “There’s some out there that just can’t be beat.”

“What if we run into some monsters like that?”

“Well, ‘Mega Sister’ here has a much better chance of beating those creatures out there. I’m just one person. A person who,” he sighed, “doesn’t even have their weapon anymore.” Nathan looked to the ground.

Wesley noticed melancholic look Nathan wore on his face. He felt a little responsible for Nathan’s kidnapping, since it was his idea. In his defense though, it was the quickest thing he could think of to get his sister to not hurt Nathan. While Isabel herself isn’t always the best sister, she can get protective of Wesley, especially now that they’re on an unknown planet.

“I’m sorry about my sister,” Wesley motioned his back to his sleeping sister, and turned to Nathan again, “I’m sorry too.” Wesley looked at the floor, avoiding eye contact.

“What do you have to be sorry for?” Nathan asked.

“If it weren’t for me, my sister wouldn’t have taken you away. Now you lost all your stuff.”

Nathan chuckled and looked at Wesley, “Thanks Wesley. I know you meant well. I probably would have ended up helping you both but being forced to do things doesn’t exactly inspire a helping attitude.” Nathan looked away to the window for a few seconds and then brought his gaze back to Wesley. “Maybe it’s a good thing I stumbled into you two though.”

Wesley looked at Nathan inquisitively, “Really?”

“Yeah. I was getting awful lonely.” Nathan said with a smile.

Wesley felt the corners of his mouth forming into a smile. That made him feel better.

Isabel suddenly began to stir, turning Nathan and Wesley’s attention to her.

Her eyes struggled to open; it wasn’t quite time for that just yet. She needed to stretch to truly start the waking process. Her legs extended out as she stretched every muscle she could, the bare soles of her feet pressing against the metal hangar door, and her head mere inches away from hitting the opposite wall. She let out a yawn and lifted her head up to check on her little brother.

Nathan and Wesley watched in complete silence, both fearful for what was about to come next.

Isabel looked down to her left shoulder, expecting to see Nathan asleep as well. Her heart sank when she realized he wasn’t in his spot, only frayed and tangled hairs. She gasped and brought her arms behind her, propping herself up on her palms. With her right hand she began combing through her hair and her shirt, searching for the two. She grabbed strands and clumps of her hair, feeling them, desperately searching for him. She felt herself panicking and tried to calm down.

“Relax! I’m still here!” A familiar voice called out.

Isabel turned her head towards the voice and locked on to Nathan. Her left hand shot out, matching the speed of an attacking viper. She wrapped her fingers around Nathan and clenched him in her palm. The speed of her hand created a gust of wind that knocked Wesley on his rear, away from Nathan. She pulled her hand back towards herself at a sickening speed, making Nathan’s stomach lurch and giving him whiplash.

“How did you get out?!” She asked, clearly angry at his betrayal.

Nathan thought it best to lie, and not reveal he had almost successfully escaped, had it not been for the prospects of escaping this planet with them. And as much as he didn’t want to admit, his own moral compass wouldn’t allow them to wander this death trap of planet alone.

“I woke up free, I must have fallen out in my sleep!” He said, quick to appease her anger.

“Liar!” She said with a painful squeeze. “You tried to escape, didn’t you?” She said, tightening her grip and bringing him closer to her face.

“No, I didn’t, I swear!” He pleaded, looking into her eyes.

Isabel stared at Nathan, attempting to read his face and determine whether he was telling the truth. She studied his features; his brow was furrowed, and a look of fear had taken over his face.

Inside, Isabel felt stupid. She had decided to give him a second chance. For once, she put away her prejudices and preconceived notions. In return, he tried to escape.

“I knew it. I knew I shouldn’t have given him a second chance.” Isabel thought to herself.

Without a word. Isabel just started wrapping her hair around Nathan again.

“Wait!” Nathan started with a shock, “I told you, I didn’t do anything!” He struggled against her, thrashing around and making himself difficult to hold and maneuver. “Why are you tying me up agai-”

Nathan felt Isabel’s powerful finger and thumb grasp his chin, rotating his head to face her exactly. She had a furious look in her eyes.

“I’m only going to say this once, so shut up and listen.” Isabel snapped coldly. “The only reason you’re still breathing is because I need information that only you have. I don’t know you, and I don’t want to know you. From here on out, you are to speak only when spoken to, and do nothing unless you’re instructed to. Understand?”

Nathan was taken aback from this sudden outburst. He tried to protest, raising his left hand up to talk, Isabel snatched it with her free hand. Her digits dwarfed Nathan’s hand, clamping down and slowly forcing his arm backwards.

“Stop it!” Nathan shouted, but his arm continued to be forced backwards, sending waves of unbelievable pain throughout his arm.

He opened his mouth to scream but Isabel caught on and placed her thumb over his mouth. He squirmed and struggled, desperate to fight her off, but it was in futility. She continued to watch him writhe in agony, bucking back and forth to release himself. Nathan felt an indescribable pain as his arm continued to bend, he was convinced it was about to snap.

“Isabel!” Wesley interjected.

Isabel looked down at him and shot him a look that he’d not seen before. It was a serious look that shook Wesley inside. Wesley closed his mouth and felt a shiver travel up his spine. He looked down, realizing how powerless he was in this situation.

Isabel turned her attention back to Nathan who’s muffled screams of pain were difficult to ignore. She removed her fingers from his arm.

“I’m going to let you answer me now. You’d better think long and hard about what you’re going to say next.” She said, her eyes cold and unmoving, focused solely on him.

His left arm dropped limply to his side, but he was still feeling the aftermath. He desperately tried to move anything, but he could hardly twitch his fingers. He stayed looking at the ground, filled with a deeply seated rage. Tears started to fall as he clenched his jaw and tried to control his frantic breathing.

Slowly, he turned his head up to look Isabel. The light bounced off his tear streaked cheeks. Isabel removed her thumb from his mouth.

“Yes.” Nathan managed to say through gritted teeth.

“’Yes’ what?” Isabel replied mockingly.

Nathan slowly breathed in, and then slowly exhaled. An attempt to calm his nerves and the deep anger rising within himself before he could say or do something that would jeopardize his life. The pain lingered, not completely as severe as it just was.

“Yes, I understand.” Nathan answered.

“Good boy.” Isabel replied with a smug smirk on her face.

Isabel continued to tie him up and was met with zero resistance. She restrained him the same way she had done the day before. Nathan just hung limply; he had no energy to fight back right now. Every time she moved his left arm, the pain would flare up again. Nathan fought back the urge to make an audible noise every time she did so.

Wesley sat still on the floor, supporting himself on his palms. His mouth hung open. He’d never seen his sister act like that before. She’d scold him and yell at him, but she’d never seen this side of her. She didn’t mind inflicting pain on Nathan, especially to that degree. Isabel looked down to Wesley, causing him to look back down at the ground, closing his mouth as well.

“Let’s get ready to leave.” She said.

Wesley nodded and stood up, keeping his gaze towards the floor. Still sitting with her legs stretched out, she reached over and grabbed hold of the giant metal doors. She pushed upwards, sliding the door all the way open to give her as much clearance as possible. Next, she curled her legs behind herself, to get onto her knees, and the moved up to hold herself up with her arms. Then, she crawled outside, and stood up. She stretched again and let out another yawn. She looked down behind her, to her left. Wesley walked out behind her, carrying the canvas backpack he’d been holding since the day before. Isabel’s height made him appear almost like an ant, in her perspective.

Crouching down, she laid the back of her palm on the ground directly next to Wesley. Without a word, Wesley already knew to get on. Once he was seated in her palm, she stood up and set back out on her goal.