Rebirth II: Pete and Charlie
By: JohnBoy

Part I

Charlie lay stretched out on a rocky ledge wearing only his briefs and a pair of sneakers, half-dozing while his two companions splashed about in the deep, milky- blue pool beside him. They were at the old swimming hole just north of Oxbow, in the bottom of an abandoned limestone quarry surrounded by tall, wind-swept white pines.

The woods around there had gotten a bad name in recent times (there were those strange rumours about IBR), and not too many people came out that way anymore... not even the locals who'd been using the swimming hole for years. But it was a bright, cloudless afternoon in late May, a perfect day, and the three of them had decided to take advantage of the unseasonably hot weather and go for a dip...

Charlie was a small, wiry man in his early forties, with a bristly, salt-and-pepper moustache and deep-set, dark grey eyes. His friends Brian and Luke were larger men, both over 200 pounds.

Brian, the bigger of the two, had a scruffy brown beard and a considerable beer-gut. He was swimming in the nude, not shy about it at all... but young, blonde Luke still had his boxers and t-shirt on. Charlie suspected that he was self-conscious about how hairless he was, especially in comparison to that big bear, Brian.

Luke was a real cutie though, Charlie thought, and he'd heard that he had a really huge one, too. But he was pretty sure that the guy was straight. A shame...

It was starting to get a bit late in the day; he knew he had things to do.

Charlie stood up, stretched with a groan and said, "Okay, come on, guys. I gotta get going."

"Hey, what's the big rush, man?" Brian was setting himself up for a dive off of a barely-submerged rock, his big, low-hanging balls swinging freely between his thighs. "You ain't hardly even swum yet."

"Nice english, Brain," Luke chuckled.

"I told you don't call me that, asshole!" He dove in with a mighty splash, and both men swam ashore.

Charlie was looking around with a puzzled expression. "Uh oh..."

"What's wrong?" said Luke, wringing water from the front of his shirt as he got out.

Brian, being completely naked, noticed the problem right away. "Hey, what happened to our clothes?"

"I -- I dunno, they were right here on this rock..."

"Okay, Charlie. What the hell are you tryin' to pull?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, where's our fucking clothes, man?"

"Guys, it wasn't me! I didn't touch them, honest."

Brian began to search through the bushes; Charlie tried not to look at his big, hairy ass. "Well, they couldn'ta just disap- OW, fuck! There's prickles on this thing..."

"Man," Luke said, shaking his head, "someone must've swiped 'em while we were all swimming. Shit, my wallet -- I had almost fifty bucks in there."

"Ahh, big deal. Lookit me! I hafta walk back to the car like this." Brian's face was turning red.

Charlie took a deep breath and said, "Uh, actually... we're gonna have to walk a bit farther than that. I think they got my keys, too."

Brian turned redder. "Oh, fuck! We can't just walk into town like this! This was a great idear, Chuck... 'Say, let's all go for a swim!' Jesus."

"Calm down," Charlie said, "I know what to do..."

It was an old logging road, now mostly overgrown, that led almost in a straight line back through the woods towards Oxbow. It was only about a mile or so, and Charlie told them he was fairly sure they wouldn't be seen by anyone. When they got close to town, they'd be right by old Bishop's back yard, and Luke could go in to borrow some clothes.

Their progress was slow -- there were many deadfalls on the trail. Charlie offered to let Luke use his shoes half the time, but Brian's feet were way too big for them; he cursed and growled with every step, and Luke was trying not to laugh.

The forest was unusually quiet. It was spring and the trees should've been filled with birdsong, but there was hardly anything. Charlie felt nervous...

They came to a fork in the trail; he paused, then turned to the left.

"Uh, hang on a sec." Luke tapped his shoulder. "Wouldn't that be the way back?" He cocked his thumb down the other path. Charlie realized that he could see Luke's small, hard nipples through the still-wet t-shirt.

"No, it's this way," he said.

"But... look where the sun is. That must head east."

Brian was just catching up to them, breathing heavily. "What are ya, a fuckin' boy scout? Christ, lookit my feet, Chuck. I think I'm cut..." The big guy seemed to be more concerned about his lack of clothing now; he had his genitals cupped in one hand.

"Don't worry, I've been on this trail before."

Luke looked unsure. "I just don't wanna get lost. I mean, there's gotta be fifteen, twenty miles of bush between here and the highway, it's even farther to Silver Falls. And..." He looked away, seemingly embarrassed.

Brian stared at him. "And what?"

"Well, these woods aren't safe."

"Luke, what the fuck you talkin' about? There ain't no bears around here anymore, not for years."

"I know, Brain, I'm not talking about bears. You know what I mean -- people go missing in these woods sometimes, you've both heard about it. Remember Peter Callaghan? He was one of the first."

"Come on," Charlie said, trying not to let the uneasiness show in his voice. He was a bit startled that Luke had mentioned Pete. "There's no reason to think he was out here when he... disappeared. No-one knows what happened to him.

Right? The guy had a lot of debts, maybe he just took off or something. Let's just go, okay?" He started down the trail again.

Brian pushed Luke ahead roughly. "Yeah, it's gonna get dark soon, Pete's ghost might get us."

"Shut up, ya big jerk."

Charlie thought about Pete Callaghan...

He'd been an out-of-work logger, and certainly looked like the lumberjack that he was: a tall, heavyset guy, even bigger than Brian, with a heavy, reddish-brown beard and a ruggedly handsome face, though it was a bit craggy and weathered- looking.

He wondered if Luke was thinking about the lab near the town of Silver Falls: Igenics BioResearch. It was a fairly new facility, a long, low, white building with no windows surrounded by a huge, perfectly manicured lawn. It seemed so out of place, sitting there among the endless miles of trees. No-one really knew much about what went on there, but there were some rumours going around about 'things' that had escaped from the lab...

He also wondered how much Luke and Brian knew about Pete's involvement with IBR. A little over a year ago, he'd agreed to participate in some kind of genetic experiment (he really needed the money). And that was right about the time he 'disappeared'.

Over forty-five minutes had passed, and Charlie could feel his two friends becoming impatient. His anxiety increased -- he wondered who would be the first one to say something...

Finally Luke stopped in his tracks and let out an exasperated sigh. "This is screwed, Charlie, we should've been there by now. We're going the wrong way!"

Brian swore from a good twenty yards behind them.

"No, uhh... I don't think so." Charlie scratched under his chin. "Look, the town is probably just over that next rise. Come on..."

"Fuck this, I'm going back. Here, take your shoes." He kicked them off. When he turned, he could see Brian crouched over, staring at something on the ground. "Hey, what is it? What do you see?"

For several seconds he didn't say anything... then in a low voice: "Footprint."

Luke and Charlie approached the spot; just off to the side there was a depression with some partly-dried, black mud in it. Charlie felt his heart rate start to increase rapidly when he saw the footprint that was there...

It was human, made by a bare foot -- but it was enormous, close to two feet long and at least nine or ten inches at its widest.

Brian had sat down on a big, mossy stump. "That can't be real... can it?"

"Holy crap," Luke muttered.

"Of course it's not real. It -- it must be somebody's idea of a joke, like a Sasquatch hoax or something." Charlie began looking around the woods nervously.

"A what?"

"He means Bigfoot, dummy." Luke was staring up into the trees. "Jesus, look. Something's been through here, though."

They could see they were at a crossroads of sorts: it was almost a trail, very rough, and perpendicular to the one they were on. They might not have noticed except for the missing branches... they'd been snapped off (some were bent back) to allow passage, but to an unusual height. It was like a fifteen-foot-high 'tunnel' through the trees.

"Whoa, lookit that." Brian craned his neck, his jaw hanging open. "Okay, this is gettin' weird, man!"

"Look, maybe..." But Charlie couldn't think of anything to say.

The young man stared at him, not even trying to hide the look of fear in his face. Charlie avoided his gaze; he felt bad for getting the poor guy into this.

Finally, Luke said, "That's it, I'm outta here, guys." He started back the way they had come.

"Luke..."

"Hey just wait a fuckin' minute, my feet are killin' me, I need to--" The big man suddenly stopped.

Luke froze, rooted to the spot. "Listen. Something's coming," he said.

Now Charlie could hear it too...

Part II

There was the sound of branches breaking, and the low pounding of footsteps... heavy, giant-sized footsteps, approaching rapidly.

The three men turned to look; they couldn't see whatever-it-was yet, but it was definitely something big... and getting quite close. Charlie could tell the others were holding their breath -- Luke's eyes were practically bugging out of their sockets.

Brian stood up slowly, whispering, "What the fuck is that?"

"It's just a moose or something," Charlie said in a small voice. Through the trees, he could make out a very large, hulking shape. He knew it was no moose.

Luke grasped his shoulder. "Man, it's huge! Shit..."

Charlie could feel his legs quivering, and Luke's hand was gripping him almost painfully tight. They could see it now, walking quickly down the path directly towards them in long strides: it was a Giant.

He was a massive, naked man -- twelve feet tall or more. Powerfully built, he looked like he weighed about a ton... literally. His huge, wide chest was covered with a mass of dark hair that extended in a line down his thick midsection to his crotch, where an enormous cock over a foot-and-a half long could be seen, flopping about as he moved.

He was now only thirty feet away. And he was grinning at them, an evil-looking grin that made Charlie's blood run cold. They could see the giant man's face clearly now: rugged, weathered, and framed by a very bushy, reddish-brown beard. It was a familiar face...

"It's Peter," Luke croaked.

"Fucking Christ!" Suddenly Brian was moving fast... he ran blindly into Charlie, knocking him to the ground; Brian almost fell himself but managed to keep going, running off into the woods in terror, with Luke close on his heels.

What happened next went by so quickly, at first Charlie wasn't sure of what he'd seen:

There was a whooshing sound and Brian was jerked violently backwards -- he was flying through the air somehow, turning upside-down, and he slammed into Luke, taking the younger guy right off his feet. Luke flipped over a big fallen log and went down hard, while Brian shot straight up into the air feet-first. As he slowed, his body thumped heavily against the trunk of a tree, forcing a loud grunt out of him -- he bobbed up, down, then came to rest some ten feet off the ground, hanging by one leg from a rope while a few leaves slowly fluttered down around him.

It was a snare, Charlie realized. He looked back...

Giant Pete was standing almost right over him. His great chest was heaving with each breath, and he glistened with a thin layer of sweat. Charlie lay perfectly still where he was, trying not to shake as he stared up at the towering figure.

But the massive mountain-of-a-man was not paying any attention to him. He was looking at his 'catch' with a satisfied smile. From where he hung, a red-faced Brian was uttering faint curses and whimpers, waving his arms a bit and trying desperately to keep his eyes on the giant as he slowly turned in the air.

Pete stepped over him, and Charlie cringed; he went over to where Luke lay and prodded him with one big foot -- he was apparently knocked-out. Then his focus turned back to Brian. He began to approach him...

The giant spoke in a deep rumble, "Looks like ya put on a few pounds, Brian."

For a moment Brian was too stunned to say anything... then he managed in a strained voice, "Jesus, Pete, what- what happened to you?"

"Oh, I been workin' out." Pete reached up to give the hanging man a poke in the belly with his thick finger, causing him to utter a short bark. "Hmmm, good. Nice an' beefy, just how I like 'em."

"Please, man... get me outta this."

With a low chuckle he replied, "Yeah, sure thing, buddy. I know a place much more comfortable for ya..." He slapped his own gut.

"Huh?"

"Lemme give you a hand, there." Pete turned Brian around so that he was facing away from him, then took hold of his forearms. At the same time he crouched down a bit, and began to position himself so that he was almost directly below him. He licked his lips, and tilted his head back...

Charlie watched in disbelief as the giant's mouth began to stretch open, wider and wider, and he guided Brian's hands into it. Brian suddenly realized what was happening, and he began to struggle. "Shit, Pete! What the hell are you doing?"

Pete held on tighter and abruptly shoved the guy's arms right down his throat, past the elbows. Somehow he gaped his mouth even further and, getting a good grip on Brian's waist, he began to quickly push him down while he stood up straighter; now Brian's head and wide shoulders were beginning to enter his mouth.

Brian was wriggling around much more frantically now, his loud shouts becoming muffled as he was forced in: "HOLY SHIT WHAT ARE YOU-- mmmphh!!" His head was now down inside Pete's bloated throat.

Charlie was dumb-struck at what he was witnessing, unable to turn away from the awful scene, unable to move or even speak. There was a faint moan from nearby -- he dimly realized that Luke was starting to wake up...

The branch that the rope was tied to began to bend down as the giant pulled Brian in. His mouth was now stretched around the guy's big chest, his jaw working with massive, wet gulping sounds as he tried to get past the thickest part of Brian's body. Faint, desperate noises could still be heard from inside the giant's body. For a moment it almost looked like Brian was stuck... then Pete took firm hold of his thighs and pushed hard, grunting, his arms bulging with the effort. Brian began to slide down.

Luke sat up, rubbing his head. He looked around...

The branch bent more, nearing the breaking-point, as Pete took Brian up to the waist. He had his hands around his calves now, and was starting to stand up on tip-toe to get him in. Brian was sliding in faster -- the giant's neck and chest were distended grossly, but it was becoming clear now that he'd have little trouble swallowing him all the way down...

Luke saw what was happening, and stared with a puzzled expression; the guy probably thought that he was dreaming or something, Charlie thought.

Now that he could reach it, Pete started to slip the noose off from Brian's ankle, while at the same time trying to keep his legs from kicking about frantically. The rope was released and the branch whipped back up.

There was an expression of dawning horror on young Luke's face. His mouth opened and closed, then he stammered, "Wha- how-- what's happening?"

The huge man grabbed Brian's feet and gave a mighty push, and his legs gradually slid all the way in. They could actually see the struggling bulk of their friend's body moving down into Pete's stomach, stretching it out. Charlie was mesmerized...

"Jesus Christ! Is that Brian? Is he eating him??" Luke's voice was cracking. He had both hands on the top of his head and was waving his elbows around like wings. Under other circumstances it would have been quite comical.

Pete gave a few, final gulps and it was over. He looked down at his hugely bloated belly and the still-moving form within. But the movements were slowing, and they could no longer hear Brian's cries. He put his hands on his gut and tried to shift the mass inside around to a more comfortable position. There was a gurgling, groaning sound rising up Pete's chest, and he stretched his mouth wide to let out a monstrous belch.

"Aaaaahh..." He patted his belly and turned to face Luke.

"Oh man, oh man, I can't believe this!" Luke was practically blubbering.

Pete chuckled. "You better believe it, boy -- uuuUURrrf!" Another deep belch. He began to slowly approach the young man, staggering a bit under the extra weight in his gut. "Alright, Luke... c'mere. I think I saved enough room fer a second helping."

Luke scrambled to his feet, but the giant was on him in a second, moving surprisingly fast for his size.

"NO!" Luke screamed.

The massive man grabbed his shirt and ripped it clean off; Luke stumbled back but then Pete had him by the waist and, with a grunt, was lifting him into the air. As he stood up to full height, he said, "Okay son, I promise this won't hurt a bit!" He brought him closer to his grinning face.

"God, please don't eat me!" Luke had grabbed handfuls of his beard, trying to push himself away. He was starting to cry.

"No? Gimme one good reason why not."

"Uh... er, I..."

"Yeah, that's what I figgered. Be sure an' say hi to your buddy for me." He opened his mouth.

"Wait-- STOP!!"

But Pete was already forcing Luke's head in. This time, Charlie couldn't watch...

Part III

It was all over pretty quick. Charlie guessed that giant's gullet had been stretched and loosened-up by Brian's bulk, and since Luke was a bit smaller he must've slid down in no time.

He finally looked up. Pete was standing in front of him, only a few feet away...

"Mmm, tastes like chicken." He rubbed his gut -- it was a huge, bloated ball, stretched tight, now filled with well over 400 pounds of... food.

Charlie could see frantic movement in there; Luke was still wriggling around, and he could hear the poor guy actually trying to say something, but the words were too muffled to make out. By now Brian must've been unconscious.

For the first time, it occured to him that maybe he should just try to get out of there, run like hell -- it seemed unlikely, but perhaps the guy was still hungry. But he felt weak and dizzy after what he'd just seen, and he wasn't sure he could move that fast...

"Well? Buh-aaAAAHRP! Ooof, 'scuse me... so whatcha got to say?"

"Holy crap," Charlie gasped. He began to stand up, unsteadily.

Pete took a step closer, reaching down towards him.

Charlie raised his arms instinctively, but the giant only took hold of one of his small hands in his huge one, gently...

And he shook it.

Charlie muttered, "I-- I guess I didn't think you could actually do it..."

"Hey, (urp) I told ya I could!" He slapped his belly, smiling down at him.

"Thanks, pal."

Charlie stared up at that gigantic stomach, thinking of his two friends inside it, and he shivered. He was scared, but also amazed; he almost wanted to reach up and touch that belly to make sure it was real.

Luke was growing silent now, and he'd stopped his struggling...

Charlie shook his head, still in awe. "But, jeez. Both of them at once. I can't believe it." Suddenly he noticed that Pete was studying him with an intent expression, and he felt uneasy again. "Hey, wait... you're not going to...?"

"Course not, I said I wouldn't. You kept yer part of the bargain, I'm keepin' mine. But you still gotta bring me some more."

Charlie was relieved, but he also felt horrible at the suggestion. And it was still very frightening to be this close to the man. "I just-- I don't know if I can do this, Pete."

"You gotta... or else you know what'll happen." Pete winked at him. He was rubbing his gut again, obviously loving the feel of it. "Man, they felt so good goin' down. I think that's the most I ever ate before. Mm-mm!" He expelled another long, gassy belch.

"Uh, yeahhh. You know," he went on, "those scientist guys said I might never stop growin'. My genes or whatever, they're changed for good. I wanna test that theory, but I need more meat. I'm not gettin' enough with these traps. Bring me someone bigger next time... like that Frank Watkins, he's pretty chunky. I'm gonna experiment a bit... hell, maybe soon I'll be able ta take three guys at once..."

The sun was getting low in the sky. Charlie hurried back along the trail, heading for the swimming hole, feeling pretty bad for having lured Brian and Luke into this. It felt strange to be alone in the forest now, and he kept looking back over his shoulder...

He was anxious to get back into his clothes and dispose of the others, then he could just get the hell out of here.

But now, apparently, he was expected to do this on a regular basis!

Pete had told him to come back in about a week -- the meal he'd just had would hold him for quite a while, he said. Of course he was too scared of the consequences if he refused -- these woods came almost right up to his doorstep, and Pete could easily pay him a visit one night, unseen by anyone. He'd said he would, and Charlie believed him.

He was sorry he'd ever agreed to this. How long could he keep doing it? Should he just leave town and never come back? It wasn't like he could go to the cops and tell them he was being stalked by a giant.

Charlie thought of Frank the Tank, the cook from that little greasy spoon in town; he must weigh in excess of 300 pounds. Could Pete really swallow him in one gulp? He was a bit disturbed to realize that he wanted to find out. But how to get him out here? He certainly didn't know him well enough to invite him for a swim...

And just how big was Pete going to get? What would happen when he started getting taller than the trees that now concealed him? How long before too many people vanished to be ignored?

He couldn't think about that right now. Instead, he found himself thinking about the truck-stop down south of Beechmount. Lots of big, hefty guys to be found there, a never-ending supply of them, almost... and most of them weren't local, so they wouldn't really be missed, would they?

No, he wouldn't leave town. Because he had to admit, in a way he was curious... no, morbidly fascinated with the whole thing. It was incredible, really: a man-eating Giant!

Charlie almost felt like laughing. The wonders of modern science had brought a fable to life.

Yeah, maybe he could do this after all...

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