The man and I ran for our lives.
Although we were not slow, I knew that one step from that hulking giant covered the distance of several of ours. If he came to his senses in time and chased after us, catching us would be a matter of minutes.
So I could only pray that he would react a little more slowly.
We did not run in a straight line, making two turns along the way.
After running for nearly an hour, I felt as though my strength had been completely drained.
The man's face had gone pale from running.
"Stop, stop for a moment!" he finally could not help calling for me to stop.
We panted heavily.
He waved at me. "I'm not running anymore. I've figured it out. I came here to wait for death in the first place, so why do I have to run around with you?"
I froze. What he said did make sense. He was one of the Pompeii people, and he had entered this Burial Ground because his time was nearing its end. He had come here to wait for death. He had simply been unlucky enough to get caught by that hulking giant before he died, becoming one of the giant's "toys."
"Being played to death by him just means dying a little earlier. Why do I have to suffer like this with you?" He clutched his chest with one hand. It seemed that he truly could not keep going.
I looked around. We were in a small wooded area.
By then, my breathing had calmed considerably.
I said, "The woods are dense here. He might not be able to find us." With the trees packed so closely together, the space was relatively cramped. It was too narrow for that hulking giant