Katie stumbled back over to a safe hiding spot in a small crack behind one of the dressers.  The giant seemed to have lost interest in her, so that at least was a positive.  Katie instead moved her attention to other problems.

Outside of knowing that she was currently inside a dorm room, she really had little in the way of clues as to where exactly she was and how to leave.  None of the people who had been reported missing ever returned, so returning to Iowa was probably out of the question.  The giant seemed to speak English, at least enough to threaten her, but Katie didn’t really feel like pushing her luck with him to get more information.

Her thought was interrupted by the sound of her tummy rumbling.  Katie had struggled with her weight for most of her life.  Throughout her adolescent years, she tended to stress eat, which made her figure fill up more than she would have wanted.  Since getting a job in inventory at the department store, she had managed to bring her weight down substantially.  She was quite proud to have shed fifty pounds over the last year and a half, thanks to a physically intensive workload, better eating habits, and a supportive friend network.  She was still a bit on the pudgier side, but was far happier where she was now than where she was previously.

Even though breakfast hadn’t been that long ago, being in a strange, dangerous world alone really started to wear on her.  Looking around, there was a minifridge near the bunk bed, but if Katie was unwilling to risk socializing with the giant, she certainly wasn’t going to steal from him in front of his face.  Besides, could she even get into the fridge like this?  She doubted she could really move a fridge door the size of a duplex.

At that point, things became clear to Katie.  She would almost certainly not be able to sustain herself in this room.  If she wanted to survive, she would have to move on from here.  The door outside wasn’t quite flush to the ground.  There was a small gap between the top of the door and the carpet.  Probably not enough for the giants to notice, but enough that she might be able to just barely squeeze through.

When she thought the giant wasn’t looking, Katie dashed full sprint to the entranceway.  Getting down on her stomach, she tried to crawl on her stomach through the gap.  It was a tight fit.  She could feel friction marks develop on her breasts as they scraped against the long, rough carpet fibers.  Her back was pinned against the wooden door.  She crawled as best as she could to escape, but was undoubtedly a bit stuck.

As Ernest was scrolling on his phone browsing pictures of hot, submissive looking guys, he noticed the shifter was running back into the middle of the room.  Curious what had prompted the little thing out of its hiding place, he saw her run up to the exit and try to leave.  He smirked.  He wished all bug infestations would just resolve themselves like this.  He watched its puny legs kick and squirm until it eventually gave up halfway in and halfway out.  He giggled watching the poor thing get so close to freedom only to get stuck at the last hurdle.  Still, he didn’t really want it around, and the bug didn’t want to be around.  So he figured since their goals aligned, he might as well give the shifter a little boost.

Katie’s left hand was pushing against the doorframe when she felt the ground beneath her shake.  She could hear the giant coming directly towards her.  Desperate not to be still in the doorway if the giant opened the door, her movements became frantic.  She shoved at the door frame, her fingernails tried to dig into the polished wooden floor outside the dorm, and she wiggled her body like a worm, but she couldn’t get through.  The footsteps stopped and she was sure her body would be torn apart if he attempted to leave.

Ernest bent over at the flailing pair of legs sticking out from underneath the entryway.  Smiling, he placed his finger against the shifter's squishy little tush and gave it a slight push.  WIth almost no effort at all, it popped out the other side.  Satisfied his infestation was taken care of, he went back to entertaining himself.

One moment she was stuck and unable to move, and the other she was free.  Shocked that she was still unharmed, Katie turned around, but the door was the only thing behind her.  Looking up, she noticed that she came from room 317.  Whoever the giant was, he certainly didn’t seem to wish her harm, at least not intentionally, so she figured that she should remember this room in case something went amiss.  Worst comes to worst, this at least doesn’t seem like a dangerous room to sleep in if it came to it.

She wandered down the hall, close to the wall to avoid being out where somebody could step on her.  Spotting an exit, she discovered a staircase going down.  At first, she celebrated her good fortune, but soon realized that she would have no way of traversing the staircase alone.  The drop to the next step was akin to a fall from a four story building.  Survivable once?  Perhaps.  Survivable for every single step for three floors?  Impossible.  She was about to give up dejected when she heard the ding of an elevator.

She quickly ran to the source of the sound, Two large metal doors side by side.  She might have to wait a while, but freedom was finally within her grasp.  Eventually, she heard that telltale ding.  As the door crawled open, the problem became clear.  Between the floor and the elevator was a small gap.  To the denizens of this world, it would hardly be a big deal.  Maybe a quarter would be lost every once in a while, but nothing substantial.  But to Katie, the gap was a chasm.  To fall inside would mean certain death.

Katie cursed her luck.  So close to freedom, yet so incalculably far.  A large group of giants stepped off onto her floor.  As the people in the elevator made way for those leaving, she noticed out of the corner of her eye a woman her size.

Well, to call this woman her size would be an overstatement.  By Katie’s estimation, the stranger would be the shorter of the two by a few hairs.  Whoever it was was naked and covered from head to toe in stitches, as though assembled in the night like some Frankenstein’s monster.  As the poor soul dodged between the feet of those on the elevator and those remaining, it was clear that her chances were slim if she couldn’t exit.  It was clear that this woman couldn’t pull her up if she jumped to the elevator and missed, but maybe...

“HEY!”

The woman on the elevator jumped.  Looking across, she saw Katie shouting and waving her arms.

“JUMP!  I’LL CATCH YOU!”

The stranger was hesitant, but as a foot landed just a finger’s length away from flattening her, she barrelled to the pit.  With a running start, she hurled herself across the ravine as Katie reached for her.  It looked as though she would just barely miss clearing the gap.  As she plummeted, Katie latched the right arm of the stranger.

For such a lanky individual, the elevator girl was quite heavy.  It took both hands just to stop her from falling.  As Katie strained to pull her up, her other hand grasped for the ledge.  The mechanical whir of the elevator door was heard as it approached their position.  At this rate, it would crush both of them into mush.  Katie was about to give up, the woman caught the side of the cliff and started to pull herself up.  With a mighty heave, the two returned to solid ground just as the door slid by them.

Never in Katie’s life had she been so grateful to have a job lifting heavy gardening equipment.

“Wheeeew, that was a close one.  I’m Katie by the way.”

The stranger panted and wheezed for a second before responding.

“Hannah.  Thank you.  Thank you!”

Hannah flopped into Katie’s arms and started sobbing.  Katie held her close.  It seems whoever Hannah was, she had been through more than she could ever imagine.

“Come with me.  I know a place where we can be safe and plan what to do next.”

One of Ernest’s hands was clasped around his phone, browsing pictures of men bent over, ready to be mounted.  His other hand was decidedly elsewhere.  As he enjoyed his viewing experience, he noticed the shifter attempting to crawl back into his abode.  He had neither the time, nor inclination to help her get back inside, especially having helped her leave, but this time she seemed to have less problem getting through.  The reason for this became clear as another shifter followed behind her.

Ernest wasn’t happy that not only did his bug infestation come back, but became worse.  But he had already gotten into a steady rhythm.  He figured that if this were to become a huge problem, he could deal with it later.  He simply allowed the shifters to make their way back to the gap behind the drawers.

As they finally got a chance to relax, Hannah seemed to calm down.  Katie smiled.  She may not have gotten any closer to solving her food and drink issue.  She might not be able to escape.  But she found a friend.  And that was a win in her book.