The pair silently continued into the gap behind the fridges, Alix still upset about losing his phone. The space they entered truly highlighted their size.

The fridges themselves made up the entire section of wall between the register and the back kitchen, so Alix could see straight to the end. From his tiny perspective, this space was at least a mile long. 

They walked upon small beams lining the wall, of which they could see downwards to the floor. Steadily they climbed, gaining the height to be possibly level with Sharine's waist, but somehow also kicking in Alix's fear of heights.

On either side was action, as the beams were between the fridges of the sub shop and the ice cream place next door. They could hear the ear piercing voices of the teenage girls next door working the ice cream shop. And on the other side came Paige, another of Alix's coworkers, coming to get a drink. 

As Lasius spotted her headed for the fridge, he tensed up immediately. "Alix hug the bridge!" He shouted, dropping to his stomach and wrapping his arms and legs around it.

"What?" Alix said, confused. Of course, this delay did not give him the time to react. As Paige pulled open the fridge door, a gust of wind followed. 

The air seemed to pull outwards, towards the door, knocking Alix completely off balance. He slipped off the edge, catching himself just barely with one hand. 

Alix began to panic, looking down the hundreds of feet that would definitely kill him, all because Paige wanted a soda. His legs went numb as his grip tightened to what felt like impossible strength. 

Behind him, Paige, he could see her dirty blonde hair and dark green work shirt, checked her phone as she casually picked out something to drink. She couldn't see Alix hanging for his life as she grabbed something, and let the door slam shut, creating another pulse of wind. 

Alix very nearly lost his grip, feeling the wind push him now underneath the bridge, his hand glued down as Lasius pulled him up.

"From now on, Alix, you need to listen to me. No matter what I say, your life is at stake." Lasius scolded him after they were both back atop the bridge. 

Alix nodded. "This sucks." 

"I know. I live it." Lasius said. "Once we reach the back kitchen, a crew will be there waiting for us." Lasius continued, changing the subject. "They will journey with us to attempt to save the colony from your species. Unfortunately, I cannot bring you to the colony, as our home must remain a secret to all those not apart of it." Lasius said.

"Alright, the more the safer, I guess." Alix responded.

"The more to pull you out of danger." Lasius joked.

Alix laughed, "Why do you even need me, anyways?" He asked, as they walked.

"In part, to let one of you know that we exist. And another, for someone who knows this store to assist us in our journey, as we never really leave behind these fridges, for protection." Lasius answered.

Eventually, they reached the other side. The bridge increased in height until it leveled with the back kitchen sink, where the others were waiting.

Lasius introduced Alix to everyone, increasing their group to 10. From that point, they agreed on the plan. Together, they had to make their way across the kitchen, into the office, and destroy the spray that the owner, Mary, intended on releasing atop the colony that night. 

First, however, they had to cross the kitchen, the most dangerous part of the store. Directly in front of them was the sink and the hurricane of dishes. 

Paige, the same one who almost sent Alix falling to his death earlier, was doing the dishes. The sink was a spray handle attached to the wall. Water was going everywhere, including the sink, lowering the temperature and creating a small wind towards the sink. On top of all of that, the store speaker was located behind the sink, and Paige was dancing as she cleaned. 

Looking out into the storm, Alix commented, "We need to cross that?" 

Lasius sighed, "Yes. We must be incredibly careful not to slip into the sink, and hug the wall." The walkway ahead of them was a small inch of counter between the sink and the wall. At their size it was closer to a couple feet, but it was tight nonetheless.

Together, finally, they moved forward. As they walked, Alix watched his coworker from his position. Her hips were even with the sink counter, dancing around and shaking as she carelessly sprayed steaming hot water in, and unfortunately around, the sink. 

The group pushed against the wind and water, feeling it pull them towards the sink. One of them, a man named Poma, was the first to go down. As Paige bopped and shook her shoulders and hips, Poma slipped on the water and tumbled off the counter into the water. 

Some rushed to the side to see if they could spot or save Poma, but it was too late. The soapy ocean in the sink shifted as Paige nonchalantly picked out dishes, sending others falling over one another. Wherever Poma was, there was a strong chance he would never see the surface again. Alas, the group carried onward. 

"He's-" One started. 

"Dead." Lasius finished. "We must keep moving; the entire colony is at stake." 

Not too soon after, they reached the rest of the counter, away from the sink. Unfortunately, more dangers awaited them here.

Another of Alix's coworkers, Alana, a skinny girl with a deep black bob haircut, was cleaning the counter with a sponge. 

"Why is everyone cleaning?!" One of the group asked. 

"Because we close soon!" Alix answered. 

"We have to brave the counter, we don't have much time!" Lasius shouted over the music.

The group pushed forwards, as Alana scrubbed in circles on the counter. For the most part they were okay, as she was focused on the center. Moving slow and steady got them nearly there. 

Until, of course, Alana needed to clean the back edge. They watched as she leaned into the counter, half on top of it, squishing the sponge against the wall and moving it down the counter. It would be on top of them within seconds.

"RUN!" Lasius screamed. They began an all out sprint down the counter, ignoring the fear of potentially being spotted. 

Alix looked over his shoulder, the anxiety building inside him. As he did, he made eye contact with Alana, and not the good kind. 

"Ew." Her voice echoed over anything else in the room, as it directed towards them. "We have ants!" She yelled.

Alana's voice was so loud as she shouted, they couldn't help but slow down out of the pain in their heads. A man in the back fell, even. He wasn't going to survive, and everyone else's instinct kept them going. They knew he was dead but were too afraid to go back for him. 

The sponge rolled over him smoothly, Alana using it to brush the group off the counter. Somehow the rest outran in, already being neat the edge, they jumped.

However, the one who was underneath it wasn't so lucky. Trapped and tangled with the sponge, he found himself dragged across the counter, the metal burning his skin as it scraped across him. Alana lifted the sponge in the air, holding it over the trash as she peered at the man stuck to the sponge. 

He struggled, screaming for his life towards uncaring ears. Alana looked at him with disgust, flicking him off the sponge and into the trash with her wrist. He was as good as dead.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group had jumped off the counter, plummeting to the tile below.