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KALI CORP. PART 2

First Interval

    Not again, not again, not again, but there is nothing I can do. I want to take back all the bad feelings I’d had towards Zero and Beta, I want to take back the deaths of Ben and Matt, I want to take back ever coming here, I want to take back ever waking up. I’ve only been alive for over a month, but I want it all. I don’t think I’m coming back this time. I think it’s over.

    Chapter 1: Haven

    It's been four days since my death. Four days since the slaughter of seventeen human beings, each of us only two inches tall. And for some reason, I'm alive again.
    We walked naked from the blood-soaked alley into a world a hundred times too big for us. With no knowledge of our current whereabouts and nowhere to go, we just walked. We followed the signs.
    Apparently we were not the only survivors of Keyla. Along the wall of the alley, somebody had scratched arrows. We've been following them for four days, moving by night along the gigantic sidewalks, hugging the walls of buildings too vast for us to recognize the purpose of. What would have been sand to normal-sized people was large stones to us. It took us two days of straight walking to clear the building we had escaped from. We crossed a street in the middle of the night, hearts pounding as we clung to each other, so that drafts from the occasional passing car wouldn't blow us all around the road. We slept in cracks in the walls or pavement, covering ourselves with a leaf or a gum wrapper. We survived on dropped crumbs. An empty bag of chips was like a large silvery cave to us. Almost as frightening as the cars were the crows, eyeing us always. But we kept following the arrows. What else could we do?
    After four days of walking, we were beginning to lose hope of ever finding a destination. We didn’t know who had carved the arrows, or why. But eventually we found one that pointed up.
   
    We stare up at the massive metal grate that blows hot air down onto us like a tropical wind, right before a storm. Below it is the little carved arrow like a church steeple pointing up to heaven, except heaven is a hot steel ventilation shaft.
    Me and Zero, we hop up to the grate and pull ourselves up, and then we pull Beta in after us. The shaft is dark, huge, and so noisy we have to yell in each other’s ears to be heard. Every ten minutes or so the hot wind picks up and we lean forwards, marching against it and holding on to each other’s backs. In the darkness we feel the arrows scratched into the walls of the duct, and we march on, blind but not lost.
    What seems like hours pass as we wind down the tin halls in utter darkness. Beta’s skin is soft and smooth against my hand, and Zero’s is contrasting leathery, firm, rough. Touch is our only sense, and suddenly I feel awkward. I try to clear my mind and relax, but I feel stiff and clammy. I take a deep breath and keep walking.
    Finally we reach a grate, and the arrow points down. Me and Zero slip through the bars on our stomachs and drop to the floor. Beta comes after, and we catch her. We look for some kind of sign.
    Suddenly there is sharp scratching noise and a bright light. We are blinded, and shield our faces in surprise. Squinting, I make out a large fire hovering in the sky before us. Then I see dark figures surrounding us.
    “Hello,” says a voice, “don’t be afraid.” As my eyes adjust, I see that the flame is in fact a match, held by one of several people our size. Bathed in the bluish-golden light we see them all around us. “Welcome,” says the speaker, an older man, “to our community! You are all safe here, now.”

    Chapter 2: New World

    It is my first food run. In the dark cavern of a cupboard, me and two other men have sawed a hole in a box of Graham Crackers using a blade from a disposable razor. We are in the process of breaking down a cracker into transportable-sized crumbs when our fourth team member, the scout, comes sprinting towards us. In the distance, we hear massive doors flap open and shut as someone enters the kitchen outside.
   
    Neither me, nor Beta, nor Zero have told anyone in Haven that one time, I came back from the dead. They might want to see if I can do it again, which I’m not too keen on. They might also think we’re nuts. Either would be bad.
    In fact, I’m terrified of dying again. I shut out the memories as hard as I can, because I almost lose it when I get flashbacks; shaking, short breath. Cold sweat. A surge of fear and a feeling of helplessness. After that, a kind of sick, numbing feeling as I start to come off it. It’s not pleasant.
    Haven is a community of shrunken people like us. It’s in a high-end restaurant in downtown Toronto, Canada, or so they tell us. They live in an unused cupboard in the back of a storage room. There are thirty-six people, all told. Seven are children. Only two are female. These are aged 71 and 19. They have all been affected by The Plague.
    Apparently in the year 2012, The Plague struck. Many said it was a terrorist attack, but it became apparent that it was occurring randomly all over the planet. Others said it was the end of the world, foretold to occur in 2012. Others said it was alien radiation connected to several meteorites that struck the planet four years earlier. Some said it was a plan by the government to save the planet by culling humanity.
    What happened is that members of the male population of Earth started to shrink. Thought of as a hoax at first, the very real phenomena quickly spread. Random men and boys were affected by the millions, as well as a very, very small percentage of females. It is now the year 2020. Women dominate the population. In North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Russia, women have risen to take control of all areas of expertise. Governments are led by women, as are the military and scientific research. In order to make up for the massive loss of manpower, robotics have quickly replaced most forms of labour. In most parts of Asia and Africa, however, males of regular size have held on to power, mostly through force, despite being greatly outnumbered. Rebellion rages in many countries. In the quickly changing world, there has not yet been time for other countries to stage intervention for any side, as they have been busy repairing their own lands.
    Not much is known among the members of Haven what the current status is of shrunken men. Most people here lost all contact with the regular-sized world once they shrunk. There are rumors of care centres where regular people can bring any shrunken people they find, and they will be cared for. There is speak of a cure nearing completion. But there are darker rumors, of shrunken people being kept as pets, or put on display. People being treated like insects. And people being murdered like insects.
    One of the men here is a survivor of Keyla. He escaped when he landed in a crack in the asphalt just as Keyla lowered her foot on him and two of his fellow men. He heard their screams, heard their bodies crack and burst above him. He choked on their blood and innards that flowed over him and hid him from sight. Then he wandered the world outside, lost, until he found this place, these people. What is most impressive is that he had the balls to go back to that alley and carve arrows that led all the way home to Haven. Now he’s out there again, carving arrows, leading people to safety. His name is Eric.
   
    The scout says “Shhh!” and gestures urgently that we should hide. We pull the razor-blade out of the box, push the cardboard back into place and pick up our bags and run. We sprint to the back of the shelf and dive behind boxes of dry goods.
    We listen as the giant person moves around the kitchen. Her heels clack on the linoleum floor as she goes about gathering whatever it is she came for. Our hearts jump into our throats as the door to the pantry suddenly swings open, and light floods into the room. We duck our heads.
    Moments pass like hours as the woman scans the shelves, slowly. Benjamin, one of the guys in the foraging party, he puts his head up real slow and peaks around the corner of the big box of Rice Crispies we’re hiding behind. Why a fancy restaurant needs Rice Crispies, I don’t know. Snap, Crackle and Pop beam down at us like cartoon demons in the darkness.
    Suddenly there is a large scraping noise, and Scout snaps his head back behind cover as the woman grabs the box of Graham Crackers off the shelf. Light pours in where the box had been. We hear her heels click as she starts to leave, but then stop. Something hits the floor. There is a combined gulp as we all swallow in fear. Each of knows what has hit the floor: Graham Cracker crumbs.
    After several heart-pounding seconds, the footsteps continue. We all breathe out, realizing we were holding our breaths.
   
    Chapter 3: Rebekah

    “That was Naomi,” Ben says, as we approach the kitchen floor. We only move at night. Naomi is a waitress. She shouldn’t have been here tonight, but sometimes the restaurant hosts parties that last long into the night. Most of the time we can hear them, but sometimes they are quiet affairs. “Man, we’re lucky it wasn’t Rebekah. She would’ve seen that hole in the box and known we were around, and she would’ve looked for us, and then we would be dead. She’s a fucking bitch. We were lucky it was Naomi and not her.”

    “Shhh!" The scout says. We carry sacks made of scraps of cloth and paper, each filled with cracker crumbs. We squeeze under the door of the pantry. The kitchen is dark and quiet. We have waited probably hours for the party to die down. Nobody has entered the kitchen since Naomi, so we assume it is safe. Now we have have to return to Haven with food.
    “Yeah,” Matt, the other member, says, “This one time I’m pretty sure Naomi saw us. We were right out in the open on this shelf, and she walks in, and looks right at us. We all booked it, and she never came after us. I don’t think she minds us.”
    “Shhh!”
    The door to the storage room, is on the other side of the kitchen. Normally we would skirt the edge of the kitchen floor, but we are already hours overdue, and people back in Haven  will begin to worry. I vote we cross the centre. It’s late, and we decide there is nobody here. Scout goes first, sprinting across the floor until he reaches a leg of a large table in the centre of the kitchen. The trip takes a few minutes. Once reached, he makes a dash for the storage room, and at the same time, Ben runs for the table.
    “He’s right about Rebekah too. She’s the head waitress. She’ll kill any one of us she finds. Treats us like mice. I can’t fucking believe it. Eight years ago, we were all human beings. Now we’re like, vermin. Not a second thought to stamping us out, as if we aren’t real people with real lives. Fucking scary, man. Chilling. I used to have a family- oh, that’s my go. If we all die here, I’m blaming you, Alphy. Haha, just kidding! See you on the other side!.”
    That’s what he calls me, since I don’t remember my real name. All I know is the serial number tattooed on my back, part of which labels me “Alpha”. I’m not sure I like the name Alphy, but I guess it’s better than a serial tag.
    Ben is halfway to the storage room and Matt is halfway to the table when all hell breaks loose. The clacking of heels rises in the distance, and I cringe. Ben freezes. Matt spins around, not sure whether to go for the table or back to the pantry. I start to feel the adrenaline rush through my body. I roll under the door of the pantry, out of sight but not too far.
    Matt is closer to the table, so I guess in a panic he decides to try to go unnoticed under the cover. I see Ben, still frozen, and Scout waving him over frantically.
    I scream in my head, Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
    The kitchen doors flap open, and a light switch clicks on. I am partially blinded as I adjust to the light. Matt is still running towards the table, and Ben is in the middle of the floor, exposed.
    I look up and see Rebekah for the first time. She would probably be somewhat short in normal standards, but she’s a towering goddess to me. She has straight, chin-length black hair and a round face. Her features are soft, with a perky, slight nose. Her eyes are dark blue, her skin is creamy. She wears some makeup. She looks very professional, wearing a black blouse and skirt. She wears five-inch shining black pumps that show off the curved tops of her feet, and just a hint of toe cleavage. She has paused just inside the kitchen door, having noticed Ben immediately.
    Time seems to slow down, and everything gets sharper. Rebekah takes a step toward Ben, still paralyzed with fear on the linoleum floor. I see Scout waving in slow motion across the room, still trying to get him to move. I see Matt by the table leg, watching it all unfold, biting his fingers. Rebekah’s shoe clicks loudly as her heel lands. I watch her towering legs as they swing forward, her heels as they touch floor, and the soles as they land. I see her weight settle on each foot, watch them rise up again. I glance up and see Rebekah’s face, calm, emotionless. I look down at Ben again - I think I see piss dripping on the floor and pooling around him. Back to Rebekah again, she takes another step, then another, and then she’s right on top of him. Her hands rise to her hips, and she lifts her right foot off the ground, several feet about Ben. She pauses for only one slow-motion second before lowering again. Sole first, it descends on the tiny man. I hear a brief shriek, and the thought of closing my eyes flickers briefly through my mind but it is too late. His scream is cut off as the dusty black sole of her shoe smashes Ben into floor. I hear his body scrunch loudly and blood spurts briefly from beneath the pump as it settles with no resistance. I see an arm fly spinning high in the air. A pool forms instantly around the shoe. Heel raised, Rebekah twists her foot only very slightly, back and forth. After a couple seconds, the heel plants and the sole rises. Blood drips onto the floor, and I catch a glimpse of internal organs smashed flat, and what is probably left of his head in a round patch of gore, skull fragments, and teeth. Before I know it I’m hurling semi-digested Graham Cracker onto the floor right in front of my face, eyes squeezed closed.
    I vaguely hear the kitchen doors open. Looking up groggily, I see another woman enter the kitchen. Naomi has blonde hair done up in a Japanese-style ponytail, a broad face and large, green eyes. Her skin is rosy. She is taller than Rebekah, and dressed in a simple waitress uniform: white blouse, black skirt, and a little apron around her waist. On her feet are black Mary Janes with three-inch stiletto heels. She stops, wide eyed, when she sees Rebekah with her toes lifted over Ben’s remains.
    “I THINK WE HAVE A LITTLE MAN PROBLEM,” Rebekah says, looking down at her shoe. Naomi suddenly looks over towards me, in surprise. Rebekah follows her gaze.
    I freeze, heart pounding in my skull, but then realize they aren’t actually looking at me: down on floor level, I see Matt pounding his way towards me, eyes frantic with fear. From under the door I urgently beckon him, silently encouraging him. Everything is still in slow motion.
    Rebekah starts to move again. The clacking of her heels is loud in my ears as she rounds the table, hands still on hips. Behind her Naomi watches, her hand rising her to mouth. I realize urgently that there is no way Matt will make it to the door in time. From the approaching giantess I look down at Matt, and see his eyes again. I was wrong, I realize, they aren’t just fear. He’s looking straight at me, and he knows he’s done for. His eyes are telling me to go, get out. It’s over. He’s just running because that’s what his body is telling him to do. No, I tell myself, you can make it. You fucking have to make it. But I know it too. He’s a dead man.
    Rebekah rounds the table, her full glory stretching upwards. In the backlight of the kitchen lights she looks like a goddess descended from Olympus. For a second, I think it’s Keyla and I’m back in that alley. Just for a second.
    In a couple steps, she is right behind Matt. I watch her left foot extend forwards, the toe of her giant pump striking Matt in the back, sending him flying towards me. He hits the linoleum and rolls, rag-dolling, sliding to a stop about ten feet away from me. I cry out as I see his broken body, blood everywhere. His fingers are twitching, but his legs are cracked at weird angles. His face has been all mashed up, and he looks up at me, same eyes, telling me to go. I can’t.
    I gasp as Rebekah’s massive sole lowers onto his body. It’s so close, and so big it takes up most of my vision. I can almost make out my own distorted reflection in the shining black toe of the pump, that’s how close it is. The sole is dusty black with bits of white crumbs pressed into it, and there a section of tread, grooves sliding horizontally. The shoe settles slightly on Matt’s twisted form, the weight causing him to retch blood. Slowly he is dragged backward, the shoe receding across the kitchen floor. I can see the flesh of her foot now, creamy skin over tendons. There is a trail of blood where Matt is dragged across the linoleum.
    “HMPH,” Rebekah says.
    She presses down slowly. I hear Matt’s legs snap and he groans in pain, apparently all he can muster. It’s surreal, seeing him so fucked up like that. A scream at least would be expected.
    The sole continues down, pausing only slightly as it encounters his pelvis. There is a sickening popping noise as it is crushed, and the shoe drops down cracking all his ribs in one smooth motion. His innards literally burst through his head and neck, those eyes that were telling me get out, get out, they squirt right out of his face right at me and are followed by more red goo like a meat grinder.
    Snap, pop, crackle, he went. Legs, pelvis, ribs. Just like those fucking Rice Crispie elves. Why couldn’t it be them instead of poor Matt? I can just see Matt’s eyeless skull, two black sockets framed in shining red blood, gazing across the kitchen floor. Rebekah, oh god Rebekah, she lifts up her heel and the weight transfer makes Matt’s skull goes flat with a crunch under her toe.
    Why isn’t Crunch an elf? Maybe Cap’n Crunch came first. What the fuck, why am I thinking about this shit. Maybe it’s my brain helping me escape reality. Yeah.
    I snap back to reality unfortunately, just in time to watch Rebekah’s arched foot do the little twist, hear the smashed bones scrape on the floor. I’m retching, but there are no Graham Crackers left inside of me.
    “NAOMI,” Rebekah says, lifting up her sole and inspecting the mess left beneath it, “PASS ME SOME PAPER TOWEL, WOULD YOU?” Naomi, staring at Matt’s remains and biting her nails, walks over to grab some paper towel. “CHECK IN THE PANTRY FOR MORE OF THEM,” she says, lifting her foot and wiping off the gore on her sole, “AND COULD YOU CLEAN THIS MESS ON THE FLOOR TOO PLEASE? AFTER THAT YOU CAN GO HOME. AND TAKE TOMORROW OFF, TONIGHT WAS A LONG NIGHT. I GOTTA GO. HAVE A GOOD NIGHT!” She finishes cleaning the bottoms of her shoes, and walks out of the kitchen, dropping the paper towel in the garbage.
    I watch Naomi as she stares at the remains on the floor, arms crossed. Her brows are knitted, and she appears lost in thought. I stare up at her. She’s a goddess too, but a gentler one. I don’t feel like moving. I just feel sick, but it’s still a tense moment. Shes’ super pretty. I see her eyes flicker up to the door of the pantry that I’m hiding under, and I remember her orders. I’ve still got my adrenaline (it’s probably only been a couple minutes, but it feels like hours) and I roll back into the dark pantry and start sprinting. Fuck, that was stupid. I should have gone earlier. Gone when Matt told me to go. Now I’m dead. Shit.
    I’m sprinting as fast as I can when I hear Naomi’s heels pick up. In a few steps she reaches the pantry door, and opens it slowly, cautiously. Fuck, I have nowhere to run, I’ve just ran straight through the middle of the floor. I’m wide open. I could be target practice for her feet.
    Kitchen light sweeps over me as the door opens fully, and there I am, running in the middle of the floor, far away from any kind of cover. I look over my shoulder. A mistake. I stumble, fall. Start to get up again, but then I get a look at Naomi. She’s a massive silhouette in the pantry door. I can’t make out her face, but I can tell by the outline of her head that she’s looking right at me, and I freeze. There, half-lying on the floor, I am Ben, frozen, paralyzed. It might be fear, but there seems to be... something else inside of me. Maybe I’m just curious as to what she will do. Because right now, I have no fucking idea. There’s me, framed in the light on the middle of the floor, and there’s her, standing over me, not doing a thing, just looking. I hold my breath.

    Chapter 6: Stupid Jealous

    It is two weeks later and I have not died.
    Naomi walked out, leaving me alone on the floor that night. Scout came back for me, and we reported in to Haven. We told them what happened to Matt and Ben. That was a bad day.
    Some of the men at Haven are giving Beta looks. Dirty looks, hungry looks. It takes me a little while to realize that she is one of the few females the same size as us. These guys probably haven’t sex for years. That makes them dangerous for Beta. None of them have made a move yet, but it may be only a matter of time. James, the old man, he’s kind of the leader. I’m assuming that if these guys aren’t keeping themselves in check, he is. But he’s an old man, and I’m worried.
    Zero sees all this too, of course. He’s more observant than I am. He’s by her side almost all the time now, holding her. He’s not a big guy, but he’s wiry, and he’s fearless. The scar on his back proves that. Still, it’s starting to make my blood boil seeing them together all the time. I miss her, even when she’s around. It’s not like we were ever really close. But I can still remember the first time I saw her, in that glass box beside mine, in the lab with Keyla. And yeah, I remember her being the last thing I saw before I died. God. That doesn’t mean we’re soul mates. It’s stupid I’m jealous, they have every right to be together. Zero was there for her when everyone else, including me, was dead. That’s something. It’s good they’re together. She needs him. Why am I so fucking bitter then? I fucking died.

    I come back late again from a food run. I got separated from the party when in the kitchen a waitress came in after hours and talked on her cell phone to her mom about the bad day she had. I waved the party on. I wasn’t in any hurry to get home.
    As I get back, people are giving me looks. I don’t know why. I just ignore them as I walk back to my private hole in the wall. I see one guy, his face is purple and mushy, bruised, like an old grape. He glares at me extra hard.
    I get near my quarters when I see Zero and Beta. Zero has his arm around her shoulder. He also has a big shiner on his right eye and a split lip. He grins at me.
    “Alpha!” Beta says as she sees me walking, “God, you’re back! When I saw the party get back without you...”
    What, no hug? I smirk and say to Zero, “What the hell happened to you?”
    “Trouble with the guys,” he says, no longer smiling. “It’s getting bad. We shouldn’t stay here much longer. For Beta. It’s not safe for her here.”
    “He protected me,” Beta says, hugging him.
    “Can’t be that unsafe,” I say, “You have him.” There is a confused silence. Quickly I say “Where would we even go?”
    Zero shrugs. I walk past them.
    “Alpha?” Beta calls after me. I pretend I don’t hear, and I go to my room, feeling like all kinds of shit.

    Chapter 7: Not Haven For All

    “What do you want?” says a shrill voice. I stand in the doorway of the women’s quarters, the only other two women in Haven. Zero and Beta share a room.
    The women huddle in the darkness, squinting to see who I am. My shadow is long and framed in the middle of the their floor. I realize now I have never seen either of them smile. My silhouette must appear quite menacing.
    “I just want to see something,” I say. My heart is sunk though, because I think I know what I’m going to find here.
    “You,” says the old woman, the shrill voice. “You’re just like all the rest aren’t you? God damn you!” My eyes adjust to the darkness, and I see the older woman clutching the nineteen-year old. She hugs her knees, head bowed, staring at nothing. Her face is empty.
    “I’m not going to hurt you,” I say, and move forward. I crouch down in front of them. “Just let me see...”
    I put my hand on the girl’s knee, and she flinches, but does nothing to resist. Against the old woman’s complaints, I slowly pull the girl’s legs apart. Even in the darkness I can see the darker bruises, feel the stiffness of the girl’s joints. See the emptiness in her eyes. See the bulge of her stomach. I leave.

    Chapter 8: Love In This Place

     For some reason I am walking with Beta. Neither of us are saying anything. We walk for a long time.
    “You think you’ll regenerate again?” She asks suddenly.
    “Why?” I ask, more harshly than I mean to. Even from the corner of my eye, I can tell she looks hurt.
    Eventually, “I don’t know. I’m just... well it’s dangerous on the runs and...” She sighs. “God, I don’t know Alpha. You’re not making this easy. Are you... okay?”
    I look at her quizzically, acting surprised. I don’t know why I do this.
    “...Yes? Are you?” I say, changing the subject.
    “...I’m okay. I guess. Zero-” She sighs. “Sorry. I don’t know. This place... Do you still think about that time when you...died?”
    Every fucking minute, I think to myself.
    Beta sees the change come over my body. She just leans forward and gives me a hug. I tense up immediately. I forgot what it feels like to hold her. She’s warm, soft. My skin tingles where she touches me. I try to relax. I hug her back. I have chills, but the hug feels amazing.
    “You know, I love you.”
    You do?
    “I love both of you. Please, don’t make this a romantic thing. We have to stay together here. The three of us. In this place, in this life. You understand that don’t you?” She’s crying. I struggle to think of something to say.
    Some guy walks by and sneers at her, grabbing his balls. I punch him in the fucking face. I keep punching till I can’t feel my fists anymore and his face a big red mess on the floor. I punch till I’m too tired and people are hauling me away from him.
   
    Chapter 9: Dogface

    I gaze at my feet as I walk, not really seeing anything. I am not lost in deep thought. My mind is a blank. If I had pockets, guess where my hands would be. My hands with the huge scabs on the knuckles that got all cut up on that douchebag’s face. It hurts to flex my fingers. But it feels good at the same time.
    It’s another food run. Probably my seventh, but who cares. I should be thinking of some way to save the women. But that’s hard. I don’t feel like thinking.
    “Hey,” one of men says to me. I look up at him, then glance around. We are standing in the middle of the pantry floor. Everyone is standing around me, looking at me.
    “Why are we standing in the middle-”
    “Remember Frankie?” the guy interrupts. He looks like a brute. He has a pudgy, thuggish face, piggy little eyes, and close cropped hair. He’s tall, thick, and heavy. He reminds of some kind of dog.
    “Who?” I say.
    “The guy who’s face you turned into hamburger meat. The guy you almost killed.”
    “Oh. Yeah?”
    “This is for him.” I see his fist hurtle into my face.
    I collapse backward, blood erupting from my nose. Suddenly there is pain everywhere as I am pummeled by the three men. Instinctively I curl tight into a ball, and I feel the punches and kicks landing in my ribs and my back and head. Someone grabs my ankles, and I try to kick but I can’t tell if I’m hitting anything or not. My wrists are grabbed too, and I am stretched out helpless on the ground. Dogface stands over me, grimacing in pleasure, and then stomps down on my knee. I scream.
    Eventually the beating stops. I try to move my knees, but cry out when intense pain runs up my legs. They are both broken. Everything hurts.
    Dogface is leering over me. “That was for Frankie,” he says. “And this is for your lovely ‘Beta’: We’re going to leave you here to die, and then we’re going to go fuck her. Whether she wants to, or not. Get me? And your pal ‘Zero’ won’t be able to help. Cause he’s gonna die next. We’ll do that one with our bare hands. We’re gonna do it in front of little 'Beta’ while I hold her down and fuck her. I’ll make her watch every second of it." He laughs. “Pretty fuckin’ clever, eh? Anyways, me and the boys are going to let you die now. See that box of crackers on the floor there? There’s a little man trap inside that Rebekah set up for us. If the electricity don’t kill you, she will. When it goes off, it sends a signal somewhere to let her know it caught something. So basically you’re dead meat.”
    I am dragged towards the open box of Graham crackers lying on the floor. “On ‘three’, boys,” Dogface says. They start swinging my limp, broken body. Dogface counts to three and then they toss me into the darkness of the box. I land and there is a flash of light and a loud cracking noise as pure numbing pain jolts through my body. The trap laid inside the box has just electrocuted me. I slide onto my back, moaning. I can smell burnt hair, burnt flesh. Everything is blurring. Something is ringing in my ears. I think I hear Dogface say, “Let the show begin!”
    “Pfuck youuu,” I say, my body struggling to move, crawl, do anything.

    Chapter 10: Naomi   
   
    Beep. Beep. Beep.
    I must have passed out. I’m on the cold floor of the pantry. As my head starts to clear, I realize I must crawled out onto the floor before losing consciousness. Something from inside the cracker box is beeping.
    My body feels like one big bruise. Trying to move my legs makes me almost vomit in pain. Nausea rushes through my body and I swallow hastily, trying not to puke. I manage to roll onto my back and look up.
    There is a beautiful face in the sky. For a second I think it must be God.
    No. It’s a goddess though. Naomi’s big, concerned face hovers over me. She is crouched over me, looking down at me. Her blond hair hangs down past her eyes, and she brushes it behind one ear. She examines me intently.
    Her mouth opens slightly, and she seems to hesitate before softly saying “HEY. HEY IT’S OKAY.”
    I can do nothing but stare back up at her in wonder. I can see the dimples of her skin, the freckles on her cheeks. I can almost make out the details of her eyes. They seem to just swallow me up. I am suddenly floating in the air, weightless, lost in her eyes. The moment seems to last forever.
    “SHIT,” she hisses. I snap out of my haze, hear heels approaching from the kitchen. Naomi stands up, straightens her little apron and tries to look like she just got here.
    The pantry door swings open and Rebekah marches in, stopping abruptly when she sees Naomi. “OH,” she says, “YOU’RE HERE. GOOD. GOOD, WE CAUGHT ONE!” She steps lively over to me, and looks down upon me in triumph. I start to tremble at the sight of these twin Goddesses towering high over me. “GOOD! WELL, WOULD YOU FINISH THAT ONE OFF FOR ME PLEASE, AND THEN CLEAN UP HERE? I HAVE TO ATTEND TO MISS VERONICA.” Rebekah starts to walk towards the door.
    Naomi suddenly looks greatly uncomfortable. Rebekah pauses at the door, looking at her questioningly. Naomi stands over me, twiddling with her apron, staring down at me with concern.
    “DON’T TELL ME YOU’RE SQUEEMISH?” Rebekah says to Naomi. Naomi looks at her pleadingly. “OH FOR GOD’S SAKE,” Rebekah says, “THEY’RE JUST LIKE BUGS. THEY’RE NOT GOING TO HURT YOU. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS STEP ON THEM. SQUISH. EASY, RIGHT?. NOW DO THAT ONE.” She gestures towards me, and my heartbeat spikes. There is no way for me to escape; I try to move my legs, but I can now only curl them upwards with great pain. I automatically start to crawl away, pulling my body along with my arms, but somewhere I know I’m done for.
    Naomi lets out an uncomfortable moan, twisting her foot nervously in her Mary Janes as she stares down sadly. She takes a step closer to me. I can feel her presence looming over me, and I keep crawling. Rebekah says, “LOOK, YOU’RE A GREAT WORKER. YOU DO YOUR JOB, EVERYBODY LIKES YOU. THIS IS JUST A PART OF YOUR JOB, WORKING IN A RESTAURANT. I CAN GET ANY OF THE OTHER GIRLS TO DO IT RIGHT NOW, BUT YOU NEED TO LEARN HOW GET RID OF PESTS. DON’T GIVE ME A REASON TO FIND SOMEONE ELSE.”
    Naomi takes a deep breath. My heart sinks. I know I‘m dead, and I turn over to face my fate. Way up above her towering legs and body, I see Naomi‘s pretty face looking down on me, concerned and dejected. “THAT’S IT,” Rebekah says, “IT’S EASY, YOU WON’T EVEN FEEL A THING. JUST LIFT UP YOUR FOOT...”  She lifts up her sole, resting her heel on the floor. The dark, curved shape of the bottom of her Mary Jane fills my vision. I can just see her face now beyond it. “...AND SQUISH HIM.” Naomi gulps, and slowly starts to lower her foot. It inches towards me, filling my vision. Now all I can see above me is black, with white scuff marks and large specks of dust. The room becomes a thinning horizon, disappearing, with any hope of escape. The sole is trembling slightly. Unimaginable weight and mass hangs over me, and I am about to die. Crushed beneath this woman’s shoe.
    Not again, not again, not again, but there is nothing I can do. I want to take back all the bad feelings I’d had towards Zero and Beta, I want to take back the deaths of Ben and Matt, I want to take back ever coming here, I want to take back ever waking up. I’ve only been alive for over a month, but I want it all. I don’t think I’m coming back this time. I think it’s over.
    The sole touches my chest, the hard, scuffed plastic of this woman’s shoe right in my face, just the merest touch of this goddess’ foot forcing all the wind out of me.
    Suddenly all is still, all is silent. There is no movement, no sound at all. No weight on my chest, no floor beneath my back. There is a white light. I briefly realize I am dead again.
    In a split second I am back, a bug under Naomi’s shoe as she destroys me. In a split second the weight on my chest increases millionfold and I feel my lower body disappear in a flash of pain. In a split second I feel my upper body shoved along against the floor as the toe of her shoe settles, pushing and crushing my chest. In a split second I feel the cold hard rubber pressing against my face unforgivingly. In a split second I feel like I am an insect, I feel like I am nothing, I feel like I will never be anything. In a split second I feel complete.

    Keyla says to me, “I’M SETTING YOU FREE.”

Second Interval

    “OH,” Rebekah says, “ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT THOSE ONES.” Naomi winces, realizing her mistake. Rebekah struts over to the box, heels clicking slowly on the floor over the noise of Dogface’s screams. I watch with glee as the massive woman approaches, ever the goddess.

    Chapter 11: Kind of Invincible

    I awake. I am alive again.
    In the sky above me is Naomi’s face. It looks like she’s been crying; her mascara is smudged. She’s looking down at me with shock, mouth open. I groan. She gasps.
    I lift my head, still blurry. My body looks intact. I’m weak, but a long way from dead. Actually, my body looks great. I take a deep breath, and breathe out. Feels good.
    “OH MY GOD,” Naomi whispers from above me. She is crouched over me again, her bent knees way up on either side of me. She slowly reaches out towards me with her hand. Unconsciously I start to back up, crawling away. Her hand is shaking slightly as it approaches. Her vast fingers, long and beautiful, come towards me. Naomi swallows nervously. Gently, ever so gently, her giant finger touches my knee and retracts. I jump slightly at the touch, but try to remain calm. The finger approaches again, and this time runs along my leg, and up my chest and down again. It pauses slightly near my exposed cock. My heart is beating a mile a minute, and it’s a little hard to breathe.
    “HOW...” she says. We share a tense moment, staring at each other, waiting to see what the other will do. “MUST BE A NEW MODEL...WOW...”
    I don’t know what she’s talking about, but I’ve had about all my nerves can bear right now. I carefully get to my feet. Naomi’s hand retracts, and she watches me curiously. I start to back away, slowly. Her eyes follow me.
    Eventually, I figure she’s not going to stop me. Actually at this point, for some reason I don’t even care. I don’t know why, but I’m feeling great. I realize I’m back from the dead, and I’m feeling kind of invincible. It’s exhilarating. I try to think of something to say to Naomi, but I don’t think I would ever be able to spit it out right now. Instead on a whim, I put my hands together in a little prayer gesture and bow slightly and quickly before jogging off. She looks on in bemusement. I have a big evil grin on my face, and I I’m not quite sure why, but I get the feeling I’m going to do something that will kill a lot of people. Probably including myself. It’s going to be awesome. Hey, is that a sewing needle?

    Chapter 12: I’ll Be Fine

    I walk calmly through Haven, the sewing needle I found laying on the floor resting on my shoulder like a spear. I’m getting looks. I look straight back at them and make faces.
    I arrive at Beta and Zero’s quarters. Some guy is standing outside. “Fuck off,” he says as I approach leisurely, and then “Hey, aren’t you supposed to be-”. I ram the butt of the needle into his nose, breaking cartilage. He collapses and I keep walking.
    I kick in the cardboard door, which goes flying, and there inside is Dogface and two of his cronies. There are a few more scattered around the floor, unconscious or moaning. Dogface is holding Beta by the throat, who is trying to scream. Two others are standing over Zero, who is a bloody mess on the floor. He’s probably the one who laid out the other thugs.
    “What the...fuck...” Dogface says. “You...”
    “Hey Dogface,” I say.
    His eyes are wide, and his jaw is dropped. “I watched you die! I watched you fucking die! You were a red mess under that bitch’s shoe!”
    “I grin at him and shrug. “Surprise.”
    He stares at me wildly. Then to his cronies, “Kill him!”
    The two men approach me. They’re both bigger than me. I recognize them as the ones in the food party that tried to kill me. I can see fear or confusion in their eyes. They both watched me die, I can tell. Still, they approach. One looks like a fighter. He has close cut hair, and a wide jaw. He takes a stance, hands open. The other guy looks doubtful. He stays off the to the side, eying me. He looks young. His hair is long and lank, and he swallows nervously. I stand calmly and wait for them to approach me. “I suppose you two were going to rape her too after your boss has his fill?” I ask merrily. They look at each other, and then the fighter grins back at me. “Oh yeah,” he says.
    I put the needle in his gut so far it comes out his back. Everyone stands there agape, staring at it. Then I awkwardly yank it back out again, and blood pours out. The other guy looks at me wide eyed, and then turns and runs for the entrance. I run up behind him and stick him in the back. He tumbles to his knees, and I kick him in the spine. When he falls over on his side screaming, I place the needle on his neck and then lean down with all my weight. I feel the needle plunge through the soft flesh and hit the floor. The guy’s yells turn to gargles as blood runs out his neck. I take the needle out, and he starts to spasm on the floor. Turning back to the fighter, who is on his knees, trying to keep his guts from falling out, I kick him the shoulder and he falls on his back, a big handfull of blood spilling over his stomach. I take the needle in both hands above my head and plunge it down on his testicles. He howls in pain, thrashing his arms, helpless.
    “You fuck!” Dogface says. He has let go of Beta, who is kneeling at Zero’s side. I raise the needle at towards him. “You were supposed to be dead! I just wanted to get my fucking dick wet again, you prick!” Dogface yells.
    “Yeah, well,” I say, smiling, slowly approaching him, “fuck you, you rapist piece of shit. Also, burn in hell.”
    I start to draw back my arm for the thrust when someone shouts from behind me, “Stop!” It’s James, the old leader. He‘s standing in the doorway, arm outstretched. Behind him is a large group of people. “Alpha,” he says, “wait. Calm down, please, stop this bloodshed! What is happening here?”
    I sigh. “This guy,” I say, waggling the needle at Dogface, “was going to rape an innocent woman. Him and his buddies here. They’ve raped the other girl too. Maybe even the old lady. The girl’s nineteen for God’s sake. How could you not see this? You have to enforce these fuckers, man. Now I’m going to kill him.”
    “Alpha”, James says, sighing. He brings his veiny hand over his face. I hear a chuckle from behind me. “Alpha, I’m sorry I did not explain this to you earlier. The situation here is... delicate.”
    “Situation?” I ask.
    “Alpha, look at us.” He gestures to the people outside. “We are all men here. We are all struggling to survive, we all want to live. You want to live, don’t you?” I shrug. I honestly don’t give a fuck right now. It’s almost a funny question. “We’re a species now, Alpha.” This perks my attention. “We’re a species, don’t you see? And we’re dying!” I start to get an inkling of where this is all going, and it makes me start to feel sick. “We all want to live. And to live, we have to propagate. Or we’ll all die down here, a dead end to the male race!”
    “You...” I don’t even have words to express the burning feeling in my chest. I screw up my face and spit. “Fuck you.” I look at the crowd behind James and wonder how many of them stuck their pricks in that girl. Oh God, even James himself... “Fuck all of you. You’re all going to burn-”
    Something strikes me in the back, and I fall to my knees, vision blurring. Dogface walks around and punches me in the face. I taste blood, feel it run down my lips. Dogface picks up the needle I must have dropped and presses it into my back. I look up painfully and see James kneeling in front of me. “Son,” he says, “I’m going to give you a chance. To join us, peacefully. To partake in living. Living here, in Haven, and living as a species. Help us stay alive, Alpha.” James is really getting on my nerves. I spit blood in his face, and he yelps, coughing. “Fuck!” he says. I get kicked in the back and fall on my face.
    “You piece of shit,” Dogface says, standing over me. He lifts the needle high in the air, ready to plunge it into my back.
    That’s when Zero delivers a hook into Dogface’s jaw so hard I hear his teeth click together. He flies back, and Zero steps over and stomps his balls, hard. Then he walks over to me and hands me the needle. “We need to go,” he says through his bruised face.
    Him and Beta help me up. We limp to the doorway, when from behind us James screams “Murderers! Murderers! Stop themmm!”
    The crowd outside is stuffed into the doorway. I poke at them with the needle, and they withdraw. Me and Zero push through the doorway pulling Beta behind us. I swing wildly at the crowd, the deadly point keeping them at bay. We manage to push through them and break into a run. James’s screams ring out behind us. What looks like almost the whole population of Haven is chasing after us.
    Running, we slip out of the hole in the cupboard that houses Haven and drop onto the floor of the dark storage room. We run wildly with no destination, just trying to get away.
    That’s when I see an open box of Graham crackers lying in the middle of the floor. That’s not supposed to be there...
    “Heh,” I say to myself. Soon I start chuckling as pieces of a plan quickly fall together in my head. Zero and Beta look at me, astounded.
    “We’re running for our lives here, Alpha, what the hell...” Zero says bemusedly. I stop laughing, but I can’t quite take the wry smile off my bloodied lips.
    “Zero, Beta, go somewhere and hide. I’m going to draw them off. Try to double back and go out the air vent or something.” They look at me questionably. “Trust me,” I say, “I’ll be fine.” I start chuckling again. I might die, in fact I probably will, but I’ll still be fine! I feel great all of a sudden. “Go!” I yell, shoving them away and snorting. I toss Zero the needle.
    Zero stops, and holds Beta. I don’t even mind seeing that, I’m in such a good mood. “You sound like you just when nuts man, but we’ll have to trust you, yeah? We’ll meet you back outside right?” I nod my head enthusiastically, not having the vaguest notion of what’s about to happen.
    “Alpha,” Beta says. She comes towards me and hugs me hard. I smile amusedly and hug her back. “Be careful, okay? This is crazy, I can’t lose you!”
    “Yeah yeah,” I saw, brushing her away. “Go! I’ll see you later! Love you guys, bye!”
    They disappear quickly into the busyness of the storage room in the nick of time. I see the crowd burst out of the cupboard and spill towards me. I wait a few seconds, and then head off, straight for the open floor where the Graham Cracker box is. I see them hard on my heels, a mass of angry males. Angry rapists. For some reason I giggle excitedly at the idea of what is about to happen.
    I’m almost at the cracker box. The crowd is right behind me, a clamor of shouting. I yelp in pleasure and nose dive into the box. I feel my body fill with electricity as I get the shit zapped out of me by the man-trap. I’m thrown backwards, trailing smoke.
    Beep. Beep. Beep.
    My skin feels like it’s on fire, and I smell smoke again. The crowd is talking, yelling, all around me. They’re confused. Dogface pushes his way to the edge, sees me, and bursts out laughing.
    “You stupid fuck! Fell for the trap did you? Well you really fell for it now!” He crouches down over me and grabs my burnt hair, and hammers his fist into my face repeatedly. My nose breaks. Everything goes out of focus as I am pummeled continuously. I could lapse into unconsciousness again, but this time I fight it. I wouldn’t want to miss anything. I start to chuckle but instead cough up blood.
    “Yeah, you’re fucked now ‘Alpha’. And you know what else? When this is done and you’re dead, I’m gonna go back and rape the shit out of your little girlfriend there. Me and everyone else in this stinking hole! You hear me?” I spray spittle and blood in his face, and manage to chuckle. “Are you fucking laughing at me? You fucking shit!” he says, and I am pummeled again, but my body shakes with laughter. My face feels like mashed potatoes. I can’t hear anything for the ringing in my ears. It’s getting hard not to pass out. I kind of lose track of time, but then it happens.
   
    Chapter 13: It’s A Whole Fucking Nest

    My eyes are swelling shut, but I can tell the lights have come on in the storage room. There is shouting all around me. The punching has stopped.
    “No...” Dogface whispers.
    “Yes...” I mumble through puffy lips, and start heaving with laughter.
    “OH MY GOD... NAOMI, GET IN HERE, QUICK. IT’S A WHOLE FUCKING NEST,” Rebekah says, standing just inside the storage room door.
    The men around me scatter. Dogface stares wildly up in disbelief. Naomi enters the room and covers her mouth with her hand in surprise. “STAND IN THE DOORWAY. DON’T LET THEM GET AWAY,” Rebekah orders, marching forward. Dogface stands up and starts to run, but I reach out and grab his legs. He falls on his face. The floor shakes as Rebekah approaches. Naomi gingerly closes the door  behind her and stands in front of it with her feet together and her hands held tight in front of her. I look towards the cupboard. There is a group of men standing frantically outside. I realize they’re trying to get in, but they can’t. I burst out laughing, realizing Zero and Beta must have gotten inside and barred the door.
    “What the fuck are you doing?” Dogface screams. I have a death-grip on his legs, and he struggles frantically to escape. I keep laughing.
    There is a gust of wind as Rebekah’s legs swoop past us. She makes a B-line for the largest cluster of men: those standing outside the entrance to Haven. I laugh at that name now. One of her steps smashes a man into red paste on the floor under her pump and she doesn’t even notice. She reaches the cluster and lifts up her foot. Some of them try to break and run but she’s too fast; the foot slams down on four whole men, spraying the surrounding area red. This time she rears up her heel and twists her sole on the red mess hard, her whole leg reaching up to her skirt turning with the action. Rebekah’s face is a mask of disgust. She lifts her foot and stamps down on another man running from the cupboard, who immediately squirts out in a line of guts along the floor. Rebekah lifts her other foot and stomps another one running in the other direction. This one disappears with a crunch. “GOD, WE’RE INFESTED WITH THE LITTLE SHITS,” she says.    
    She turns around and spots more runners on the open floor. She takes a step and with the second one plants her right sole one guy, catching his legs and mashing them flat. Not pausing, she quickly steps down on another with her left foot and the guy sprays out the back of her sole, coating the inside of her heel with gore. She lifts her right again, and the half-crushed guy dangles from her shoe grotesquely as it swoops forward. He lands with her foot a couple more times before he swings underneath and is crushed, blood spilling out from beneath her sole as it settles. With her next step she extends her leg and strikes a man in the back with her pump before he can escape between some boxes. He flies forward and bounces off the cardboard box, leaving a little spot of blood where his face hit. Rebekah puts the toe of her shoe down on his arm and drags him backward screaming. When his body is beneath her, she plants her heel and lifts her sole over his body, pausing briefly, and then lowering it steadily. The man’s screams get cut off as he is crushed completely under her sole. She turns on that foot, already forgetting the remains of the man underneath, and walks towards the other side of the room, apparently ignoring myself and Dogface.
    “Let me fucking go! You’re crazy!” he says.
    “Shut up Dogface,” I say, grinning, “Enjoy the show!”
    “My name is Marc!”
    Most of the men have disappeared into the busyness of the storage room. Two are huddled against a large box in the open with nowhere to run. Rebekah sighs and lifts her shoe again. She puts her heel down next to the men and her sole over them, running right alongside the box. I have a clear view of the men underneath. They are crying. As the shoe lowers slowly, they fall to their knees and try crawl out from underneath, away from the box, but it is too late. They are pushed onto their stomachs as the shoe descends, and then it pauses. “TCH TCH,” Rebekah says. She moves her foot slightly, as if feeling those underneath. Then I see the weight start to settle as she presses down once more. There are a few terrible seconds of resistance and I can just barely make out one of the guy’s distorted faces before the sole presses down. There is a slow, wet crunch as the foot settles on the floor, and her toes lift up in her shoe. Blood pools quickly around her shoe, and she does the slight twist of her foot on their corpses. “EUCH. DISGUSTING.”
    “Get off me!” Dogface screams. “You’re going to kill us both!" He starts punching me in the face again, and I start laughing again. I just take it and keep my grip on his legs.
    Rebekah starts lifting up boxes, searching for more. There can’t be many more than ten men left in the room, hiding. She lifts one and finds two men, who bolt like cockroaches. She stamps down twice, on one and then the other with her foot. She puts the box back down and lifts another. Naomi shuffles uncomfortably by the door. Rebekah looks up and says, “CAN YOU GRAB ME A PAPER TOWEL? OR TWO?” Naomi nods and heads out into the kitchen. Rebekah marches over behind some boxes and stomps down again, apparently having spotted another man. She bends over to inspect her work, before continuing to stalk around. She lifts more boxes, crushes several more escapees. I see her lift one box up in the corner of the room, and she spots one guy hiding in the corner. She raises her sole over him, and he panics, running out from the relative safety of the corner, right under her foot. Rebekah scoffs and easily crushes him beneath her pump. “STUPID." As she bends down to inspect him, Naomi returns and stands in the door. Rebakah stands up and walks back over to the door, heels clicking.
    As her legs swoop by, Dogface writhes in my grip, punching, trying to kick. “Help me, help! Fuck!” I can’t stop laughing. My face hurts, but I can’t stop laughing.
    Rebekah takes a paper towel and lifts her foot, leaning with one hand on Naomi’s shoulder for support. With the other she carefully wipes her shoe, getting the sides first and sliding the paper down the heel. Lastly the sole she wipes, getting a paperfull of gore. She crumples it up in her hand and proceeds with her other shoe. After that, she hands the papers to Naomi. Naomi looks glumly at the floor, staring at the box of crackers.
    “OH,” Rebekah says, “ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT THOSE ONES.” Naomi winces, realizing her mistake. Rebekah struts over to the box, heels clicking slowly on the floor over the noise of Dogface’s screams. I watch with glee as the massive woman approaches, ever the goddess.
    Then I see movement from the beside the cracker box. It’s James, fucking James. He’s pissing himself and running out from behind the box, his face a mask of terror. I yell in delight, “Run James! Run you fuck! Haha!”
    “REALLY NOW,” Rebekah says from overhead, almost disappointedly. She comes up slowly behind James, who can barely run now, and casually swings her foot low over him. The tip of her heel strikes him in the back and he falls, sliding across the floor. Rebekah puts her massive shoe down, and stands over his cringing frame. Looking down, she carefully puts her heel next to his body and rolls him over onto his back, prodding him gently and probably breaking a few ribs. He contorts in pain. “HOW WERE MEN EVER EQUAL TO US?” she asks nobody in particular. With that she raises her foot with the heel hovering over his body, and after a few seconds of pause, whether to aim, or perhaps savor the moment, the massive black shaft of the heel comes down. It happens to land right on James’ pelvis, the square tip instantly crushing lower body and all his genitals. He screams his old man scream. “OOPS,” Rebekah says, putting her sole down and lifting the heel. I can see golden “Size 9“ letters on bottom of the shoe between the heel and sole, and streak marks where she wiped off the remains of the man. Jame’s body sticks to the shoe and his upper body flails from beneath it. After another few seconds of pause, the heel starts to descend. James’s head touches the floor and his body bends backward grotesquely. Face pushed into the floor, the heel slowly comes down squashes his own body in on itself. The shoe drops the last half inch, heel crunching through James’s body and squishing his head. Brains spurt out and his body collapses in a pile. I laugh hard, so hard my belly hurts.
    In desperation, Dogface snaps forward urgently and with all his might tries to pry my arms off his legs. I’m laughing so hard it actually works, but before he can get away I snatch up his ankles in another death grip and put all my weight into it. His eyes are bulging in frustration and fear and he starts punching me again. It’s hysterical. I think I’ve gone numb, cause I don’t feel any of the pain. Maybe its the adrenaline, or maybe theres nothing left of my face to feel anything, but anyway I keep laughing.
    Then we suddenly both realize it’s gotten darker. We look up.
    There above us, blotting out the light, is a Rebekah’s pump, hovering over us, and beyond it we can see her high above us, looking down in a kind of bored fascination, Naomi at her side, transfixed.
    “IT’S LIKE THEY WANT US TO CRUSH THEM,” Rebekah says.
    This is too much for Dogface. His screams turn to incoherent shrieks. He’s punching, punching, fruitlessly. I look up and the sole starts to lower. Shiny black, hard sole. There is almost no dust on the bottom now, and I can see clear wipe marks where the paper towel was dragged across the sole. There is no tread, just a slight curve up at the toe and back of the sole. That’s where Dogface is, nearer the back. The heel is planted, and the sole is coming down casually, almost insultingly slowly. Dogface has given up punching is trying to drag the both of us away, but his hands are too slippery with my own blood and his arms are too tired from punching. I laugh and laugh. For some reason I have a raging hard on. Something about what Rebekah just said, or how she said it. Maybe this whole time I’ve had a boner, watching her crush these fucking rapists like bugs. The utter, uncaring power she wields, the humility of stepping on another human being. The way they squish under her shoes. It’s fucking hot. Why didn’t I notice before?    
    This whole thing is fucking hilarious. Blissfully I watch the sole come nearer and nearer, blacking out everything. This massive weight above me, the uncaring godlessness of a woman about to crush me beneath her. This is bliss. Dogface is screaming, no, no, no, no! The sole touches the back of his head and he wails. I watch as the unrelenting ceiling lowers. He tries to push up with his arms desperately, but there is no hope and he cries. I see his head distort, watch his eyes bulge and then pop out as his skull collapses and his brains erupt from his split face.
    My laughter fades away as his body goes limp, and as his shoulders start to crack I lean back, letting go of him. The sole gets ever nearer, and I am completely calm. The cool, hard sole touches my bulging, erect cock and it feels amazing. I lean up and press my lips against the shoe. I touch it with my arms and hands as it presses me down, down, against the floor. I kiss it, lick it, hump it as I listen to Dogface’s body crunch into nothing. Then there it is, my legs dissolve under her, smushed into pieces. Next is my throbbing penis as it is pressed into my pelvis, which is then smashed under the pressure. As my body starts to slide backward, guts slipping out behind and squishing, ribs snapping, I keep kissing the shoe. Soon there is almost nothing left. I am at peace, dying here. My tungue is mashed to pulp against my teeth. My jaw breaks and there is intense pressure on my head for a second before it bursts.
    I am free.

    Epilogue:

    Once more I awake to the vision of Naomi’s beautiful face filling the sky. She is looking down at me in fascination. I remember I just died, and I glance down at my body. It is in perfect shape.
    “IT’S YOU, ISNT? YOU CAME BACK AGAIN.”
    I would love to lose myself in her face again, but instead I look around. I am in the same place where I died, here on the floor. I am half sitting in a huge pool of congealed blood, flattened organs and smashed bones; Dogface. It brings a smile to my face. Looking around, I am reminded of Keyla’s slaughtering grounds. Everywhere there are splashes of drying blood, remains that were once men. Oh look, there’s James, scattered about the floor. His scrunched up body must have slipped off Rebekah’s shoe. I start to get a boner again. I stand, look up and see Naomi’s eyes widen.
    “OH...”
    I look down at my enlarged penis, think briefly about covering it up, and decide not to. Instead I look earnestly up at Naomi, and then walk towards her.
    She almost draws back in surprise, but she is too fascinated. She watches me approach with her big, green eyes. I stop in front of her Mary Janes, the same ones that destroyed me earlier, and I look directly up at her surprised face, her blond hair trailing down on either side. I raise my arms, like a child grasping for a hug. Naomi swallows nervously, and then slowly lowers her hand. Her long beautiful fingers hover in front of me, her skin looks soft and inviting. I climb onto her hand.

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