Chapter 5

The landscape looked like the view from a plane to Patricia. Houses were no bigger to her than the ones used in the monopoly game, factories were the size of a cigarette box. Streets were no broader than her toe. Meadows and farmland looked like patches of different shades of green, trees were nothing more than small bumps in the landscape.

Patricia felt awesome! Walking straight to Brussels, she did not care what she stepped on. Houses crunched under her merciless feet, the remains compressed deep into the earth. A river's flow was interrupted by her as she stepped in it, leaving a pond the shape of a huge barefoot, slowly filling with water. No building or tree was able to withstand her weight, let alone people. They squished and splattered as she placed her foot on them. Patricia simply walked as if she took a stroll in the park. For her, the people she killed were as insignificant as crawling ants on the street to them, not even noticing if they were stepped on.

Patricia was more concerned with clouds. They blocked her view from time to time and made her chest and face moist, apart from the fact that they were cold. Blowing or waving them away didn't help much, so Patricia had to duck sometimes beneath the cloud layer to see were she was. But lucky, for her, it was a bright day in most areas, so it was not that much of an annoyance. After a couple of minutes of walking, she spotted a big city in the distance.

"This must be Brussels," Patricia thought when she approached it. It was still huge, being the capital of Belgium and the seat of the European Parliament. She noticed several landmarks, like the Atomium, the Palace of the Belgium king and...yes, there was the skyscraper that was Bamburg Energy's office branch here. She entered the city, crushing houses and cars by dozens. People died by the scores under her unforgiving bare feet, trees were smashed as if they were made of thin glass.

"Do you know how tall the Atomium is?" she asked Victor.

"Hm, I guess about 350 feet...but I'm not sure. Why?"

"I just squashed it."

Indeed, after Patricia stepped on the 330 feet tall structure, resembling an atom and build for the World Fair of 1958, was no more left than a piece of flattened metal. Another two strides, and the main railway station was out of business for a long time. Patricia laughed out loud seeing the miniature buildings crumbling under her feet while walking through Brussels.

She felt like a real highest-ranked multinational businesswoman, holding in her hands countless lives of humans. She was boss, and she decided who lived and who didn't. She decided what remained and what not. "This is life!" she exclaimed.

A swift kick made sure the royal palace needed restoration. Another kick, and Belgium needed a new palace for its monarch, who was already evacuated to Charleroi.

"Now, where is the branch? Ah, yes, over there," she said to herself, and still not caring what she stepped on, she moved toward the knee-high office. She stood in front of it, putting her arms on her hips. "I am Patricia Bamburg!" she exclaimed. "And I hereby declare this branch CLOSED!!!!" Screaming the last word, she swung her foot into the building. The office splattered like she kicked a sand castle, all over Brussels, huge chunks of rock and steel destroying houses, roads, cars and killing countless people. Patricia stomped the remains of the office into the ground, her feet causing quakes that made every building in the neighborhood collapse. "Two down, three to go," she smirked.

"Well done!" she heard Victor say. "Time to go to Paris! And then to the US. Let me guide you again!"

"No, wait, one more thing," Patricia replied, and headed for the seat of the European Parliament. "Their laws have always pissed me off," she told Victor. "Too much restrictions on trade, free enterprise, and of course the taxation. YOU COST ME BILLIONS!!!!" she spat at the cigar case-sized building. She tore it from the ground, and crunched it in her hands like a paper sack.

"You are NOTHING to me! Not your fucking laws, regulations and all the other shit. To hell with you all, maggots!" she ranted. "There! Now who's boss, huh?" Patricia sneered when the European Parliament was nothing more that dust and debris at her feet. She never found out that the building had been unoccupied, because diplomats and politicians had been evacuated as soon as her destination became clear.

"OK, now we can proceed," she said to Victor. "You can still see me on TV? Good. What way?"

And again, Patricia turned in the direction Victor told her and heeded for Paris, flattening more houses, trees and cars with each footstep, along with everyone who happened to be in her way.