In this chapter: The roommates vent their grievances to one another. Miranda agrees to an unusual challenge from Jessica. Miranda and Jessica take different approaches to convince their cities to fight each other. Ana drunkenly causes danger to the country.
Day 18 – Grove View Apartments – 8:34pm
Kiyoko was sitting on the living room couch, her left leg crossed over her right as she rocked and dangled her sneaker covered foot forwards and backwards, she was still recovering from the massive dinner that Lacy and herself had right after they smoked, but she was up and alert as she was witnessing the meltdown of the century take place a few feet away. Jessica had returned to the apartment a few minutes before Lacy and Ki, Anastazja had been home for about an hour and the “meeting” had already started getting out of control. “I saw what you fucking did, Lacy” Miranda stated, her arms crossed, her blonde hair in a ponytail as she angrily looked at Lacy who was propped up against the wall.
“Hey, she can do whatever she wants, princess” Jessica said, stepping into the conversation to defend Lacy.
“Was I talking to you?” Miranda said, surprising Jessica a bit as she lowered her eyebrows in anger.
“I just… don’t need this right now, okay? When I said ‘meeting’ I was just trying to make you feel better” Lacy said, relaxed, she was still feeling the buzz from the weed and was in a different world still, clutching at her stomach because she ate too much greasy food.
“Well, I don’t care? What you did was disgraceful, first of all, killing more people, and then like, smoking inside? I thought we said on the patio only” Miranda snapped backed at Lacy.
“Ehh… Yes, outside only please.” Ana said, nonchalantly relaxing her tall figure against the edge of the counter by the chairs resting her elbows behind her on the countertop.
“We will only smoke outside from now on…” Ki said awkwardly from the couch as she was the only one sitting. Miranda looked at her a bit with her eyes winced, she looked condescendingly at Ki making her feel a bit confused.
“Fine... I’m sorry, god…” Lacy said, rolling her eyes.
“You need to quit this attitude” Ana said, looking down at Lacy, her Ukrainian accent always sounded terrifying when she was being serious. Lacy didn’t respond, she placed one foot behind the other out of nerves and crossed her arms.
“And both of you need to watch yours” Jessica said looking at Miranda and Ana.
“That’s it! I want you gone!” Miranda shouted at Jessica.
“I’m not going anywhere, sorry not sorry” Jessica said, showing a bitchy smile towards Miranda.
“We all want you gone” Miranda said looking up towards Anastazja and back at Lacy who was staring at the ground and still holding her stomach.
“Oh yeah? What are you gonna do, vote me out?” Jessica replied giggling a bit when she saw Miranda’s cheeks flush red with anger.
“Isn’t that right, y’all?” Miranda said with a little southern charm.
“I don’t know, Miranda…” Lacy said. Ana looked on with a blank and stern stare, maybe she was trying to control her anger.
“So, it’s 2 to 2, hmm?” Jessica said, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows with much delight.
“I don’t care! Get out of this apartment!” Miranda shouted again.
“Nope…” Jessica said as she stared to walk off towards her room. Miranda, the nice girl, the southern sweetheart, was enraged, she was on edge. Just before Jessica entered her room she turned around slyly, “Tell you what… your city versus my city, no intervention, your city wins, I’ll live somewhere else, my city wins, your city can be my little toy too, deal?” Jessica said, from the shadow of her hallway.
“Absolutely no” Ana said, crossing her long arms.
“Did I ask you, Frankenstein?” Jessica snapped.
“Do you really want to start shit with me?” Ana said finishing the rest of her response with some not so friendly Ukrainian words. Ana stepped a bit closer to Jessica with her fists clenched, but Miranda stopped her with the back of her hand.
“Deal… two weeks from now” Miranda said, shocking everyone. Jessica smiled and closed her bedroom door behind her. Ana and Miranda both retreated to Miranda’s room. Ki and Lacy decided to relax on the patio, it was a wonderfully cool night outside under the stars with a view of the campus lights in the distance.
*** *** ***
Day 20 – Miranda
Miranda went directly to the mall after short day in class. Despite Miranda being a bit airheaded at times, she was incredibly intelligent when it came to caring for people and the medical field, so most of her nursing classes were a breeze. She went to a few stores, buying some things that she thought would be helpful for her city to use against Jessica’s city. Miranda was growing anxious about how she was going to tell her own city that they had to be prepared to fight, she was dreading the conversation with Captain Sellers who had taken control of Ashton City, which had been working quite well for the past few weeks. Miranda distracted herself with more shopping and a nice relaxing smoothie from one of her favorite juice bars.
Miranda returned home to the apartment earlier than everyone as usual and stepped into her room, setting a couple of bags down by her bed. She then sat down on her plush comforter and pulled out her phone. Her hands shook a bit as her nerves were getting more strained, but she began to text Captain Sellers. “Hey… so, I kind of need a huge favor.” Miranda sent the message and stared at Ashton City for a few moments before she felt her phone buzz.
“What is this favor?” The text from Sellers said. Miranda grew excited, there wasn’t an immediate no, she was becoming more in good standing with the city, punishing the rioters with toe painting and keeping the violence way down to allow the people to carry out their lives relatively normally.
“Okay, let me just show you real quick after I change, maybe you will get the hint” sent back Miranda. She felt excited going into the bathroom, giggling. Meanwhile, Captain Sellers deep in the bunker sipped her coffee and monitored the city cameras so she could see the views of the giant bedroom and into the prisons full of people who still disobeyed despite being assigned to nail painting. Some prisoners not even allowed to change or shower as they were covered in scum and odorous nail polish, but conditions in the prisons were improving a bit, beds were now allowed to everyone and the rationed food was beginning to be dispersed more equally.
Miranda finished changing, stepping up to her mirror above her sink and sunk her toes into the fuzzy pink bathroom mat. She undid the pins in her hair and let her beautiful blonde locks fall to her upper back and to the top of her chest. She admired her makeup and her new outfit and exhaled quickly, she then opened the door and stepped out in between her bed and Ashton City on her desk. She posed for them, making a poised and stoic face like she was getting ready for a fight.
*** *** ***
“What the fuck…” Captain Sellers said while looking into the security cameras that pointed towards Miranda’s bed. “Lieutenant! Get the other officers and NCO’s here… I feel like this isn’t going to go well…” Sellers said.
“Yes ma’am” The young officer calmly said as he hurried out of the security room. People were trying to return to normal, they had been going to work, buying food as normal, ignoring the fact that they had to live in a world much larger than themselves. Alcoholism was up and getting more expensive as the city was quickly running out of materials to satisfy the high demand. Construction crews were trying their best to install earthquake dampeners to control the violent shaking every time Miranda stepped around the room with heavier steps.
It was also getting very popular to wear trendy earmuffs to block out the random loud noises from the world beyond the city. That familiar shaking sensation resumed as people normally stopped their cars until it was over, or people halted their walking to endure the commotion and vibrations that sometimes shook them to the ground. A lot of people got used to going into the nearest building when the quakes started to find a quick seat to wait it out, but some business started to charge a “tax” for these kinds of customers. Even some of the lower ranked military personnel charged some of the citizens to take cover in tanks until the quakes and shaking stopped.
*** *** ***
Miranda stood confidently in front of Ashton City in her new “commander” outfit. In Miranda’s mind, it made sense and it was really fun for her to dress up in such a way. She stood there, her pink painted toes curling into the carpet, just above her ankles was forest camouflage-colored tights that hugged her curvy thighs and ass. Above that was her dark green crop top that revealed much of her tanned and tone midriff. Miranda looked down at Ashton City and gave a cute salute with her right hand as she giggled playfully.
Miranda retracted her right hand and reached for her phone, she thought about how she had to word the message in order to convince the stern captain of the army. “There is another girl that lives here, she is evil, and she wants to destroy you… you have to fight, I need you to fight her armies… it is the only way, you have a few weeks to prepare, I brought you some supplies, if you do not win she will use you as slaves and there is nothing I can do about it…” Miranda sent the text. Miranda eagerly waited for a response, but a few dozen minutes had passed since Miranda laid down on her bed and stared out of the window and occasionally back at her phone. Miranda just about dozed off into a peaceful nap when she felt her phone vibrate just beside her ass.
“Why can’t you fight them yourself? We have our own problems to deal with” The text from Sellers said.
“Because the deal is on neutral ground… please you just have to…” Miranda typed.
“We’re going to need much more information than that…” Miranda read the text and smiled wide as she texted away for the rest of the night.
*** *** ***
Day 20 – Jessica – Toy Town
Jessica was driving back to the apartments from campus as she blasted music with the windows down. Jessica was avoiding thinking about the obvious, but it kept creeping into her mind with each passing minute. “Shit!” Jessica had a moment of anger at a red light, the guy in the car next to her looked into her window confused, but Jessica ignored him. Jessica had destroyed the majority of the army that tried to stand up against her and she had no idea how many were left. Jessica then thought of how much fun it was to crush them all under her red high heels and with her stocking covered feet, she grinned a bit as she pressed on the gas through the green light. Jessica returned home to the apartments, grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge, and going straight to her room, although she made sure Miranda knew she was home by being extra loud with her sandals flapping against her heels and the floor.
Jessica took a large swig of water and placed it on her nightstand, she sat down on her bed and kicked off her fancy leather sandals. She reached for her phone in her purse and pulled up the conversation she had been having with the military leader. Jessica smiled a bit as she began typing into her phone, “Your goddess is displeased, I will destroy Toy Town in 1 hour, prepare your best military…” Jessica giggled a bit placing her phone on the bed and went to her bathroom to do her business, after a few minutes she came back to her bed and her phone already had a new message from the leader.
“You will not be able to stand the might of our army, do your worst” The text replied. Jessica smiled as she thought that there was still an army left, of course she wasn’t going to really fight them, and she just wanted to see what they had in store for her. Jessica decided to take quick cat nap to pass the time.
*** *** ***
Meanwhile in Toy Town, formerly Trebizand, the remainder of the military was on high alert, but they were not bluffing, this time the royal guards would be joining the fray, strategic bombers that were still left were outfitted with huge payloads and started patrolling the sky. Tank crews and artillery rockets were sent through the city from a reserve compound, they drove through the streets, going right past where the cleanup for Jessica’s spit was taking place, some of the tank crews were laughing at the people who were covered in the hardened and thick slime.
It took about 45 minutes for the army to fully mobilize this time, the training was getting better each day. The citizens in Toy Town had mixed feelings, most people still holding on to their pride that their city has always been mighty, but the remaining people began to become depressed in knowing that their situation no matter what was going to end in death most likely at the feet of a cruel 20-year-old girl that was treated them like disobedient bugs.
*** *** ***
Jessica had just enough time to dream during her nap, she couldn’t remember much of it though, just that she could fly around using superpowers, she woke up in a good mood. Yawning and stretching at the same time as she kicked her feet off the bed and stood up. She walked directly to her closet and didn’t hesitate to open the door. As soon as the light from the sun lit up the sand and the tiny city at her feet the rockets and shells started flying at her. They hit her exposed shins and ankles, a few of them actually pinched a little that time. “Huh… okay good” Jessica whispered to herself as she wriggled her toes into the carpet near the sand. Jessica stepped out of the closet and closed the door once more barely giving the army close to a minute of action. Jessica returned to her bed and opened the conversation to the military leader, “Let’s strike a deal…” Jessica began to conversation.
“I’m listening…” The reply said.
*** *** ***
Day 23 – Grove View Apartments
It was a little past midnight when Lacy was relaxing on the patio, she was smoking the joint that Ki had left behind a few days prior while enjoying the mildly cool breeze despite it being cloudy with the moon barely peeking through the exposed patches. Lacy heard the door open behind her and the sound of quiet footsteps on the wood flooring. “Hey” Jessica said quietly. “We gotta talk about something kinda serious.” Jessica sat down in the plastic lawn chair next to Lacy.
“Alright, what’s up?” Lacy said, casually offering the joint towards Jessica who kindly refused.
“It’s about this stupid war with Miranda” Jessica said, looking off towards campus that was lit up in the distance.
“You’re the one that made the bet, you will follow through, right, ya know… if you lose?” Lacy asked.
“Look, sometimes I’m a huge bitch, but I keep my word” Jessica said, turning towards Lacy who was obviously very high at this point. “I’m just a little nervous that my army isn’t going to be good enough, I kind of like… killed… a lot…. like probably too much” Jessica said with just a hint of shame in her voice.
“Well, that’s your fault, I mean, we’ve all killed some, you’re just getting too into this power trip” Lacy said, taking another hit and exhaling the smoke into the chilly air, she was too high to realize the hypocrisy in her statement.
“Yeah… I know, but maybe you can help me out?” Jessica asked excitedly.
“Oh yeah? How so?” Lacy asked, turning towards Jessica.
“Miranda lets you shower in her room every morning, right? Because she doesn’t want you to crush any of the little people in your tub. I’m thinking maybe… you can bring a little sabotage to the table… I mean, you do have my back, right?” Jessica said, trying to keep a little quiet incase Miranda suddenly woke up.
“I… I don’t know, I didn’t want to think this hard right now, ugh” Lacy said with a sigh, feeling herself sink into the plastic chair more after another hit. “Hmph… okay, what do you think I should do?” Lacy said with a little hesitation. The wheels in Jessica’s head started turning, this could actually work for her, having an inside source, plus striking the deal with Toy Town, all that was left was a few mind games to be played until the big day.
“I’ll text you some instructions… goodnight, Lace” Jessica said kindly. Jessica closed the patio door behind her leaving Lacy to her personal smoke-sesh. Jessica was really glad to have confined in a friend like Lacy on the patio, it made her feel good, more down to earth, which was rare for her. Jessica returned to her bed, she was thinking about her future victory and what she would want built for her and before she could even decide she fell asleep peacefully.
“Ah fuck…” Lacy said, blowing out some more smoke. “What the fuck am I getting myself into” Lacy mumbled.
*** *** ***
Day 24 – Campus – Anastazja
“Come on people!” Ana shouted from the sidelines. She was suspended from the first game by her coach when he saw her intentionally spike the ball into her teammate’s face, but she still cheered them on from the bench. Ana’s team was struggling to beat the very powerful team from across the state. Anastazja kept thinking to herself that if she was out there her team would surely be winning, but she could only fantasize at that point. The game ended in a rout, Ana was angry, the coach was angry, but the team was sad and defeated. Ana went straight home, ignoring her team that went into the locker room, arguably making her favoritism worse with her coach, but he would have no choice but to play his best player next game.
Ana was the last person to arrive at the apartment usually, Lacy was already on the patio and Jessica was in her room doing whatever bitches do, Ana thought. Ana opened the top cabinet on the fridge, the freezing air giving off a little bit of mist as it rolled out of the top. She looked at the bottle of vodka in the corner behind the tub of ice cream. Lacy bought the vodka since she was the only roommate legally allowed to do so, this upset Ana who was 19 and allowed to buy alcohol back in Ukraine. Ana’s temperament was unpredictable when she started drinking, she stared at the bottle, she was upset about the game, she was upset about the situation between Miranda and Jessica, but she was most upset with the thought of her ultimatum that she gave to the tiny land in her room, the days were ticking down, and they still haven’t made any progress.
Anastazja refused the vodka, closing the freezer door. She sighed heavily and went into Miranda’s room to vent, she still withheld the information about her ultimatum, and she didn’t want Miranda to look down on her for condemning millions of people. Ana closed the bedroom door behind her, she saw Miranda laying down on her bed texting with a smile on her face.
“Hey” Ana said with much distress in her voice, but Miranda was too busy texting to notice the tone of her friend’s voice.
“Oh hey! Just a sec...” Miranda said as she giggled a little bit after reading a text. Ana strutted over to the edge of Miranda’s bed and plopped down keeping her Nike trainers on the carpet, Ana placed her elbows on her thighs just below where her shorts ended. Ana sighed again looking out towards Ashton City. She just wanted a normal experience in America, she just wanted to sing, to play volleyball and to have great roommates, but so far, it was chaos, anger, and murder. “Okay, what’s up?” Miranda said, placing her phone on her stomach.
“Who have you just texted?” Anastazja asked.
“Ohh haha like… nobody” Miranda said, blushing a bit. Ana rolled her eyes.
“You can tell me” Ana remarked, taking her elbows off her thighs, and stretching them out behind her long back. She leaned backwards to get a better view of Miranda’s face in the dimly lit room.
“I’m just making sure that Ashton City will be ready for that bitch, ya know?” Miranda said, feeling the phone vibrate on her stomach.
“How are you going to move them?” Ana asked.
“Oh, don’t worry about it…” Miranda said, starring down at her phone. The soft tapping of her fingers on the screen as she smiled again.
“What makes you smile so much?” Ana said curiously.
“Haha umm… I’m texting this guy from my nursing class, he’s like really cute” Miranda said, placing her phone down on her stomach again.
“You cannot let this guy distract you now. You have an army that needs practice” Ana said.
“I know… I just need a little break from all this shit sometimes” Miranda said sincerely.
“I understand, I hope you can figure it out” Ana said, she looked at Miranda again and then back at the tiny city on her desk. Ana stood up and waved Miranda bye for the night as she stepped into the kitchen. “Fuck it” Ana mumbled, she opened the freezer door and retrieved the bottle of vodka from the corner.
*** *** ***
Day 25 - Grove View Apartments
The massive red numbers glowed 1:38am, the people of Beleares normally would find themselves at this time hiding in their homes while trying to get some sleep, but that night was different. The giant girl was still awake, the dim light from the cheap desk lamp lit up parts of the room. Saint Yves, the capital, issued a nationwide warning, but nobody really cared anymore. The scientists were still trying to figure out why they were there and barely any progress was being made. Some people were taking matters into their own hands, families and small communities started to venture beyond the border and into the barren environment of the carpet, they feared the impending doom, the massive girl condemned them to leave their homes, or find a way back to their own spot in the universe, if not, they will all fall victim of a goddess’ wrathful judgement.
Many of the people that ventured out got lost in the ocean of the carpet fibers that towered above them by hundreds of feet, they could barely see through them, some people were running out of supplies fast because they couldn’t navigate the difficult terrain. Others were flattened under the feet of the red-haired goddess as she simply walked around her room, the flesh sinking into the carpet until they were pressed out of existence, and she would never even feel them. Instead of the usual heavy breathing and occasionally snoring from the goddess, this time she was drinking. Slamming the bottle of alcohol down on her nightstand causing the land to shake.
*** *** ***
Ana finished half the bottle of vodka by herself, she was laying in her bed on her phone, and she hummed and twisted on her sheets restlessly. She was consumed with the same depressive thoughts she had been having in her dreams and during the day while at school. Ana checked the clock on her phone 1:39am, “shit…” she murmured to herself, Ana sat up in her bed, resting against the white wall, her long legs extended near the end of her bed. Ana was wearing only her panties and bra as she was having a hard time falling asleep, her thoughts were growing louder in her head as the room began to spin, and she was more than a little tipsy at this point. She curled her knees up to her chest and hugged her arms around her toned legs.
Anastazja was fighting the urge to vomit, but she released a breath of relief and extended her legs out and off the edge of the bed, her feet now dangling in midair above her rug and Beleares. Ana heard her phone buzz multiple times, probably from the leader, but she didn’t care, she closed her eyes and tried to fight the spinning sensation in her head. Anastazja began to kick and bat her feet forwards and backwards just a few inches from the rug, her arms and hands sprawled out at her side on the bed while her hair was a fiery mess around her head and pillow. She covered her face with her hands and gritted her teeth in frustration, the commonality of her thoughts distorting her mind only got worse with drinking, she kicked and batted her feet more, curling her toes with each kick as she winced her eyes shut and wished it would all stop.
*** *** ***
Beleares just wanted a relatively peaceful night, but the goddess had something else in mind, whether she was doing it on purpose or not. The warning sent out by the leader in Saint Yves had been broadcasted, but nobody was truly prepared. The feet came over the edge of the bed, a familiar sight, but they hovered over the country this time, the bottom of her soles stretched for miles over everyone, ominously hanging there, the toes curling over the balls of her feet as they appeared to be pointing down just because of their gargantuan size. People still tried to sleep despite the awful sight, but things changed very quickly. The goddess’ feet began to stretch outward and backward, causing a small gust of wind that swept through the land. It didn’t disturb much at first, but her swaying got more intense. The gust of wind became stronger, tossing trash and small items through nature and the streets of towns and cities. The wind accompanied by a feint stench of her feet as it wafted through the entire land beneath her mesmerizing soles. People were in absolute disillusionment, pretending that nothing was happening and still trying to fall asleep cozy in their bed as they could hear the creaking of their roof and windows due to the gusts of stench ridden air.
The wind became more rapid, those who were brave enough to look up had the craziest view of her soles looming closer and then being pulled away rapidly, but they could only look for so long, those directly under her soles began to lose their balance, the air pressure was rising and the gust becoming gale force. The tiny people smaller than a speck could feel their feet lifting off the ground and before they could realize what was happening they were sent hurdling through the air, the sky whizzed by and their eyes watered with the intense movement, they had almost no time to react as they slammed back into the ground in a bloody thud, dying immediately on impact as thousands more were tossed through the air, cars were thrown, trees uprooted, and roofs tossed off houses like paper. Entire families were lost, houses collapsed into themselves, and bodies were being thrown deeper into the country by the thousands.
Those towns and people a little further away could feel the intense wind batting against their houses, they hid in closest and in rooms, windows were breaking, and cars were thrown through walls and into living rooms. The apocalyptic scenes of people screaming in the air as they fell in people’s yards and into city streets was horrifying and traumatic for the witnesses. Suddenly, the wind stopped, the chaos cleared, broken bodies littered the streets for miles in every direction, the goddess had finally fallen asleep. Towns destroyed in the wake of the wind generated by her feet swishing forwards and backwards. The emergency crews couldn’t take it anymore, once again they were sent out to scrape off the bodies that were broken bloody messes stuck to the pavement, the leader issued an active alert because her feet still hung there, looming over them, lifeless and cold.
*** *** ***
Anastazja slept, her disturbed dreams only made worse by the consumption of vodka. She had no idea that while her world was spinning, she was killing thousands by just batting her feet over the edge of her bed. Her dreams plagued with thoughts of losing her friend Miranda, she dreamt of seeing her in the army fighting against Jessica, Ana could only stand there and watch as everyone around Miranda was crushed, Jessica only leaving Miranda alive to be tortured. The blackness growing around Ana as she woke up in a cold sweat. The sun peeking through the window and onto her face. Ana placed the back of her hand on her forehead and curled her legs off the edge and slid them under her blanket comfortably. She winced when the sun hit her eyelids and felt a bit nauseous, “6 more days… I have to help Miranda” Ana mumbled before falling back asleep...