The little man behind the desk leaned back in the chair. It squeaked a bit, betraying the hinges neglect of grease. The room in which the man sat, like the chair, also showed signs of neglect. It was small and congested with file cabinets, with just enough room for a desk, and a few uncomfortable chairs placed before it. Occupying one of those chairs sat a man of average height and muscular build. He had fair hair and a fairly becoming face. Along his well strengthened arms were tattoos of guns, cars, shamrocks and women. Jason O’Hanlon was as tough as they came. He gave one the impression that he could be thrust into any situation and keep his composure. This impression was exactly true.

Almost.

Jason was always nervous in this tiny office. He hated it here. He hated coming here. He hated even thinking about the room. All this hatred stemmed from the fear that took him whenever he entered the room. The origin of that fear put its feet up on the desk and stared him straight in the eyes.

“You know why I called you here?” said the little man.

“No Harvey. I don’t,” answered Jason as evenly as possible.

There was only one correct answer when Harvey asked if you knew why you were here. It didn’t matter if you knew why or not. As it turned out, Jason had no clue why he was here.

 Jason’s chair was crooked. Only three legs ever touched the ground at any one time which caused Jason to oscillate back or forth with every shift of his weight. It was just another little thing that added to his discomfort. It bothered him. He wondered if Harvey had uneven chairs on purpose.

“Look kid, we both know that you’re a good boy with a solid crew. You’re a natural leader under pressure which is why I asked you here. Your score few weeks ago proves it.

   I have a job for you that will require a good leader. I know your past and I know about the guys who work with you. They’re real men, I gotta tell you. Brendan, your right hand, he got caught and he didn’t rat us out. He did his time like a man. Good fighter too.  Your friend Kevin’s a good lad as well. He wouldn’t rat out his buddies either. Stands too much to loose with his IRA pals. Not sure ‘bout the other one though. He know enough to hold water? What’s is name…”

“Frankie,” they both said together.

“Yeah he’s a good kid, wont rat,” Jason assured him.

“Good! Now you’re probably wondering what the hell you’re doing for me. I got a big job for you that is a little different from your normal line of work.

Jason’s normal line of work was robbing banks and armored cars. He was quite good at it, pulling off a score of over a million dollars three weeks ago. The money had been divided into six parts one large part for Harvey, one for each man in the crew and one to pay off the supplies they had bought for the job.

“What do I gotta do Harvey?” Jason asked. He was trying his best to suppress his fear and concentrate on work.

“Kill someone. Or rather,” Harvey added hastily to Jason’s expression of distance, “You gotta make sure someone else kills someone.” A satisfied smile spread across Harvey’s face. Jason was more confused than before but hoped Harvey would elaborate rather then confess to not understanding the order. When Harvey remained silent Jason spoke up.

“Harvey, my guys don’t…”

“I know, I know. You’re not killers, you’re a peaceful bunch. You pulled off that last caper without firing a single shot. That took great planning by the way.” Harvey added with genuine admiration.

    “Your businessmen. That’s why you don’t have to pull the trigger. Someone else will take care of that. All you gotta do is secure the area before that person arrives. I just want you guys there first so nothing happens to the hitter.”

“You’re worried about the hitter’s safety?” Jason was nonplussed. “Harvey surely the guy knows what he’s doing…”

“Our hitter is of the more delicate sort. Doesn’t like to get involved with guns, knives or anything to do with a fight. Just goes in, kills and goes out.”

“How does he…”

 “Never mind how,” said the boss. “You go in, stick a gun in the face of everyone there, handcuff them and wait. Simple as that.”

Jason knew he had no choice. If he were to back out he would need a real reason, which he didn’t have. If he lied about a reason, the truth would eventually make its way back to Harvey and then he would be a dead man. There was no other alternative when Harvey gave you a command. He was cunning, ruthless and above all, intelligent. He had outsmarted the cops, the feds and the rival crime organizations in the city. He was close to being top-dog in crime, maybe a step or two behind the Italians but gaining ground on them if anything.

“So who’s our target?” Jason asked tentatively.

“Chinamen. The bastards have been meddling in our business, don’t concern yourself with the details but trust me when I say we’ll all be a lot better off with these goons outta the picture.

      “There will probably be about four of them. Should be a banker of theirs present with a couple of soldiers. Expect them armed and dangerous. We got one of their boys locked up in the back with Knuckles. Take him, knock against the backdoor in the building they hang at and shove his face up against the window. Once they recognize them they’ll open the door. That’s when you go in like the friggin’ Marines and take them down. They won’t be expecting you and they have no security cameras or lookouts. Must think themselves immune to attack. Once every thing is set you call this number and say ‘Dinner is served.’ Say that and the hitter will show. Easy as pie. Here’s the address.”

Harvey passed Jason a piece of paper with several notes scrawled on it.  

“We picked up one of their boys today. We gotta move now so they don’t think it’s weird that he went missing and then suddenly showed up to the door. Have you got your crew assembled?”

“Yeah they’re waiting out back.”

“Good. Go get the hostage, Knuckles has a piece for each of you. Your payout is five hundred apiece when you’re done. And Jason, make sure your boys know to keep quite about everything they see!”

Jason walked from the room as confidently as he could, trying not to hurry and betray his unease. There was danger in Harvey’s last few words and it had shaken him considerably.

 He got the prisoner from the incredibly large and remarkably strong Knuckles, who also handed him a backpack of equipment they would need. It looked like mostly handcuffs.

    “Gave one of your guys a shotgun already. It’s just in case those Chinamen don’t wanna cooperate.”

“Thanks Knuckles,” said Jason with a wink.

The car drove off into the night. It was filled with four dangerous men. The fifth man was terrified and trying desperately to make his peace with God.

 The prisoner was sitting in between Kevin and Brendan in the back seat. They didn’t know his name. He looked about twenty or so. He also looked scared shitless as he sweated and shook. His heart was pounding. You couldn’t blame the kid.

“Change the fucking music,” said Kevin from the back, making the prisoner jump.

 Dave Matthews Band had just come on the radio and the whiney music was more than Kevin could stand before a job. Actually, he could never stand it.

“Put on some Dropkick Murphy’s.” he added with a good deal of emotion.

  Frankie, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, played with the radio for a bit until he found the ACDC and left it there.

“Not much else on,” he grumbled.

Jason filled everyone in on the plan as he drove. He neglected to mention that a hit man would be arriving after they had taken the place for fear that the prisoner would refuse to cooperate. He simply said that one of Harvey’s representatives would be coming to meet with them.

They pulled up to the back of a building and got out quickly. The prisoner was grabbed by Frankie and marched up the stairs to where a metal door with green pealing paint stood waiting. The four men took up position on either side of the door. The prisoner knocked. Presently a panel slid open on the door and a pair of eyes looked out, searching and finding only a lone man before him. 

 A moment later the panel slid shut and the door swung open. It was all that was needed. Jason ran through the door and pistol whipped the gatekeeper with the Beretta. The man went down like a sack of rice. Brendan had followed him in and the two of them drew a bead on five startled and somewhat intoxicated men sitting at a card table, playing cards and smoking. Only one reached for his gun.

The bullet from Jason’s gun caught the man in the upper arm, causing him to drop his weapon and let out a yell. Frankie had forced their first prisoner through the door which Kevin was closing behind them. For a moment the six Chinamen and the four Irishmen stared at one another, one set in disbelief the other set with malice. Then Jason began giving orders.

“Brendan and Frankie, start searching them for guns. Then get them locked up. Kevin and I will cover you. One of you guys moves, your dead,” he said in a dangerous tone. “You stay still and we won’t harm you.”

All men nodded and submitted.

All but one. He was grinning with a ‘fuck you’ stare at Jason. He was also the only one who seemed to be completely sober.

“You’re gunna get it you Irish fuck,” he spat.

“Yeah it sure looks that way,” Jason said.

Brendan and Frankie were the logical choices to search the enemy. Frankie was a wrestler with huge physical strength and Brendan was a black belt in several martial arts. Jason himself had won a Golden Gloves boxing title a few years back and could handle himself, but he was the leader and it wouldn’t do the search himself. Kevin was no slouch either, but but Kevin was the best shot so the two of them covered their partners while they searched the men.

“So Brendan, you think you’re a badass?”

It was from the man still bravely and calmly sitting in his chair as he was cuffed and searched.  He was the only one to say anything, aside from the man who had been shot in the arm who had been moaning a lot until Frankie gagged him.

“Good to see you again, Barry” said Brendan dismissively, while rummaging around in the pockets of the man’s neighbor and pulling out odds and ends.

“You know this motherfucker?” said Kevin in surprise.

“We did some underground fighting in the past,” Brendan explained as he stepped back with his comrades, the last of the Chinese being shackled.

“I beat him with a roundhouse to the temple. K.O.’d the bastard.”

“Until the next time we met,” interjected the Barry. “I beat your friend after getting him a head lock,” he said looking at Kevin. “It was over in fifteen seconds from start to tap out.”

“Yeah, it’s true. It’s why I started studying some Jujitsu,” Brendan admitted. “The man has some skills with grappling.”

“Enough talking!” said Jason. “We have a job to do.” He picked up his phone and made the call.

“Yes?” came the answer at the other end.

“Dinner is served.”

The phone went dead.

It was odd. The voice on the phone had sounded high, feminine. Surely the hit-man was not a woman. Perhaps she was simply the person who answered the call and passed the message to him?

They didn’t have long to wait. A call came to Jason’s phone from the hit-man’s number. He answered.

“Open the door,” was all that was said. Once again, the voice belonged to a woman.

Jason motioned to Brendan to open the door. The person standing outside was alone. The woman walked in. She was about 5’7” with blond hair. She was wearing jeans and a Tossers  bellybutton t-shirt. Brendan shut the door behind her, staring not at her beauty, which was considerable, but at the simple fact that she was a woman.

“Who the fuck are you?” Jason asked, as politely as he could.

“I’m the fucking hitter. Who did you think I was?”

“I was expecting…”

“A man?” she sneered.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Well a man’s not coming. I am. Get outta my way and let me get to work.”

The four men obediently moved from between her and the targets looking thoroughly confused all the while.

The Chinamen in the mean time seemed amused that a woman was doing the work of a man.

“What’s the matter? Cant stomach it yourselves?” shouted Barry.

“Is she gong to breast feed you when she is done?” cried another as a ripple of laughter made its way between the prisoners.

“No, they can’t stomach you,” said the woman. “Not like I can. And I think I will start with you,” she said, pointing to the hostage that Jason had shot in the arm.

She raised her hand over him and slowly lowered it. The man in the chair began to scream though the gag. His dimension began to diminish. Everyone stared in wonder as the man was reduced to the size of a thumbnail. He stared up in what Jason made out to be an expression of shock. His eyes were fixed on the woman.

“Aaah. Chinese food. My favorite!” she said with exaggerated pleasure. There was a cruel look behind her eyes. She picked up the man, tilted her head back, raised him above her wide gaping maw, and dropped him in.

 She swallowed hard and then opened her mouth to verify to her audience that the man was no longer in her mouth.

“What a yummy appetizer,” she exclaimed and directed her attention towards the hostage the Irishmen had brought with them. She sauntered over to him in a sexy type walk, accenting the movement of her hips and smiling evilly.

“Can you guess who’s next?” she asked the man. 

She raised her hand once more and the guy predictably began to shrink.

“Oh God, No!” he screamed.

The woman looked down at him. She was humungous! She reached towards him and brought him towards her huge lips, which parted and revealed perfect white teeth, each of which were bigger than he was. The man, his name was Jeff, was pushed through the mouth and into the dark steamy cavern within. The tongue was already covered with saliva and the young man presence caused an exacerbation the moistness in her mouth. The man was shoved to the side of the mouth. Now he was between he cheek and the woman’s teeth.

Jeff was ashamed that he had been captured by the enemy. It was his fault that one of his friends was at this very moment being digested in the giant woman’s belly. He had waited to be swallowed himself, or perhaps crushed to mush by her giant teeth, but she chose to shove him against her cheek instead. Her mouth was opening and light was slanting in between the rosy lips and the cavern trimmed with white teeth. 

The woman selected another man, this one wearing glasses, as her next treat. Everyone in the room saw that she had not swallowed the previous man, but held him against her cheek because it bulged and moved.

The woman raised her hand again.

“Ahhh!” the scream alerted Jeff that someone was just outside this woman’s red lips.

Jeff saw another man brought up to the mouth and drawn in by the lips and tongue. The man was one of the economists of the Chinese Organized Crime Ring. Jeff had never met him, but he knew him by site.

The man slipped towards the throat as the tongue manipulated his tiny body. He saw her giant gullet grow bigger as he slid towards his doom.

“Help me!” he screamed at Jeff right as he reached the dark entrance to the woman’s throat. Jeff had neither the time nor the inclination to try and squeeze between the top and bottom teeth to brave the lady’s tongue and try to save the man. A second later the tongue pushed the man up and back. Jeff heard the loud audible swallow which shook his soul worse then gunfire ever had. The woman opened her mouth and light poured in and Jeff saw the pink back of her throat. It was as if there had never been a man there, but there had been and he was headed down towards the woman’s stomach. Jeff couldn’t believe it.

He looked towers the opening of the mouth, still lined with white teeth. Another man was visible without. He was being dangled upside down before the mouth. Suddenly the angle of the mouth changed and Jeff found himself sliding back. He realized the woman was tilting her head back and raising the man in her hand over her open mouth. The man in her hand looked down to see the well lit mouth below him. He saw Jeff in the corner of the mouth but there was no one else. He realized with a chill that his two companions were in the belly of the woman. Her face was so beautiful. How could she be so cruel? Soon I will belong to you, he thought, looking at her face. She lowered him down. The mouth came towards him with remarkable quickness past the lips and teeth towards the pink powerful tongue. The mouth closed, sealing him in darkness. He heard something that made him terrified. It was giggling.  The woman was giggling at his predicament. The suppressed laughter hurt the man’s ears and his body as with each giggle he was pushed against the top of her mouth. His nose was broken as a result. He cried out but didn’t get a chance to do much more than that because a second later the woman swallowed. Her tongue forced him down and he was pushed towards her throat with what felt like incredible speed. The throat welcomed him and the esophagus muscles contracted behind him sending him in a wave like motion down towards her belly.

The next man Jeff saw was called Jake. They had been friends since childhood.  Was he to sit her and watch as friends and partners pass by me and into the gullet of this giant woman? It was worse than being swallowed alive, Jeff thought to himself. I am being forced to watch as my friends pass into the woman. I cannot watch idly. I can not let such an old friend die without a fight.

Jake was brought up to the woman’s mouth, which opened up enough to allow Jake passage through.

“Jake,” screamed Jeff.

“Jeff? You are still alive?”

“Yes!”

Jake was on the woman’s tongue now and sliding back towards the throat.

“Ahh! Do not eat me!” screamed Jake to the woman.

Jeff could stand it no longer.

“Hang on Jake, I will help you!” cried Jeff.

He desperately tried to squeeze between the teeth the barred him from Jake. He could tell the woman had felt his attempted breakout and clamped her teeth down as a result. She also parted her lips allowing some light and air to the two men.

“Ahh! Help me! Don’t eat me! I’ll do anything! Pleeeease,” wailed Jake. He was blithering as he begged the woman not to eat him. Jake’s keens wrenched Jeff’s heart but had no effect on the woman. She opened her mouth and, for a moment Jeff saw Jake lying on the tongue with his legs just dangling in the throat. He was moved upwards with the help of the tongue and closer to safety. This struck Jeff as odd. Why had she saved him from his death rather than causing it as she had the last two men?

This thought never penetrated Jake’s brain. He was merely relived to be somewhat further from the throat then he had been. Just as Jake was trying to crawl for the opening of the mouth of the he saw a form dangling before its opening. It was the last man, Berry, the toughest man among them.  Barry passed the lips and entered the mouth. Her tongue shoved him to the side of the mouth opposite to that of Jeff.

“Help me Berry!” Jake cried as he too was sent in Barry’s direction.

As a result of being closer to the throat, Jake was not thrown clear of the teeth as Barry had been but landed instead just before them with his arm across a tooth. The woman closed her mouth quickly to prevent Jeff reaching Jake and Jakes arm was crushed between the teeth as a result.

“Aaaahhh!” The scream was piercing. Jake tried to pull his arm away but couldn’t. The strong teeth that had captured it held it for what seemed to Jake to be a very long time. He was sobbing and begging again although Jake seemed to be talking to a variety of different people all at once; the woman in who’s mouth they now found themselves, Jake’s own former victims, his parents, Barry and Jeff themselves, even God, an entity to whom Jake had never before spoken in his live. Barry found it pathetic.

Finally the teeth separated, releasing Jake’s shattered arm. Jake tried to scramble over the teeth and towards Berry.  Barry did not move to help Jake.

Jeff vaulted over the teeth as they came apart, thinking to help Jake to relative safety but the tongue caught Jake as he tried to reach Barry. Jake was tossed towards the inky blackness of the throat, sliding slowly towards the end. He turned and reached out his arms, one good and one broken to bits. All was lost, he thought as he felt his body move over the edge of the esophagus.

Jeff slid towards the entrance to the woman’s throat after Jake. He reached for him and grabbed the broken arm. He pulled as much as he could without pulling himself over the edge along with Jake. Jake’s scream of horror was audible to even the Irishmen watching the woman from outside.

Slowly, they both slid deeper into hot sticky throat of the woman. Jake’s feet were dangling over the edge. Jeff was struggling to find friction on the back of the slick tongue.

She could end this whenever she wants, he thought to himself. Instead she lets us suffer in fear.

“Barry!” Jeff called. “Help us.”

Jeff was desperate. He doubted that Barry would come to their aid. Barry was always too selfish for that. Jeff’s arm was now pointing downwards into her throat and his head was inching over the horrible drop as well. He wondered why the woman’s swallow reflex had not kicked in. She must be practiced at suppressing it he thought. I wonder how many men have preceded us into the pit of her stomach?

Barry refused to move. He watched the two men slip towards the gullet and now only Jeff was visible. They were a lost cause. Instead of aiding them in their plight, he tried to move towards the mouth opening. It was slow going but he went as fast as he could without pressing against the woman’s cheek too much. He was trying not to call any attention to his movements, hoping that the woman would be focused on Jeff and Jake sliding down her throat. He had almost reached the front teeth when her lips came together and blocked out all light. He tried to force them open but could not. Suddenly he heard a gulp.

Jeff still had a tentative grip on Jake’s hands when Jakes foot finally triggered the swallow reflex. The woman’s tongue tossed Jeff over the edge and together they fell, pushed closely against each other in the narrow confines of her esophagus. They screamed together. The writhed together, the smell of sweat was strong from each of them. Suddenly the esophagus ended and the entered her stomach. A blast of heat hit them and a second later they plunged into the liquid at the bottom. Somewhere they herd someone sloshing, or was it the natural movement of the stomach? It was loud in here; there was constant noise of food digesting. It smelled of acid. The liquid began to burn them quickly.

Barry didn’t give up. He cursed and shouted as the tongue snaked forwards, snuck underneath him and flicked him back towards the gullet with one swift movement. She must be tired of games, thought the Chinamen. He slid off her tongue where her esophagus muscles took over and guided him downwards towards her belly.

The four men watched in amazement. The woman had eaten all the men alive. They knew enough not to speak while they watched her mouth and tongue manipulate her food. They maintained their prudent silence until she swallowed one last time.

“Good work guys,” she said. I gotta get outta here. See you later.”

She walked out, pausing only to open the door.

Brendan looked excited, everyone else looked shocked. Jason was the first to speak.

“Lets go guys.” He said. They left the room and drove back towards Harvey’s office to tell how things went down and collect their pay.

Inside the woman’s stomach Jeff had abandoned Jake and started swimming downwards. It was a difficult process because of the constant motion of the stomach and the pitch darkness. Finally, he arrived at his objective. If he could force the sphincter to the intestine open, or wait for it to open itself, he might be able to make it out of here. He quickly decided to try to open it. He kicked and pushed at the portal to the intestine but his eyes were burning out, he could feel it. His face was becoming a mass of burns, his hands felt like they were being fried on a grill. Still, he struggled with the entrance to the intestines. It felt like it was starting to give. No! It was opening on its own! He could swim through. Suddenly, something pushed him aside and swam into the opening. It was Barry, he realized. She had finally swallowed him too. The sphincter closed before Jeff could follow Barry through, he had lost his last hope for escape.

Siobhan walked out of the building and sat down in her car. She could feel the men wiggling within her. She loved the feeling. Turning on a Pink CD she drove off into the night, relishing the struggling within her stomach.

Barry, for his part, didn’t benefit much from forcing himself into the intestines. He was already badly burned and didn’t live long. His body was further digested and absorbed by Siobhan, although not as thoroughly as the others. Siobhan never knew the difference.