Max navigated between thick grass with Kelsey in tow. They'd left the birdhouse in search of food, which neither group had. Brad and Becky had ventured in another direction towards what they claimed was a mini-mall. Max had doubts. Who was to say they weren't plotting? Sleeping in the birdhouse had been damn crampt, plus feeding four people was a hell of a lot harder than feeding two. 

"Were you able to get a read on Brad?" It's like Kelsey was reading his mind.

"I don't know. Not really. Plus Becky hasn't said a word. I don't get her deal at all." Max complained. 

"They're sort of all we have though. Maybe we can get rescued."

Max wanted to chirp back with something sarcastic. I mean what were the odds of that? He was one inch from a giantess' face begging and screaming and all that got him was a front row seat to the murder of others. He wondered about what other tinies were going through right now. 

"They used to have these Hawaiian rolls at this deli near me" Kelsey said from behind him. "They were so so good." 

"My google maps isn't working right now Kelsey but I'll keep that in mind." The sarcasm just couldn't help itself. "Sorry, just hungry" He added. 

They reached a dumpster behind a fast food restaurant. The obvious thing would've been to try and sneak into one of the houses to get food. Most of these houses were likely full of it -  but that had risk and digging through trash had less. In this case, though, there was no reward.

"It's empty. Must be trash day." Max said the obvious.

"Maybe we can do insid-" Kelsey began to suggest as they peered around the building. At that moment, they watched as a dog was paraded in by it's owner. They both knew that it wasn't an option. Even when the dog left, Kelsey wouldn't even consider it. 

The idea of heading back was discouraging, but at least there was a chance the others had food. The duo miserably tracked back through the grass and crisscrossing fences of suburbia. The sun was already descending when they stumbled into the birdhouse. To their surprise, Brad and Becky were sitting there, chowing down on bread and small bits of meat. 

"You owe us big time." Brad declared proudly. 

The excitement was at a level Kelsey and Max hadn't felt before. They said nothing as they grabbed some of the limited items and horsed them down immediately. 

"Is there more?" Kelsey asked.

"Tons. This is only what we could carry. But it's going to be taken soon so we need to go back out for it tomorrow." Brad said earnestly 

Suddenly, Max didn't mind Brad so much. It would've been easy for him to limit the amount they could eat - or even not share at all. Instead he let them chow away despite their total lack of contribution. For once, Max slept full and well. 

The next morning was an early one. Brad and Max went to work fashioning basic sleds from the materials they had -- mostly sticks and thick grass shavings.

"It's at a park not too far from here. Someone tossed it near a trashcan but not in it. Basically looked like a picnic gone wrong." Brad explained.

"We'll take it." Max said enthusiastically. The sleds were ready, and the girls joined them as they quietly trekked towards the park. 

The grass was actually thinner as the group entered the park. They could distantly hear sports being played and birds chirping. Brad took the lead as they navigated towards the bin that had the food. As they approached, they saw something they didn't expect.

Ants.

Dozens of ants had surrounded both the bread and meats and had started to pick away at them. 

"Okay, dumb question, are ants friendly?" Kelsey asked. 

"I... I think so? I don't know." Max answered. 

Brad stepped forward, sled in tow. "I think they're pretty tame unless you bother them. Plus," He pulled out his hand fashioned spear "I have this." 

They reluctantly made their way towards the food. They were of a similar size to the ants, but the ants movement was lightning quick. They'd dart past without hesitation. The group reached a chunk of bread and began cutting part of it to strap to the sled. The ants rushed past but didn't seem to cause issue. Still, seeing their beady eyes and sharp pincers put Max on edge. The chunk of bread lurched onto the sled.

"I think it's time to get out of here" Max declared. More and more ants seemed to arrive as they worked. 

"Are you kidding? I need my macros dude. Let's get some meat we never get meat." Brad pressed on, dragging the sled to a chunk of meat that was more and more surrounded with ants. 

"Help me you three" He said as he started to cut at it. The three helped as best they could, but Brad had the only true tool, so it was minimal at best. After a few minutes, they got a small chunk onto the sled as well and began strapping it in. In the blink of an eye, an ant skittered up and locked it's jaws onto their bread. Brad reacted immediately. 

"GET OUT OF HERE FUCKING INSECT!" He said as he lunged at the ant. With similar lightning speed, the ant released the bread and instead leapt onto Brad. In the ensuing chaos, he was able to impale the ant's thorax, but not before it bit down on his leg.

"AHHH FUCK. OH MY GOD MY LEG!" He yelled as he tossed the spear and ant off of him. The others ran to help. Max noticed that his leg was badly broken. Those ants were no joke. 

They stood around for a moment in shock. "Okay okay okay, we can.. we cannnn lay him with the food and drag everything back." Kelsey suggested. It sounded tough, but good enough for the circumstances. The group prepared to lift him to the sled when a dark shadow was cast over everything. 

Max peered upward in total fear.

Towering over the scene and completely blotting out the sun was a towering girl. Max guessed she was about 12 or so but to them she was a skyscraper. It was like 100 stories of overalls with an expressionless face on top. The ants seemed to know there was danger as they began to scatter around. 

"We need to go we need to go" Kelsey blurted out. They quickly worked to get Brad to the sled while he continuously screamed in pain. 

"Brad shut up we need to--" Max was interrupted by a giant face descending. In the time it had taken them to move him to the sled, the girl had laid down, her head now inches above the ground peering down intently. It occurred to Max that she had done so haphazardly, and in the process crushed countless ants. He hoped that's where it ended -- that she was simply a careless child and not a deviant one. 

In reality, she was curious. 

A finger with crusted teal nail polish thundered down and obliterated an ant, its exoskeleton cracking immediately under the weight. When it lifted, a greasy liquid oozed from beneath. She looked at her finger and at the remains of the unfortunate ant. The giantess flicked its now two-dimensional corpse further than any of them could see.

They all stood, stunned. Brad whimpered on the sled.  

Her gaze returned to the others, and to the group. She was expressionless still, but didn't seem satiated in the slightest. Her massive hand reached down towards her overalls pockets, slowly pulling out a device. At first, Max was lost as to what this was. A phone? He wasn't sure. As she brought it up to her face, she turned it.

A magnifying glass. 

"GO GO GO" Kelsey yelled, which snapped Max out of his daze. They rushed to grab the sled and begin pulling, but it was brutally slow. Foot by foot they dragged as they looked up in horror. 

At first, the girl used it for its intended purpose, her giant eye became as big as the sky as she peered down towards the chaos below. As he felt his muscles ache, and heard Brad continue to yell, Max wondered if maybe she would even notice them and help. He was quickly proven wrong as she began to play with the light it created. At first, it was simply a concentration of god-like brightness that passed over everything. It was hot, but bearable. The ants still scurried about, unaware of where the situation was headed. Max was under no illusion, however. He knew they had just moments. 

Then, she found the angle. 

The glass concentrated the sunlight in just the right way to create a beam of light that caused rocks to spark and sputter below. The young girl had become a destroyer of worlds in just a moments time. The first victim was an ant that caught her gaze at just the wrong moment. A ray of light landed on it and in seconds it was roasted inside its shell. For the briefest of moments it tried to scurry, but the girl followed it with laser-like precision. Smoke exploded from all orifices as the bug was incinerated. 

For the first time, the girl smiled ear to ear as she watched her work. 

She was curious, and devious. 

When the light moved on, there was simply ash. And not that much of it at that. She continued with terrifying efficiency. Every 10 seconds or so, they'd hear the quickly familiar sound of an ant being cooked alive. The smell became unbearable. Thoughts darted across Max's mind like the ants before him, but the one growing more evident was that they wouldn't escape with the sled. 

"We need to go" Max said.

"I'm trying!" Kelsey retorted, as Becky looked on with terror stricken on her face.

"No, I mean without the sled" Max said, just quiet enough to be drowned out by Brads continued yelling.

Both Kelsey and Becky provided him the same look. They already knew. 

"Can we carry him" Kelsey suggested in vain. 

"He's twice my weight." Max answered. 

As they dropped the reigns, Becky spoke up for the first time.

"Brad, I'm sorry" She said though early tears as they started to run. 

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" He screamed. 

It took them just a minute or so to cover the distance. As they neared the edge of the grass, Max made the mistake of looking back. 

He couldn't believe such a normal child could be doing this. She smiled down over the scene like the devil incarnate, her hair wistfully blowing in the wind as she annihilated ants one by one. Finally, Max watched as her eyes locked onto Brad. He had started to drag himself slowly away to little avail, blood trailing. 

"You're different." The giantess spoke, for the first time. Her smile widening as she positioned the glass again. 

If Brad was screaming before, the sound he made when the light hit him went beyond words. 

In an instant his skin turned bright red and boiled, the energy of the light far beyond what his body would ever handle. Flames engulfed him moments later, his body starting to liquify as Max could hear a gurgling scream. A light pop echoed as he finally met his end. In moments Brad had gone from, well, Brad to a set of ash. The girl laughed hard, beside herself at the particularly explosive ant she'd found and burnt. 

Max didn't wait around any longer, he scurried into the grass feeling more alone than ever.