The cold of the mid winter day seeped in through the doorway of the store. When Matt breathed he could see the thin wispy white cloud exiting his mouth. He was shaking, shivering from the low temperatures, barely even able to feel his fingers or toes. But it was fine. It was all worth it. He had found a crumb.

Greedily he held it in his twitching hands, his crazed grin spreading, his stomach growling for the nourishment it needed. Two weeks had passed since Brian had been impaled by the woman’s heel, and there had barely been anything to eat. Not a crumb fell, not a speck of food. And it was starting to take its tole.

Matt had been seeing things. A few nights ago he thought he was normal again, back at home, sitting in his bed with Cassie sleeping next to him. She had rolled over, pressing her firm butt against his bare skin. He had wrapped his arms around her naked, warm body. But it wasn’t real. Would never be real.

Then things started to grow more disturbing. Monsters creeping around the corners of the store, each looking at him with hungry eyes. Nicholas was looking less and less human every day, his teeth growing longer, his hands turning into claws.

Matt knew this wasn’t real, told himself that it was just hunger consuming him, yet he couldn’t let his feelings dissipate. Nicholas was just as hungry as he, and just as desperate. Many men had become cannibals for less.

But it was fine. Matt found a crumb that had dropped out of some giant’s boot sole. With glee he buried his mouth into the sweet hunk, taking bites that were larger than he could handle, gagging as too much filled his mouth.

The sight of it had been amazing. A girl who looked to be around twenty stomped past him, the impact of her feet causing Matt to duck under a nearby table for fear of being crushed. She was attractive though, wearing a large brown coat and a pair of crisp white snow boots. She had just come in, the soles still glistening with the melting snow she had trampled on her walk inside, leaving puddles of murky water where ever she stepped. Then, as Matt watched her sole rise and fall, he caught a glimpse of a tiny object falling from in between her thick treads. He wasted no time running to the speck of food.

It tasked foul, dirty, barely even edible. Still he continued, until he heard a voice behind him.

“What you got there, Matt?” He turned, Nicholas standing behind him.

“Nothing,” he lied, despite himself.

“No, you have something. What is it?” There was an eerie calm to the other’s voice. “Food?”

“No,” he lied again.

“Come on Matt, you don’t want me to starve, do you?” Nicholas said, advancing forward, his hands clutched in fists. “Just give it to me.”

Matt stood, moving back. They were close to the edge of one of the counters, the doorway out into the world only a quick sprint away. “No,” he answered. It was his only option. He needed to eat.  

“Really?” Nicholas asked, a crazed look coming over him. “Matt, you’re not going to live much longer anyway.” He screamed the last line, “Just give it up!”

Matt pulled away, running with all his might, his former comrade sprinting after him. Hunger had completely taken over, replacing any sense of decency or community he had. After these weeks of living like an animal, of having the threat of death suffocating him constantly, he was in a state where nothing mattered, except living that extra day.

He ran into the store aisle, followed closely by his pursuer, ignorant to the giantess that was walking into his path. “Matt!” He heard the other shouting from behind, the crazed man gaining on him. Somehow Matt knew that Nicholas wouldn’t stop at simply stealing his nourishment. He’d punch him, kick him, beat him, wouldn’t stop until Matt was another dead bug.

Then matt stopped, a massive snow boot slamming into the ground with a startling speed and disgusting force, the impact sending both bugs to their knees. Matt looked up hurriedly, following the long, thin legs up to the rounded butt, to the thin waist, to the fiery hair, to Cassie’s angelic image. “Cassie,” he breathed, his former self coming back to him, if only for a moment.

“Okay,” the giantess said, her voice booming. “I’ll see everyone tomorrow.”

Matt glanced back, Nicholas pushing himself up, looking no more sane than before, then returned his gaze to the love of his life. This wasn’t fair, wasn’t right. He shouldn’t just be a pathetic bug, shouldn’t be reduced to a bloody spot on the ground. But, as he looked up at the giantess thousands of times his size, his stomach still growling, his naked form smelling of sweat and suffering, he realized that death was the only path left.

“Cassie,” he said again, standing up, rushing to follow the giantess as she continued walking. “Cassie!” He shouted, not knowing what he was doing as he rushed after his former lover, the only thing that really meant anything to him anymore.

The giantess opened the door, a cold breeze blowing over them, then she stepped outside, her boots making a deep footprint in the snow. Matt soon followed, lunging over the small lip that separated the store from the cold world beyond. “Cassie!” He screamed, his eyes following the girl as she moved to a nearby wall, leaning against it, bringing out her phone.

“Matt!” Nicholas shouted from behind, still in the store. “Matt!” The man rushed forward towards the rapidly closing door, his mind only on the life-sustaining crumb that was quickly slipping out of his reach. So thoroughly has the idea of food consumed him that he didn’t notice the growing tremors from behind, nor did he register the shadow that fell over his body. “What the?” were the last words he spoke before noticing the giantess sole hovering above.

He couldn’t see any details of the teenager that was about to crush him; her dirt covered sole taking up the entirety of his vision. It was a running shoe, that much was clear from the deep treads and multiple colors, most of which were pink, white, and purple. But, more than the vibrant lines he noticed the specs of dirt and grime. The still melting snow that had been mashed into the grooves, the mud that covered certain sections, the specs of gum that still stuck to the bottom of the girl’s sole.

It smashed down, her foot rolling over Nicholas’ body. He screamed, feeling his legs snap, crunch, disintegrate under the unimaginable weight. His body was forced against the freezing tile, his naked form exposed and vulnerable. He felt his arms break, then a pressure in his chest.

 Blood violently forced its way out of the man’s mouth as the unaware girl continued her step, not thinking about the tiny bug under her shoe. And why should she? He wasn’t human anymore. Only a tiny little parasite trying to live off of what other people drop. A naked, worthless, pathetic, disgusting waste of life. If she had seen him she probably wouldn’t even have stopped.

The girl walked past, through the door, out of the store, a tiny little bloody spot on her sole the last remaining trace of the worm that was.