MegaBoys from Outer Space
Chapter 13, LA Down

“Mom, what was that?” Gabe asked. Evalyn was looking over the check and waiting for the waiter to return, Gabe nudged her, questioning again.

“Mom, what was that? Did you feel it?”

“No what dear, I didn’t feel anything. Do you need to go?”

“No ma, I felt a shake”

“Me too” Rebecca chimed in, although she really didn’t feel anything. The next shake, caught everyones attention. It was a low muffled thump, that caused the downturned glasses on the bar to clatter, The room did not shake, and dust did not fall from the rafters, but some of the diners jumped up, these were the tourists, and this was their first earthquake. Suddenly they were not very comfortable being on the sixty fifth floor. The other diners calmly sat and continued with their brunch, the locals cast knowing smiles, if that was all there was, it was mild. At one table, a joker wrote “3.2” on his napkin and held it up.

Evalyn was on the elevator down, fourteen minuets later when the next thump was heard. This one was a little more pronounced although it was unfelt by those in the elevator.

Ten in the morning in downtown Los Angeles, The Jewelry district was just a short distance away, and the walk would do her and the kids good. The city was looking impressive, there had been a resurgence of building, and many of the skyscrapers were not here the last time Evalyn walked these streets eight years ago. There were fewer vagrants asking for change, and the streets seemed cleaner. The last time she was here, the kids were not born yet. Now she had to constantly reel Gabe in, He wanted to run everywhere. Rebecca wanted to be carried. At 5, She was getting too old for this; Anxiety over the divorce, Evalyn figured.

Burger and Slade noted that the streets were laid out with mathematical precision, starting at this little city at the ocean, and leading inland. Thoroughfares and avenues, and smaller residential streets. Most of the structures were low, with occasional taller office buildings randomly dispersed. The majority of the buildings were less then three stories tall. They were made of simple building materials, lots of wooden structures, a few brick buildings. Larger structures were rare.

The city drew closer with every step. Burger and Slade talked casually, as they walked toward their destination. They ignored the damage they were doing. Each foot fall trampled buildings, traffic and people. The boys path was direct. Like the path of a tornado, the devastation was total, where ever they stepped.

If you were in a car in traffic, and unfortunate to be in the path of the boys foot falls, coming from behind, you would not have time to even notice what was happening, it would be a blur in your rear view mirror. Your car caught anywhere beneath the boys eighty foot long and forty foot wide foot print, would be crushed under thousands of tons of pressure, your car would resemble the industrially flattened vehicles regardless if you were driving a compact, a truck, or a bus. Those who could see the oncoming boys, had minutes to jump out of the vehicles and dive for safety to the side, and hope the boys maintained their straight path. Sometimes they did, but on occasion, looking down, Burger would shift his direction, to flatten the buildings along the intersections. the whole power grid and wires were brought down in a tangle under the boys feet, lines trailing their posts created an even greater hazard to the people on the street.

The larger low lying buildings were warehouse stores, or markets, all easily crushed, with everything in them. The shoppers oblivious to the danger, except for the pounding of the foot falls that got louder, the ground would shake as in an earthquake. Without warning the roof would collapse under a giants sole. The steel beams would bend, and the roofing material would come crashing down on the unsuspecting shoppers within followed by the foot itself. Nothing could withstand the crushing weight.

The small wooden residential buildings put up no resistance and were hardly felt, as the boys stepped on them casually, along their city trek. Power lines dotted the thoroughfares, and left a web of cables following the streets. The electric lines went down with sparks, hardly noticed by the Gargantuans.

Elevated roads crossing the intersections were fun to put your foot on. Most would collapse on the cars below, others would tip over, spilling traffic onto the pedestrians and shops.

What horrified the people who safely saw the giant boys passing, was how blase they seemed, not even caring where they put there feet. They joked with each other as those unfortunate enough to be in their path, were nonchalantly stepped on, and crushed to a pulp, their blood flowing freely. Of those caught in the path of destruction, neither sex nor age made a difference.

Slade and Burger stopped to gather their progress, they had been making good time, the city loomed just a few miles away, Already the structures were getting larger, even though there was still many low lying buildings to go; Storehouses, factories and other industrial buildings were now dominating the area, behind them and not too far ahead stood the tall buildings, each spire different, the windows arrangements varied from building to building, some were all glass, others had stripped bands of windows layered like a cake.

The roads became wider and the traffic heavier. Burger noted that there were only four or five buildings taller then himself. He would take care of that situation. The roads leading into the cities were now multi-layered structures, twisting like ribbons beneath the boys feet. Slade was aware of bells clanging below; he looked down to his feet and was delighted to see a long train approaching on its tracks.

The conductor was helpless to stop the train from drawing attention to itself The albino giant reached down and easily lifted the long train from its tracks. Slade brought the train, close to his eyes, where he could look into the windows, the train cars now dangling hundreds of feet above the ground,inside the passengers were falling over each other, tumbling toward the back of the car, Burger looked on, smiling. Slade dangled the car, holding the engine in his left hand at eye level, the nine long cars hanging precariously. He took his right hand and grabbed the bottom car in his clutch, he squeezed the car compressing it into a jagged tube. It crumpled in the center, the front and back of the car buckling as he compressed his grip. He did the same for the next car up.

Looking down Slade compared the length of the train car with his lower anatomy. The seventy five foot car was not much longer. He noted that the width in his grip was also similar. this brought a smile to his face.

Dropping the train, the cars shattered as they hit the ground. A locomotive and its cars, falling hundreds of feet, crashing down upon the buildings and roads was a terrifying sight. The train demolished the buildings, cars and overpasses. Slade demolished the remains of the train, flattening them under his feet. Burger took the remote viewers from his strap, and directed them to follow close by his feet as they approached the city.

The city was in a panic as the boys were spotted approaching. Those who had remained in the city wished they hadn’t. It was inconceivable! the impossible was happening, where was the military? Was there nothing to stop these Mega sized destroyers? The emergency alert system was telling everyone to avoid the streets and to seek shelter. It was too late to try to leave by car, the roads were hopelessly jammed.

Evalyn was on the twelfth floor of the St. Anthony Jewelry Mart, in a private client viewing room, comparing the qualities of the two and a half caret Diamond Tennis Bracelet, with the more showy four caret one. It was clear to her that she would get much more use out of the smaller one, but she was not happy with the twenty seven thousand dollar price tag, and asked the salesman if he could do better. He stepped out to consult with the owner. Gabe was again at the window overlooking the district, displaying a panorama of the cities south side. He watched in awe as the two giants approached, They first appeared in the distance, massive and towering silhouettes, and grew larger with their every step closer. Clouds of dust, smoke and fire rose from where they set their feet. The buildings started to shake with each foot fall as they approached. For Gabe, it was like his wish come true. Two mighty giants crushing buildings in their path.

“Mom, Look” He said. “They’re naked, I can see their wieners” Little Rebecca jumped up to the window saying,

“Can I see?”

“Oh, for heavens sake Gabe,” Evalyn started to say, that’s when the building started shaking, and the alarms sounded, first from the cars in the street, and then from the building tops.

“They are coming this way” Gabe reported, contented to sit by the window and watch all the destruction. Evalyn’s eyes went wide as she glanced out the window. Buddies message on the phone telling her to get out of there, suddenly made sense. The Salesman bounded into the room, panic in his eyes, and he hastily said,

“You have to leave, we will take care of the transaction later, we’re closed now.” He grabbed the bracelets from her hands.

The building was an old brick and metal structure, built in the forties, and for a while it held the distinction of being one of the cities taller buildings, now it was dwarfed by the construction going on around it. There was one pair of elevators in the middle of the building, going from the central lobby up to the fifteenth floor. The hallways were jammed with people seeking their way to the elevator, most chose to take one of the six fire staircases, situated along the corridor. Even the staircases were mobbed with people running down them, seeking exit to the streets. Each floor below just added to the masses trying to escape. The crowds caused a gridlock in the narrow staircases.

The shop keepers on each floor, did their best to get the gold and precious stone jewelry back into their vaults, not realizing how quickly the giant boys were approaching. Evalyn snatched up Rebecca, and grabbed Gabes hand, jerking him away from the window.

The Giants towered over the streets off Broadway, One would remain stationary, raising and lowering his foot, like a piston, smashing everything below. The dark haired one was more animated, as he pushed the taller buildings, around him. The glass windows shattered at his touch, as he poked and probed at the buildings façade. His actions threw bricks and cornices tumbling to the streets and crowds below.

Using his fist Burger punched holes in the upper floors of the tall buildings, revealing the infrastructure. Those near the outside walls, tumbled as a gash was torn out of the side of the building. Inside Burger could see the tiny people backing away from the six hundred foot drop. While others lost their balance and tumbled earthward, splattering at his feet. Smoke and fire puffed from deep inside the damaged building. Burger toyed with the panicked crowd, he put his hand below the hole in the top floors, and encouraged the people to jump into his hand, where he would let them down safely. When there was a group of sixty in his open palm, he would slowly clench his fist, crushing them all, The blood spurted out from the openings between his fingers as he laughed.

“Fooled you” He taunted.

The St. Anthony building barely reached the boys ankles. Slade put his heel on the ground, and used his foot to push in the side of the building, the old building rocked, glass shattered, and any on the ground were trapped under the falling debris,or ultimately crushed by the descending foot.

Evalyn pushed her way down the crowded dark corridor, as the building rocked violently, the corridor was twisted to an odd angle and there was no longer a solid floor to run down, A door to an empty office burst off the hinges, and Evalyn holding her children slid and fell along the sloping floor, sliding toward the offices´ broken windows and a five story drop to the street below. The six floors below them had been demolished.

Slade was in a stomping frenzy, leaving deep craters in the streets, He enjoyed watching the people falling from the upper stories, some of them landed on him, grabbing anything they could to avoid the fatal drop. This was incredibly amusing. Burger was breathing heavily from the Adrenalin rush he was experiencing.

The tallest building, The Thousand foot tall US Bank Building dominated the skyline. Burger looked up at the stories that reached over his head. Marveling at the workmanship of the tiny people. He then ripped the upper stories off. Using one hand as leverage at the top, which he was able to reach as he extended his arm, and pushing with his other hand at a point fifteen stories below, Burger was able to break off the entire top of the building.

Holding the top of the building as a log cradled in his arms, he tossed the structure and watched as it disintegrated upon hitting the ground below,

“Not so tall now, my pretty” He said grinning. Smoke billowed up.

“Hey Og, watch this” Burger stood close to the building and bumped it with his belly, the structure buckled as hundreds of people jumped out of the broken side. He wrapped his arms around the circular structure, and compressed the lower floors within his arm. This upper half of the building shifted on its foundation, bent way to the left and tumbled to Burgers gore caked feet. He stomped on the buildings fallen section, flattening it and everyone in it.

Buildings crashed to the ground in choking clouds of dust and smoke, with the sound of metal twisting and concrete crumbling. The symphony of destruction could not drown out the constant screaming of the crowds underfoot. If the people were not crushed by the falling structures, or wiped out by the kicked up cars and trucks, then they would be trod on at the whimsy of the cruel Giants, Burger in particular, loved the scream they let out as he put his foot on them.

“I’m saving my whole foot, just for you” He said, addressing an officer, He lowered his foot slowly, capturing the little mans panicked last moments on his remote viewer. Those who sought shelter in the lower parking structures of the tall buildings were not safe if the boys chose to crush the structures down to their foundations. Only those who had avoided the Giants steps, and hid as the boys past, were safe, as Burger and Slade were too busy to backtrack. The sounds of sirens, firetrucks and police vehicles amid the explosions formed the soundtrack of the doomed city.

“I have never had so much fun in my life” Burger said gleefully, Slade, who was admiring his gigantic form, in the all glass front of a tall building, repeated the sentiment. Taking a kick, Slade shattered the side of the building, and watched as it fell to the right, demolishing the buildings below it. A skeleton framework revealing several stories stood exposed.

“Hey Haman, remember the war paint back at the village, lets do it again.” Slade scooped up a handful of people from the exposed floor, and let them roll around helplessly in his palm, as he gazed down upon them. He summoned his remote viewer to record the scene in his palm, as he selectively pinched the struggling masses to a pulp. Their blood spattered everywhere, and this is exactly what Slade wanted. He pulverized each and everyone in his palm, mashing the gore of the bodies. Bringing a mass of red paste to his lips, he tasted the mash with the tip of his tongue. Salty. Smiling, he used the grue as paint, which he again applied to his face, chest and private areas. It dripped leaving streaks as he applied it, He was not worried about wasting the paint, if he ran out, there was a lot more to be made.

Burger followed Slades lead, he bent down to the street level to get his victims. Those running wildly in the streets, seeking to avoid falling objects and out of control vehicles, occasionally stopped to look up and see the giant boys progress. A crowd at the crosswalk of Ninth and Olive, turned their eyes up to see the dark haired giant boy, stopping, bending down to one knee, and kneeling as he watched them scatter before him, like bugs. He then reached into the mass of people at street level. His enormous fingers plucked the unfortunate ones off the street, as he set them into his left hand. The thick dust and mashed glass and concrete coated his hand, they served as a base for the gore that was going to follow as he mashed the figures with his thumb and index finger. Filling his hand with enough red paste to satisfy him, He stood up and carefully applied the mash to his face, chest and his privates. The remainder he wiped on his thighs.

Slade was back on all fours pushing his hands into the window displays at ground level, and looking to get a better close up of the commotion on the streets. He reached in to a building and pulled out a bloody handful, then he punched in the area around the broken windows revealing even more tiny people inside. There was no end to them.

He glanced at Burger and got a monstrous idea. It might have been the result of all the liquids he consumed, and he knew Burger had done the same, they shared hundreds of gallons of Burgers newly synthesized DySynth cocktails before they set out on their path of destruction.

“You want me to do what?” Burger asked, Slade explained how he wanted to get an incredible view of his friend pissing on the people and buildings below. Burger thought it was a great idea.

“OK, you get low to the ground over there and I’ll piss in that direction. I think we owe these tiny people a display of waterpower, and maybe we can put out some of the fires as well.

Burger smiled as he took a slight legs apart stance, straddling the wide boulevard. He aimed judiciously in the direction of his friend. As surly as if hit by a cannon, the blast of the stream ripped off the sides of the buildings and flooded the streets below. Slade didn’t even mind getting hit by the splash as it spattered down the side of the structures.

Burger noticed the pretty yellow metal falling from the demolished Jewelry district buildings, The streets were lined with scattered contents from the vaults, gold was everywhere amid the blood, and ruins. There were few at the moment to take advantage of it.

Evalyn crouched in the dark with Rebecca, Gabe could be seen in silhouette against the only opening, where dusty light drifted in. They were in the remains of the building, precariously angled five stories above the mangled street below, The building was in total ruin with no means for Rebecca to escape. Gabe had found a window where he could watch the Giant boys destroying the city. He watched their every move with fascination. When they reached down and crushed a bus, Gabe imagined himself doing the same. They were magnificent the young boy thought to himself.

Evalyn crouched in the corner, besides the overturned office furniture, she was quietly crying and cradeling Rebecca, when she heard the incoming message on her phone, in her bag. The jaunty musical marimba melody from her smart phone seemed so out of place.

In the course of a few hours, the mighty city of Los Angeles fell, and was reduced to smoldering ruins, Slade and Burger surveyed the remains; not a tall building remained intact. Burger placed his foot upon the foundation of a ruined skyscraper, pushing his foot back down to ground level. Pleased with their work they rested. The views from the remote viewers would be awesome, like home videos recording their rampage from different perspectives.

“Oh little people, of the great Sat-tan,” He announced, addressing the ruined city.

“You have just begun to feel my power. Know that you have served the purpose of the great Isis, With your deaths, by being mashed beneath our crushing feet. Og, the King of Bashin, and I, Haman the Destroyer wish to thank you for sanctifying our quest with your sacrifice. We appreciate your cooperation. We could not have done it better without you.” Burger paused for effect, then continued,

“Before we destroy our next city, we want to thank you again, and remind you that Allah is Great,there is none other, except for me and Og. We Piss on your weak g-ds. Allahu Akbar” He proclaimed, Slade repeated it.

The thick smoke, from the carnage choked the sky. Hundreds had escaped the city with the early warnings, but thousands did not, their bodies lay trapped in the rubble with the wounded. The world watched aghast at the slaughter. The President and the Military were helpless before the onslaught.

“So, if I understand it correctly” Yelid said,

“If We stay on this guided route, We will avoid eighty five percent of the casualties that would occur if I hit a populated area. There is a fifteen percent likelihood that we will step on people, or cars.” Cory liked the idea, perhaps a little bit too much, It was hard to tell as he was always fooling around.

“We will not be responsible for damage we do, as long as it is in the effort to reach the West Coast as quickly as we can.” Yelid reiterated, the General nodded. If the boys needed any back up, He was there. All Yelid and Cory had to do was get the utility belts off, leaving both of them vulnerable. Yelid rolled his eyes, thinking that Burger was not likely to go along and surrender his strap. He did not know about Cory, but he felt that if he had to fight, he would not be afraid. He would have time to think about fighting, on his trek to the West.

“Alright boys, you are clear to go. Stay on the projected path, and you should avoid major damage, watch for roads and crossings, don’t worry about livestock. Above all keep me informed, You got that, Mr King?” Buddy, riding on Yelids strap, nodded, and signaled thumbs up. A chill ran down his spine when an officer informed the General of the Siege location; Los Angeles.

“Lets see how this works Cory,” Yelid threw a switch and a map illuminated his headset, the map was marked out with green arrows, that the boys should stay with, regardless of the physical terrain.

“Are you getting this?” Cory nodded.

“OK, then, lets get going” with that both boys started their walk across the country, they had to keep a fast pace to get there before too much destruction occurred. Both boys took wide strides, and watched on the screen their progress. Any turns would be announced before hand, If the boys strayed from the path, a red marker would blink.

Yelid would think about making a deal; What could he offer, to have Burger and Slade leave on their own? Then he thought about his brother, If they did anything to hurt him they’d be sorry.

Cory was just enjoying the walk, watching the rural countryside pass, with occasional roads, and numerous fragile electric towers that were easy to step over if you saw them ahead. There was a large stretch of open country on the path the boys followed. They could make out small towns and burgs in the distance; they would stay far from them. Cory thought he stepped on a farm house, looking back, he could not tell, it was not on the chart, but something definitely crunched under his foot. What could he do, but keep walking. They were making good time and were almost at midpoint.

The Pennsylvania country had been tricky with lots of stops to visually check for roads and houses, Ohio was a little better, It was in Ohio that Yelid encountered his first dilemma. The pathreplaceer image on both boys viewscreen flickered and then turned off to reset, The boys could not stop and break their pace, so they continued on what they thought was the projected course.

Bendict pointed to the star chart, and said “There” indicating the third planet from the Sun. Astar made a notation on her pad, and after looking at the tech notes, nodded agreement.

“I’ll see if I can pick up any distress signals from down there” She searched the frequencies. Even if the power from the Monopod ran out, the back up communications signal should still be transmitting,

The signal she picked up was so unexpected, and so momentous, it made her gasp, They found a civilized world, outside of Bedem influence. Astar adjusted the translator and when the indictor had enough information, it scanned the frequencies, pausing with each signals message.

“We found them” Bendict nodded, “And apparently Burger and Slade as well, and it sounds if they were up to no good, Oh my gosh, the inhabitants of this world are technologically active, but they are tiny.”

“We can’t just go in, we have to understand what has happened here before we do anything. We will Monitor the signals and see if we can hook up with Yelid or Cory”

Astar was a natural leader. Bendict would send a message back to civilization; with the coordinates on how to reach this distant star system, He was sure there were search vessels all over the sector. The loss of the three original ships, followed by Burger and Slades violations, and now the reported abandonment by Astar and Bendict, each and every variance of program was considered a major breach. There had never been such a number of violations.

Mrs Graf nervously scanned the incoming news. There was at last a glimmer of hope, a lead as to where the three missing boys might be. Rescue ships left the port and expected to arrive at the coordinates within five days.