This was the third hour of shoveling dirt to try to get the over sized vegetable deep enough to actually grow. Of course these seeds weren’t over sized, he was undersized. It hadn't been too bad at first, the government had reacted quite effectively by constructing an entire section for the shrunken victims of the shrinking virus and isolated them in their own communities which where maintained and supplied by city officials dedicated to making sure the shrunken people had everything they needed. It was a paradise.
Was being the key word.
While the government was willing to shill out the cash to maintain the sectors, they weren’t willing to actually make sure they were being maintained. Their caretaker had quickly grown bored of their job and decided to simply stop doing it. Attempts had been made to contact the government to inform them but expeditions outside the sector walls had always ended the same, that being with none of the people being heard from again.
There was a moment of uncertainty for a couple of weeks, with some individuals rising up to organize the resources that remained, crafting a plan to re-organize sections of the sector to grow their own food until the government could be contacted for aid.
Then he showed up.
At first everyone thought the fox was a replacement sent from the government, overjoyed to finally have someone to oversee ordering supplies for them. That joy quickly turned to fear when they realized the fox wasn't a government official at all but just some random norm who decided to take over.
And for some reason he chose to dress as a soviet soldier regardless of weather and insist that everyone within the sector refer to him and others as comrade. It quickly occurred to anyone with two brain cells that the fox didn’t actually know anything about the soviet union beyond how they dressed, and while he preached that they were all equals he didn’t exactly take to dissent well.
He still remembered the screams of the fools that opted to ask the fox to leave...and the shrieks of the ones who tried to force him out.
At first it hadn't been too bad, the fox actually kept with the plans of the previous leadership and even want out to grab fresh dirt to make farms. Within no time they had fresh produce…
...which the fox took half of for himself...stating that it was his payment for his efforts and management.
It didn’t take anyone long to figure out what the fox’s racket was, he was using the tiny sector as his own personal food farm...and there wasn't much they could do to stop him.
The expeditions to get help from the government had stopped entirely, by the fox’s order. Anyone caught trying to leave the sector was met with harsh punishment in the form of a boot.
This was their life now. He’d gone from being a leading economist in his field...to a glorified hole digger. He couldn’t really complain...literally, since the fox would just crush him underfoot.
Finally, just before he hit the fourth consecutive hour of shoveling dirt, he’d finally managed to cover the potato that was three times his size. The little cat wiped his brow, feeling not a scrap of pride in his work, knowing it was likely going to feed the fox. And what’s worse, he couldn’t exactly refuse to work or even work slowly to rebel since this food was partly going to feed him and others.
“This fucking sucks!”
The cat snapped to attention, looking over to his comrade, a large burly bear, similarly drenched in sweat and dirt. Before he could open his mouth, the bear threw his makeshift shovel to the ground with a loud clang.
He looked around nervously. “What the hell are you doing?! Pick up your shovel and keep working!”
“For what? We’re slaving away for scraps here! And for what? To feed some fucking commie LARPer?” the bear balked, drawing the attention of the other micros working the field.
The cat looked around nervously, seeing the attention the bear was gathering, the other workers dropping their tools and gathering around the bear. He quickly stepped up to the bear. “Keep quiet! Don't you know what happens to people wh-”
The bear shoved him aside. “I don’t give two shits! This isn't living! I was a theoretical physicist before the shrinking plague! That fucking fox has me shoveling fucking dirt!”
“Keep your fucking voice down!” The cat warned.
“Not a fucking chance!” The bear growled. “Just what the fuck are we doing? How the hell did we end up slaving away only for some brain dead LARPer to take most of the food?!”
His ears pressed flat against his head. He’d seen others start speeches like that before, it never ended well. The cat slunk away, finding a small tool shed to hide in while the crowd was radicalized.
“I know we’re small, but there must be at least a thousand of us living in the sector, being fed on by that asshole!” The bear continued, earning nods from the micros surrounding him. “I’m not saying it would be easy, but we could do it! We just gotta catch the fucker off guard! Sneak some fucking poison into his drink or jab him with something toxic! He’s just some fucking LARPer who doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing!” The crowd of around twelve micros started cheering. “We just gather a bunch of people up and plan our attack!”
“Plan what?”
The entire crowd jumped as a smooth, but deep voice sounded behind them. They craned their necks around to see an orange furred face with two pointed black ear looming over them, leaning over the dirt field past a model skyscraper. A wide smile on their face as they stared down at the gathered micros.
The bears voice slowed down to a whisper and the crowd froze.
With a quick jerk of his back, the green trench coat clad fox rose to his full height, easily stepping over the waist high buildings to stand in the dirt field, framing the small crowd of shrunken furs between his shiny black boots. “So, what are you guys talking about that’s so important as to stop working?”
It was as if the bear shrank before their very eyes, his boastful, almost inspiring speech had turned to naught but panicked whimpers as he, and the entire crowd of micros shivered under the gaze of the giant fox. “I-i-i-”
The fox suddenly squatted down, sending the crowd of micros falling back in shock, yellow eyes locked onto the bear. “You weren’t speaking against the state, were you?”
A visible chill went through the bear. “N-no! O-O-of course not!” He quickly stammered.
A smile crept across the fox’s face. “Of course not.” He repeated. “You didn’t say anything about trying to poison me and certainly didn’t call me a brain dead LARPer.”
The color drained from the crowds face, they collectively made the realization that they should have ran as soon as they realized the fox was there, some whimpered while others stammered excuses.
Suddenly the fox rose up to his full, terrifying height, sending the crowd reeling back in shock, the bear falling back onto his rear. Before any of them could react, the fox raised his boot over the bear and swiftly brought it back down, a resounding thud sounding as the hard leather slammed into the dirt with the faintest trace of a crunch being heard by those standing closest.
Immediately the crowd of micros scrambled to try to flee the relatively giant fox with most of them stumbling over each other, within a few seconds two more micros vanished under a bus sized boot, they didn’t even see if it was a deliberate attempt to crush them, or simply the fox making a careless step.
“You guys never seem to realize all the things I do for you.” The fox mused as he stepped around, narrowly missing a micro. “I not only help keep you guys organized, but I also keep anyone out who might try to harm you guys.” He raised he foot over a micro bull as they tripped, swiftly stomping down on top of the micro. “It’s like you don’t even realize how vulnerable you are., how easily anyone could show up and just destroy you guys if I wasn't here.”
They scrambled in every direction away from the fox as the giant made more casual steps, each one ending a micros existence with horrifying, sickening crunching noises, the fox not needing any real effort to corral the five remaining panicked micros into a corner. Once he had them all packed into a corner of the fenced off farming area he bent down and plucked the remaining up into his hands.
Shrieks and pleas sounded from the various furs as they struggled against the fox’s fingers, some clawing, even biting, anything to try to escape.
The fox chuckled, ending their feeble attempts with a simple squeeze of his fist. “Dissenters like you guys don’t get it. If I wasn't here to protect and oversee you guys, there wouldn't be any food being made.”
A wide smile spread across his face as he plucked one of the four micros between his fingers, raising the flailing, panicked stoat over his face.
“If I really wanted to feed of you guys, I’d wouldn’t waste time making you grow fruits and vegetables.” He said in a low voice, almost a whisper as a long tongue dragged across his lips.
Before the stoat could even plead for mercy, the fox’s jaws split open and with a flick of his wrist the little stoat vanished inside. The four remaining screamed in panic as they watched their comrade vanish into the fox’s mouth, only to have their cries of fear eclipsed by a loud gulp from their captors throat.
The fox gave them a wide smirk before opening his jaws once more. The palm shifted forward, shoving the remaining four micros into his awaiting maw, the jaws clamping shut behind them. The four scrambled around in the dark, damp, wet cavern of the fox’s mouth, trying as they could to try to pry the massive teeth apart and escape, unable to even budge them an inch.
Under their feet writhed a tongue the size of a queen size bed, giving them a brief moment of dread before rising up, sending them tumbling under it, then pinning them under its weight. Before any of them could even move, the merciless tongue shifted again squeezing three of them against those sharp teeth, leaving the last one to try to struggle to squeeze his body past the jaws. Saliva coated each of them from head to toe as the tongue batted them around, playing with them.
When the fox could no longer discern the flavor of the little dissenters anymore, he tilted his head up and allowed saliva to gather in his mouth.
It was as if the pressure inside the maw changed as more of the slick and warm saliva filled up the fox’s mouth. The trapped micros tried to push against the tongue but where powerless as the massive pink muscle moved under them and the entire maw tilted upwards. The abyss at their back opened and the muscles around them pulled them in, the micros tried to grab onto anything they could but the slick insides of the fox’s mouth offered no refuge from their fate. All around them the muscles of the fox’s throat pulled them down, squeezing and sliding them into the fox’s stomach.
He barely stifled a giggle as the wiggling and struggles of the micros was felt down his throat. He could actually feel them at every inch as they moved down, and even catch faint glimpses of them in his stomach. The fox let out a satisfied sigh, giving his stomach a few pats. That was a good change from the fruits and vegetables he’d been getting so far.
The cat sat still in the tool shed, he’d heard the stomps, the terrifying crunches and the horrid shrieks. If he just stayed as silent as possible, he’d be safe.
“Are you going to come out or do I have to come get you?”
His entire body tensed up.
“Yes, I’m talking to you.”
The cat sprung to his feet, standing still in the middle of the tool shed. Carefully, as slowly and silently as he could, he hazarded a peek through the cracks of the tool shed. Outside he could only see shiny walls of black, instantly recognizing it as the fox’s boots. “Oh god.” He whimpered.
After a few seconds, the shaking cat hobbled out to see the fox,, looming over the shed, bent over like a living construction crane with his hands on his knees and a wide smile on his face. “Hi there!” the giant beamed.
He couldn’t reply, he could just stand there and shake like a leaf in the wind.
The fox’s smile got wider. “Don't worry, I saw the whole thing. You’re no traitor.”
His ears perked up slightly. “N-no! I-i t-tried to stop them!” He quickly blurted out.
“You did, didn’t you.” The fox narrowed his eyes. “And for that you deserve a reward, don’t you?”
“I do?” He repeated before tensing up. Was this another test? Was he supposed to decline as some sort of show of loyalty?
While the cat pondered the life or death choice, the fox quickly reached down and plucked the panicked little feline off the ground, holding the panicked little micro to his face. “You do.” the giants breath washed over the cats body, dampening his clothing with it’s warmth. “And what better reward than being being given the privilege of rewarding the comrade who got rid of the dissenters?” The giant continued.
Before the cat could even gather his thoughts enough to respond, the hand lowered down to the giants waist, hovering briefly above the waistband of the soviet solder style pants, pulled out by the giants thumb. The fingers parted and the cat fell, his shrieks muffled with a loud snap as the fox released his grip on his waistband, taking a few seconds to adjust himself until he felt the little cat was in the best position to do his duty.
With a smirk, the fox walked off, heading to the other farms to check on their progress, making the occasional giggle as he felt his new servant squirm against him.