One



A door opened out into the gardens. Five carriages drove off ready to settle their land. The year was 1689 and it was beautiful day. In the first carriage there was a man named Lawrence Eddington and he was a great poet. He was 22 and he had wanted a peaceful place to start a town. He had written about his travels. It was so nice going to different places to stay, but he seemed to hate to leave them. Lawrence could become very frustrated with his thoughts. The next carriage up was a woman very different than the rest of her kind. Her name was Claudia Samson and she always had dirt on her dress and preferred to not wear it. She was 38. She worked at everything and wasn’t considered a common woman. She wanted her town to have its own government and she could rule it. She was a farmer, but a strong one. The carriages rode over a small bridge made out of stone. All five of the settlers smiled at the peaceful river. “I’d like it very much to stay here,” Lawrence said. The other carriages stopped. A man jumped out of one of the carriages near the front and walked back.

“You aren’t gonna stop us from movin’ on. Got that?!” The man had long black hair that seemed to darken his face. Lawrence nodded.

“Carlos, he’s right. This might be a great place after all.” Claudia stepped out of her wagon and watched her ox drink water. Carlos screwed up his face. He acted like a leader, but he didn’t stay in the front. Another man walked over.

“Why aren’t we moving?” the man asked. He scratched his wig. His name was George II.

“There’s a problem. Poet boy and her want to stay here.” Carlos took out his whip. He just wanted to get away from these people. Suddenly there was a loud noise and the carriage in the front was about a mile away.

“We need to move!” George II yelled. Everyone slipped back inside they’re carriages except Lawrence. He walked down near the creak and started back writing his poems. Then, something happened and a flash of light appeared. The other four carriages went on fast to catch up with the carriage in the front. The man in the front’s name was Manfred Jenson and he just wanted a kind of city that would have some sort of museum that people could go to and a bunch of the buildings would be gold. The carriages went past many fields that Claudia would have liked, but she wanted a place hidden away. It was dark and then light again. They all stopped to rest.


The next day, they journeyed on and ate porridge. Manfred wanted a random environment. He whipped his ox and his carriage began to go farther than the rest. They rode past a small town that was deserted.

“I wonder where the people went,” Claudia said. She grabbed some dirt from the ground and wiped it off on the cloth covering her wagon. The carriages rode past an intersection and then came to railroad tracks. A train’s horn began to blare and a train started coming down. Manfred drove right across the train tracks as the sticks fell down.

“Manfred! What did I tell you?!” Carlos almost ran into the train as it passed by with cattle and corn aboard. Manfred kept on going. He was happy to be away from the rest of them. He road across a log bridge and onto a small island with many trees. He stopped and looked back for a second. To his horror, the bridge began to collapse. He struggled to stay on the island. He couldn’t swim, so he guessed this would be where he would settle. The other three carriages appeared and they looked across the trench.

“I guess that will just have to be where he settles,” George II said.

“Where’s Lawrence?!” Carlos spout. He looked back.

“You have to stop controlling us. He must’ve found a place to settle. George and I will be going now.”

“It’s the II.” The two carriages started to drive away. Carlos kept looking at that small island and finally started to follow the others.

On the island, Manfred realized that this wasn’t that small of an island. It was like some sort of forest. He kept walking and then came to a steep cliff. He looked down and saw a giant field and he imagined the golden city. The city would be surrounded by giant trees. He then sat down and wrote his plans.













Two



It was 231 years, 23 days, and 2 minutes later. The city was exactly what Manfred wanted it to be like. There were nice gold buildings for people to live their lives in. There was a meeting hall and a space museum in the center and people had always visited it. The town was called Enclosure Island. No one even knew it was an island, because it was so large. Everyone behaved as they should and obeyed a ruler. It was the 123rd ruler now and he was starting to get old. Many people who worked at the space museum began to explore going into space somehow. It was a great thought, but in this town no one knew that Armstrong and Aldrin already did that and many astronauts. This town was very enclosed. It was summer. Everyone was out of school. A group of children played on the playground and played baseball in the diamond. It seemed to be the perfect city. The ruler’s name was Phillip Wienhart and many people called him Phil. He walked past a few people making a spaceship. It had a banner of the city’s name and had many windows. “Great work! I know that this will be a successful journey!” he said. The people turned around and bowed.

“Thank you!” Phillip walked past the line of jetpacks clipped to the wall. They were for emergencies. Many people were worried that something would go wrong, but Phil knew that nothing would go wrong. A family walked around in the space museum. They checked out the many exhibits and saw the progress on the spaceship. People did this all the time. Soon, they would be ready to start their journey. When people died in this city, it was not made official and tombs were hidden underground. The only people who knew how to get down there were the people who worked for that. Family members didn’t even know if one of their siblings died unless they saw them drop dead. That was very unlikely. The ruler went back into his room which was the top level of the meeting hall. The meeting hall was five stories high and the museum was four. They towered over most of the other buildings except the theatre and the school. Phil opened the door to his room and sat down on his grand golden bed. No one else had a room like his, but it made sense. Every house had three yellow single beds and one orange double bed. There were two bathrooms in every house and a plasma screen TV. It only was news about Enclosure Island and shows about people surviving on islands. People didn’t watch TV much in this town. A young man named Bruce Tudor walked into his house on the edge of the town. He was very unknown and he wanted to be known, because people basically pushed him away like no one stood there when he went around the city. His long black hair showed that he was different than many people. He sat down on the couch and read. The door opened and his mother and father walked in.

“Hello, son.” Bruce looked up. He didn’t care for his parents very much. They always convinced him that living normal was the way to go.

“Hi, guys.” He continued reading his book about space travel. It had never happened, but he had thought about what it would be like. It had actually happened a long time ago, but these people had different insights.

*

Back at the meeting hall, people were coming in for the meeting of the week. Each chair had the name of the person to sit in it. Phil appeared behind golden curtains and proceeded forward to the podium. The Tudor family was late! “So, this has been a great week. The Ship will be done in two days and then we can go on our journey!” All of the people cheered and then Phil saw the three empty chairs. The door flew opened and the Tudor family ran to their seats. Bruce was not liking going to these meetings. “Some of us may be late to remember their place, but they may renew themselves.” Bruce suddenly was smiling. The ruler was talking to him! “So, we have a base tower on the high hill and that will be our point to watch how people will do in the spaceship. I think it will be a success!” Phil looked through his book with all his plans. He didn’t have anything else to say. “Do any of you have questions you would like to share that would benefit the city?” he asked. No one spoke “That will wrap up the meeting. Thanks for coming and don’t be late next time!” The lights went off and people went out the doors.
“You know. You could have reminded us about the meeting!” Mrs. Tudor said. Her name was Victoria and she had the same color hair as her son that was usually in a bun.
“Mom, you don’t know me.” Bruce walks off leaving his parents looking at each other.














Three


The next day, Phil went to the second floor of the meeting hall. This room was built like an auditorium and had a small stage. This was where they went for the Season Pageants with meetings. People saw who was the prettiest. A girl named Penny won the last year. He got up on the stage and imagined the audience. Maybe this was better for meetings. The theatre could be used for the pageants. He thought it over very hard.

*

Bruce bumped into a girl and she fell over. “Sorry about that.” He looked down and saw it was a beautiful girl. He helped her up and they went into the library.

“So, Bruce, what do think of the journey?” she asked. She had brown curly hair and big blue eyes.

“I’m very excited! I haven’t seen you anywhere. What is your name?” Bruce said.

“Sophia Songbird. You know me from school.” Bruce was astonished. This girl was the same girl he was partners with in Chemistry! She had changed greatly. Bruce saw a golden book on a shelf. “So, did you sign up for the trip into space?” Sophia asked.

“Sign up?” He was a little confused.

“You’d better do it before it’s too late!” He ran out of the library. Sophia sat down and read a book she found.


When he got there, Phil was sitting on a couch.

“Hello. You’re Bruce, aren’t you?” he asked.

“Yes, master. Where is the sign up sheet for the journey? I’d like to-.” The ruler got up slowly. He had a cramp in his back.

“I’m sorry. The list is full and ready. You won’t be able to go onto it. I’m very sorry.” Bruce looked at the ground feeling horrible.

“Well, if I can be of any help, I will.” Bruce left the space museum. When he was inside, he noticed that the ship was finally ready for flying. Phil thought over the journey once again. Nothing could go wrong. The rest of the day went by pretty fast and Bruce slumped around. He was mad that he had never went over and signed the paper. Although, he was polite just like everyone else. For women this was supposed to be their specialty. They were supposed to just sit. Bruce walked back inside the library.

*

Phillip Wienhart smiled at people that he walked past. A woman appeared in front of him.

“Excuse me, but I would like help. I haven’t been feeling quite well,” she said. He smiled at her and walked to the meeting hall. Every ruler had the responsibility to help everyone who needed help. Phil did this very well. When he got there, he waited on the woman. She smiled. “I thank you so much! You are the best ruler we have ever had!” He smiled. He loved helping people, but he guessed that was the last person. He turned the radio on and listened to music.

*

Bruce had found Sophia again. She told him all the things he didn’t know about her. “You know. I think that maybe I can help save any of you who doesn’t make it.”

“That’s just strange. I’m sorry, but I don’t think that would happen. This is going to be a great journey.” Bruce closed the book he was reading.

“The library’s closing in five minutes!” one of the librarians said. The two of them had talked for a while!

“Sophia, something tells me that you’re not going to be here when the ship is in space. You’re going aren’t you.”

“Yes. That was a nice talk with you, but we both have our lives ahead of us.” She scooted her chair away and grabbed her bag. Bruce looked up at her. Sophia walked out the double doors and left him alone in the now dark library.














Four



It was the day of the journey! Everyone was getting excited and running to the space museum to grab their supplies. There were many spectators who just watched the fifteen people get into their space suits. Phil stood at a podium as the people got ready.

“So, this is a mighty day! I will go down the list of who is going on the journey.” Bruce pushed through a crowd of people. He looked around for Sophia. He then saw her strap on her gold helmet. The group fixed their suits and stood in front of everyone. “Sophia Songbird is also going! Patrick Winston is going. And lastly, Morgan Volven will be going on the journey. That is all fifteen!” The lights turned off on the stage and then all of the lights on the way to the take-off lit up. Bruce quickly ran past all of the people and inside the museum. Phil guided the fifteen people that were now fully in their space suits.

“I am so happy that today is the day!” Patrick said. He scratched his arm. Phil turned around and saw Patrick.

“You have a rash don’t you? I knew someone had one so there is lotion that will come out on your arm. Press the green button.” He pressed it and felt better instantly.

At the space museum, one jetpack was missing. Bruce threw a jet pack inside his bag and followed the people in the back. The walk was long, but everyone was excited.

Five minutes later, the group and spectators stopped at a small building with the ship sticking up from it. “So, here we are! Kevin, get in first. You will be guiding the group!” Kevin smiled. He was happy. He climbed inside the small door and sat down at the front seat. The rest of the people piled in and sat where they wanted to. Sophia sat at a window seat and smiled. Her smile soon faded. Maybe Bruce was right. She sat up and fixed her pants.

People from the outside watched as the ship began to take off. A bunch of smoke started to rise. Everyone cheered as they saw the ship take off. Bruce saw Sophia looking out a window. He had a slight smile. Phil sat inside the base tower. The ship kept on going up and then everyone began to walk up the steps to the base tower. Suddenly there was a loud noise. A silver piece from the space ship began to fall off.

Inside, Kevin tried to control where the spaceship was going.

“We’ve gotta get a new lever on this thing! It’s not moving!” he yelled. Everyone was in panic. Was it going to keep going up!

In the crowds of people walking up, one person was running. It was Bruce. He threw his backpack down and took the jetpack out. A few people looked surprised. He ran all the way to the top of the base and slid the jet pack on. Some pieces were falling off of the spaceship. Bruce jumped up and hit the button on the jetpack. The ship was suddenly going sideways and almost ran into a tall tree. Bruce flew across the sky.

“Bruce!” someone yelled. It was his father, Alfred. The ship suddenly was tipping all the way. Everyone inside was turning green and they were ready to throw up. Suddenly, the door flung open and Morgan fell out of the open latch. Bruce flew very fast and grabbed her. Morgan looked surprised. He saw that now the ship was going straight down.

“Everyone! Come over here!” Sophia looked out the window in amazement.

“Bruce. I think-.” Suddenly there was a loud wack and the ship had hit a tree. Phil was in so much panic. These people were going to die and it was all because he made this journey possible. Bruce grabbed Morgan and Edward and brought them down to the ground.

“We are so grateful, but there’s still thirteen people inside there!” Morgan said. The two of their parents ran over. There was a loud crash suddenly and a scream. Bruce turned around and saw Sophia flying away on a piece of glass with padding. A bunch of heads looked out where that was. Bruce kept flying and then saw her disappear behind the base. She was dead! He clipped his jetpack onto the spaceship before it slammed into the ground and it slowly came down. The twelve people got out.

“You saved us!” Patrick said. Everyone had their equipment broken. The spectators ran over and looked at Bruce. A door flung open on the base tower and Phil ran out.

“Bruce, that was a great rescue! If you wouldn’t have done anything, everyone would have been dead. I am so sorry for putting you all in danger. I am glad to announce that Bruce Tudor will be the next ruler!” He kept walking down the stairs. Some people cheered and others booed. Bruce ran up the stairs.

“Excuse me, but I thought you had to be a certain age to rule this city. I’m only eighteen.”

“I thank you for trying to go with the rules, but I’m getting old and I want to pass on my occupation. And for rescuing that many people, your ceremony will be tonight!” Phil smiled and walked off. After every ruler retired, they had a ceremony for the next ruler. Bruce wasn’t a ruler type, but he had to obey the rules. Although, he thought over what he could do when he ruled. The people he loved had died in front of him. Everyone walked back to the city. No one would be asking Phil for anything.














Five


Torches were lit. A long silver carpet was laid out. People began to come in and stand behind a small wire. Doors began to open and music played. Bruce came from behind a tree wearing a fancy outfit that would be what he would always wear on special occasions. His parents sat at thrones. That marked the end of living with them. Phil stood at the podium. “Here we gather today for the ceremony of Bruce Tudor. He will be our next ruler!” People clapped and cheered. “Thank you. However this will mean that I will retire from my ruling.” A few people looked sad. “So, now I am anchoring the ceremony over to Bruce. What do you have to say?” He looked over at him. Bruce stood at the podium at the opposite side.

“…I would just like to say that I had a lot of good times with all of you.” A person laughed in the back, but it was probably because it wasn’t true. No one was supposed to spurt anything out during ceremonies. “I will rule the heck out of this place!” People cheered.

“Now come up to get your sash.” Phil sat down at the chair. Bruce smiled at all of the people as they cheered. He kept walking up the silver carpet. Suddenly there was a scream. A small girl fell over with some green thing attached to her leg. Her mother held her up. Phil looked over past a few people. Bruce kept walking and smiling. He grabbed the sash and pressed a button. A bunch of confetti fell down. The woman and her child walked over to Phil.

“Excuse me, but my daughter has become sick. She was infected.”

“I’m sorry miss, but I don’t do that anymore. I can send you medical supplies, but that’s all.” Bruce walked to the meeting hall and went up the elevater. He entered the room he had never seen. Now he knew that he was in charge of everything. If someone had a complaint they would come into his office on the third floor. Bruce jumped onto the big golden bed and slept. His first plan was to rename the city. It would be called Bruce City. He laughed a little.

As the years went by, Bruce stopped taking care of people and thought it was useless. There was a giant silver sign that was put up with Bruce City on it. He wasn’t into the whole ruling thing. Phil had died a tragic death and people felt like their lives were over. A group of people walked into the medical building.

“We need help here. We all have major headaches. Can we get some medicine.”

“I’m sorry, but this building is closed. I’m not even able to take medicine!” The group stood there.

“I beg of you!” The doctor walked off feeling horrible.

Bruce lived how everyone else lived, which was the wrong way to rule. There were no meetings, which was nice but nothing was made clear. This place seemed hazardous, but there was more to come later.

















Six


It was 15 years since Bruce was elected to be the ruler. He was actually the right age to rule now and he felt even more alone than ever. He went back into his office and saw the usual line of people complaining. “You all need to settle down!”

“No, there’s no reason. I have a horrible cold and no one has done anything about it, because of you,” a woman said whose voice was going away. There was a bunch of bustling. Bruce closed his door shut. The door opened and a woman walked in.

“Hi, Bruce.” He turned around to see a girl he had known from high school.

“Mandy, what are you doing?”

“I just thought this town would be in better shape with you ruling.”

“Get out of here. There’s nothing I can do for you and this city is the same as before. You know it!” She walked out the door with a glare. The door opened and a boy and his mother came in and sat. Their food supply was running low. There were too many people though. Many were blocking the way to the door. The door opened again, but it wasn’t the same impact as any other person of the town walking in. There were many screams and many people jumped back. “What’s going on?” Bruce opened the door and saw something horrible. Everyone else now felt better. A young woman walked down the hall. She had a pretty face, but the rest of her was horrible. There were giant bugs that were the size of lemons crawling up her long skirt. She had marks all over her skin. There were many gashes covering her body. Bruce shivered a little. The boy ran over to the woman. His mom screamed and then followed. The door suddenly closed behind them. The two of them quickly hid behind a table. “Lady, you have giant bugs on your skirt!” Bruce yelled. A bunch of people were now peering in the window. Bruce ran over and pulled the shades down.

“You don’t understand, do you?! I was the girl who screamed at your ceremony. I’m not okay. These-.”

“Wait, what is your name?” he asked.

“Rita Wade. I can’t live like this anymore. I’ve been diseased and that scream was when it happened. I need something! I beg that you help me.” Bruce looked over at her.

“No can do. This is a place of living.” The child’s eyes grew big. Rita picked her bag up and threw it on the table. Bruce jumped out of his seat as he saw many of the same bugs coming out of her bag.

“These come from my skin every day. It wouldn’t be very polite if I had these, would I? You have to help me!”

“Get out of my office!!” The door flung open and everyone jumped back. Rita walked off. The boy looked at his mother. “You, too!” Bruce glared at the boy and his mother. Rita stormed down the road. She didn’t realize that she was dropping bugs on her way. People jumped back from the somewhat slime next to the bugs.

The boy walked with his mother out the door. Bruce kept looking out the window. Some freaky woman had just walked in to his office. He wasn’t going to help anyone. The boy knelt down. His mother put her arm on his shoulder.

“We should leave this town, shouldn’t we?” he said.

“Yes. This place is going to be dangerous. Let’s go!” The mother ran with her son and no one even noticed. “I don’t want my boy to be diseased.” The two kept running and went right out of the city boundaries. No one even saw them run off away from the city that they had lived in for their whole life. Everyone was way too shocked by Rita that it didn’t occur to them that two people had left the city behind.















Seven



A building stood at about the outskirts of the town. This building was where a couple lived that used to love children, but now wished there was no such thing. Their names were Paul and Lisa Wade. They were relaxing by the fire.

“Don’t you love our house?” Lisa asked.

“It is splendid, my dear. I just wish though that our ruler will have another meeting. It has got very boring around here.” There was suddenly a loud knock on the glass door. “I’ll get it.” Paul walked down the hallway and opened the door. Paul cringed. It was his daughter, Rita.

“Dad! I want someone to comfort me.” His slight smile faded into an angry frown.

“Who is it?” Lisa appeared in the hallway. She had fainted. Paul grabbed his wife. Rita walked in. Paul turned around and pushed her out the door.

“We don’t want you here. You’re diseased and you have disgusting bugs coming from you.”

“Dad.”

“Go back to your apartment.” The door was slammed. Rita sat on a step. Tears fell down. No one cared for her and it wasn’t even her own fault. No one had helped her get cured. She jumped and felt her back. A bug had bit inside her. She fell onto the pavement feeling horrible pain.

*


The young boy sat with his mother on a giant branch. “I don’t get how this is an island.”

“Well, settlers came here on a bridge and well, it is bigger than it looks from afar, I guess.” The woman smiled. Her name was Wendy and her son’s name was Matthew.

“This is like an adventure!” The two of them got up and kept walking down the forest that seemed to never end.

*

Bruce sat next the picture of Sophia .He was in the meeting room on the first floor which was now trashed. Sophia had brown glasses in the picture. She had died and it was terrible. It was the day after he had heard the complaint from the infected girl. A door suddenly burst open. Bruce hid the picture under a cloth that was covering a couple of chairs.

“A man and woman want to see you. This place is a mess!” his assistant, Jerry Steinwell, said.

“Bring them in.” He didn’t want anymore complaints for a long time. Jerry disappeared and two people walked in. The people were Paul and Lisa Wade. “Hello.”

“You probably don’t know us. We live on the outskirts of town in a house made out of stone. It is glorious! I’m Lisa Wade and this is my husband, Paul.” Lisa smiled.

“We have noticed that these rooms just look like storage. We want meetings to know what’s going on in this town.” Bruce suddenly remembered what Rita’s last name was.

“Get out of here!” Lisa jumped back.

“I don’t understand?”

“Your daughter is a hazard to this community! You did this to her!” Bruce said.

“No, it’s because the hospitals are closed and no one is getting helped. You made all of this happen!” Paul said.

“Paul, let’s get out of here. It will-.” Paul punched Bruce.

The door slammed shut and Paul and Lisa were thrown out of the building. The two of them walked off. “No wonder there are so many complaints! We should leave this place. It will only get worse.”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Paul and Lisa turned around and saw the assistant of the ruler. “I don’t think it’s safe out there. No one has ventured that far before.

*

Wendy and her son walked on into a giant field. “We have been walking for such a long time, mom.”

“We can rest, but we should be hidden.” They climbed past a tree and found a small shelter in between where two trees had fallen. As Wendy slept, she kept thinking of how the island seemed to get much bigger when the settlers came onto it. She was unsure if they would get to the water and what if it was a strong river? She patted Matthew on the back trying to comfort him.

*

Rita woke up and got up. There was dry blood all over the pavement. She shivered. She was losing blood. She felt her back and almost fell over. Her back fell completely metallic and wispy. She fell over letting her bag go upside and letting all of the bugs out. Rita screamed, but it didn’t seem strange anymore.

















Eight


A little girl walked down the road and suddenly slipped. She got up and she was covered in strange liquid. It was all green. The girl looked scared. A woman passed the girl.

“Get out of there!” the woman yelled. The girl suddenly fell over. The woman had disgust on her face. She ran away from the goop on the ground. It was starting to grow behind her.

*


Bruce drew a picture of a giant scull. “No one should proceed here!” He colored it and stuck it to the door of the meeting hall. A few people ran away from it as they came near. He went back inside and jumped on a sheet covering some chairs. The door opened. “What did I say!” It was Jerry. “Oh.”

“What is with that strange symbol on the entrance? I have concerns.”

“I don’t want people coming in here anymore.” Bruce stood up knocking a chair over.

“And there should be meetings. It’s rule number two. You do have to follow the rules of a ruler, though.”

“I’m not going to. The ruler is the head, so if you say anything that I don’t like I can fire you.”

“That’s also not a rule also.” Jerry opened up a handbook.

“Is there a rule that a woman can walk around with a disease?”

“No!”

“There is a woman and she’s crazy. She must not be following the rules either.”

“Oh. I’ll be going.”

“And another thing! YOU’RE FIRED!” Jerry left the meeting hall. His life was over. He always wanted to obey the laws, but now he was going to rebel.

*

Some people still didn’t know that there was a crazy lady with bugs who used to be normal a long time before. They walked normally. A man came out of the library and suddenly there was a loud “squash”. He lifted his foot up and saw a giant bug that was covered in blood. He yelped and ran off away from the pile of bugs.

As days went on, many people regarded where they stepped, but something else was happening. The goop was starting to evaporate into a gas of some kind. Inside a brown house marked 333, a mother sat with her husband waiting for her daughter to come home from being at the library.

“We don’t really know what to do. Is it really safe to go outside anymore?”

“Our daughter is out there, but I’m thinking that she will be alright.” The father’s name was Alfred and he looked out the window and saw bugs climbing inside. The mother screamed. Her name was Rebecca. The father slammed the window down, but the bug had leapt straight at him. He fell over squirming. The door opened slowly.

“It is different out there. I think I have a cut.” Kate showed her mom the band-aid. “What happened to Daddy?”

“He is just going to be fine. I know it.” She looked back at her husband. He looked like he was in a lot of pain.

“I can’t breathe!” He grabbed the rug scraping it. The cat scurried off just as that happened.

“Maybe it isn’t good. Let me see your cut,” Rebecca said grabbing her daughter’s arm.

“It’s just a little cut.” She peeled the band-aid off. “Ouch!” As Rebecca looked down at Kate’s cut, she saw that it was green. There was no red at all.

“This is bad!”

*

Rita got up again, but felt completely different. She felt like she was in a dream. She grabbed the ground and saw that there was green mist everywhere. She suddenly felt taller. She felt her back again. It still felt horribly metallic and wispy. She touched her other hand and jumped back. It was small and there were little claws coming from it. A group walked by and turned around. Rita smiled at the people, but it didn’t work. The group screamed and ran away, but this wasn’t like what they were like the days before. They were scared, they weren’t grossed out. Rita slowly felt her face and gasped. She had pincers instead of a mouth. She felt here eyes and they were two round holes. She tried to scream, but all that came out was a buzzing noise. Rita felt her stomach. She was definitely not human. It was all big and metallic with many layers of skin. She saw the reflection of herself on a bus with wide-eyed passengers. She had become a giant version of what she hated!














Nine



Matthew and his mother were so hungry and there was nothing. Their clothes were torn by now and it was awful. Matthew’s stomach was growling.

“We’ll find something to eat. I don’t really know where, though.” They walked on past more and more of the very tall trees.

“Maybe we should climb these trees, mom.”

“I don’t know about that. I don’t think it would work.” Wendy looked at all the dirt and grass on her nice purple pants. “Agh!” Matthew suddenly was running. “Hey! Wait for me!”

“There’s some sort of berry plant. It looks like a giant blackberry!” Matthew touched a giant blackberry. His mother came over. They began eating the delicious “berry plant”. Although, they didn’t know what else was in this giant forest.

*

Jerry Stevens had torn down all of his posters about obeying. They were in the foyer to the meeting hall. He sat down and rolled them up. He threw them in the garbage.

“So are you going to go, or what?!”

“Yes!” Jerry looked out the window for a second and saw a giant bug walking across the street. “Do you think I could stay here a night?”

He was thrown out the door. He ran away from the screams. Suddenly Jerry couldn’t breathe. And then he fell over.

*

At the brown house marked 333, a woman started throwing gasoline tanks on the roof. She lit them on fire smiling. From way above you could see that the tanks read “SOS”.
“We’re going to get help. It-.” She turned to see her husband. He had a face that made Rebecca scream.
“Alfred, your face!” Alfred stepped forward. She watched as he morphed into some weird looking bug with long antennas. Rebecca walked back. “Stay away from me.” She kneeled down and grabbed a tool to clean the chimney and turned it around. Rebecca pointed the stick at her husband. Alfred suddenly was off the ground and smiling. Rebecca jumped back. She heard a bunch of loud buzzing. “You have become some sort of monster!” Kate came out the door to the upper level. Rebecca was crouched under the chimney.
“What’s going on mom? Why are you hiding.” She looked up terrified. “That’s dad, isn’t it?!” Rebecca turned to Kate and nodded. Rebecca motioned for her daughter to come over.
“I told him that his face was bad. Rebecca, there’s no way we are going to get out of this place alive. People are becoming these mutants. It was on the news!”
“At least when we die, we’ll stay together!” Kate put her arm around her mother. The mother turned her head and yelled. “What?!”
“Your arm.” Kate looked at her arm and screamed. It was some sort of arm that looked like a twisted wire.

*

Bruce thought about why his old assistant was scared of going outside. There just was a strange green mist. He started to write plans for a small meeting on living a better life. Bruce only did this because people always loved these meetings before. A few people walked by that were covering their mouths. Suddenly, there was a loud crash. Bruce got up quickly and ran out into the foyer. There was some black junk all across the floor. Bruce suddenly saw what it was. It was the remnants of a giant black bug. He ran up the stairs quickly to the next level. He needed to stay calm. It was very hard!

A little bit outside the window that was now gone, a twisted gray hand emerged from a pile of blood. People were screaming all over the city and many were choking on the gas. The city was something horrible.

















Ten


Paul and Lisa Wade were still inside their house. “We should never go outside. Did you see the news?!” Lisa nodded. The doorbell rang.
“That’s probably the groceries!” She walked over to the door and opened it. It was a giant bug. She screamed. Paul looked down the hall.
“CLOSE the DOOR!” Lisa struggled with it, but close it squashing it inside.
“There! We aren’t even going to open the door anymore!” Lisa was out of breath. She walked back into the kitchen and. Her husband saw a long strip of goop on the back of her dress.
“Lisa, you have something on your back.” She felt her back and then fell over. A smaller one had bit her in the back. Paul ran over and tried to help her up.

*

Matthew and his mother had wiped some of the berry off of their faces on leaves.

“I should have brought some tissues!” Wendy said. She wiped her nose on a leaf.

“How do you think the town is doing now?” Matthew asked.

“I think we might have done the wrong thing. The people back at town are probably doing way better than us, but we can’t go back. We must find civilization!” She looked very worried.

*

Bruce was glad to see no one waiting to order a complaint. He sat in his office, but he was a little scared. He kept looking out the window and just seeing the green mist. Maybe he had done something wrong? He went back to drawing little skulls. A loud noise occurred. Bruce looked out the window and saw the old space ship sever in half. A bunch of the space museum began to fall apart. Something was out there. Now Bruce felt the same way that his assistant had. There was suddenly a knock on the door. He looked out another window and saw two police trucks. He got up and walked over to the door. “Hello. Please come in. I am so lonely.” The police officers walked in.

“I believe we are the only ones surviving this epidemic.”

“I don’t think so.” Suddenly a woman with dark hair in a ponytail popped her head from behind a desk.

“Hi. I snuck in here through the broken window!” A police man smiled.

“I don’t think the people are dead though. I saw the space museum split apart with my eyes!” Bruce said. One of the police men looked out the window and saw the destroyed museum.

“Maybe we should go check it out. You two can stay here.” The police men left. Bruce turned around.

“So, are there any others that came in like you did?”

“What are these black things?” the woman said from the other room. Bruce entered.

“I don’t really know. It crashed through the window.” The woman looked at the window.

“Wait, you’re Bruce Tudor aren’t you?” He nodded. “You rescued me and I’m so grateful, but I don’t get what happened to this town as the years went on. I’m Morgan.”

“I stopped taking care of people and some disease started.”

*

The police officers walked down the roads with gas masks on. They walked past a bunch of tall grass growing on the ground.
“I ah… don’t know what to say. This place is so different than when I was a kid.” They kept on walking past houses that had no one in them. They walked past the sign that said Bruce City, but it looked like “Bruc City”. The “e” was missing. Suddenly the “r” fell off. One police officer turned around and saw the “c” twist around and latch onto a branch making it look like a “g”. A loud noise occurred. All the rest of the police officers were running and screaming except the one looking at the sign.
“Bug City?” There was suddenly a dark shadow. He slowly turned around and saw a giant beetle with red eyes. “No!” It clamped down over him. Everyone was becoming the bugs they hated!














Eleven


Bruce gave Morgan a cup of coffee. He sat down on the couch in the waiting room. He didn’t realize how lovely this woman had become.

“What was the reason that you didn’t want to do this anymore?” She asked. She took a sip of the coffee.

“I wouldn’t really want to say. I feel alone wherever I go.”

“Me too. It’s never just like it was in high school.” She opened her purse and took out her ID. Morgan gave it to Bruce. “I became what I didn’t want to become in the first place. I’m a writer for the newspaper that goes strictly into the law.” Bruce remembered sitting in the cafeteria at the school and listening to Morgan complain about her controlling mother.

“You went with your parents, didn’t you? Well I kind of did too.” Morgan nodded. She grabbed her planner and opened it up.

“The police men are probably done inspecting the museum.” Bruce had completely forgotten about what had happened at the museum. The door opened quickly. Bruce and Morgan got up.

“How was it?” he asked.

“We have a problem.” The door suddenly burst down right behind the police men.

“I thought there were four of you,” Morgan said. She slipped her planner back in her purse and walked towards the rest of them.

“We lost one.” A giant shadow cast near where the door had been. A giant bug entered the room.

“What the hell is that?!” Morgan said. She grabbed a stapler and tried to throw it at the giant bug, but it missed and pierced the wall.

“This- this is Rita’s doings!” Bruce said.

“Who is that?!” The group ran past a bunch of offices that used to occupy many workers.

“I have a secret way out.” Bruce grabbed a picture and threw it off. He unfastened a board and a door opened. The bug broke a table as it plowed through it. Morgan screamed and ran in the door after one of the police men. The five of them ran down a dark hallway and were outside near a small garden.

“I think we’ve lost it,” a police man said. Morgan slipped inside a small closet to get her bag. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her. She screamed.


Bruce heard the scream and scrambled inside the dark closet.

“I’m okay. I found another survivor!” Morgan said as a giant box of light appeared. Bruce climbed out and saw a man with a scrape lying on the ground.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yes. I just almost was killed by one of those bugs. So, we are the only survivors, are we not?” the man said. He got up slowly and wrapped a piece of gauze around his leg. His name was Max and she knew him. Morgan was sitting with Bruce on a bench in the garden.

“You really know your way around here. I was just wondering how you said Rita before. Were you in love with her?” Morgan asked. She brushed wood chips off her skirt.

“No! She was this wretched girl who became diseased by some bug bite. I knew something like this was going to happen.”

“So who were you in love with, because I know that that’s why this happened.” Bruce didn’t answer.

*


Matthew and his mother each ate a granola bar that Wendy had brought. “I don’t know if we’ll ever get there.”

“I really do hope we do.” Wendy tried to bite the bar. “These are old.” She threw the one at a tree. There was suddenly a cell-phone ring. Wendy dug through her purse and opened it. It wasn’t her cell-phone that was ringing. Matthew picked up a broken piece of plastic that looked like a cell-phone. Wendy grabbed it and clicked the talk button. “Hello. Whoever you are, try to save us!”

“Who is this?!” Bruce’s voice came on. Wendy slumped.

“This is Wendy. Me and my son are running away. It was too chaotic in town.”

“I’m glad you are alive, but how did you pick the phone up? It wasn’t your cell-phone.”

“It was just lying on the ground. It looks like a dog was chewing on it.”

“Or a bug.” The line went dead.

“A bug?” Wendy asked. She set the phone down. It was probably one of Bruce’s old phones that was carried out here by something.

“Haven’t you tried calling the police for a rescue mission?” Matthew asked. Wendy suddenly perked up and took her phone out. She dialed and listened.

“Hello. How may I help you?” a man’s voice came on. It sounded very loud.

“Hi. I am stranded on an island with my son and we can’t get out. We’d like a rescue mission. It is Enclosure Island!” Wendy smiled.

“Is there anyone there? Hello?”

“THIS IS WENDY EDWARDS AND MATTHEW EDWARDS!” The phone hung up. “How did he not hear us? You heard me, didn’t you?” Matthew was holding his ears. “I’m sorry.” Wendy hugged her son.

















Twelve



Bruce guided the group along as they walked past many vacant houses. Morgan nudged him.

“You still never told me who it was.”

“I don’t think it matters anymore.”

“Bruce, just say the name.”

“Sophia Songbird.” Morgan looked blank.

“Who is that?”

“I knew you wouldn’t remember. I’m the only one who saw her die. Everyone else was too focused on the breaking space ship.”

“The name is kind of coming to me. Well-.”

“We’re surrounded!” Max yelled. Everyone looked up and saw five giant bugs coming from around. They panicked. Morgan ran inside a small tunnel. The rest followed. Max picked up a long branch that was from a tree.

“Morgan! Wait for us.” Bruce yelled. The group ran to catch up with the woman. The group stopped for a moment.

“She’s too far ahead. We need to take a break.” Bruce kept running after Morgan. “Bruce.” He turned around but kept running.

“I will figure this out.” He kept going. The police men and Max sat in the cold tunnel.

“We need to somehow get out of this town. I don’t think it’s going to happen.” Max set his head down on a giant nail and looked up at the wood ceiling.

“Don’t say that. We will keep doing our jobs until everyone is safe.” The police man took out a small light and set it in the middle. “A makeshift fire.” They enjoyed the small light and tried to sleep. After a while, suddenly one police man was in a different spot of the tunnel.

“What’s going on?” Max said getting up slowly because of his leg.

“There’s something in here.” Suddenly a bugs eyes shown from above and it dropped down from the ceiling. All four of them jumped back. Two police men began shooting it. The bug pounced right onto the one who was still trying to get his gun out. He felt the claws on him. Suddenly it was off of him and there was a loud cement crash. The police man help up his light and saw that Max was smiling holding the branch.

*

Bruce headed up a flight of stairs and saw that he was in the post office. He was a little confused. He heard a door slam shut. He ran inside an office door. Bruce looked inside the still-lit office. There were many papers in piles on the ground and on a small desk, but he saw some dark figure scrunched up in the corner.

He touched her back. She wasn’t dead or sleeping. There were tears. Bruce hugged her and her eyes opened. Bruce got up and then saw that her eyes were opened. “Why were you crying?” he asked.

“This place is horrible. I knew that girl. Now I see what death is like!” Morgan said through sobs. He held her in his arms.

“I know. We need to get out of here and just start fresh.” He felt the same way she did. There were suddenly a few footsteps. Morgan turned around and saw the police men. She released Bruce.

“Sorry to disturb you, but bugs are everywhere around here. We’re pretty sure they’re going to come here pretty soon.” Bruce looked surprised. He turned around and left the office. The group walked off looking for a door to enter. Max grabbed a piece of metal that had fallen out of a package. He walked over to a door with a wooden piece in front of it. He sliced it off with the metal. A door opened up that was very dark inside.

“Thanks!” Bruce said. The group went inside the crammed dark tunnel. The tunnel seemed to curve almost all the way around. And then there was a flight of stairs going down.

“I don’t know about this. How will we get out from a basement?” Morgan asked. She looked a little scared from the slight light that the police man’s flashlight did.

“We don’t know what’s down there, but I have a feeling that there will be a way out.” They went down the stairs with a flashlight in front. The staircase seemed to go on for a long time until there was a small stone walkway leading up to a metal door.

“What is this?” Max asked. There was a small word combination lock in the middle and a broken rusted handle. It looked like no one had opened it before.

“Try D-E-A-D,” Bruce said. There were four letters to the word lock. One of the police men put it in. There was a loud click and it opened.

“How did you know that?” the police man asked. Bruce didn’t say anything as he watched a giant room appear before his eyes. It was an underground cemetery!














Thirteen


There was suddenly a loud crash. A police man shut the door quickly and they walked past all of the many graves. A bunch of lights began to turn on inside the underground cemetery.

“This is so horrible. It’s set like this so you can’t even mourn who died!” Morgan said. She looked at the name tablets. Max comforted her and went into another room. Bruce was way ahead of the rest of them. He went down a few steps and pushed a small door away. There was one small torch in the center of the room and three tombs. He walked over and saw who each one was. They were Kevin Williams, Victoria Spencer, and then he came to a tomb that was empty. He looked up and saw who it was: Sophia Songbird. He was so confused. Maybe it was getting cleaned. Suddenly he noticed a blur light in the corner of his eye. Bruce turned and saw a metal door at the end of the room. “What’s going on in there, Bruce?!” Morgan said from far away.

“Nothing. I’ll be back in a second.” He couldn’t resist. Bruce ran into the metal door. He was surprised to find a sort of hospital room behind it. A doctor turned around. She was cleaning the room. “How did you-?”

“Don’t say anything. I took all the supplies I could get from the hospital, because I had a feeling you weren’t going to do well at ruling. I cured people down here who were still alive.”

“Like who?” Bruce asked. He saw there was a stairway in the corner. He sat on a small bench.

“They’re probably-.” There were footsteps scraping against the ground. Bruce walked back into the room with the tombs. He crept behind the tomb of Victoria Spencer and fell over.

“Bruce, is that you?” a voice suddenly appeared. He rolled over into the light and saw who it was. A now woman wearing a blue dress with the same curly hair.

“Sophia!” He hugged her. “I’m so glad you are alive!”

“Wait a second, so all of this stuff about the city was all because I was dead?!” she said. Bruce slowly nodded. She got up and ran out the door. “I thought we could count on you!” Bruce got up and saw that Morgan was standing in the corner. He looked ashamed.

“So this was all just her. How did you even like her? She’s was so popular,” she asked.

“I thought you were sad that she was dead.”

“No, I didn’t like her.”

“I thought she knew me, but I guess not.”

“You thought wrong. This place is way too depressing. I think we should find the exit.”

“I already found it. Another thing, you have understood me and we have both been there for each other.” Morgan nodded. Bruce kissed her and she smiled.

“Where is it then?” Bruce pointed to the metal door. The rest of the group ended up following.

*

Sophia ran past all of the graves. “I need to leave this place!” She grabbed the heavy door and opened it. A giant bug with fangs came right down on her and there was a scream.

*


Matthew walked with his mother. Soon they were running. There was suddenly a loud rustling noise. “Mom, there’s something out there.” Wendy grabbed a stick and held it up to where the grass was moving.

“I’ve got it covered.” Suddenly, some giant thing came flying out from the tall grass. Wendy watched the thing pounce and saw that it was a giant raccoon.

“That’s not normal!” Matthew yelled. The two of them started to run away. But the raccoon began to gain on them. Suddenly it went down and grabbed the two of them.

“No!” Wendy yelled. She and her son were eaten by the predator. Maybe it was a small world after all.

*

The group of survivors was bigger, now that they had rescued who had been cured in the underground cemetery. Bruce led the group as they ran up the flights and flights of stairs. “I knew we could get out!” Morgan smiled. After a long time, they came to the hospital and went out the door. The police men looked surprised. The strange green mist was way more heavy. Morgan tried to grab the door and get back inside, but she couldn’t. They all struggled out of the mist, but they couldn’t. And then they were dead. It’s just how it went.

Actually, the settler didn’t realize it at the time, but he shrunk to the size of a berry. This town was supposed to fall and people get infected, because they were all too small. So now you know why bugs always want to have a place to stay in your house. Enclosure Island/Bruce City was just the start of bugs in the future!

*

In a small shack near the railroad crossing, a man bought a bagel and walked out the door. He Walked around and saw an island with no way to get to it. There was suddenly a loud buzzing noise. He turned around and saw a swarm of bugs coming from the island. “Ah!” He ran away as the bugs chased him.