“It’s for the best,” the President sighed, and signed the document. With regret he whispered, “For the human race.”

The oval office went silent, the men standing in the room knew this was probably the hardest decision any president would have to make. The president stood up and clapped his hands. The men just let out a sigh. It would be a long month or two of work. To put up this massive wall around the city, it would take strength and commitment.

“Well, get to work men. Make me and the whole city proud,” the President said, rubbing his head, knowing that the men were risking their lives for their city.

“With pleasure, Mr. President,” one of the men said from the crowd, “we'll get this done and all the people will be safe. Just relax.”

The President let out a big grin, “I know you guys will.” The men, with mixed emotions, filed out of the room. Each shaking the president’s hand and signing a piece of paper. Only one of the fifty men, knew that this was nothing he was soon going to forget.



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A Month Or So Later

The wall was coming up nicely, only a few pieces needed to be put on. The fifty men were proud and tired, they have been working non stop on this huge, confidential project. They couldn’t tell their family anything, none of the citizens of Zerg knew why the wall was being put up. Kids would run lunch or dinner to their fathers and ask, “Whatcha doing?” Each and very one of them would get the same bland answer, “Work.” All of them would run to their moms and tell them that their dads didn’t say why they were building this wall.

Only one citizen, Jenny Bealer who is a spouse to one of the men, Carl Bealer, knew. He has been known to keep secrets but he felt like an idiot to not tell his wife, besides she understood and was all for the wall. Of course it took a little persuasion to make her feel like it wasn’t a trap. Carl’s spouse is pregnant with their first child and is due in a month. She has been having mood swings and has been visiting the doctor almost every day for the past week.

With the wall days away from being finished, the city has been hopping with questions about the strange wall. Many are saying that the president wants to keep us from communicating with other societies or something weird like that. Jenny has kept her mouth shut but has been close to exploding.



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After The Walls Up

The wall finally is up but there’s one problem the President just noticed. That the lake their taking water from is practically empty and that they’d have to do something. His plan was to find a way to get water from the other side of the wall but he didn’t know how to do that yet.

After a day or so of thinking, he sent Carl Bealer out to gather some men to explore the outside world they were hiding from. Carl gathered his friends and some people that put the wall up and headed to the oval office. Once there, the president told them his plan:

“I want you men to make tunnels under the ground to get outside the wall. If you haven’t noticed Lake Harrison is running low and we need plenty of water to survive. I want you guys to make a map of tunnels and make two copies. One for me and future presidents and one for you to hide somewhere in the city. The series of tunnels will be called ‘Pipe Works’ it will provide jobs for people and an escape path for the citizens.

“There has to be plenty of tunnels and pipes to get water to every house in the city. It also has to be wide enough for at least five people to walk down at once. The main building is to be on the ground but a chain of stairs will lead down to the tunnels and pipes. Any questions?”

Out of breath the president sat down in his spinning chair and stared at the men before him.

Carl raised his hand, “Why would we need to escape Zerg? We have the wall to protect us from the creatures out there.” He looked at the president and glanced at the others around him who shook their heads with agreement.

“Well, as you know we put up a wall. But unfortunately the wall won’t last that long. It will erode and chip and crumble like any old wall would. The creatures will figure out how to get in Zerg to kill us. They feed on the blood and meat of humans, they can only go so long without it. From the records, they haven’t eaten since three years ago when Vince Rockfeller ran from the city and never came back. It’s about time for their feast. They’ll do anything to feast on us. Even if it means to tear down a big wall,” the President explained, folding his hands.

“Then why did we put up the wall and waste the money if they were just going to come attack anyway,” Carl complained his head turning like one of those spinning tops.

“You put it up to protect us, Carl. It will last at least a hundred years unless we get attacked beforehand. But we can solve that problem by sacrificing ten of our citizens. I was thinking all the ones in jail or any of the volunteers that are willing to die for this city to set back the attack. You, Carl, don’t need to worry I have every thing under control.”

“I don’t think you do, Mr. President. You don’t know if any people will volunteer or if there’s that many criminals in jail. What happens if no one wants to kill themselves for this city? What if no one cares if this city crumbles or gets destroyed? Right now I don’t know what to think!”

The president stared and excused the group of men to get to work on the Pipe Works. He was left with the vision of the city being under attack imprinted in his brain and it wasn’t pretty.


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Pipe Works

The men walked through one of the many tunnels they finished building and walked into the sunlight. They had made it to the outside world which is what the president wanted. Not knowing what to do next, they set up a bunch of folding tables and started to make the maps of the tunnels. It was hard to do because it had to be precise and right on the target. No splotches or dots and no rips or holes. The maps had to be perfect. The men agreed that Carl should draw the maps so they sat around and stared into the blackness of the woods.

The next day, one of the maps was done and illegible so they had less work to do. The men gathered their stuff and trailed into the woods in search of a lake or stream. It became dark when they heard the sound of water. Happy but tired, the men set up camp and set aside the pipes they had to use to connect this lake to Zerg.

In the morning the first one up was Carl, he started breakfast and laid the pipes out in the order they had to be connected before the next man woke up.

“Carl? What are you doing,” the man asked, rubbing his eyes.

“What I was sent here to do.”

“Oh,” the man answered, going back to sleep.

When the man was fully asleep, Carl grabbed the map he made and rolled it up. Then he tied it and waited for a bird to land on the ground and caught it. He told it where to go and tied the map to the birds’ ankle, praying that it would arrive safely at it’s destination in the hands of his wife.




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Before The Death

The light filled the bedroom and Jenny suddenly awoke. She looked at the other side of the bed where Carl would be if he wasn’t out risking his life. Her emotions swung and she was mad, why did the president pick Carl? He was her husband and she loved him uncontrollably. If anything happened to him she would die. Jenny got out of bed and put on her purple polka dot robe and her bunny slippers. She walked downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed out a box of Wheat Thins. After pouring a serving size into her bowl she heard a ‘thud’ on the door. Jenny ran over to the front door and opened it. A bird lay limp on the doorstep with something tied to it’s leg. She picked up the bird and untied the paper. She unrolled the paper after setting the bird down and saw a drawing with the title ‘Pipe Works’. Gasping, Jenny looked at the very detailed map and saw the words exit. She immediately knew what this was about and that Carl was in grave danger.



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The Death Of A Great Man

Carl was about to lay down to go to bed when he heard a noise. It wasn’t a normal noise it was a weird noise. He looked around and saw nothing but his heart was still racing with adrenaline. ‘Blop’ There it was again, Carl got up and turned on a flashlight. He shined it around and still saw nothing but trees.
‘Blop’ His heart was pumping and he was about to scream. ‘Blop’

“Guys,” Carl screamed hoping it would wake up someone. “Guys!” No one woke up, no one even flinched. ‘Blop’

He shined the light right at the woods he saw something pale. Carl studied it and then it moved. ‘Blop’ “What the...?” ‘Blop’

“Get up, please,” Carl screamed, kicking one the men in the back.

“What,” one of them screamed. “What the crap is going on, Carl?”

Carl just pointed at the woods and whispered, “Run.” The man didn’t get the hint when a great big creature ran out of the woods.

The creature was a great big spider like thing. It had spikes and it was as pale as the moon.

The man that awoke yelled and started to wake up others. Soon all of the men were awake and frightened.

“Run,” Carl yelled, shining the flashlight at the pathway home. “Our job is done! We connected the pipes to the lake and made the maps. We’re done, just grab the map and run!” The men listened and grabbed the map and ran. Where they ran was towards Zerg leaving Carl with this spider thing.

The spider ran up and attacked Carl, he had nothing to protect himself with. He struggled to run but the spider bit his leg. Limping, Carl told himself he’d be okay but he really knew he wouldn’t be. The spider scraped his back and started to suck out Carl’s blood. Carl knew he was defeated and his life was over. He’d never see his first child or even his wife for a long, long time. The spider gave him another cut and the world around Carl went black...



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After The Death

The men who ran towards the city made it there alive, carrying the map straight to the president. The president gladly took them and asked where Carl was. One man walked forward and told him. The president’s face fell and the men could tell he was angry.

Jenny knew her husband was in danger and that she must pray for him. So every second of the day she’d pray and hope with all her heart Carl would come home. But when there was a knock on the front door, Jenny knew Carl was dead. The president stood outside the door and looked at Jenny when she opened the door.

“I’m truely sorry, Mrs. Bealer. Carl is dead,” the President said, watching Jenny burst into tears.

“How did he die,” Jenny cried, while tears rolled down her cheeks.

“The men with him say he risked his life for them and let a Crypt fiend kill him so they could make it home.”

“A Crypt fiend? What is that,” Jenny sobbed, looking at the president with anger.

“Well it’s a spider like thing but bigger with claws and is bloodthirsty. Trust me, Jenny, I’m really sorry. Carl was a great man and is a hero to our city.” The president patted Jenny’s shoulder and left the house.

Jenny tried to stop crying but found she couldn’t. Her best friend and spouse died to protect some stupid men! Why didn’t he go with the others, she thought? Carl always wanted a family but now he’d never have one. With disgust she took the map Carl sent and ripped it. She went upstairs and hid it in a shoe box which was in the attic. Jenny never wanted to see it again in her life, it would bring back bad memories. She didn’t realize she’d see it again very soon...