An Animal Crossing Story: Chapter 5

Those lost souls; children as scared as I am, were out there in different so called "camps," playing to Nook's rules. Where were these camps, and how much is there to it than what I can see? It is more than meets the eye; but was this just an island, or a whole country under a dictatorship?

I'm sure those children have tried every way out, or else they wouldn't be pleading for their lives; resorting to asking anyone far and wide for a rescue. That didn't stop me from going back to the gate, confronting the guard dogs, and trying once again to go home.

I ask Copper, the one on the right this time, to open the gate.

"A good evening to you! As the day nears its end, try to watch your step! Fatigue is a bold criminal! At any rate, is there something I can do for you?"

"I WANNA GET OUT!" I scream.

"Turns out you have no friend roster yet! You must have the code in order to visit other towns!"

"Code? What code? Where is this place even located? Where am I?"

"Listen well! This is the checkpoint for bustling Camp Animal Crossing! When you get the urge to visit another town, Candace...or if perhaps you have a friend come visit you here in Camp Animal Crossing, I would appreciate your letting me know, so I can expedite the gate opening process! Efficiency is our utmost concern here!" He recites, staring me dead in the eyes with his every word. I knew he didn't want to hear any more, as this was final word; unless I had a code, a connection, there was no way out. I wondered if that bus would ever come back...

Booker stood on the other side, and though there was no chance of actually getting out the easy way, maybe he could give me information that could do me some good.

"Oh...umm, yeah, hi! So, wh-what can I...what can I do for you?" His eyes drooped and his tone was lazy, he must have not slept in days.

"Where am I?" I ask again, maybe he could give me some more background.

"Um, well, visitors to Camp Animal Crossing generally have to pass through this gate, so uh...yeah. If you want to know if a special visitor has come through or something...I could share information like that with you, I think...most likely..." He stuttered in his speech, and nearly dropped his guard pole. His uniform sagged, and he breathed heavily.

"Is there anything else you can tell me?" I ask him. He hesitates long before giving me the key to the lost and found bin, which he said was in the town hall. He said many townsfolk retrieve their lost house keys, shirts, and even bells there, so at least I got some use out of talking to the brain dead bulldog.

What was a friend code and how do I get one? Was "out" a way to the bus that picked me up from home, a passageway to the real world, or just a frame that led to more deathtraps like this? If I didn't get that code, I would never know what was behind those heavy doors.

I knew Nook would hunt me down if I didn't come back, so I wait for his next order.

"Hm, your back, yes? Your next job will be...ah yes! Now I remember! You've seen the bulletin board in front of the town hall, haven't you? Well, I need you to write an ad for my shop on that bulletin board. You get foot traffic around there, yes? I'll leave the wording up to you, but make sure it's something snazzy that all the young kids will like. And remember, lots of people will see it, so don't write anything that will make us look bad! Alright, hop to it! And return immediately after, hm?"

He would wish. I just have to make it so Tom doesn't want me as his slave. Then he could fire me, and I could at least have the work load off me. I head over there and start to write my advertisement.

"Ever notice how Tom Nook walks around with nothing but an apron?  Don't shop at Nook's Cranny, we no longer carry erotic supplies such as vibrators, or condoms."

I'm already dead if he tries to defile me. So I continue on the next page.

"Tom Nook is a slave driver of young, defenseless children. He also has a dark secret; which I have yet to unveil. These children are crossing over; he'll decapitate you if he needs to feed. Run, RUN AWAY NOW!"

Tom did give me a whole notebook to write this crap...

"They are everywhere! This is all a trap! DON'T GET ON THAT BUS."

The only person I can save is myself. But if I can, I'll try to take some captives with me. I just have to find out where they all are, how large this place really is, and how Nook has a part in their crossing over. But perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself.

Heading back over to the shop, I don't know how to quite react to Tom's next words.

"Welcome back! Did you put a buzz generating ad up there? Something animals will talk about over the water cooler? Since I have no more odd jobs for you to make use of, that means your part time employment is over, hm? Which means you're done! Yes, done! Hm, your home loan? Yes, yes of course I'm going to need you to pay it back in it's entirety. In your work here thus far, you've made 1,400 bells. So, that means you owe another 18,400 bells on the home loan, yes? Not so much, is it not? But there's no work left here for you, so I guess you'll have to find other methods. You can pay off your home loan by wiring me money from the ABD in the town hall. And when it's all paid off, come see me about home renovations, yes? And don't forget to do all your shopping right here!"

This means...I'm free. Free as according to Nook's standards, anyhow. He acts like he's doing me a favor, as if after I pay off his house, he will personally drive me home. What kind of "alternative methods" does Nook want me to make money for him? I don't even want to think. He continues to smooth talk me, so that even in knowing I'm free from work, I'm not from his clutches and neither were those kids. Somewhere.

I walk past the bulletin board, glancing at my messages. Not that they'll help, as I'm no longer employed and there's not another soul here that isn't possessed by Nook. I should just rip them off, before he comes to find them...nah. I won't give him that dignity. I still had sheets of paper left, my house even had a mailbox...

I can write home! There was still hope! It's hard holding back tears, writing what I can fit into a small envelope,

"Mom, THIS IS NOT A REAL CAMP! I was forced into labor, this whole damned place is under a dictatorship! CALL THE POLICE ASAP and make a warrant for arrest under Tom Nook. God knows how many there are who are trapped here. There is no real food or water here, please send me some. I don't want to die out here."

I tuck it in the envelope and get to the town hall. I have to stop my hand from quivering as I hand the letter to Pelly, and she puts it in the outbox. Meanwhile, I search through the lost and found bin and claim two shirts, and here I also saw bones. Whose bones were these?! I nearly gag closing the lid, but try to appear pleasant when Pelly lets me know she has sent the letter.

Not even an hour later, and I return home to find a letter back from mom. How was this possible, her being miles and hours away from here? I tear open the envelope and read her response:

"It's the start of softball season! I accidentally hit Agnes with the ball when I was pitching. Oops. She was really mad! Love, Mom." Inside the box was...you have got to be fucking kidding me. Another God damned orange.

...Was this some kind of sick joke?! My mom doesn't dick around playing games, she busts her ass six days a week at a wholesale store! I tell her to send the police, and she's more concerned about hitting some bitch with a softball? I beg for food and she sends me an orange?! No. OH FUCK NO. My mom hasn't got my letter and she never will. She wouldn't write this shit! What have I done?! Now they know that I know. I should have known better than to give that to the message center of this whole concentration camp.

As sick as it is, the only vile being who has the ultimate control of the gates, the area, my own life, was Tom Nook. I have little time left, and I have to make the money for Nook so I at least have a chance of survival out here. "Alternative methods..."

The animals were not employed, but they sold things. I could sell things to him and make profit, or so he says. What items are worth the most to him? The only things I have now are the shovel Tom gave me, the clothes I found back in the lost and found, some cloth, the slingshot, and Nook's work uniform which I will rightfully burn sooner or later.

There was no way I was selling my shirts, this may be the only clothing I will ever have here. What else was of value to Nook, so that he will give me something for it?

Skimming through the fields; there was something odd I hadn't noticed yet. There were holes dug everywhere. Was there perhaps something valuable enough in the ground that the animals sold to Nook to make their living? Silver, golden gems that were inscribed in the dirt? Only one way to find out.

I dig and find more of the bones. The skulls were much large to be from a human, or from an animal even. Fossils. How old was this place?! How long has this madness been going on, under eye and watch of the real world?

Blathers the owl reappears in my mind. He ran a museum that collected these things, after all.

"Hoooozzz...ZWAK! Oh, I beg your pardon. I'm a bit more of a night owl, don't you know. In any case, allow me to welcome you to the Animal Crossing Camp Museum! Now then, may I assist you? You have but to ask. I am at your service."

"I have this fossil here..."

"Hoo! Hoo! How marvelous! Show me the fossil with all speed!" He squaks, as I hand it over.

"Hmmm...fascinating...Aha! In a large, ancient nutshell; this is a styraco torro. Of this, I have no doubt. Indeed, I would like your permission to keep it in my possession as a donation." Whatever the hell that meant; maybe it meant something more to Nook. As bad as I felt for Blathers, I couldn't give potential money away. I storm out of the museum and into Nook's shack shop. Honestly, his offer seems too good to be true.

"Let's see, all together I'll pay five thousand bells for everything!" I take his "money," and donate three thousand of it towards my loan. The other two thousand I spend on a fishing rod, net, axe, more stationary, and a weeks worth of clothes at Able Sisters. Tom tells me he will buy anything, but why? What was the significance of these "bells," which were just special leaves?

I was going to test Nook's "anything." After eating more of those fuckers; I pick some to Tom and he offers one hundred bells for every orange I pick off the trees. He offers me fifty for the seashells I collect from the shores, and the insects I manage to catch in the palm of my hand. As much as I attract bugs, it's easy money for all I care. If bugs and fruit were worth something; fish must be worth a profit too. I haven't gone fishing since I was a small child with my dad; but I won't survive on oranges. Some squirrel also donated a stove to me, so I can at least fry it now. They were the only animals that didn't talk or move around abnormally. I wonder how all these species got here, when no planes moved through the sky and no boats crossed the shores. Nook has cut off all means of human contact besides the ones he wants for his own army.

After tasting the worst cooked fish I had in my life, digging for more bones and fossils, and searching for more insects, I have made another four thousand bells by the end of the night which went straight to the bank. Maybe I can get out of here sooner than I have hoped. Then I can get this place under closure for good.

I dig under the rocks, and even find bells there. The ground around it was rugged, and the job seems impossible. But while I barely make a dent, I see some holes form on their own, and from the peak of my eye, see a creature underneath.

"Hello?" Every other thing talked here; and I was questioning my own sanity. My voice seemed to echo in the large tunnel below the hole. I heard more scurrying, there had to be more creatures down there. And who knows, maybe they could help me. Maybe this is my way out.

I started my way down, digging my way deeper and deeper, the solid ground suddenly becomes more wet and my job becomes easier.

"Did you hear something, Don?" I hear a snarl from below.

"You're just going mad. Our facility is locked."

"It's a DUNGEON, Don! Don't demean it's title any further!"

"H...hello?" I say.

"GRAAAARGHHH!!" Something growls from beneath the worms, and faster than a jack rabbit it takes me by the foot and drags me under.

"NO! LET GO OF ME!" His claws are sharp, and he has a good grip on me. My fight is no match for his quickness.

"IT'S HUMAN, DON!" He has me by the foot, and drags me through a never ending tunnel. It's a long, dark, ride that has me screaming all the way, pleading for my life.

There were mountains of bell bags in large bins, and more pouring in from machine generators. I paid close attention to it's symbol; a bitten leaf. It was imprinted on the town flag and on my work uniform as well. This monster, was only a mole in overalls and a construction hat. He ordered his captives to call him by Resetti while his assistant, Don garnered every bell individually; tearing the side of each with his crooked teeth, letting the juice pour into each beaker. There were potions, lab chairs, half humans and animals here. In the distance I see alleyways, gates and passages that led to other camps and demise. In a corner, huddling, staring up at me bloodied up and giving everything not to shed a tear were tens of children, each still with their work uniform on. Tom enters in a passageway in the brink of night, handing the moles more bell bags as they sign him off. The mole then faces me dead in the eye, holding a potion composed of the bells, the bitten leaves we've been working for.

"We've been expecting you, child."