In a dark corner in one of the glass cages, a young woman by the name of Sheryl was laying in one of the many boxes that had been placed inside of the cage. At a meager 33 years of age, she was the youngest Homeless in this cage, and possible the entire closet. Like the others, she hated being confined inside of this cage, but at least she did not have to deal with the weather.

She used her long since tathered jacket as a cushion for her head as she tried to sleep. Unforutunately, a nearby conversation was keeping her awake.

"I still can't believe that Barry's dead!" one male said. "He was a good man, but I guess that don't amount to shit with her!"

"...I think it's time we got ourselves a leader," said another.

"A leader?! Why?!"

"We need someone to make some of the hard decisions. How the food is divided, who goes out there to play with that crazy bitch, stuff like that."

"Alright... Any ideas on who we should get?"

"...Her."

"Who? That woman?! Why?!"

At this point, Sheryl raised her head so that she could hear better.

"She's the youngest in here, and I get she's the most down-to-earth out of all of us."

"But how strong is she?"

"Well, I remember seeing her running from some punks back on the streets. She left those kids in her dust."

"Who's the leader of those... other people?"

"Remember that big guy that dropped into that cage that one time? The guy that proclaimed himself as Bruce, and the leader of the 'Refugees'?"

"Oh yeah... We're fucked, then. If he's the leader, then what hope would we have if we were to ever get into a war with them?"

"War? I think you're getting a bit ahead of yourself."

"Either way, the one thing we'd have in our favor is numbers. It's a case of Quantity vs. Quality."

"Stop it. No one's going to war. Right now, we need to decide on our leader."

Sheryl laid her head back onto her jacket. "Me? A leader? They can't be serious..." She closed her eyes, and dozed off.

It has been several hours since the last 'game' that Melissa did with the homeless people. The sun was now setting, casting an orange hue into the room. The blood and gore from earlier had since been cleaned up, as if the gruesome display had never taken place.

Melissa laid on her bed, holding her opened cell phone to her right ear.

"...Yeah, I thought that he'd be something special, but I got a bit ahead of myself," she said. "We didn't click as I'd hoped."

"That's too bad," said Lauren on the other line. "You think he'd like me?"

"I don't know. He took of pretty fast after I let him down. He probably wouldn't want to be seen with someone as close to me as you are."

"Aww... Well, I guess it's back to going after Rodney!" Lauren laughed.

Melissa giggled. "Well, I should get back to my project. I'll get back with you later, okay?"

"Okay, Gurl! Sure!"

"Alright! See ya!"

She then flipped the phone closed and placed it on the bed beside her. She then sat up.

"Not sure if I'd call him a project, though."

She then jumped off of the bed and walked to the cabinet at the wall to her left, which had its doors chained together with a combination lock. She twisted the knob on the lock back and forth, 27-34-10, and then pulled on the lock, snapping it open. She then pulled off the chains and opened the doors. Inside was a hamster cage under a dim lightbulb, complete with mulch, a small plastic house, and a water bottle.

"Hey, you. Come out here. I want to talk to you."

After a few seconds, the person she called for walked out of the house. He was a man of Japanese descent who looked to be in his late 20's. He had dark brown hair, wore a dirty brown button-down shirt, black casual pants, and black sneakers. Melissa could see that he had a drowsy look on his face, which suggested that he had been asleep.

Melissa smiled at him. "How are you doing, Taro?"

"Fine, I guess..." Taro answered. "I guess you had another one of your games today. I heard quite a few screams even from in here."

Melissa laughed. "Yeah. It was fun. There was one woman who deserve every ounce of torture I gave her."

"...So, what is it that you need with me?"

"Oh... Just to talk." Melissa leaned closer to the cage. "You know tomorrow's Sunday, right?"

"I kept track of the days, yes."

"So you know that your sister will be coming over here. I hope she cooperates. I would hate to have to do away with you." She smirked, which seemed to send a shiver down Taro's spine. "That Sayuko... She can be such a pushover. She won't kill any of them unless I tell her enough times. She's a bit too nice to them."

"Well, that could be because, unlike you, she values human life."

Melissa laughed. "Careful now. That kind of talk will get you killed."

Taro gulped.

"But don't worry... Since you didn't run away from me, you get special privileges. You can question my style... But it's not like there's a damn thing you can do about it!" She laughed again.

"Lovely. Can I go back to sleep?"

Melissa sighed. "That's all you ever do. Sleep, sleep, eat, shit, sleep. You're no fun."

"It's not like there's anything to do around here..." Taro began to make his way back into the small house.

"Fine. I'll talk to you later. Good night, my favorite Bugman."

Melissa smiled as she closed the cabinet doors, before wrapping and locking the chain on them. She then stood upright and made her way to her bed, grabbed her cell phone off of it, and then walked out of the bedroom. She then flipped her phone open and pressed a few buttons, before bringing the phone to her ear.

After a few rings, the voice of a young woman answered. "Hello, Melissa..." She did not seem none too happy to have received a call from her.

"Good evening, little Sayu!" Melissa greeted. "You know why I'm calling here, right?"

"...Yes..."

"Great! If you want to see your brother, come over here at 2pm sharp!"

"...Am I going to have to kill while I'm there?"

"Of course!"

"...How many?" Melissa could hear the distress in her voice growing.

"About two... or three."

At this point, Sayuko let out a cry of despair and anguish.

"Stop crying over bugs!" Melissa yelled in frustration. "God! You can be such a Mary-Sue sometimes!"

"Oh..." She still seemed to be weeping.

"Just be over here by 2 tomorrow! Got it?!"

"Yes..."

"Good. Now..." Melissa's tone became calm and sweet. "Have a good night, Sayu."

Without hearing Sayuko's response, if there was one, Melissa flipped the phone closed and shoved it into her pants pocket.

She shook her head in dissatisfaction. "That girl can be such a nuisance. Maybe I should shrink her down, too. At least Taro would have someone to keep him company." She then smirked. "Or I could play a little brother-sister survival game with them." She laughed at this thought as she made her way downstairs.

~~~

Inside of Thomas' tent, he laid half-asleep on his cot. He was barely listening to the conversation that Shawn, Dawson, and Gloria, who were all inside of the tent with him.

"Hey," Dawson said. "If Bruce were to up and die all of a sudden, who would become the leader?"

"...Ray," Gloria answered.

"What?!" Dawson exclaimed. "Why that cocky bastard?!"

"He's the leader of the group that get our food. That's a pretty high position here. C'mon... You should know that."

"Yeah, but-"

"You're hopeless."

"You may not like him," Shawn said, "but Bruce does. And we all know that what Bruce says goes."

"How'd even get the position in the first place?" Dawson grunted.

"Hell if I know. All I know is that I woke up one morning, and he was the Food Squad Leader."

"I should have volunteered while I had the chance..."

"You would bring ruin to the whole colony," Gloria said. "If you had your way, you'd probably have all of the girls here walking around barefoot."

"...Perhaps."

"You're hopeless."

"Will you stop saying that?!"

"You can't silence the truth."

There was several seconds of silence. Thomas felt that he would finally be able go to sleep, if the others were to keep quiet, or at least talk quietly.

"Thomas."

Thomas opened his eyes, and saw Shawn sitting besides him.

"You've been quiet for a while now," Shawn said. "Anything wrong."

Thomas shook his head. "No. Just tired... I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything that's happened to me today. That, and the rules that you told me about."

"Oh yeah..."

Thomas sat up. "Rule Number One: No one leaves this floor or these walls, unless you are in a Food Squad; Even then, you can only do so at the appointed time. Number Two: Watch any and all games that Melissa does, as they will remind you of what can and will happen to you should you get caught. I'm not sure if I can follow that rule..."

"Well, you better start," Dawson said. "If you miss any more, you're going to get it from Bruce if he finds out."

"I'll try. Anyway, Number Three: No sympathy is to be given to the Homeless. I don't understand the logic in that one. They're people, too."

"Careful, Thomas," Gloria warned.

"Number Four: No sexual contact without the consent of both parties; even then, intercourse is prohibited. That's... understandable."

"Yeah," Dawson said. "No one wants to bring a baby into this hellhole. Isn't that right, Gloria?"

"...Why are you asking me?" Gloria asked in annoyance.

"Well, you ARE a gir-"

Before Dawson could finish his sentence, Gloria elbowed him in the gut. Air escaped from him as he kneeled down, clutching his chest. Shawn let out a short laugh as he witnessed this event.

"Heh..." Thomas chuckled a little as well. "Finally, Number Five: Anyone who is deemed a traitor or Homeless sympathizer is to be thrown out of the colony. A beating by members of the colony may also be in order."

"That's exactly why I'm telling you to watch what you say," Gloria said to Thomas.

"Bruce's rules are absolute," Shawn said. "You may not agree with them, but you damn well better follow them."

Thomas laid back down onto the cot. "I... I don't know..."

"Oh, and there's more. Rule-"

Suddenly, there was a loud commotion outside of the tent, as the Refugees out there seemed to become excited.

"Hey! Bruce's back!"

"What?!"

"Oh shit! He is!"

Shawn stood up and held his arm out to Thomas. "Let's go meet him."

Thomas grabbed his hand, and was pulled up to his feet. Along with Dawson and Gloria, they then walked out of the tent and looked towards their right. The other Refugees were surrounding something... or rather, someone. The four walked in that direction, towards the crowd, and then once there, making their way through the crowd to the forefront.

Standing in the middle of the crowd was a rather large and bulky African American man who looked to be about 6' 4" by their standards. His hair was grown into a wild afro, and he had a beard growing on his face. He was shirtless, revealing his rather ripped chest. In his left hand was a pin needle, which somewhat resembled a lance at his size compared to it. No doubt that he had it for protection, for when he trekked through the alledgedly dangerous floors below.

"Okay, everyone!" the green-haired man from earlier yelled out. "Our great leader is back, so give him the proper respect!"

Dawson leaned in towards Thomas. "That's Ray."

"Oh, really?" Thomas was somewhat surprised that that man he had seen earlier was the next in line to become the leader.

Bruce let out a hearty laugh. "Yep, y'all! I'm back! Sorry that I've been away for so long, but I've been distracted by something I found down there!"

"What was it?" someone from the crowd asked.

"Oh, now that's a secret. I'm afraid that I can't tell you guys what it is. At least, not yet."

Bruce dropped his pin needle onto the floor and looked towards Gloria. A smile appeared on his face.

"Gloria, baby! C'mere!"

Thomas looked towards Gloria, who sighed as she made her way towards the man.

"How's my favorite mami doing today?" He asked, before kissing her on the cheek. She flinched as he did so, however.

"I've been better," Gloria answered, without a shred of interest on her face.

"You always say that. No need to be depressed all the time. Lighten up."

"Considering the current circumstances, I- no, all of us have a right to be depressed."

"Whatever."

Bruce then began to look around the crowd. "Well, I'm going to stay here for the night, so-" He then stopped on Thomas, and stared at him for a few seconds. "Who are you?"

Thomas became a bit unnerved as all eyes in the group were turned onto him.

Dawson put his arm around Thomas' shoulders. "This is the new guy! Thomas, meet Bruce!"

"Uh... Hi there," Thomas said.

"New, huh?" Bruce said as he began to walk towards him. "You know the rules?"

"Yeah."

"Well, if you follow them, you shouldn't have any trouble." Bruce then looked at Thomas' arms. "You look kinda skinny. Have you ever worked out before?"

Several of the Refugees laughed at this remark.

"Bruce, stop it," Gloria demanded. "Leave him alone."

"Alright," Bruce responded. "Anything for my favorite Latina."

Gloria rolled her eyes.

"Can I ask you something, Bruce?" Thomas asked.

Bruce turned his attention back towards Thomas. "What is it, newbie?"

"You've been here the longest, right?"

"Yep."

"So, in all of that time, you never once tried to escape?"

"I did a few times, but found it useless without a crew backing me up."

"So, I guess you have your 'crew' now."

Bruce's calm and somewhat cheerful face transformed into a more sour one "What are you trying to say?"

"The people here have family and friends that are missing them. It's been in the news. Parents are frantic, wondering why their kids seemingly dropped off the face of the Earth. ...I think you all should have escaped a long time ago."

"Look." Bruce folded his arms. "Even if we'd escaped, what would we do then? We would still be small, and I doubt anyone in the city would help us. Also, if we did escape, you wouldn't have been rescued, have you?"

"Um... I suppose that's true, but-"

"See? It all worked out for you, kid!" Bruce laughed. "Anyway, right now I'm working on a plan to get the Shrink Ray from Melissa. We could the grow ourselves big again, and also give Melissa a taste of her own medicine."

After this comment, the crowd began to cheer.

"We'll squash HER like a bug!"

"No! Let's do it slowly like she does!"

"It doesn't matter how we do it, she'll be dead in the end!"

Thomas looked around him at the Refugees in the crowd. Judging from the comments he was hearing, they did not see too much different from Melissa.

"But..." Bruce said. "That's a while away, unfortunately."

"How long is 'a while'?" Thomas asked.

Bruce glared at Thomas. "Maybe a month. ...Or two."

Shawn stepped forward. "But we'll be in darkness by then. The flashlights you found are nearly gone."

"If it ever gets to that," Bruce responded, "We'll just bust a hole in the wall."

"Is that even wise?" Thomas asked. "Do you even have the right tools or anything for that? Plus, making a new hole would be like placing a big red X that would show Melissa-"

Before Thomas could finish his thought, he was punched in the gut by Bruce. The air escaped his lungs as he held his chest and fell to his knees.

"Thomas!" Shawn called as he, as well as Dawson, rushed to his aid.

Gloria also ran toward him. After examining Thomas, she turned towards Bruce. "That was uncalled for! You as a leader should be able to answer the hard questions!"

"Why have you been defending him, anyway?" Bruce asked.

Gloria paused before answering. "Because I've decided to look after him."

The Refugees looked among each other in surprise. Some began to chatter quietly amongst themselves.

Bruce looked at Thomas, and then back at Gloria. "Why?"

"Just because," she said nonchalantly.

Bruce grunted and shook his head. "Fine." He then addressed the crowd. "No one messes with Thomas here! He's with Gloria, so if you mess with him, you mess with her! And if you mess with her, then you mess with me! And I know you know what happens at that point!"

Bruce then turned around and began to walk away from the crowd, followed by Ray. The remaining Refugees took one last look at Thomas, before dispersing in their own seperate ways.

Gloria knelt down to Thomas. "Are you alright?" She seemed to have a bit of a worried look on her face.

"Yeah," Thomas answered with a weak smile. "Compared to Melissa, that was nothing."

With Gloria's help, he stood back on his feet. Shawn then moved closer to Thomas, and leaned in towards his ear.

"Rule Number Six: Bruce has the right to throw out anyone he does not approve of, even if they are not traitors or Homeless sympathizers."

Thomas was silent. Could Bruce be that petty?

"Let's get you back to your cot," Gloria said, before all four began to walk back to Thomas' tent.

~~~

Bruce had arrived outside of his tent. It was further away from the other, and a bit larger as well. He turned to Ray, who was standing behind him.

"I want you to keep an eye on Thomas," Bruce said. "I don't like him, so I'm going to have to find a reason to get him outta here."

"Why don't you just throw him out?" Ray asked.

"Didn't you hear what just happened? Gloria likes him." Bruce shook his head. "I can't risk losing her over him. I gotta find something to make her turn on him."

"I see... Well, I'll keep watch on him. I don't really like him, either."

"Great." Bruce smiled, before walking into his tent.

Ray stared at the tent's entrance for a few seconds, before turning around and making his way back towards the campsite.

"Maybe I could get one of the other girls to seduce him," Ray said to himself. "I bet Gloria'd dump him then."

~~~

It was nearly three in the morning. Melissa's house is dark, with every light turned off. Suddenly, the front door opens, revealing Melissa, dressed in a black bodysuit and black skull cap, and carrying two bags. She closed the door behind her, and then made her way for the stairs, eventually climbing them.

After arriving in her room, she placed the bags on her bed, and opened one of them. In that one was the Shrink Ray, which she pulled out and placed back into the dresser's top drawer. After covering it with her clothes, she closed the drawer, and then grabbed the other bag and walked into her closet.

~~~

The Homeless watched as the giantess returned, making her way towards their cage and holding a bag. They already knew what was inside.

"Here." Melissa placed the bag inside and turned it upside-down, pouring the contents into the cage: ten more homeless people.

"I'm doing a game tomorrow, so have 5 people ready," she said. "Can you do that for me?"

No one in the cage responded.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear anything." She became annoyed. "Maybe I wasn't clear enough. I repeat: Can you do that for me?"

"Yes!" A male shouted out.

"Wonderful!" Melissa smiled. "Now, I'm going to sleep. Good night, you all!" She then turned around and walked out of the closet, closing the door behind her.

The ten new homeless people looked around in confusion, at the nearly three dozen people that were already inside.

"Hello," Sheryl greeted as she stepped towards them. "My name is Sheryl, and I guess you can call me the leader of this merry group."

The ten newcomers turned towards her.

"Welcome to Hell."