Austin, the main protagonist and narrator of the book, is a young boy living in the fictional town of Eagling, Iowa. He is an amateur historian, and “Grasshopper Jungle” is his self-recorded history.
One day, as Austin and his best friend, Robby Brees, are out skating and smoking behind the Ealing Mall, they are approached by a group of boys from another high school. In addition to beating the two boys bloody, the boys throw Austin and Robby’s shoes and skateboards on the top of the Ealing Mall. When Robby and Austin climb up to the roof of the building, wanting to fetch their things, they find a trap door that leads to the inside of the “From Attic to Seller Consignment Store”, where Austin works part time. He wants to check out what his boss has in his office, and they decide to climb in.
Inside the store, they find a mass vial called “Contained Plague 412E”, and other human pieces. Suddenly, the bullies that beat them up earlier come in, and the pair of boys hide. The bullies take the vial with the plague and throw the mass where Robby’s blood lies from the earlier beating. As the vial is broken, the plague infects all the bullies, as well as the people that happen to be close by the group.
When Robby and Austin are in Shann’s house, they find a machine that tells them that the 412E plague is in the atmosphere, and that they must flee to the silo. The trio looks around, and they find a shelter, and when they walk inside, a welcome video starts playing. It tells them that the plague was one of their scientists’ way of making unstoppable soldiers for the department of defense. The only way to kill the soldiers is though the blood of the human that activated the plague. The trio tries their best at saving the town, but they are too late, and are forced to start a new life in the shelter called Eden.
