Josh:
Electrician
5'11"

Josh awoke on the cold cement floor. He felt a little disorientation, but he was lucid enough to know that his pockets were stuffed with some kind of grain. He lifted his head to look around. He was lying between two of three rows of industrial shelves, which held pallets stacked high with white bags. Trying to remember any drinking that might have gotten him here, he stumbled to his feet. He found his balance too soon to be hung over. Even ignoring his pockets, that wasn’t as reassuring as he wished.

Slowly at first, until he was sure of his feet, he took a few steps toward one of the pallets, scooping grains out of his pockets. “LOW GRADE ANIMAL FEED,” the bags read. When he didn’t recognize the company name, he disregarded the bags as useless to him, and looked around for an exit. There was a big bay door on his right, with a man door beside, and to his left he could see another set of doors, at the other end of the warehouse. Beside the far one, there was what looked to be the shop office. He was about to turn back to the door nearest him when the door to the office opened.

Abandoning his pockets, he instinctively ducked between pallets, but no one came out. He didn’t like the idea of getting caught where he most definitely did not belong, but as he thought about it, he realized that if someone was going to get caught, he’d much rather be the one doing the catching. He quickly and quietly made his way down the warehouse, crouching under the window by the door, ready to jump.

Allen:
Firefighter
6'2"

Allen opened his eyes to an unfamiliar wall. He was slumped over in an office chair. He stretched, and bumped his shin into the leg of a desk. He lifted his head, and discovered a dark computer screen to his left. On his right was the wall, and in front of him, more of the same. Past the computer screen, he saw the door, beside a window covered by venetian blinds. He sat up, and took a better look around. On the desk beside the screen, there was a printer and a ring-stained coaster. He tried to turn on the screen, but nothing happened.

He didn’t recognize the office. He opened the drawers of the desk. The only drawer not empty contained three keys and a box cutter. He took them all, and went for the door. The moment he turned the handle, the printer made him jump. He went back to it, and watched the paper feed out with two giant words:

GOOD

LUCK

He backed away, then went to the window and lifted a single slot in the blinds, to see out. He saw pallets stacked with bags, but nothing else. He looked back at the printer, then walked through the door.

Someone lunged for his middle, but he was bigger, stronger, and faster. A quick elbow to the attacker gave him the second he needed to grab the smaller man by the arm and wind up for a punch, before he recognized the man’s face.

“Josh!”

The smaller man stopped struggling.

“Allen!?”

The bigger of the two released neither his grip nor his fist. “What’s going on?”

The smaller man shrugged with his free arm. “I don’t know, I just woke up.”

Allen let him go, and Josh rubbed his bruised shoulder. They appraised each other for a moment, before coming to a silent understanding that they were better off with each other than alone.

Josh walked over to the exit, beside the bay door. It wouldn’t budge. While Allen tried it, Josh looked over the bay door. He could see the gears, three metres above them, but there was nothing attached, no way to open it. They tried the doors at the other end, with similar results. There was another bay door just down the wall, closer to the third row of shelves. Allen tried the door, but Josh had already concluded it wouldn’t work. He spotted a forklift on the other side of the middle row of shelves, and got an idea. Trying desperately not to get his hopes up, he checked it out. Propane fuelled, its tank read just above E. He hopped in the seat, and feed spilled out of his pockets. Allen abandoned the door, and came to join Josh.

“No key,” said Josh, as he started looking around for something to break the ignition switch open.

“Try these,” said Allen, handing him the three he had pocketed. Josh tried them all, with no success. He hopped off, spotted a stack of broken pallets, and picked up the sturdiest piece of wood he could find.

As he got back, he nodded toward the board. “I’ll hotwire it.”

Allen looked amused. “Or.” He lifted the key from the mirror, where it had hung by a string.

Josh tossed the wood over his shoulder, and as it clattered to the ground behind him, he took the key from Allen and hopped back on. Allen climbed on, hanging off the side. Josh turned the machine on, and tried the levers. Once he had it figured out, he drove toward the nearest bay door with the forks on the ground, wedging them underneath, and lifted the door a foot, feeling quite pleased with himself. Then he turned the key, and hopped off.

“What are you doing?” asked Allen. “Open it!”

“You want to risk guard dogs?”

Allen looked at a nearby bag. “For animal feed?”

Josh paused for a moment, then pretended Allen hadn’t said anything. He lay down on his stomach, and looked under the door, into what looked like a hallway. A single pair of feet ambled toward the door from the other side, about ten feet away. Without the feed in his pockets, he noticed a different kind of bulk. He stood up, and pulled out a revolver.

“Where did you get that?” asked Allen, coming closer as Josh examined the gun.

“My pocket,” said Josh, with a tone that made it clear he didn’t know.

“You know how to handle it?” When Josh shook his head, Allen pulled out his box-cutter. “Trade you.”

Josh handed the gun over, and accepted the knife. The gun was empty. Allen was about to protest, when there was a bump on the door. Josh pointed, then held up a single finger. There was another bump. They could see the feet disappear under the door and reappear again, with a third bump. They looked at each other, then Josh hopped back on the forklift, turned it on, and raised the door slowly. As the legs and body were revealed, they were able to confirm that this guy really was walking repeatedly into the door. Josh lifted the door to neck height, and shut the machine off again. Allen reached out, and put his hand on the man’s chest before he smacked his face again.

The man’s arms swung up, grabbing at Allen’s, and he hulked over to get through the door. His skin was ashen, but what they noticed was that one of the man’s cheeks looked like it had been ripped, and was now hanging loose by his ear. His eyes didn’t look focused, but he stepped slowly and clumsily toward Allen, who was very quickly backing off.

As he stepped back, Allen raised the gun at the man. “Freeze.” He didn’t freeze. Josh had just been staring at the man as he passed the forklift, but decided now that he should help. He turned it on, backed it out from the door, which came down with a crash, and drove slowly toward the man, bumping him in the back with a fork. The man stumbled, but remained focused on Allen. Allen spotted the block of pallet wood that Josh had tossed away, and picked it up. He jabbed the man hard in the ribs. “Seriously, man, back off!” The man did not back off.

Josh lowered the forks to knee height, drove them up on either side of the man’s legs, then turned sharply. There was an audible snap from one of the legs, and the man went down, smacking his head on the cement, and becoming still.

“What the f… What…” stammered Allen.

“Him or us, dude,” answered Josh.

Allen stared at his companion, and gestured toward the body, now delightfully oozing from the head. “That is not normal!”

Josh backed the forklift away, and steered it back toward the door, lowering the forks. “All the more reason to get out of here,” he said, as he wedged them under the door again. He pulled the lever to lift, but at about three feet, it died.

“What if there’s more of them out there?” asked Allen.

Josh hopped off the machine. “Okay, how long do you want to stay in here?” He gestured to the warehouse.

Allen looked around, considering a diet of animal feed. He turned back to respond, but Josh was already disappearing under the door.

TO BE CONTINUED...