Mark Clodi - Outbreak

Steve looked down the list, “Well, well, we do have one ‘Miss Amelia Bryon’, she is Kirkpatrick’s assistant on the second floor. Or was, she ain’t answering her phone.”

“Try again. Didn’t you hit on her at the last company party? I seem to recall something about…”

“Yeah, yeah, lets mention how Steve got shot down again. C’mon man I was two months out of my divorce! The phone is ringing.” Holding the phone out to Max, “See? No answer, she is a goner.”

“Nah she is probably holed up in Kirkpatrick’s office, this is perfect he has like the biggest office on the second floor and it looks over the main entrance and into the parking lot, so we can see when the national guard gets here, makes sense to go there anyway, eh?”

“Ah, I still say we make a run for the parking lot and our cars, once in our cars we should be safe, we can just run anyone down who gets in our way.” said Steve.

“Steve! Come on!”

“Fine.” Steve hung up the phone.

On the other end a voice finally answered, too late for Steve to hear.

“Hello? Is anybody there? Kirkpatrick’s gone crazy he…he’s noticed me! Help me! Send help! Oh God! Stay away from me!”

Nancy’s memory was like sand slipping through her fingers. Images freely came and went. Was she married? Did she have a family? Where did she live? For a few minutes, if she concentrated hard enough she could remember an apartment or a loft. The floor plan was wide open, must have been a loft, she thought. She could see that it was decorated just like a page out of a Pottery Barn catalog. Rich wood floors, brick walls adorned with trendy black and white pictures of people and places. Nancy couldn’t remember if she had taken those pictures, where they people she knew? Family? Had she been to any of those places? She just couldn’t remember.

Those thoughts were too distant. Her short term memory served her better. She had forced herself to come into work early that day. She usually spent several nights a week entertaining clients and rarely arrived at the office any earlier than ten. As head of her department she had a substantial expense account that she used to retain current clients as well as lure new business. It had taken her a while to adjust to the marketing lifestyle, lots of smiling, listening to stories you could care less about, eating, drinking, flirting, presentations, making deals on a promise and a handshake, this was all part of the job.

When someone was stupid enough to ask her how old she was Nancy would answer, forty one, when in truth she was almost forty seven. Appearances were a major plus in her job so she routinely exercised and regularly visited the salon to have those gray hairs dyed brown. Nancy was taller than the average woman and she liked to wear high heels to increase her height. For some reason it made her feel more powerful, more in control of her surroundings.

Nancy traditionally worked long hours and had promised herself that she was going to make the three day weekend into four days of rest and relaxation. In order to do this, she had a few loose ends that she needed to take care of and had decided to get in before any of her staff arrived.

Her in box had shown thirty three unread emails. “Shit” this would slow her down. Nancy started addressing the important ones and simply deleted everything else. She was not accustomed to how quiet her office was that morning. Usually the phone would be ringing, Peggy, her admin assistant, would be standing at her door waiting for approval to enter and discuss some pending issue. All Nancy could hear was the hum of her computer and the gurgling of the coffee pot on Peggy’s desk. Usually Nancy would have stopped on her way in at the local coffee shop and bought her caffeine, but nothing had been open so she would have to make due with Peggy’s private stash.

Nancy soon became absorbed in her work. She needed the second quarter financial reports from last year. They should be in the top drawer of Peggy’s file cabinet. As she rose from her desk Nancy could hear the last drips of coffee falling into the pot. Perfect. She would multi task, grab a cup, the reports, and life would be good.

The first part of her plan worked out but when she opened the file where the reports should have been all she found was a yellow sticky note with Peggy’s handwriting.

“Fred borrowed 06/28/05”

It didn’t surprise her to find Peggy’s note. She always created a paper trail. That’s why they made such a good team. Peggy was meticulous and Nancy shot from the hip. Peggy had been Nancy’s best hire. She had great people skills, was very organized, and a great self motivator. At first Nancy wondered if Peggy was a threat to her career. That she might somehow be a Nancy-in-training. However, she would remind herself that Peggy was just an administrative assistant and that made her feel better. The only fault that Nancy found with Peggy was that she was younger and prettier. Nancy knew that it was more of a weakness within herself but nevertheless she couldn’t help but hold it against Peggy.

“Not a problem, more time to suck in this sweet caffeine.” Nancy told herself as she placed both hands around the cup feeling the radiating warmth. She strolled out of her office and headed down the hall to the accounting department. Her high heels clicked on the floor tiles.

Nancy was confident that she would be able to find the file because Fred, being an accountant, was border line insane when it came to neatness. “Hell, the file probably had it's own private corner of his desk all to itself” she mused.

Immediately Nancy knew something was wrong when she arrived at entrance to the accounting department. Papers were strewn about the commercial grade carpeting. The bamboo plant that usually sat on the stand outside Fred’s office had been knocked to the floor. A pizza box lay on it's side with the remaining slices of pepperoni laying on the carpet.

Nancy felt her heartbeat rise. “Fuck me, Fred had a stroke or a heart attack. Poor bastard was probably working late when it hit him and there was no one around to help. What a way to go.”

The light to his office was off. That and the idea of Fred sprawled across is neatly organized desk scared the hell out of her. Nancy knew she had to find out what truly happened, to see if there was anything should could do and yet she still stood in the hallway with her fresh coffee warming her hands.

It was time. She had to do something, “be a big girl and just get it over with” Nancy convinced herself. She took a step and froze dead in her tracks. There was a popping sound, like someone snapping bubble wrap between their fingers.

“What the f….” she whispered. Nancy could feel the sweat under her arms and down her neck. Looking down she could see that the sharp point from the heel of her shoe had punctured a piece of paper causing the sound.

“Big brave Nancy” she mumbled and relaxed a bit.

Fred’s door was closed. This was the fun part. Nancy grasped the doorknob and pushed it open. The office was in the same state as the common area she had just walked through. Papers, office supplies, trash, reference books, all lined the floor. Fred was sitting in his chair, upright, mouth open, head cocked back, eyes staring at the acoustic ceiling tiles, as though he had fallen asleep in his chair, but with his eyes open.

“F-fred…”

At the sound of Nancy’s voice his head snapped forward. Fred started to stand up.

“Fred. What the hell happened? You ok?”

When he did not answer she took a step backwards. Pop.

“Fred!”

His hand dragged along the desk knocking more papers to the floor as he continued toward Nancy. She took another step back. Pop.