J. Gonzalez - The Corporation

“So what happened after dinner?”

Jessica gave her the rundown. Micah seemed uninterested in her sexually and every time Jessica tried to interest him in another topic—what school he’d gone to, his family, favorite movies or music or something—Micah steered the conversation back to his work with Handy. At one point, Jessica said, he even asked her why she didn’t consider her job so important. “Why would he say that?” Diana asked.

“Because I wasn’t talking about it,” Jessica said. She leaned forward. “And get this. He… well, it ended badly. He made me walk home from the restaurant and—”

“He made you walk home ?” Diana’s eyebrows raised in shock.

“—he said he was going to have a talk with Mary about me,” Jessica said. Now she looked nervous. “He said I should be a more devoted employee; that I should be concerned about our position in the marketplace and be a team player and—”

“What a bunch of bullshit!” Diana said; she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“And he said he was going to have a talk with Mary about me first thing Monday,” Jessica said.

Now Diana knew why Jessica looked so nervous, and she tried to calm the girl’s fears. Mary was the Accounting Manager. “What he says to Mary isn’t going to do anything,” she said. “I mean, you’re a temp ! Everybody knows you’re only here for the summer and when the Fall Semester starts, you’re back to school. Besides, we all like your work. There’s no way Mary will—”

“He said he was going to recommend to Mary that I either quit school and come on board as a full-time employee, or be fired,” Jessica said.

Diana was getting angry. She’d had no opinion of Micah when he first came on board, but now she felt a supreme hatred for him. She knew he’d been hired six months ago, that he used to be a consultant from that firm that was in the news a year ago, the one that got blown up. He’d worked out of their Detroit office and left voluntarily before it was eventually shut down. “If Mary says anything to you, come to me,” Diana said. “I’ll vouch for you. Don’t worry; nothing will happen. Mary will just humor him and then—”

Suddenly the door to Diana’s office flew open and there was Mary Fulmer and Micah Walters.

Diana was startled by the sudden intrusion. Jessica glanced up, a look of guilt on her face. Don’t look guilty , Diana thought. You haven’t done anything wrong, for God’s sakes .

Mary took a step inside the office. “Jessica, Micah told me about your dinner engagement Saturday evening and I must say I am most disappointed.”

Jessica opened her mouth to say something. Mary continued. “Micah recommends we dismiss you from the company unless you are willing to quit school and come on board full-time.”

“What?” Diana practically yelled.

“Umm…” Jessica said, nervous and squirming uncomfortably in her seat.

Mary ignored Diana’s outburst. “What will it be, Jessica.”

“You can’t make her quit school! Are you out of your mind ?” Diana was practically shouting now.

Mary looked at Diana. “You’re fired. Get out!”

Diana gasped. The expression on Mary’s face was one of emptiness; it was like she was talking to a robot.

Mary turned back to Jessica. “I’d like an answer.”

“I can’t quit now,” Jessica said. “I still have two more years.”

“Then you can leave,” Mary said. “Handy is no longer in need of your services.”

Diana Early and Jessica Williams left Handy Supplies together that day and went to a bar on State Street. They spent most of the morning and afternoon drinking and venting their anger and frustration over what happened to them at work.

Back at Handy, Mary Fulmer and Micah Williams outlined the presentation they planned to present at the emergency employee staff meeting. They’d been planning this the past two days now, ever since Micah had infiltrated the company. Already he’d sunk his hooks into all of the executive staff; Mary was the first member of management to be influenced by him. She was working on the Manager of Engineering now and hoped to have him under control shortly. She was sure employees would start questioning the sudden dismissal of Diana and Jessica but that was par for the course. Trimming dead wood early would be beneficial for the company. The plan she and Micah were to present to the staff that afternoon was even more crucial. Mary had a feeling that it would be met by protest, but if they didn’t like it they could go elsewhere. After all, if they intended to remain employed by Handy they would need to be dedicated employees, not only when they were on duty from eight to five, but twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The Human Resource manager had already sent two associates to the homes of several Handy employees to confiscate various items—televisions, stereos, books, games. Engaging in the consumption of any media unrelated to Handy business was now officially prohibited even when it was conducted on the employee’s own property (another initiative was currently being carried out in stealth mode—the takeover of all mortgages and property deeds held by Handy employees; if employees were paying mortgages from funds made while employed by Handy, then the property was really owned by the company). One must eat, drink, and sleep Handy business.

It was the only way to stay competitive in the global marketplace.

While elsewhere in the world, business continued on as usual.

J. F. Gonzalez is the author of over fifteen novels of horror and dark suspense including Back From the Dead , Primitive , Bully , The Beloved , Survivor , and is co-author of Clickers series (with Mark Williams and Brian Keene respectively). His short fiction is collected in four volumes, of which the latest, The Summoning and Other Eldritch Tales , is available as an exclusive digital title. He also works in other media including film, the technology sector, and other areas of publishing. He lives with his family in Pennsylvania and is currently working on his next novel. For more information, visit him on the web at www.jfgonzalez.com.

Click Click Click Click

Phillipsport, Maine is a quaint and peaceful seaside village. But when hundreds of creatures pour out of the ocean and attack, its residents must take up arms to drive the beasts back.

They are the Clickers, giant venomous blood-thirsty crabs from the depths of the sea. The only warning to their rampage of dismemberment and death is the terrible clicking of their claws. But these monsters aren’t merely here to ravage and pillage. They are being driven onto land by fear. Something is hunting the Clickers. Something ancient and without mercy.

The first wave was just the beginning …

The United States is in ruins. It has just suffered one of the worst hurricanes in history, the people are demoralized, and the president is a religious fanatic. Then things get really bad — the Clickers return.

Thousands of the monsters swarm across the entire nation and march inland, slaughtering anyone and anything they come across. But this time the Clickers aren’t blindly rushing onto land — they are being led by an intelligence older than civilization itself. A force that wants to take dry land away from the mammals.