Trapped: A Christmas Tale

Trapped

By: Lucas Pederson

+Taken from a cellular phone voice recording+

(Humming, a small laugh)
"Christmas Eve night and I'm stuck here. Of all the places to get stranded, it had to be at work.
The weather had been bad, heavy blowing snow, severe drifting, coming into work, but I figured it wouldn't last long and by the time my shift ended, the road crews would be outs, clearing a nice path for my way home.
No such luck." (Sighs)
"I look out the square security glass window of the entrance door.
The snow hasn't let up and now a drift as tall as my stomach stretches out across the front of the door, like a dead white tentacle. It's an hour passed the end of my shift, and already i feel the first pangs of cabin fever. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it's true. I have just finished up a twelve hour night. I'm beat, ready for my nice warm bed, the heat of my wife snoozing beside me, the feel of her breast on my arm as she snuggles close. Christ, I need to get home!
I had tried earlier to get out, but the huge drift before the door hindered every attempt. And since it's Christmas Eve, all the other entrances and exits are locked internally by computers. The entire building is shutdown, save for my little section on the north end.
I walk back to my machine, feeling drained, tired as hell. I want to get home to my family. It's Christmas Eve, after all, but I can't. That stupid big ass snow drift is in the way!
Sitting down in a chair, I swivel around to my work bench. I hear the occasional clang or bang. At least I'm not the only one dumb enough to have come in. On a quick stroll around the department just before looking out the window, I spotted four other workers three men, one woman. I'm not sure how long they've been here, nor do I know who they are. I'm still fairly new here, so i don't know-" (Someone is heard screaming far in the background)
"What's that? I think I jutst heard someone scream. hold on a minute, I'll be back . I just hope non one got hurt..."
(Click)

(soft voices in the background, someone coughs quietly)
"Someone did get hurt, bad. Not just hurt but killed. Murdered." (A pause.)
(subtle clacking, a woman whines)
"The killer is a kid named Joe, or so the three with me have told me since we've holed up in the supervisor's office." (Another pause.)
(Clanging noises, a shriek)
"Gotta go."
(Click)

(A man telling someone named Brent to stop with the cell phone shit already)
"Up yours Harold."
"Joe found us in the office, broke through the door. Harold and Kent out manned him and beat him up pretty bad before we fled to the inspection room. We locked up the door. I don't think Joe will come after us now. Last I saw of him he was lying face first on the floor, blood pooling around his head. Maybe Harold and Kent killed the guy, I don't know. "
(Harold's voice shouting: Shut the fuck up!)
(A long pause.)
"I moved away from the group so I could talk about all this without making any of them angrier than they already were.
There have been no sounds since they beat Joe. No sounds, nothing. But it seems almost too quiet out there, as if something lay in wait. I shudder at the thought of it. Maybe you're thinking right now: if he's got a cell phone then why in God's name hasn't called for help yet? Well, you see, with all the steel in this building my phone can't pick up a signal. It's like some sort of anti-cellular shell. I bring my phone to work simply to play games on while my machine is running through cycles. A way to pass the time."
(A loud howl is heard)
"Christ, what was that? I going to go see. It almost sounded like I imagine a person dying of torture. "
(Brent's breathing, the sounds of movement)
"Ah shit! It's Joe! But..."
(Click)

(Screaming)
"Joe is alive! He's alive! No, no, that's not right! He's dead, but he's alive! He's chewing on Harold's neck! Can't get out of the room, they're blocking it! I'm trapped! Eve and Kent are trying to beat Joe with anything they can get their hands on! I can't move, too scared. Too scared. Oh Jesus! The blood! Shit, shit, shit, shit!"
(Click)

"Dead, they're all dead. Harold, Kent, Eve, all dead. I'm hiding in a storage closet across the building. I don't think Joe knows I'm here. I probably shouldn't be talking, giving myself away, but you need to know what happens to me if I die here. How it happened. I'm so scared I can't stop shaking, my heart feels like it could burst through my chest. Joe has become something...not human. A ghost? I don't know. A zombie? That seems more likely, though I wonder.
(Thud-thump, snap!)
"Shit! Shit! He found me! He found me!" (Snap! Crack! Snap! Crash!)
"AHHGGHHH!"
(Click)

(Heavy, wet breathing, a low grunt)
"Got'em all...Yummmm."
(Click)

(Rustling, a soft, shuddering moan, cursing)
"Dying, s-so much blood. Hard to breathe. Joe gone. Don't, don't know where. Dying."
(More rustling, a loud wet cough)
"Amy, sweetie, my wife, my l-love. I'll, I'll always be with you. I love you so much. Tell, tell the girls, tell them I love them and that daddy is in their hearts..."
"Love...you...all..."
(Click)

Amy, eyes wet with tears, flipped her husband's phone closed and set it on the counter. The red bow was still fixed to the top of it. Her eyes wandered to her two daughters eating their breakfast at the kitchen table.
Brent has been missing for three years, assumed dead. Now she knew the truth. He hadn't run out on her, as she had at first thought. He had been murdered by a, oh Jesus, a ghost, or zombie of some kind.
After the disappearances of four workers, her Brent included, the police had shown up at the house to do an investigation, which turned up nothing, of course. They said there was a lot of blood splattered and pooled, mainly in the supervisors office and in, oh yes, the inspection room. Since Brent had been one of the workers missing, they assumed, perhaps, he was the one who went berserk. Oh, how wrong they were. If they listened to the voice recording on the cell phone, Brent's cell phone, they'd know the truth.
Three years to the day. Christmas Eve.
Her eyes found the cell phone again, and she began to sob.
Brent had brought her a present. He had brought it from death, so she would know what happened.
Amy crumpled to the floor, sobbing.

The End


*Hi my Friends!
Well, this one was a bit gruesome for Christmas, but it's based, very loosely, on true events. I was stranded at work the other night. I did hear a scream. Though, I was the only on in the shop. My investigations turned up fruitless. Did I hear a ghost? I don't know, but I tell you this, I was scared. So scared I began a voice recording on my own cell phone, which is part of the beginning of this story.
I managed to get out, however, and drive home. I didn't make it home right away though. The blowing snow swept across the roads, making visibility near nil. I topped a small hill. i didn't see the drift until it was too late and thwunk!, I was stuck just like that. I spent over two hours in my car waiting to be rescued. Someday I just might invest in a truck.... :-)

Thanks for reading and I hope you all have a very Merry, very Happy Holidays!

-Lucas