ZombiePalooza - Anthology

#TeamInsidesAndEntrails Pt. V - @benjammies's "Work Day"

Work Day

By benjammies

Going out drinking on a Wednesday night didn't seem like such a good idea to Dave, especially when he had to work in the morning. But it was in the subtle way that Leonard proposed it, how they both knew it had been a long work day, that convinced Dave he deserved a night to let loose. He joined Leonard on a binge at the bar a couple blocks from where they worked, one with trendy drink names, obnoxious techno-pop music, and a bartender with a concerning amount of piercings. After ordering a drink with a name a heavy-metal garage band would've been proud of, Leonard dragged Dave to a group of girls at a table. They were students studying nursing at the university down the street. Leonard ordered shots of tequila. The shots turned into tedious formal conversations over the blaring music. The conversations changed into more shots. More shots evolved into laughing and flirting. Laughing and flirting brought even more shots. Around shot eight, Dave fell into a blackout.

He groaned at the light seeping through the openings in the blinds, crashing down right on his face. After turning over, whatever was supporting his body let out a creak. His hand brushed against the hard wood surface. He opened his eyes.

The break room was dimly lit, with many of the cupboards left open and multiple contents strewn on the counters. Canned foods, coffee packages, plastic eating utensils, saltine crackers... they were all gazing back at Dave. He sat up, realizing he had slept on the break room table. He was somehow back at work. A drum beat throbbed beneath his skull, and Dave cradled his head in his hands.

"Thought you'd never wake up," a familiar voice sounded. Leonard stood at the doorway in the same work attire from the day before, his tie missing. He seemed to be fully refreshed, no spot of a hangover clinging to his smirking face.

Images of last night began swarming in Dave's head. They were like pieces of a puzzle, requiring assembly before he could see the big picture of his foolish decisions. He didn't even like Leonard that much. The guy was the poster-child for every white guy who lived in the past of his fraternity days. He was the idiot around the workplace, the guy who was too ignorant too care that others thought him racist, sexist, or homophobic. Dave was sure the main reason Leonard invited him to the bar was so that Leonard could say he had a black friend. Dave rubbed his face.

"What time is it?"

Leonard glanced at his watch. "Almost nine."

Dread seized Dave's body in a jolt. Work started an hour ago. People would be swarming all around the floor, seeing Dave asleep in the break room. He clambered off the table and pushed past Leonard, who braced him with an outstretched arm.

"Hey, easy buddy. No one's seen you. In fact, I think we're the only ones here. See for yourself." He let go, and Dave brushed by him and stepped into the office room.

Empty cubicles filled the windowed chamber. There was no shrill of the telephones, no clicking of the keyboards, no rumbling chatter of co-workers. It was an hour after work was supposed to have started, and not a single person was present. An eerie quiet filled the room, shrouded by the morning light seeping through the windows.

"I checked the floors above us. We're the only people in this building, man. The clean-up crew didn't even come last night." Leonard plucked a ball from one of their co-worker's desks. It was Martha's stress ball, one she squeezed when clients were too frustrating for her to handle. If anyone were to take her stress ball, then she would dive into a fit. The irony wasn't lost on Dave.