Level Zero by Dan McDowell (debian ebook reader .txt) 📗

Please… Rick, don’t do this to me now. What will my wife say? She’s going to think I wasn’t up to company standards. She’ll be so disappointed… might even flip out on me.’

‘I’m sorry, Herb. The decision is final. We’ll pay you through the end of the month. All the best.’

‘Likewise.’

On Herb’s return home from the office, he continued to process the news, knowing Gina would be irate. She warned him this was coming. He hadn’t listened. In fact, just a week earlier, she told him as much. He recalled the conversation as he drove.

‘Talent comes at a cost, Herb. We both know when large organizations are bought out by corporations, heads are going to roll. I’m not sure you’ll have a job much longer. You need to prepare for something else.’

‘Oh, Gina, don’t sell me short. I am an A-lister at JP and Sons. They’re more than happy with me. Rick would never leave me out in the cold like that without warning.’

‘I don’t think so, Herb. You are on a shorter leash than you think.’

‘You’re mistaken, Gina. You really don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m the professional. You’re the housewife…’

‘Herb, I’m… going to kill you. Mark my words. It won’t be pretty either. Rest assured of that.’

‘Aww… C’mon, Gina… You know you are overreacting.’

‘I’m overreacting?! That isn’t fair at all. You are an idiot for thinking you’re so safe… remaining employed.’

What am I going to tell Gina? She was right all along. Am I too stubborn? At this rate… I’m just delusional. What an idiot. Yep… I’m a dead man. Here comes the grim reaper.

He entered the door to their small efficiency apartment; Gina was sitting on the couch, folding clothes.

‘Hey, Herb.’

‘Hey.’

‘What’s going on?’

‘Oh, not much.’

‘Really…? You seem quiet.’

‘Well, give me a chance to sit down and think through my day before you turn this into a dad-gum interrogation scene, would you?’

Gina stood up and raced into the kitchen where she grabbed the butcher knife from their Sears catalog case knife set.

‘I’m not going to put up with this nonsense anymore.’

She charged into the room with the knife… Herb blacked out. He awakened abruptly, realizing half of his world had gone dark. Looking down at his shirt, he watched a blood trail run down the side of his cheek and drip to the floor just beneath. He reached toward his left eye. There was nothing there. Only a hole…”

Todd interrupted, “Okay, okay. No more, please.”

“That’s exactly what the customer said, too — at the same point of the story. I guess I get to hold on to the ending.”

“Is it bloody?” he asked.

“Of course.”

“Okay. That’s all I need to hear,” he said.

“So back to that night…” Ebony said. “I finished the call. Everyone else on the floor vanished during the story or left for a dinner break. The west wing of the building and its dark shadows piqued my interest. I moved toward it and looked up at the ceiling, noting a black liquid.

DRIP. DRIP. DRIP.

No bucket to catch it — only the cheap Berber carpet below to absorb. The night cleaning crew arrived, but they ignored me. I was upset… and my stupid streak continued. I found the stairwell and marched up to the restricted floor, Level Six. I ended up covered in gallons and gallons of some kind of black oil. The stuff stripped all the color right out of my skin and hair. I should have followed the rule…”

“What rule?” Todd asked.

Her voice became monotone, “Never set foot where you aren’t welcome. Your feet will be quick to rush to evil.”

Todd studied Ebony’s face a moment until her voice normalized. “I wish I would have listened,” she said. “I’m cursed here now. There’s no way out.”

“I’ve heard that, but why doesn’t anyone try?”

She shook her head and sighed. ”The torture. Hasn’t Creeper Joe gotten after you? I can’t go through any more of it. I won’t. He’s left me alone ever since he stomped my kneecaps into pieces. I figured something would give at some point. He nursed me back to health with the water and went on his merry way. I snitched this cup from him and he hasn’t come back looking for it yet. Probably has a stock of them stored and doesn’t care anymore. I went from an invalid to a tunnel athlete. He got me feeling so good for a while that I was jogging from one end of the tunnel to the other. I lost the umph for that, though. Thing is, I think we all get a touch of the seasonal blues in here. We could all use some sunshine. Thing with Joe is that it’s almost like he’s got another agenda more important. The other thing… every few days, I see a new face in here.”

“So what’s the deal with Creeper Joe? Who is he?”

“I don’t know how to explain,” she said. “I really don’t know. This is the one thing that will help you. Once you march to the beat he wants you to, he stands down.”

Get to the point, then. Or I will. Julie’s voice echoed in his mind, ‘Remember, everyone has the potential to be a friend before they’re an enemy.’ What a bunch of poppycock. I’ll try it, anyway.

“So… track star, you haven’t come up with a plan to leave? Joe’s not that fast. I’ve watched him hobble around,” Todd said. “How many of you are here?”

Ebony shook her head again. ”Hard to say, probably fifty something by now. We haven’t tried to leave… We’re all a little confused — disoriented, I mean. I reckon you are, too?” Her voice got quieter, “We got to watch ourselves, you know. A long spread out tunnel like this, no easy outs, only the bats, the rats, and the other vermin let loose when we’re lucky. If we catch and kill the critter, we take it on over to the mess hall and have us a grand ‘ol feast now and then.” Ebony stood up and stretched her