 So, do you have any experience working security? Nope. Okay. But you have completed the online course, correct? There was an online course? The skinny man slammed his head into his hand. Buddy told me his name, I just couldn't remember. Look, I said, leaning forward with a smile. What do you need me to do exactly? Check some cameras? Yell at some teenagers? Stay awake all night without the help of a legal, but totally legal, stimulants? I winked. He stared at me, but didn't smile. I got you, man, whatever you need, I got it down. Of course, I can always learn as I go. The skinny man stressed side into both his hands. He had an okay dress shirt, but it was covered in sweat. Tell me about your last job at the dollar store. He finally said, Ha, no, no, no, legally. I don't actually have to talk about it to, to Terry. My name is Terry. Don't be silly, Terry. I knew that. Now our great government has declared that whatever you're about to say, I guarantee it has not a shut up, Terry. I mean, sorry. I don't want to talk about the dollar store. Terry was quiet for a moment. I could see those two nerdy little eyes judging me. Corporate bitch, this one. I couldn't judge him too much, though. Nowadays, I was just as much a government slave as him. Terry sat up, shuffled some papers on his desk, pushed back his glasses that were falling off his nose. Johnny Del Montog. Is that rad? I shuddered a bit at the mention of my last name. Yeah, that's it. What makes you think you'll be a good fit for this job, Johnny? He asked. I looked out the office door to the waiting area where rows and rows of seats laid empty. I'm going to level with you a bit, Terry. Normally this is where I'd continue to talk out my ass and give you some pretty words that may or may not work. I turned back to look him in the eye. But honestly, Terry, I think the fact that I'm here and I'm breathing might be enough. Terry groaned, not looking up from the papers on his desk. Unfortunately, you're right. He muttered. I smiled. Do you even remember what we do here, Johnny? He asked. I blanked for a moment. Uh, refresh my memory? Do you actually even care? Well, is it important? Uh, no. He said, pulling out a sheet of paper and handing it to me. What is important is this list. Now look, all I need you to do is follow these rules and… Wait, I interrupted. Huh. I can't use the bathroom between 12 and 2 a.m.? No. That's really important, Johnny, if you do. I'm pretty sure that's illegal. I interrupted. Jesus, Johnny, I'll throw in another 20 or not. Just piss in a bucket or something if you have to go then. I looked back up at him. I think this man was a little bit wacko. Okay, the kid in black I'm supposed to ignore. He's like the owner's son or something? Not important. Just stay away from it. Okay, and look, Johnny, I'm really hoping to leave in an hour. Can you start tonight or no? Ah crap, I didn't want to start today. Better not let this slip though. Sure. I pulled my old beater back into, you know, I should really figure out what this place actually is. Ah, doesn't matter though, it's work now. I grabbed my fast food bag and headed for the door. Terry passed me by on my way in with a nervous smile on his face. You went over the list, right, Johnny? He asked. Ah shit, that dumb list, it was, shit, I couldn't remember what I did with it. I just smiled and nodded, it couldn't be that important. Terry handed me the keys and a weird purple pokey thing. Number seven. He said, don't forget that one. I smiled and nodded, pretending to know what he was talking about. Okay. He said, also, don't forget about rule three when it comes to that food. I'm heading out now. Good luck, Johnny. With that he scampered off, sprinted away who was more like it. Anyway, with that I entered the building, locked the door behind me, and made my way to the surveillance room. I plopped my fast food down. I didn't get a good look at that list, but I certainly didn't see anything about this on it. The feed seemed a bit glitchy. Terry, dude, you got to keep your stuff up to date. A rat crawled out of a nearby vent. It crawled down and approached me cautiously. I smiled and tossed him a french fry. He seemed to stare at it for a moment before grabbing it and scampering off. Shit. I actually didn't know how to interact with a camera feed. Ah well, figure I can just mash every button until I find the one that works. One of them shut the screen off, but hitting it again turned everything back on. Rat buddy came back with a friend followed by a third. I ignored them for now, just focusing on how to work this computer. I was about to press this weird red button off to the side of the keyboard when my arm accidentally knocked my drink over. I hope that wasn't rule number three. I quickly took my sweater sleeve and rubbed it over the keyboard. I hit all of the keys, but other than shutting off the screen and opening a few weird tabs, nothing happened. I thought about calling Terry, but figured it was better if I pretended I knew exactly what I was doing. I could get away with that for a while. The rats were everywhere now. They were all running around me in almost a perfect circular pattern. Little weirdos. I tossed them some more fries. I looked up to one of the camera feeds to see that there were actually two night workers here. Well, I think they were anyway. Their forms were all glitched out through the feed, couldn't get much details, other than the black human shapes. I decided I'd better go introduce myself, wouldn't be a very good security person if I didn't. I decided to grab that weird purple pointy thing just in case I thought something was a rule seven. As soon as I picked it up, all the rats suddenly ran away. Little weirdos. As I made my way down through this place, I realized I didn't actually know what room they were in. I opened one door and what sounded like a high-pitched scream rang out. I quickly slammed the door. Guess you need earplugs to work with whatever's in there. Finally, I found the two though. It looked like my camera feed hadn't actually been lying to me. These poor guys were so covered in coal or sud or whatever that it looked like they were completely black. Everything except their eyes, which looked like they'd been burnt white. Not sure how they even saw me. I introduced myself without delay. Hey guys, guess you're the night crew, huh? Terry didn't tell me there were other night workers. My name's Johnny and… Leave us be mortal. We've been here since before you were even a part of this world and we demand that we be left in peace. They practically roared at me. Geez. It wasn't just the eyes and the body. Some of the fumes here really must have done a number on these guys' vocals. This is the problem with the corporations. This right here. Whoa, sorry guys, I'm sorry, didn't mean to bother you. Just making sure you're not teenagers. Oh, by the way, I bet you can get this place to cover surgery for those eyes. Probably even sue them if they don't. I awkwardly started to back out while the two stared at me. What's wrong with our eyes? One said, I, ah, sorry to bother you gentlemen. As I made my way back through the dark hallways, I ran into another dude. He didn't look like another worker but was dressed in all black. Owner's son, I'm guessing. I smiled and nodded, remembering he didn't like to be talked to. He looked back and gave a sadistic grin that reminded me way too much of my brother. I walked past, but this dude turned around and started following me, all the way to the surveillance room where I locked the door on him. I sat back and waited. One AM. Some children showed up in one of the rooms. I was able to use the intercom to get them to scatter. They kept coming back, though, and there was always more of them. I never got a good look, but I could tell they were young by their faint silhouettes. Eventually I decided I was just going to ignore them. I'm not calling the cops on kids. One 45 AM. Sorry, Terry, but I'm not using a bucket and I gotta go. I opened the door to the surveillance room and nearly jumped out of my skin. That weird dude that followed me was still there, grinning. I just stood there for a minute. Wait, maybe this guy needed something. Maybe this was about Rule 7? I grabbed the purple thing and offered it to him. His expression changed to shock as he stared at it. He looked up at me, then back to the pokey thing. Suddenly he smiled with true glee in his eyes, grabbed it, and ran away. Geez, I can see why Terry wanted me to stay away from him. There was something off about that guy. I found the bathroom and closed an empty stall. And then there was a loud banging on the stall door. I opened it and was greeted by what looked like a pharaoh red-eyed albino. He looked like he was about to charge me, but I quickly smiled and patted him on the shoulder. As I left, he just stared at me with an expression I could only describe as flabbergasted. He had a split tongue too. And then I saw a bunch of those workers still all blacked out, running away from something. What followed was that weird dude from earlier, riding on top of a horde of rats while pointing that purple thing at them. It took me a moment to process what I just saw. I decided it was best not to think about it too much. 447 AM The workers were running wild. Occasionally one would bang on my door only to run away as weirdo boy king of the rats made his next round. There were these weird sort of human looking things, sulking around with no faces and extra long limbs. Occasionally these weird bloody faces would flicker over the cameras for a bit. These weird dudes and hats seemed to be teleporting around the place. 530 AM So Johnny, how'd it go? You're alive, so I'm assuming you didn't have any issues with the rules. I forced a laugh at his bad joke and tossed him the keys back. No troubles. Oh, but I forgot to dump the piss bucket though. Mind getting that for me? Terry sighed and nodded, walking inside. As I was walking out, I heard Terry scream from inside the building. I quickly started my engine and sped out of there. Sure it was, I could make up an explanation later. I started to drive along and that's when I heard something behind me. I looked behind to see that my new workplace had just exploded. I guess I'm gonna have to find a new job. Maybe it's for the best.