Per 
It happened suddenly, imperceptibly. Came to work as normal. The train looked … fine.
"Okay, okay, 3-4-2-9, that's the new code. 3-4 … 5 …" I pulled a shoddy, mangled scrap of paper from behind and read it over, eyes jittering back and forth. "Ah … alright. 3-4-2-"
"Hey, Joey!" startled, I craned toward the seat beside to me, where an uncannily cheerful man sat, oblivious to his noise. "How do you know my name?" I shot a glare at him. He pointed toward my wallet, which was open and had my various cards spilling out, among them my foundation ID.
"Please … sit a little away, or keep your voice down," I struggled to murmur, as transparently as possible. He didn't hear. Fuck. Why today? Christ. A dubious woman adjusted her trenchcoat across the aisle from me.
"What're ya lookin' at?"
With a jolt, I turned back to the man aside me, who had closed the - already meager - gap between us and was peering a hole into my skull. I whipped my hand to the back of my head. Okay. Still solid. We're good. Snap. Back to reality.
I stared back in front of me, through the window. Nice mountains, think about the mountains, think about the reptil- no! Mountains and grass. The man shuffled. I absentmindedly sat, struggling to choke out some vague grunt of agreement whenever prompted. Without warning, and startlingly, the train slammed to a halt.
1
I jumped to my feet and reached for my tote, which was now firmly planted under my unwanted companion.
"Hey," I sighed. "Can you…" I gestured at my bag.
"I don't know, can I?" he smirked as I tried to compose. "Why don't you get it? I don't feel like moving. Where you headed, anyway? I know you didn't listen to me the whole ride, you little tosser, I-"
I couldn't contain myself. "Aw fuck mate, YOU FAT SHIT! I've … I've got nothing to say! I'm so fucking hungover I can't think and today's gonna be so stressful and the last thing I need is some bastard getting frustrated over nothing. You go back to your fucking grazing cows and let me get on with important shit! Okay?" Traversing back over my words, getting more angry, and disgusted, I lumbered out of the train and, tremoring, approached the bleak warehouse.
2
Drip … drip … drip … why won't that tap ever shut up?. I forced my head back towards the "priority" email that had come up. Dear researchers in Site … okay … there has been a technical fault … huh? Technical fault? … please concur with your site director for further details. Vague. Suspiciously vague. Suppose I didn't have to much work to do anyway. And this headache's killing me … alright. Fuck it.
I hiked across the site, and to the main office.
"You go first." I offered to a senior that I'd never seen before. He went through and sauntered into the director's office. After a swift glance at the bell tower, I followed suit. I shoved the bulky door and lumbered inside. The office was empty. What? It was a priority email. The director, where was he? I tapped idly on his desk for a few minutes, looking up at the clock behind me every now and then.
"Can I help you?" he had appeared suddenly.
"Yeah, I got your email, what happened?"
"What email?"
"I, um, at 4 o' clock, you know. I think two hours ago…" I turned to the wall. It was bare.
"Look, I've got a lot to do. What do you need?"
3
"Today was very stressful. The train ride was-"
"What train?" he glared sharply at me. "Look, I know what it feels like to be stressed out here, I've been there. Get back to work."
"Okay, I need some air."
I stepped away. Look at the bell- okay, it's gone. That's fine. Long, deep br-
BANG!
Blood. Everywhere.
"Ah, Jesus Christ."
It happened slowly, right in front of my eyes, how did I not see it coming?
jam-con2020
