The depressing fluorescent glow of office lights enveloped Karl as the elevator doors split apart. He let himself bask in the lifeless shine before timidly stepping onto the office floor. Shyly, he glanced around at the all-to-familiar environment. A bit of nostalgia swept over him from the sounds of typing on keyboards and hushed conversations between employees and callers. The feeling passed quickly.

Karl had entered a small room that was barely decorated, except for a single sofa made of brown leather. To his right was the office space, behind double, glass doors pulled completely open. He looked at his phone to check the email that had been sent to him with an attached picture of the office layout and arrows directing him to the Manager’s office. The first arrow said to go through the double doors, and then the second arrow goes straight between sets of cubicles, and finally, the third arrow hooks a right into a straight walk to the Manager’s office. Pretty simple, but Karl checked again regardless.

After slipping his phone back into his pocket, he made his way further into the office. As he passed the double doors, Karl mentally checked for all the typical office decor to distract himself from the first-day jitters.

Black, flat carpet: check.

Dull-colored walls (green): check.

Windows, but most are covered by curtains: check.

Random plants at every corner: check.

A few eyes from standing employee's danced over to Karl as he gingerly stepped through the cubicle walkway. Their walls weren’t tall, but enough to hide the faces of the employees that were sitting. No one seemed too eager to greet the newcomer. But, to be fair to them, his tense atmosphere lacked an inviting feel.

The office wasn’t large, so the walk to the Manager’s office was quick. However, the aluminum-framed door was shut and the lights were turned off. Karl looked through the glass door and saw a large wooden desk that seemed to be auburn-stained. Some random objects and two monitors sat atop the desk. There was also a small bookshelf to the left and a few metal cabinets behind the desk. The rest of the contents in the Manager’s office were too hard to make out with the small amount of fluorescent light tricking in from the outside.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Karl stepped back from the door and peered around at the other employees. Hoping that one of them would see his predicament and try to help out.

No one seemed to notice him.

The two employees who had been standing earlier, one a middle-aged woman with straight, black hair and the other an elderly man with speckled glasses, had sat down. Not sure what to do next, he leaned against the wall, facing toward the sea of cubicles. His backpack, holding his water flask and lunch, provided a cushion.

A few minutes passed without anything happening, except Karl periodically checking the time to see if he had arrived early. He was scheduled for 10 a.m. and it was now 10:04 a.m. The Manager must know he is here, Karl thought, but he might have had something he needed to do and would be back in a few minutes. He’ll just stay where he was for now and wait for a few more minutes.

In the meantime, he figured he could play his little checking game again.

Coffee stains: check.

Coffee smell: check.

Occasional coughs from an employee: check.

Karl stopped his game after noticing something peculiar. The placement of this office in the building was quite odd now that he thought about it. Typically, there are multiple offices on a building floor, but this seemed to be the only one. Based on the floor plan he was given, the only exit from this office was the elevators and emergency stairs. There were no doors or hallways leading to other offices. Also, the elevator he took had only one option to go to this floor. The other elevators in the building must go to the other floors. Maybe there were other offices on this floor, but for some reason, this one is not connected to them.

Weird floor plan: Not expected, but check.

A voice near to him coaxed him out of his thoughts.

“Hello.”

Karl thought that someone must have finally noticed him.

“This is David with Dead Men Hotline. How may I assist you today?”

No, it was just an employee taking a call. Karl couldn’t see who David was, but his voice sounded like it came from the ocean’s depths. He was also quite loud compared to the others that were taking calls. He had only been able to make out small words from the other conversations, but David was quite clear.

With nothing else to do, Karl figured he could listen in on David’s call because he still did not know exactly what support he would be providing. Moments passed while David waited for the caller to explain what assistance they needed. Unfortunately, Karl was not able to hear that part, so he had to wait for David’s reply.

“Ok, I see,” the booming voice reappeared. “So, how many people did you kill with your vehicle?”

What?