Ding!

Indy lifted her finger off the clock-in machine at work before scratching her head in confusion. Huh? She looked around the room in shock, completely confused as to how she got here.

Memories from a few moments ago ran rampant in her mind, showing her stabbing her manager. She was shaken to her very core. Was that real? She started to breathe heavily as her hands felt clammy. Her heart pounded in her chest, as if it could explode at any moment.

Sweat dripped down her face and back as she looked around for anyone. She swore that she could still feel the knife in her hand.

Everything felt so real that she almost broke down on the spot.

“What’s going on out here? We need you at the counter, this place is getting packed!” The manager walked through the door connecting the kitchen with the back rooms, yelling at Indy as he did so. He abruptly stopped when he saw that she was almost on the brink of tears. “Are you okay?”

She looked up and saw that the manager was completely fine, and instantly she started breathing a little easier. He’s fine, this is great! She went to ask him what happened, but the words wouldn’t leave her mouth. What’s going on? Why can’t I say anything?

The manager noticed that she was behaving strangely and decided to keep his distance. “Why don’t you take a moment to relax in the break room and just come out when you’re ready, okay?”

She looked at him but couldn’t get the image of her stabbing him out of her head. “Yeah. That sounds good.” She walked into the break room and slid down against the wall. What is happening?

“Good morning, Indy. You must be wondering what is going on here. Mere moments ago, you were stabbing your manager in the stomach, but now he is alive and well, instead of bleeding out on the floor. You lost control of your emotions and did something you shouldn’t have. Now is your chance to redeem yourself...”

As Buddie spoke, Indy felt something cold and metallic attach itself to her waist. She lifted her shirt slightly to find a small metal box suctioned onto her stomach. What? She tried to pull it off, but it was stuck tightly to her skin.

“... You will need to control your emotions. If your emotions fluctuate too much, that box will sense it, and your stomach will be met with an unpleasant visitor. A sharp blade will make itself at home in your stomach, dislodging the box and causing you to bleed out. Good luck Indy.”

Indy froze, her face pale with fear. What? She continued to tug at the box, trying to get rid of it. She felt her skin being pulled, but the box didn’t loosen at all.

Knock knock knock!

“Are you okay in there? We’re getting slammed out here.” A young woman called out from behind the door.

She tried to call out, but once again, the words were stuck in her throat. She took multiple deep breaths and forced herself to calm down. “I’ll be out there in a second Marie!” She yelled out.

If what that voice said is true, then I really did stab him. This is my only chance to survive, so I need to calm down. Reigning in her emotions, she readied herself before walking out the door.

Looks like Marie has already gone back out. Staying focused, she went out front and saw that there was a line up at the counter. She slid into position at the last open register and immediately a portion of the people split off to line up in front of her.

“Hi, what would you like to order today?” Indy asked.

“I would like a cheeseburger and medium fries please.” The customer said.

“Would you like a drink with that?” Indy asked, adeptly inputting the customer's order.

“Just a can of Fanta please.” He said.

“Okay, that would be twelve dollars and fifty cents. Paying by cash or card?”

“Just card.” He said while rummaging through his wallet.

“When you’re ready.” She said.

The customer tapped his card against the EFTPOS machine to pay.

Beep!

The receipt printed out and Indy handed it over to the customer. “Enjoy the rest of your day!”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

The next few customers went about the same as the first, but Indy could see that the line was barely going down at all and some of the customers looked to be getting irritated at the long wait.

She tried her best to get through the customers as quickly as possible, but it didn’t seem to make much of a dent in the crowd.

The next customer stepped up to the counter, holding her phone to her ear.

“I know right? I can’t believe he just went and dumped her like that. What a jerk!” She said over the phone.

“Hi, what would you like to order today?” Indy asked, trying to ignore that the lady was on her phone.

“Yeah. Yeah, just give me a minute.” She said over the phone before turning her attention to Indy and scowling. “Can’t you see I’m on the phone?” Before Indy could respond, she turned her attention back to her phone. “I know right? The nerve of some people. But anyways like I was saying...”

The lady then continued to chat on her phone, much to the frustration of Indy and the rest of the customers in line.

Indy took several deep breaths to keep her calm, trying her hardest to hold herself together.

The lady continued talking, and it was only when the customer behind her yelled at her to get off the phone that she begrudgingly did so.

“Happy now?” She asked Indy snidely. “I’ll take ten chicken nuggets and a can of Pepsi.”

Just feeling done with the whole situation, Indy put the order through without saying a word.

Beep!

The receipt printed out and Indy gave it to the lady, who walked away muttering to herself.

The next customer in line shared a look with Indy, just completely in awe at how rude the woman was.

“She was so rude, are you doing okay?” The man asked her with a bewildered look on his face.

Indy rubbed her temples and sighed. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for asking. What can I get you today?”

“Two large cheeseburger meals please.” he said.

“And what drinks would you like with that?” Indy asked, doing well to keep herself calm.

“A bottle of Sprite and a bottle of Pepsi please. And I’ll be paying with cash.” The man said while passing over thirty dollars.

Indy typed thirty dollars into the machine, then clicked on the cash option. The till opened and she quickly handed the man his change and his receipt. “Enjoy the rest of your day.”

“You too.” he said as he walked away.

Slowly, the line died down to a more manageable level. There was still a constant stream of people joining the queue, but it no longer looked impossible to get through.

Finally catching a break, she stepped back from the registers and went to help get the orders out. Packing the food into the bag according to the order, she brought it to the counter.

“Order one seventeen!” She called out. She handed the food over to the person and wished them well. “Enjoy the rest of your day.”

A constant stream of orders backed up in the kitchen as the crowd waiting for their food grew larger.

“Indy, we need you back on registers.” The manager called out.

Turning back around, she saw that a massive line had formed at some point. Damn! Finishing up with the order at hand, she hopped back onto registers.

She was bounced back and forth between the registers and trying to get the orders out. She felt exhausted and just wished that it could be over. How long has it been? Before she could check the time, she noticed someone standing unhappily with a bag of food at the counter. “Hi, how may I help you today?”

“You forgot my chicken nuggets.” He said, fuming.

She looked around and found a box of chicken nuggets that someone had missed. She handed it to the customer and apologised. “Here you are sir, sorry about the mix up.”

“Was that so hard? Learn to do your job.” He grumbled while snatching the food from her hands and walking away.

Before that man could fully leave, another person came to the counter.

“This isn’t what I ordered.”

Then another. “Where’s my burger?”

And another.

A crowd formed around the counter, all yelling at Indy, who was left alone to deal with this. The noise was cacophonous, as it overwhelmed Indy, who just stood there completely frozen.

The crowd grew vicious, hurling vile insults at Indy.

“How stupid could you possibly be?”

“Can’t you do anything right?”

“What an idiot.”

Indy snapped, and broke down crying, feeling incredibly pained from the insults. She sunk down to the floor, but still the customers didn’t stop. “SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!”

She felt incredibly angry, as her entire body shook and trembled. Tears still streaming down her face, she stared up at the crowd that had now quietened down.

Pssh. Schick. Clink!

Pressurised air was released as Indy felt a sharp pain in her stomach. Looking down, she saw the metal box lying on the floor. Blood flowed from the gaping wound in her stomach.

No! She tried to cover the wound with her hands, but she couldn’t stop the bleeding. Struggling to her knees, she placed her hands on the counter. She tried to push herself off the ground to search for paper towels, but her bloodied hands slipped off the counter, and she was sent crashing back down to the floor.

The pain intensified, as she landed on her side and somehow lodged the metal box into the wound. It ripped and tore at her flesh with every breath she took. She crumpled to the floor as she slowly bled out.

Why isn’t anyone helping me? Through her blurred vision, she looked around to find that everybody was still going about their day, seemingly oblivious to her bleeding out on the floor.

The customers were still yelling, People were still hurriedly working in the kitchen to get the food out on time.

Marie came to sort out the customers, stepping on Indy’s stomach as she did so.

A pained groan escaped Indy’s lips, which fell on deaf ears.

“Unfortunately for you Indy, you failed to control your emotions. You once again let your anger get the best of you, so I had to step in to prevent you from hurting anyone. But it’s okay, the world will continue on without you. Your family will not notice that you’re gone, and someone will come to fill your place here at work. Enjoy Hell Indy. Goodbye.”