It was 8PM and James sat in the park chewing his sub sandwich like he did every night. He crumpled up the extra cookie he’d brought, allowing the crumbs to land on the ground in front of him. He listened to the sounds of kids playing in the distance while he watched the ants feast on their bounty. He smiled sadly down at the ants. “I wish my boss was as understanding as yours. Even if she is a bit of a slave driver, at least she attends to all your needs.” He took another bite of his sandwich and decided he had no appetite left. He tossed the sandwich on the ground for the ants to have. Some days it seemed his best friends were the ants and the in the park. “Your contributions will not be forgotten” he muttered to himself. He guffawed at the irony. Of course his credit stealing boss would say that.
He pushed his earbuds in and started poking at his smartphone, pulling up the day’s news. “...nuclear plant had a close call today. Officials are withholding exact details about the incident but it is clear that just after 3 PM Eastern today the plant evacuated all personnel and instituted a one mile quarantine around the reactor in question only allowing NRC officials in or around the plant. We’ve been assured there will be no lasting danger…” James stopped listening letting the sound of the voice wash over him as he stood and began walking home. Was this all there was to his life? Wake up in the morning, work twelve hours doing everyone else’s job eating a sandwich in the park with the ants then going home? He certainly hoped not.
With a sigh he unlocked his door to his apartment and reached inside to flip the light switch. He stopped when he felt something crunch under his foot. It was a cookie, wrapped in deli paper, just like the ones that came with his sandwiches. He frowned, reached down and picked it up turning over the pieces in his hand. He shrugged. Perhaps he’d have it with his lunch tomorrow.
James slowly began his evening routine, brushing his teeth, eyes bleary and tired. He startled awake once or twice while still on his feet, finally he gave up on the routine and just went to sleep. Tomorrow promised to be just as terrible and exhausting of a day as today was. “Your contributions won’t be forgotten” he repeated mockingly then fell asleep.
James awoke at 6AM and went about his routine with a certain reluctance. Today he had to present the department’s accomplishments to his boss. His boss would congratulate him, pat him on the back and then present it to his own superiors, taking credit for both the presentation and the accomplishments. He ate breakfast unenthusiastically, staring unseeing at the news on his phone. More about the nuclear incident yesterday, some other news about strange behavior around town. It seemed there was nothing like a close call with a nuclear plant to bring out the crazies. More reassurances from people whose names James didn’t recognize, that there was nothing to worry about.
James cleaned up after his breakfast then put on his shoes and coat to leave. He opened the door and stopped short again. There was a cylindrical paper package on his doormat. That was odd. He leaned out the door to pick it up, looking up and down the hall but nobody was there. He picked up the package and realized it was a deli sandwich. He began to unwrap the paper and noticed a large note scrawled on a napkin, perhaps in crayon? It said “THNK YU”. That was odd. Who were these gifts from?
James walked to work, listening to music on his earbuds the whole way. He tried to smile at people as he passed, feigning a skip in his step. He hoped he could trick his subconscious into being cheerful. It didn’t work. The streets seemed emptier than usual and everyone he smiled at seemed jumpy or upset. He got more than a few indignant glares. When he got to the office he gave up on being cheery and nodded to the security guard as swiped his badge. The guard indifferently wished him a good day and James navigated the corridors, heading directly to his desk.
He passed his bosses desk, still empty, no coat hanging on the hook and the laptop bag that usually occupied his chair was still missing. As usual James was here before everyone, even his supposed leadership. He smirked mirthlessly before rounding the corner to his own desk.
James worked all morning, polishing his presentation and catching up on e-mail from the night before. He ate the sandwich and cookie for lunch, they were both exactly the way he liked them. Somebody who knew him well had to have dropped it off, but who? At 2PM he went searching for his boss, it was time for the presentation. He swung by the desk and noticed the coat and laptop bag were still missing. “That’s odd…” he said to himself. He peaked around the corner at his neighbor, “Have you seen Bill today?” The woman barely looked up from her keyboard and shook her head. She mumbled something through a mouthful of food that sounded something like, “no I haven’t”. James shrugged and went back to his desk. He spent the rest of the day catching up on work he’d fallen behind on. Without Bill present he ended up having the most productive day he’d had in awhile.
6PM crept up on him and he decided to call it a day early, he grabbed his usual from the deli down the street and stopped in the park. The sun was still out and he could hear the kids screaming and playing. It was nice to head home when the world was still alive and awake. He crumpled up a cookie for the ants and dug into his sandwich with a smile. He was halfway through his sandwich before he realized they were gone. No ants had come to claim his cookie. Not even one scout. He knew their hill was near here somewhere so he started looking around. He saw a patch of dirt behind the bench that had been ripped up nearby, as though some construction workers had been replacing a line. Maybe the anthill had been there and had been destroyed by the work?
James eyed the cookie on the ground sadly before finishing his sandwich. Perhaps they were reestablishing somewhere else. He finished his meal quickly then headed home. Plugging in his earbuds again, he pulled up some local news. The news caster was frantic, he could barely make out what she was saying, something about mutant ants? Ravaging the city, killing, burning? He looked up and around him, it must be a hoax. He was pretty sure he would have noticed something like that, but the street did seem oddly quiet. He shrugged and kept listening. She continued to give a shrieking account of horror and destruction he laughed at how cheesy it was. It sounded like a terrible attempt at an Orson Wells type broadcast.
Then as happens when you’re watching a horror movie he started to get jumpy. The horrific accounts of violence seemed to be moving through the city and the pattern eerily reflected his own, as though the someone were clearing the way to his home. This street was too quiet, where had everyone gone? What was going on? He turned up the alley to his apartment hurrying up the stairs. Why hurry? he chided himself. He got to the top of the stairs and swore he saw something scurry around the corner at the end of the hall. He shivered and tried to snap himself out of it.
James stuck the key in his door and shoved open the door. He was almost hyperventilating. He needed to take a breath and calm down! He shut the door behind him a little harder than usual then flipped on the light. He stopped and stared in horror at what was sitting on his table. His boss’s severed head was upright on a plate staring right at him. A look of terror frozen forever on the features of his face. James crept closer even though he knew he should run. He could see a piece of paper with beautiful red writing on it. When finally he got close enough to read it he saw the words written carefully and clearly in blood “Your contributions will not be forgotten.”
