Short (Shorts)

The characters and story contained herein are owned by Zachary Davis. Any attempt to copy or sell said story without the permission of the author is prohibited.

Well, with that out of the way. I mentioned a long time ago that I had a few short (short) stories that I was thinking about self-publishing via Amazon Kindle or something similar.
I still haven't decided whether any of these are good enough to do such a thing, but figured I'd at least start revealing a few here.

So, enjoy! Expect some type of 'real' blog post in the next few days.

The Elevator

“Well, shit.” The man said as he slammed his fist on the elevator panel.
“Apparently the power went out. How strange that there are no backup generators.” Another said aloud, to no one in particular.
“Heh, you’re not from ‘round here, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m from Dallas. This is only the second time I’ve been here.”
“Well, ain’t that somethin’! Name’s Brian, and you?”
“Alexander.” Instinctively he put his hand out for a handshake. Brian was quick to give him a strong one. It was almost painful to Alexander.
“How ‘bout you, girl? We may be stuck here for a bit. Might as well get to know each other!” Brian said as he looked at the young woman embracing the corner.
“Uh…name?” She said, apparently grasping at the English language. Brian laughed, and caught on to her problem.
“Lessee. My spanish isn’t great, but…” Brian gave a huge smile as he tried. “Meh…yamo…Brian…uh…too?” The girl smiled at his attempt.
“Yes, yes! Uh…name Arissa!” She said, happy that she figured out he meant names.
“Great, well, that’s out of the way.” Brian said as he stared at the shut elevator. “So, Alexander. Any ideas on how to get this thing opened?”
“Why would you think I would know?” Alexander replied.
“Oh, uh, sorry man. Just assumed you were smart or somethin’.” Brian actually looked a bit annoyed at the other man, though no one could tell in the dim emergency lights.
“Well…” Alexander looked around. Then he pulled out his cell phone. “No signal, of course.” Alexander went to the elevator door, and shuffled around for an alarm button.
“No need, man. This place don’t have those speaker things you see in other places. It’s too old.” Brian said.
“Fine. Well, I have no clue. It’s not like I ever bothered to learn how to open a dead elevator.” Alexander replied, shrugging down to the floor.
“Heh. No worries. I’m sure Sam will get it working soon.” Brian said, sitting next to Arissa.
“Who is Sam?” Alexander asked.
“Oh, just the resident handyman. Although some folks have a harsher name for him.” Brian looked at the other man, seeing if he was interested in the knowledge he had to give.
“Sam es trabaja por ciudad de –Ungerford?” Arissa said, apparently interested in the name.
“Sorry girl, I dunno what…uh…traba-hah means, but I caught the word Hungerford. That’s this town, so yes. Or, uh, si!” Brian said. Arissa looked happy, although none of the other men could guess why. Alexander turned to Brian.
“Harsher name?” He was curious as to what Brian meant.
“Hah. Yeah. Wanna know?” Brian said, glad he got the other man’s ear.
“Sure. I’m curious.” Alexander replied.
“Well, nigger-Sam is his name. Or that’s what some of the others say.” Alexander looked shocked.
“That’s something I don’t want to hear again, Brian. It’s not right.” Alexander replied with anger.
“Sorry, man. Was just sayin’.” Brian said, getting angry with the high-and-mighty Alexander. “Anyway, he’ll come around soon. He always checks the elevators when the power goes out.”
“Good. It’s starting to get hot in here.” Alexander said as he slouched down to the floor. An hour passed with no activity other than a few simple gestures between the three. Alexander was starting to get annoyed with the situation. To prevent sweating he took off his suit-jacket. Brian and Arissa looked hot, but hadn’t bothered to change. In anger, Alexander began to bang on the elevator door.
“Hello!” He yelled. “We’re trapped in here!”
“Now calm down, man. You scarin’ the girl!” Brian said, looking at Alexander who was starting to get nervous.
“Problem?” Arissa said, and Brian shook his head.
“Nah, no problemo girl.” Brian replied, smiling. He could tell she was starting to get bored. He was too.
“So, Alexander, what makes you come all the way down here?”
“Well, that’s complicated. And, frankly, it’s no concern to you so I don’t want to bore you with the details.” Alexander shuffled around with his phone. “Jesus, we’ve been stuck in here over an hour. Where is this Sam-guy?” Alexander shouted.
“Maybe he’s stuck somewhere, too. Heh, I dunno. Strange that no one has checked these things yet.”
A loud sound came from the front of the elevator. All three stared, wondering what was happening now. Shortly after the first noise, they spotted a crowbar sticking at the top of the seam. Slowly, the door was pried open.
“Well sorry bout that guy’s. De entire town is dead. Nobody knows what happened, but it ain’t comin’ back anytime soon.” They all stared at the top of the elevator door, where Sam stuck his head through.
“How the hell are we supposed to get up there? I didn’t realized this damned shaft was enclosed in concrete!” Alexander yelled.
“Yeah it’s old. Place been ‘round since before I was born. Anyway, if you three can help lift each other, I can pull de third one up!” Sam said as he wedged the elevator door open.
“Well then, I think it would be gentlemanly of us to help Arissa first, don’t you think…Alex?” Brian said, his face gave a wide smile and his teeth were in full display. Alexander noticed he was missing a few of them. Perturbed that this man called him Alex, he went over to Arissa and motioned her to the door. She smiled as they both offered to lift her up.
“Alright Brian. On the count of three. One! Two! Three!” Alexander said as they lifted her up. Brian noticed something metallic on Alexander’s side and prepared to move himself if needed. Sam grunted as he began to pull her through the small opening. Without paying attention, he accidentally kicked the crowbar, causing the elevator to shut.
“Dammit.” Brian said. Before anything else could be spoken, Alexander pulled out a gun and pointed it to his head.
“Finally got the girl out. Now we can finish this.” Alexander said, but as he pulled the trigger, Brian ducked and the bullet missed his head. Instead it slammed into the side of the elevator wall and the ricochet smacked Alexander in the shoulder. “Argh!” Alexander yelled as Brian knocked him to the floor.
“I knew who you were the moment you came in here, Alex boy!” Brian said, smiling wickedly. They could hear Sam trying to get the elevator opened, but the movements of the two men caused the elevator to shift. They heard Arissa scream as the elevator creaked.
“Looks like we’re trapped in here. Oh well. I smelled you the second you came in here. You gave yourself away when you said this was your second visit here. Last time you came my brother was killed. Shame your technology wasn’t working. Guess that’s cuz my boys wrecked the cell phone towers.” Brian slammed his fist hard into Alexander’s head. The man fell to the floor, unconscious. Brian opened his mouth, and the teeth that were originally missing popped out. He bit Alexander hard on the neck. After he was finished, he propped his body and climbed up to the top. He broke the ceiling hatch and jumped out. All Sam and Arissa heard was a sinister laugh as Brian crawled through the shaft to make his escape.