Dark Railroad and Other Tales by JA Ellis

Author:JA Ellis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: horror, paranormal, short story, weird, ghost story

The Warehouse

John retrieved a radio from the charger and settled it in the holster at his hip. Picking up his flashlight he turned to Carl and said, “Off on my rounds.”

“Don't let the coyotes get you.” Carl said around a mouth full of turkey sandwich. It wasn't fully in jest. They had both seen the pair of coyotes on the cameras skulking around the warehouse. John grunted in assent as he left the guard shack. Carl was the senior of the two, having been working for Mr. Smith for the past 15 years, compared to John's 18 months. They were supposed to share the duty of checking the perimeter fence and the doors of the warehouse, but John took up most of that burden. He joked that it was to spare the old man the effort, but it was mostly to get out of the guard shack he shared with Carl for twelve hours a day. Carl was a perfectly nice guy, but he smelled constantly of onions even though John had never seen him consume any.

He started with the perimeter fence. There was only one entrance, the gate with the guard shack sitting to one side. He walked the perimeter at a leisurely pace running the beam of his flashlight over the links of the fence, checking for breaks, and making sure that the hole the coyotes had apparently dug under the fence to gain access to the area was still filled in. It took him 10 minutes to finish his check there. Then he turned towards the warehouse.

The building was an oblong squat structure, a dull metallic gray in color. John had no idea what was inside. He had never seen any trucks entering or leaving the gate. No one ever went into the warehouse. In fact, as far as he knew there were no keys to the 2 doors or drop-down bay that allowed the only access to the building. There were a row of small windows that went around the top of the building, but they had all been covered over with sheet metal from the outside. What he was being paid to guard was an absolute mystery to him. Mr. Smith paid him good money to not bother asking.

John frowned at the building, thinking about his strange employer. He had never met the man, just knew his name was Smith of all things. He had answered a classified ad for private security thinking it was a firm, but it turned out to be a one man deal. His only contact was Ms. Walker who claimed to be Mr. Smith's assistant. He was hired after what he was told was a rigorous background check, but what he now suspected was covert surveillance of his day to day life. On the day he signed his contract he was given these rules by Ms. Walker:

“First, never ask what is in the warehouse. Second, never attempt to gain access to the building.”

That was it from the boss.

He learned his actual duties from Carl later that evening.

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