Chapter 14 Part 2 – Call for Obstruction

So far, Barry has signed his soul into servitude to Satan on Earth. He is a courier, transporting some unknown cargo between Denver and Trinidad, Colorado. He desperately wants out of his contract, but his boss Margery, a demon, will do anything to get the drivers to do what she wants. So Barry has decided to be the good employee, hoping to find a way out of his contract. Only there are missing drivers and warehouse workers, and Margery expects Barry and Vern to step in and do all the work and train all the new drivers she just hired, leaving him no time to snoop around the warehouse. During the second run, tornadoes attach all the vans and new drivers, but Barry manages to get out of his van before it’s scooped up in a funnel cloud.

The Courier Series is about Barry White, a twenty-something computer geek with an overbearing mother, no prospects of finding a girlfriend, and an unemployment record that’s made him pessimistic he’ll ever be happy.

In Call for Obstruction, Barry has just lost his fourth jobs in the past year due to corporate downsizing. Desperate for employment, he jumps at the first position he’s offered over the phone, driver for OTG Courier Services. Shortly after meeting his new boss, a tiny yet fiery old lady named Margery, she coerces him into signing a questionable employment contract he soon regrets.

The Courier was originally written as a twitter novel @TheCourierNovel in 2009, and the same year it won the Annual Textnovel Writing Contest. Later parts of the story are still tweeting.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

W. J. Howard lives near Denver and writes horror, fantasy and sci-fi with a bit of comedy mixed in. Wendy is also the Co-op Manager for Visionary Press Cooperative, leading an innovative way to publish.

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“Barry? You down there?” Vern hollers.

The wind being knocked out of me and all I can do is spit out pine needles and dirt. I hear footsteps from above as I try to roll out from under the low veil of a tree. Every bone in my body screams for me to stop moving, reminding me of my acrobatic journey down the hill. And the surface of my skin stings from pine needles poking into my flesh. Once I’m out from under the tree, I look up and see Vern standing over me.

“What are you doing down here, kid?” Vern reaches down to help me up.

I grit my teeth through the pain and manage to stand despite the cracking in my spine and legs.

“You get caught by those tornados too?” Vern asks.

“No, I thought I’d try sledding on pine needles just for the fun of it.”

“You lose any limbs?” Vern grabs my head and checks my ears.

“Ouch!” I grimace and slap Vern’s hand away. “Don’t touch me.”

“You’re fine, and we need to get up top and back on the road.” Vern turns to climb up the hill.

“Are you nuts? I need a hospital. Call for an ambulance.” I clutch his ribs and groan.

“Stop being such a pussy.” Vern turns and leaves me where I’m standing.

“Stop . . . !” I call out then realize Vern’s right. Most of the pain’s already gone, and I can stand up straight. Then I remember how fast I healed yesterday, after Margery burned my chest. I pick up my pace and say, “How’d that happen?”

“How’d what happen?”

“I’m not limping. The pain’s gone.” I pause and stomp my bare foot to test it out, while at the same time picking pine needles from his cheek.

“Immortal life, ring a bell?” Vern leans over and picks up the shoe I lost during the tumble. He throws it over his shoulder.

“I didn’t take that seriously.” I pause while the shoe’s in mid-air, then realize my glasses are gone, somewhere, but I can see the shoe without squinting. I’m even able to catch the shoe, a skill I’m sadly lacking.

“Look how steep the hill is.” Vern points up top at the guard rail. “You never would’ve crawled out from under that tree if you were still mortal.”

“Yeah, and if I hadn’t signed my life away, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

“Quit your wining,” Vern says. “We need to get at least one load to Trinidad tonight.”

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