Chapter 17 Part 2 – Call for Obstruction

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So far, Barry has signed his soul into servitude to Satan on Earth. He’s a driver for OTG Courier Services, forced to transport some kind of energy substance from Denver to Trinidad, Colorado. The substance is being dumped down air shafts that lead into an old abandoned coal mine on the Bellow’s Ranch, and it’s forming a rift between Earth and Hell. Barry desperately wants out of his contract, but Margery, his demon boss, has total control over all the other drivers with the wave of her magical cigarettes. Barry’s not giving up though. In order to find a way out of his contract, he plays the good employee and volunteers for overtime. Only the other OTG employees have gone missing—likely kidnapped by white warriors who fight for God’s angels. Margery expects Barry and senior driver Vern to step in and do all the work, leaving Barry no time to snoop around the warehouse for contract loopholes. Barry does find there are perks to being a slave to Satan: bottomless fruity loop cereal and liquor, money whenever he needs it, and immortal life with a rapid healing time. He also just found out the Gates of Hell are about to open and Margery and Vern want preserve Earth just the way it is. They get Barry to agree to help them close the rift. Margery prefers to keep Barry in the dark as to the true plan to close the gates. But Vern goes behind her back and tells Barry they will drop innocent children down into the air shafts to plug up the Gates of Hell. Now Barry just learned that Nina was laid off from her job and was likely hired by Margery.

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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I yank open the warehouse door and rush in. “Nina!” The eyes of nearly twenty new drivers turn and focus on me, a few back up. None of them are Nina though.

Margery shoves people out of her way and steps out of the crowd. “What, no coffee for me this morning?”

“Where is she?” I clinch my fists as I approach her.

“Who?”

“You know who, you bitch!” Everyone takes a step backward this time and a muffled whisper fill the room.

The bathroom door creaks open and all the heads in the office turn. Nina walks out and pauses when she sees that everyone is looking at her. “What,” she says with a hiccups of black smoke. Nina touches her lips and giggles.

On impulse, I strike a right hook across Margery’s jaw.

The crowd lets out a synchronous gasp, more so because Margery stands firm with her hands on her hips and shows no sign of pain or injury.

On the other hand, I’m lying on my side in a fetal position, clutching my fist between my thighs. Every frickin’ bone in my hand has probably been shattered.

Margery wiggles her jaw. “You won’t do that again now will you.”

A wide-eyed Nina rushes to my side and her short skirt billows out around her so I can see her white silk panties. She drops to her knees. “He needs a doctor. Call 911,” she says while stroking my hand. It’s the first time she’s ever touched me, and that close to my groin, my body reacts with an instant hard on.

“He’ll be fine.” Margery rolls her eyes as she steps away.

Nina helps me to my feet, but I’m still hunched over trying to hide how happy I am to see her. I grab her wrist with my good hand and squeeze. “What did you do?”

She looks back at me confused.

Margery calls out from across the room, “Nina, you’re in van fifty-five.”

I yank at Nina’s wrist, look deep into her green eyes and slowly repeat, “What did you do?”

Nina’s lips quiver. “You’re hurting me.”

I release her wrist.

“Barry! Honey! In the warehouse. Now!”

“Go fuck yourself!” I tell Margery then turn away from Nina and do what I’m told.

“Everyone else,” hollers Margery. “Get on the road!”

Nina jumps and scurries for the door along with all the other new drivers.

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