“They here yet?” Questioned Nolan.

I narrowed my eyes. “Is who here?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Corporate? Who else would I be talking about.”

"Oh yeah. Duh. Ummm. Art told me they've been here for about an hour, but they're in the office having a meeting with Dana." I paused, placing my completed item on the conveyer belt. "You know. Standard visitor B.S."

A sinister smirk crossed Nolan's face as I returned my attention to the work on my desk. I knew that smirk all too well, and I was on the verge of asking him about it when Erica cut us off.

"They're here." She exclaimed with a grin, pointing across the warehouse.

Nolan stood on his tippy toes and looked to where she was pointing. He took his glasses off and placed his free hand above his eyes, blocking out a nonexistent sun. "They're moving in herds." He quoted. "They do move in herds."

I chuckled and rolled my eyes as Erica went into hysterics. I directed my attention to the entourage of management as they made their way through the warehouse. Our General Manager Dana led the way with our new District Manager walking beside him. Three other corporate-level managers followed, two looking around inquisitively as the other took photos with his cell phone. The new D.M stood out like a sore thumb, wearing a vibrant pink dress, with a pink coat. She was short and portly, with gray, wavy hair that went down to her shoulders. She looked like...

"Holy shit! She looks like Dolores Umbridge!" Shrieked Erica. She leaned onto my desk and cupped her hands around her mouth to suppress her laughter.

"God. Damn." Started Nolan. "Let's all hope she boards the next train to Hogwarts on time."

That broke Erica, she let out a loud squeak of a laugh and continued to cover her mouth as her face turned red. Nolan had a habit of attracting the most immature girls at work, and despite being in her mid-twenties, Erica may have been the most immature girl in the building.

I watched as Dana walked the herd of managers through the warehouse, introducing employees and giving a brief overview of their ever-so-boring jobs. I could hear Nolan whispering something to Erica, which turned her laughter into suppressed giggles. I brought my attention to them.

"Alright, what the hell is going on?" I asked, my eyes going from Nolan to Erica.

Nolan's eyes narrowed and that sinister smirk came back. He raised his left hand, his fingers curled and disjointed inwards, the tips of his fingers lightly touching his inner palm. His double-jointed fingers formed a disfigured claw that caused Erica to squeal in delight.

"It's so gross!" She said through a snicker.

My shoulders slumped and I shook my head. "No way. There's no fucking way you're going to do that today."

Nolan nodded his head. "Oh, no today's the day. Dana asked me to give a demonstration."

I shook my head. "And what?? That's code to pull off your stupid prank?"

Nolan shrugged his shoulders. "Dude, I told Dana that I was going to do it one day, what better time than now?"

I scoffed and shook my head. "Bro, I don't think that's a good idea at all. I heard the new D.M's a stickler."

"Dude it's all in good fun...right Erica?" Nolan questioned as he swapped her across the shoulder with his right hand.

"Do it!! Do it!!" Chanted Erica in a sing-songy voice.

"She's not going to find it funny, and neither is Dana. She doesn't look like the joking type. Look how everyone's reacting when she walks by, I don't think I've ever seen people work this hard."

Nolan rolled his eyes which truly irritated me. "Come on Cole, don't be such a goon. This is going to be awesome."

I shook my head and returned my focus to my work. This was going to be a disaster, I could feel it in the pit of my stomach. I knew there was no way of reversing Nolan's decision, he was set on doing this despite what I or anyone else said.

"Your funeral," I muttered.

Nolan and Erica made their way to a pallet and began loading a rolling dolly with crates of Blu-rays and DVDs. Nolan continued to talk about his plan, and Erica continued to giggle uncontrollably. Seriously, the dude was a magnet for the most immature girls on the planet. They made their way through the warehouse towards their conveyer belt, Nolan peered over his shoulder and flashed me a wink which I chose to ignore.

Every job in this warehouse was repetitive and boring, but Nolan and Erica had the worst job by far. Erica would scan the Blu-Rays and DVDs, and toss them on a conveyer belt which would feed them into a bin based on the vendor. Nolan would collect them and box them. That's it. Eight straight hours of bullshit sorting, a job so simplistic a monkey could do it with its eyes closed. Why Dana had to explain the process to upper management was beyond me...but then again I wasn't a manager, and beyond that, I never hoped to be.

I watched as Nolan offloaded the crates next to Erica's check-in station and followed him as he kicked the rolling dolly back to where he normally stood, rolling it under the conveyer belt behind him. Our eyes met and he flashed me a smirk.

I rolled my eyes, shook my head, and mouthed the word "no", a pathetic final attempt at getting him to reverse his decision. He smiled, brushed my advice off with a shrug, and began sorting the product that Erica was sending down. Five minutes later, Dana came by and introduced both Erica and Nolan to his managerial posse. I couldn't hear what they were saying, I just saw smiles and handshakes. The guy with the camera began snapping pictures of the set-up that Nolan and Erica used.

I watched as Dana explained the process to his new boss, using as many hand gestures as possible to make it seem more interesting. I could see Erica peering over her desk, her face red, cheeks stained with tears as she did her best to conceal her laughter. I watched as Nolan reached into the bin with his left hand...

And then I heard his scream.

Nolan pulled his double-jointed claw of a hand from the bin, howling in pain, doing his best to sell the fact that he had a brand new deformity.

"MY HAND!!! OH MY GOD, MY FUCKING HAND!!!" Nolan screamed in horror. He keeled forward, clutching his left wrist, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Dana let out a scream and jumped backward as though he'd touched fire. The manager snapping pictures fumbled with his phone as if it were a bar of soap. The other two managers stood there with their mouths agape, eyes wide with horror.

Our new D.M let out a horrified scream that penetrated through the warehouse-like an ear-piercing ice pick. I watched in horror as her right hand shot up to her chest, her eyes shot open and bulged from their eye sockets. She stumbled forward on weak legs and into Nolan. Nolan let out a scream, his left hand returning to normal as he tried to sustain the woman's weight. Her right hand shot up to Nolan's face, brushing across his cheek and knocking his glasses to the floor. She collapsed to her knees, howling in pain before falling onto the pavement. I ran through the warehouse, pushing through a sea of concerned co-workers to get to Nolan's side. I stared in shock at the D.M as she squirmed the last bits of life away before falling still.

I couldn't speak, I couldn't think. The entire warehouse around me was reduced to a blur, I failed to hear the world around me. I drew my attention to Nolan, his skin as pale as a piece of paper, his glazed-over eyes staring lifelessly at the body of our former District Manager. His eyelids began to flutter as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and then he collapsed to the floor.