The Night Shift

The bright neon sign appeared into view, emblazing the phrase “24/7 CONVENIENCE” into the pitch-black sky and illuminating the trees around it, the second “C” continuously flickering off and on. Kaylee pulled up into the parking lot, noticing only a single car was there. 

‘This should be a breeze.’ They thought to themselves as they pulled the keys out of the ignition and stepped out of the car, ‘Who in the world would be stopping at a convenience store this late at night in the middle of nowhere?’ 

Walking up to the glass doors, they took a deep breath and entered the store. The lights inside were harsh and immediately made Kaylee squint. There were mazes of shelves scattered around, filled to the brim with bright and colourful packaged snack foods and drinks, they looked as if they had needed to be restocked in months.

“You get used to the lights.” There was a tall girl with a short bright red bob and grungy clothes drinking a can of beer in the middle of the store, sitting on what appeared to be the checkout counter. She took a sip of her drink and gazed at Kaylee. “Kaylee, right? You’re new here. Call me Camron, I’m the manager.”

‘Manager?’ Kaylee looked Camron up and down. At a second glance, they noticed that she was wearing the manager’s uniform but it was well hidden under the flannel button-up she threw over it. The jeans she was wearing were ripped and her large combat boots had laces that would drag across the ground and could get tripped on easily. The beer that she was holding was obviously stolen from the store’s stock. 

‘She must be someone’s kid.” Kaylee assumed, trying to make sense of what she saw in front of her. ‘I can’t imagine she got that job on her own.’ Camron didn’t seem to notice the confused look on their face, or if she did, she didn’t care. 

“C’mon, I’ll get you started in the stock room.” Camron hopped off the counter and led Kaylee to a large room at the back of the store full of boxes. Everything was coated in a thick layer of dust as if no one had entered the room in years, which seemed to be true because there was a calendar hanging up on the wall that displayed the date “June 1998” in bold letters, twenty-three years old, in fact, a good five years older then Kaylee themselves.

“Don’t worry, Amora will help you out. Amora?” A small girl, who looked to be about Kaylee’s age, with dyed light purple hair and blazing blue eyes stormed into the room. Her hair was soft and wavy, put up in a neat bun, she was wearing the store’s uniform cleanly buttoned up and tucked into a small black skirt. She looked clearly unhappy to have to work with Kaylee. “Anyways, come get me when you’re done. Have fun!” Camron added in sarcastically,  handing them a clipboard and with no other directions, leaving them to their work.

An awkward silence filled the room as they began to move around the boxes. 

“Amora. That’s a really pretty name. Like amor, love, right?”

“Shut up and get to work.” Kaylee could feel Amora’s resentment in the air so they turned around and focused on the job at hand. It took about two hours before they were almost finished up, only listening to the hum of the lights and the faint sound of “Ray Jay’s Crazy Top 40 Hits Countdown” playing from the speakers in the store, when a sudden earthquake-like rumble jolted Kaylee out of their methodical trance.

“Wha-”

“Come on.” Before Kaylee could finish their sentence, Amora grabbed them by the arm and started dragging them out of the room. When they entered the store everything seemed just as normal as before. Camron seemed undisturbed and continued to relax on the counter with her drink in hand. 

‘Did I just imagine it?’ Kaylee looked over at Amora who was still gripping tightly onto their arm. There was a look of undeniable seriousness in her eyes that Kaylee hadn’t seen before. Suddenly, they were disturbed by a deafening screeching noise that filled the room. They covered up their ears trying to block out the sound, tears welling up in their eyes. The impact of the noise made the glass windows crack and shatter, scattering small splinters of glass in various directions as they fell to the floor. The store was now fully exposed to the foreboding forest that surrounded it. As soon as it came, the sound quickly faded out. Kaylee’s ears were still ringing as they examined their surroundings. They noticed between the faint silhouettes of pines and spruces were small flecks of light that appeared to be growing. They looked as if they were stars, sprinkled across a vast sky. But as these lights grew bigger it became clear that these were not stars, but eyes. 

‘Eyes?’ Kaylee’s stomach turned at the realization. ‘There must be hundreds of them, even the biggest packs of animals couldn’t match the sheer number of them.’ After a very short time, the figures became close enough for Kaylee to make out. They had a very canine-like build but were two to three times the size of the average dog. Their teeth were unnaturally long and sharp, their jaw agape, chin’s dripping with drool. Their most distinguishing feature, of course, was how each creature possessed at least ten eyes that were sporadically placed all across their faces.

“Damn, those windows are going to be coming out of my paycheck.” In all of the confusion, Kaylee had completely forgotten about their coworkers. They looked over to see Camron bent down over the counter, rustling through objects on the shelves underneath. “Aha! Here it is!” She stood back up, pulling out an old wooden baseball bat. Nails were penetrating the top of the bat, sticking out in all different directions. Camron seemed just as calm as ever.

“Camron!” Amora gestured towards Camron, palm outstretched. Camron smirked and threw a small, black object at Amora with her spare hand. Amora caught it gracefully. Now that it was closer, Kaylee identified it as a shotgun. 

‘What is happening?’ Kaylee could feel their heart beating out of their chest, their whole body was trembling. ‘Camron and Amora look so confidant, and they have weapons just laying around the store. This is insane! Is this normal for them?’ Kaylee couldn’t make sense of it and they didn’t have much time to think as they were pulled out of their thoughts when they felt a tug on their arm.

“Kaylee. We need to go.” Amora was trying to move them towards the creatures but Kaylee was frozen in fear. “Ugh, fine. But don’t come crawling to me when you get torn apart.” She then let go of Kaylee, leaving them all alone as she sprinted outside. Camron was already over there and Kaylee watched as two of them lunged at her, only they were met with a powerful blow of splintering wood and rusty metal across their faces. They shrieked at the impact and were once again stricken with the bat. Camron continued to hit them until blood stained her weapon and they fell hopelessly to the ground. For the next half an hour, or maybe it was only ten minutes, time stood still as they were surrounded by the sounds of gunshots and screeches. When Amora and Camron were distracted by the last few of the beasts, one slipped past their field of vision and heading straight for Kaylee. It was hungry to avenge its brethren and leap for their throat. Kaylee managed to dodge the attack but wasn’t so lucky the second time. The creature pinned them to the ground, they could feel its hot breath as it snarled. They looked around the store, searching for anything that could save them. Just when Kaylee began to feel hopelessness sink into their stomach they spotted a package of cheap wooden kabob sticks that had broken open and spilled on the floor during all the commotion. Hastily, they reached for the stick and shoved it into one of the beast’s eyes with all the strength they had. Drawing back in agony, it slumped to the ground. Suddenly, it met its quick end as a bat was indented into its head, crushing its skull. Kaylee was breathing heavily and they could hear nothing but the beat of their heart. They had some bad injuries, but nothing life-threatening. 

“Kaylee!” Camron walked up to them and offered a hand and Kaylee grabbed it, helping them stand up. Amora was right beside her, trying to stay cool but Kaylee could tell she was worried. They observed the destruction around them, the bodies of the creatures, the broken windows, the products scattered all over the floor, it was a mess. The sky was a light violet and the sun had already begun the peak through the trees. “Welcome to the night shift.” Camron remarked.