Part Seven

********** Reason For Refund: Creepy, crawly, fuzzy, green and somewhat nasty. - notation on refund slip regarding something out of the vending machine. **********

Rupert ran through the plating area and back toward the door to the pressroom. Stopping he looked through the window to check for whomever or whatever might be nearby. Past the presses he could see the entrance to the bindery area and far beyond that another set of doors which he assumed was the warehouse. Almost in front of the door two men ran a medium size press, to the left the two who he had first seen were occupied between the units removing plates from their press. He held the doorknob, waiting for what seemed an eternity for the two in front of him to turn away. When the chance came he took it and walked out into the pressroom, past the workers and into the next department.

Only a few pieces of equipment were running in the bindery. Giles winced at the sound of the cutters as their blades screeched through eight inch stacks of paper like a hot knife through butter. He slipped over to the far wall and crouched down behind the various machinery keeping his eyes on the employees who were scattered around the cavernous room. He felt fortunate that the night shift was such a skeleton crew for it gave him almost a clear path the length of the bindery. The last twenty feet to the warehouse was going to be a problem, no cover whatsoever. Giles remembered the ploy with the paper box with which had gained him access to the plateroom. "Well, brazen balls has worked so far. Here goes nothing." He stood up by a cart of packed boxes and pushed them toward the warehouse door.

The broom smacked down on Kimmie's tail as she hung a dozen feet up on a plastic wrapped skid. "Fuck! Damn it! Ow! That hurt... god damn it lady. Shit, shit, SHIT!"

Rupert pushed the cart to the side and ran toward the commotion. Joyce seemed in fine form as she swore and swung the broom at the cornered goblin. "Allow me Joyce..." He said as he came upon the scene. "...I have a bit longer reach."

"Ah Sunny Beach!" The goblin screamed, trying to climb higher into the racks.

As it made a jump for the overhanging pallet of the next level Rupert yelled "Payback!" He connected with the broom and once again Kimmie had a flying lesson. With a puff of dust it crash landed in a gaylord of postal bags. It was almost funny as the goblin popped out of the box trying to sneeze and swear simultaneously. Jumping back down to the floor it gave them both the finger before it retreated under a skid.

Giles dropped the broom and grabbed Joyce by the arm and tossed his head toward the front of the warehouse. "Ignore it. Let's get out of here."

"How?"

They began to trot toward the front of the warehouse. "Just to the right of these doors there is a shipping dock. We can get out by opening the overhead door. My car is in the lot right outside." Rupert and Joyce both froze as they heard the warehouse doors open and the breaker box switches snap as light flooded the area.

As they slid toward a mass of web stock rolls, Herron's voice echoed through the warehouse. "Joyce? Come out, come out wherever you are..."