I sighed as I sat on my little stool, watching the monitor that examined the egg cartons. As long as I didn't have to touch the eggs, I was always fine. As fine as I could be expected to be, keeping myself in close proximity to chicken spawn for eight hours a day. I have always been afraid of chickens and everything chicken related. Ever since I was a little girl and a chicken clucked evilly at me. It was a wicked, malicious cluck I tell you; that chicken was plotting against me. It still would be, if it hadn’t been killed over thirteen years ago.

Anyway, I was at work at 8:36 AM on the dot, bored as usual. I really didn't like this job. I’d always told myself that one day I would quit, but I never got around to it. That, and the goddess Ashnunima decided I was destined to work there; and no one questions the goddess Ashnunima. It just isn’t done.

I mean, I guess you could question her, but it wouldn’t really get you anywhere, considering that she could spite you. And after you had been smote, then you would never learn the greater wisdom of why she placed you at your specific job, and then . . . never mind, back to what I was doing at work.

It was 8:42 AM when I heard footsteps and looked over my shoulder. Zack Mikl was walking towards me. I turned back to my computer screen and prayed to the great God Sam. 'Please tell me he’s not coming to see me, please tell me he’s not -'

"Hey there, Laura."

'. . . coming to see me.' "Hello Zack." I deadpanned, keeping my eyes on the inspection screen in front of me.

He looked over my shoulder at the window viewing egg cartons being scrutinized inside the machine. “Everything going well?" I nodded, keeping my face straight and my eyes focused on the statistics that flashed in front of me. His hand fell onto my shoulder and he leaned close, his mouth resting next to my ear. "You know, we would have made a cute couple." He whispered in my ear, sending chills down my spine.

"If you hadn't cheated on me." I said coldly, shrugging him off with a flick of my shoulder and a jerk of my head.

He laughed and stood up straight. "Me? Cheat on you? With who?"

"That slut, Samantha Nocha.”

His eyes narrowed and leaned away from me, arms crossed over his chest. "I told you, she jumped me."

I rolled my eyes and turned to face him. "It really doesn’t matter. If it hadn’t been her, you would have cheated eventually." His mouth opened and closed like a codfish, the ones you see in the pictures of old Earth. "Don't you have a job to do?" I asked coldly, sending him a glare to have him burn in the deepest pit of Celazon forty times over. He huffed and stomped off the direction he came, disappearing into the shadows of the hallway.

I sighed and slumped back in my chair, glad that he was finally gone. ‘I can’t believe I almost thought I liked that guy. Even for a second.' I scolded myself for the three hundred and forty seventh time before turning back to my job. Just as I started refiguring the numbers on the screen, hurried footsteps reached my ears. I turned back around and saw Zack in the doorway again. I groaned, "Don't you have anything better to do with your life then torture me?"

He gulped and pointed behind him. "There's something big behind me."

I rolled my eyes again. "You honestly expect me to believe that?" As soon as those words left my lips, a tremendous tremor ran under the tiles of the room. My eyes widened as the screen behind me fizzled and blacked out, not leaving a single glowing number behind on the monitor.

". . . Buack." An echoing cluck came from the hall and my body started to tremble.

"It's a . . . it's a . . ."

"Giant chicken? Tell me something I don't know." Zack said, grabbing my hand and dragging me towards the emergency exit. "The rest of the workers are in the shrine. That's the only real safe haven in the area."

"For now." I murmured pessimistically, allowing him to haul me into the shrine of Ashnunima and Sam. Slamming the stone door behind us, we panted as we braced the door with our backs. A hundred pairs of eyes glanced at us, and then looked back down.

"We're doomed." One worker moaned piteously. A few scattered heads nodded in agreement, but mostly no one moved. We were all going to die here, and there was nothing we could do about it. But the worst part of it was that I had to die in the same room as Zack.