by Park, J. R.
Terror
Byte
J. R. Park
Other books by J. R. Park:
PUNCH
UPON WAKING
Further books by the Sinister Horror Company:
BURNING HOUSE – Daniel Marc Chant
CLASS THREE – Duncan P. Bradshaw
MALDICION - Daniel Marc Chant
Visit JRPark.co.uk and SinisterHorrorCompany.com for further information on these and other coming titles.
Terror Byte
Second edition
First Published in 2014
This edition 2015
Copyright © 2014 J. R. Park
The right of J. R. Park to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
Cover design and chapter cover skull design by Vincent Hunt www.jesterdiablo.blogsport.co.uk
Twitter: @jesterdiablo
ISBN-13: 978-0-9932793-1-7
JRPark.co.uk
ACKNOWLEDGeMENTS
I’d like to thank Stuart Park, Jess Spurway & Daryl Mazelin for taking the time to read the rough drafts of my first work and giving me greatly valued feedback.
Without your comments and support this story may still be rattling around in my head.
Thanks also goes to Danielle Robinson for suffering many late night phone calls to be quizzed about police protocol and equipment.
Most of which I probably got completely wrong.
For my brothers Gav and Stu. You always knew I was going to write a book. I should have believed you.
Mel.
Matt looked at the word written on the flash drive he idly flipped between his fingers. He’d found the small piece of hardware on the ground earlier in the day during the light relief that was his lunch break. It had been floating down a small stream created by the blocked drainage system and torrential rain, just outside his office building.
It was a horrible day outside, made worse due to it being a Monday. His hangover had been raging. A bitter reminder of the nagging doubt he ignored when he went to the pub for one yesterday afternoon.
He had gone out with Tim and despite them both drinking equally and no doubt being equally hung over, unlike Matt, Tim had seemed surprisingly chipper throughout Monday morning. It became apparent why his friend was so happy when they ventured out on their lunch break to get some food.
‘She is gagging for it mate!’ beamed Tim, his smile facing directly into the heavy rainfall, defying its misery with an expression of mischievous glee.
Matt shook his head in disbelief, ‘Jayne Amble is up for it with you?’
‘Don’t sound surprised my friend,’ said Tim talking through the pieces of burger he was chewing. ‘We’ve been flirting via email for weeks and we kissed last Friday, just before her boyfriend came to meet us all. She wants it.’
‘You should be careful, Tim.’
‘You’re right I should and that’s why I need you to do me a little favour…’
That little favour was the reason why Matt was currently keeping an eye on a door. The door led to the post room, which was a small room just off the main workspace of the office. Although it could be better described as a cupboard masquerading as a room. It was a place where all the post was collected up, franked, and sent out each day at twelve.
Tim knew that the room would rarely be used after one o’clock and conveniently his best mate Matt sat directly opposite it with a good view of anyone that might be approaching. He was also aware of how thick and heavy the door to the post room was; thick enough to block sound, making it perfect for today’s plan.
Mel.
The words were all that were left from the original insignia of Memory Inc, once printed on the plastic casing. The flash drive had seen better days but had survived the battering of the storm outside. Matt was pleased to have found it and from what he could make out by the printed markings that hadn’t worn away it was 300 GB in size. A good find indeed.
Tim and Jayne had already slipped inside the post room.
A few minutes ago Tim had sent Matt an email saying, ‘It’s on.’
Instinctively Matt had looked over to Jayne and saw her casually and calmly stand up. She always looked beautiful and today was no exception. Her long, blonde hair flowed down her neck, over her shoulders and rested, sensually, by her breasts that were barely contained within the white blouse she wore. Jayne moved delicately and confidently on her heels across the room and Matt couldn’t help but watch the perfect curves of her bottom in her grey pencil skirt as she walked past his desk. His eyes traced her slender legs down towards her shoes. He loved it when she wore those stilettos. He noticed her give Tim a sly wink, then she disappeared into the post room. The door closed gently behind her.
Approximately twenty seconds later Tim stood up, a little more awkwardly than Jayne had managed. His excitement and nerves of the situation were showing, but only to Matt, only because he knew what was going on. Tim hit his thigh against the desk as he rose from his chair causing a loud bang. The whole office stopped and looked at him. He sheepishly made an apology and, trying to ignore the pain, he hobbled over to Matt’s desk. By the time he’d reached his friend the disruption had been forgotten and everybody continued about their business.
‘Thanks buddy,’ Tim whispered to Matt as he made his way to the post room, his penis already swollen with anticipation and desire.
The post room was a confined space so the moment Tim walked in he found himself in a clinch with Jayne. Their arms wrapped around each other as their lips met in a passionate kiss and an explosion of lust. One of his hands firmly held the back of her head whilst their tongues explored each other’s mouths. His other hand slid down her well-formed buttocks and clenched her thigh. As he did so he could feel the edge of a stocking under her pencil skirt. Excited by the new discovery Tim pushed Jayne against the wall. She gasped as his fingers slipped under her already damp underwear and found her moist, excited pussy. His fingers continued to probe and easily made their way into her wet, velvet-like vagina. He began to massage her clit, causing her legs to shake and her pelvis to grind against his hand. Jayne bit his earlobe seductively and let out a gentle moan. She raised one thigh and pulled his crotch towards hers. Reaching down to his groin Jayne could feel his hard cock throbbing through his suit trousers
‘I want you,’ she groaned in lustful passion as his lips explored her neck, sending waves of pleasure through her body.
Jayne began to rub the bulge in Tim’s trousers and simultaneously they began to pull at each other’s clothes.
Tim unbuttoned Jayne’s blouse, sliding her breasts out from her bra and licking her exposed nipples. They quickly grew hard under his careful attention and she moaned again as electric bolts of ecstasy coursed through her.
‘Give me your cock,’ Jayne whispered in his ear as she unzipped his trousers, reached in and freed his achingly hard penis.
She pulled her underwear to one side and massaged her clit with the end of his throbbing helmet. Rubbing it round and round her pulsating pussy she began to tease her vaginal lips apart. The wetter she got the harder she thrusted, biting her lip in a vain attempt to keep her orgasmic groans from being heard. After a few moments of teasing herself in this way she grabbed Tim’s ass and thrust him forward,
forcing his huge cock to fill every inch of her eager pussy. He penetrated her hard and deep. Sensing that she was losing control, Tim put a hand over her mouth and Jayne began to moan violently with pleasure as their rhythm increased.
‘You wouldn’t dare. I bet it’s stacked with porn anyway!’
Matt remembered what Tim had said to him on their lunch break when he found the flash drive floating on its way to the storm drains.
Tim and Jayne had been in the post room for a while. Lucky bastard. Tim always got the girls, always had the action and excitement. Surely it should be Matt’s turn to get lucky. Tim always seemed so willing to take the risk, would Matt do the same? He had always been a careful person, he didn’t want to rock the boat too much; kept his head down and got on with things. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe he needed to be a bit more like Tim. Matt was such a cautious person. So cautious he wouldn’t even have the balls to put the flash drive he found into a computer to find out what was on it.
The thought sounded ridiculous as it passed through Matt’s mind. Not even brave enough to load up a flash drive? A stupid memory stick found in the street. What’s the worst that could happen? The office computer network was loaded up with so many anti-virus programs and firewalls that you needed permission just to view news websites.
Tim was in the post room fucking a girl’s brains out whilst he was standing guard. Was he always going to spend his life standing guard whilst others had all the fun?
Oh to hell with it, Matt thought and inserted the flash drive into his computer.
It was a minor act of rebellion, but the rash action sent adrenaline through his body and his pulse throbbed in his throat. Licking his suddenly dry lips he looked over his shoulder. No one had seen him. He looked back at the computer screen and clicked on the mouse. The computer displayed a removable drive icon with the name Memory Inc. Nervously he clicked on it. What could be contained within the potential treasure he’d discovered?
His mood was a little deflated to find it only had one file in its memory. It wasn’t exactly the bounty he was hoping for. The file was simply the image of a plain document with a title underneath: Execute.
Matt hovered the mouse cursor over the icon and double clicked.
He closed his eyes and turned his head to the side as if shielding himself from what he’d just done.
After a few moments he turned back to the monitor and cautiously opened his eyes. As he did so he found his screen just as he’d left it.
Nothing had happened.
Incensed with a feeling of anger that his first foray into bold action had been fruitless, Matt went to pull the flash drive from the computer when a message box appeared on his screen. The box simply said Execute? with an OK button underneath. Now feeling a little victorious that his pursuits were going somewhere he boldly clicked OK, his curiosity overriding the fear he’d previously had.
Another box appeared on the computer screen.
Activating………it displayed, then: Setting Targets……
That doesn’t sound good, thought Matt as suddenly his fear returned. He began to hit the Escape button on his keyboard, desperate to halt the program he had set running. But it didn’t stop.
‘Oh shit,’ exclaimed Tony Bevis sitting two desks from Matt. ‘Has anyone else got problems with the phones?’
‘Yep,’ called out Hilary Peel from across the office.
‘Looks like the emails have stopped working too. Someone had better call IT,’ came another voice.
Matt took hold of the flash drive and pulled out his computer, hoping to halt the program as a nauseous feeling grew in his stomach. Was he responsible for this systems failures?
Another message appeared on his screen: Location determined. His computer screen started to flicker and crackle. He looked around and saw the visual disruption wasn’t just happening to his monitor, but to everyone else’s as well.
‘What the hell is that?’ screamed Sandy as she pointed at the wall mounted TV, usually displaying the twenty-four hour news channel.
The TV picture had gone, replaced by a mass of static. But this was no random blur of pixels. The static had formed into the shape of a primitively drawn skull. Its form, made of ever-pulsating black and white dots, shook on the display, refusing to stay permanently in one position. It shrank and grew with size, its proportions fluidly distorting, giving the illusion that its strange, alien eyes were searching the room whilst its electrically generated mouth seemed to widen with an evil intensity.
Around the office the computer screens began to blink and flicker, at first in slow and seemingly random sequences but quickly they began to unify. The speed of the flashes increased, faster and faster, until they became a pulsating strobe of intense brightness. At that very moment the lights in the office failed. The dull weather outside gave little illumination through the windows as the freakish light show within continued.
Fascinated by the strobing computers they all looked, hypnotised by the screens, whilst wondering what was going on. Without warning Tony started to shake and convulse in his chair. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and drool foamed from his mouth like a rabid dog. He was quickly joined by others; Sandy, Joe. They began to fit violently too, falling from their chairs and continuing their seizures on the floor.
Panic set in and the others began to run from their desks, some to their fitting colleagues to help, others attempting to escape these strange events.
Matt broke his gaze from the screen and ran to Tony’s aid. He crouched beside his fitting colleague and tried to recount the first aid training he’d completed a few years ago, but his mind was blank, consumed with fear and confusion. He held Tony by the shoulders and tried to stop him from thrashing around.
‘Come on Tone, calm down,’ he pleaded.
Suddenly Tony went limp.
Placing the side of his face close to his workmate’s lips, Matt could not feel any breath against his cheek. He opened up the dying man’s mouth and began to perform the kiss of life.
It was as he breathed a lungful of warm air into Tony’s corpse that a huge, searing flash burst from all the screens, much brighter than any of the strobes previously. He looked up and watched as people he’d been talking to only minutes before dropped to the floor, dead; their lifeless eyes bleeding from their sockets, their pupils glazed and cloudy. Others stumbled around as if in the dark, grasping wildly at the air and crashing into chairs and desks. The flash had been devastating in its ferocious intensity; killing some out right, blinding those that had survived.
Matt tried to keep his thoughts rational amid a scene of panic, screaming and death. He tried to think who to help first when a high-pitched whine started to emanate from the computers. At first he could barely hear it and wondered if it was just the ringing in his ears from the cries of the blind, but as it increased in frequency and intensity he began to feel sick and dizzy. The pitch increased until it seemed to stop being a sound at all and became a feeling affecting his whole body. Matt stumbled to his feet, staggering like a drunk at closing time as he discovered the sound was causing havoc with his balance. Desperately he tried to maintain co ordination whilst his head seemed to fill with the noise. He felt it behind his eyes as his head throbbed in pain and his stomach began to convulse, making unsettled burbling sounds. He had to get out and find help. He ran, clumsily to the door and fell towards it. The high-pitched noise continued, as he felt a violent jerk in his gut causing him to vomit. Bile and semi digested food streamed from his mouth and nose, showering his legs as he lay against the door. The sharp smell of stomach acid hung in his nose stinging his nasal cavities. He pulled himself to his feet using the door handle then wildly shook it, but his exit would not open. He manically pressed the electronic release, slapping the green plastic button marked open, but again the door stayed firmly in place, blocking his escape.
Matt screamed in agony as his head continued to throb. Realising he had no way out he crumpled to his knees crying in the resolution
that he had met his end. Amid his anguish he felt his ears turn warm and wet, the noise seemed to stop, but he knew it hadn’t. Putting his hand to his ear he felt the warm, sticky texture of blood that poured from his burst eardrums. He erupted into tears as he collapsed to the floor, bleeding to death, only inches from escape.
The flashing and noise stopped as suddenly as it had begun. Bodies lay strewn around the office with blood and vomit trickling from their eyes, nose, ears and mouths. The door to the post room slowly creaked open and the horrified faces of Jayne and Tim surveyed the scenes of slaughter in front of them.
‘What the hell?’ whispered Tim, shaking and white with fear.
They stepped through the dead bodies and puddles of blood. Their feet were unsteady on the slippery surface, made so hazardous by the bodily fluids that puddled and pooled between the corpses.
‘We’ve got to get out of here,’ Jayne whispered, ‘come on.’
They held hands and picked their way through the putrid carnage to the door.
‘Help me,’ Jayne urged Tim for assistance as she grabbed the body blocking the exit and tried to move it.
‘Oh my God it’s Matt,’ cried Tim. He looked at the fear stricken features on the face of his best friend who’d died merely a matter of minutes ago.
‘Shhhh. Come on,’ Jayne reassured him trying to keep their focus on what was the most important task at hand.
Together they heaved the dead weight of Matt’s bleeding corpse from the exit and pressed the electronic release button. The door opened.
They ran through the exit, but feeling a hand grip her ankle, Jayne fell forward with a shriek. Turning round she saw Matt, just holding on to life with as much determined effort as he held on to her. Her instant reaction was not of pity but to fight him off, to get out of this room thick with death. She instinctively kicked out hard and struck him against his head. Her stiletto, one Matt had previously admired so much, smashed into his face at a violent velocity. The long pointed heel was driven into his eye, puncturing the fragile tissue of the eyeball and pushing it back into his skull. His grip instantly relaxed and, wiggling her footwear free from his eye socket, Jayne stood to her feet.