"Late Night Shift"

Rushing inside to make sure he was able to clock in early, TJ swiped his badge and went straight to the guard house. He was scheduled for the third shift and was already five minutes late.The second shift had just ended and everyone was heading home. TJ hurried inside to put on his safety coat, he was head of transportation along with maintenance. This was supposed to be a two man shift but his buddy Fen, called out sick with the flu.That night, TJ would be alone until 6 am, so he figured that he would make certain that everything was off and locked up tight.

He waited until all the cars cleared out of the parking lot and locked the gate. He had to do a walk through to make sure that everything in the plant was off. This part of the job would usually involve Fen. They would take turns at the post, one would walk through the facility to make sure everything was shut off while the other would wait at the post for any loads coming in. Shipments would usually come in late and someone had to be there to receive the orders.

Since TJ was alone tonight, he wanted to hurry so he could get back to the gate to let the carriers in when needed. He checked all the dock doors and made sure they were locked. This usually would take about an hour which is why it was a two man job. This particular night was slow and since there weren’t many carriers on the schedule he figured he would be done before anyone arrived.

After completing his rounds he circled back towards the guard house. He saw something traveling up the road that appeared to be a trailer. TJ was 10 feet away and wanted to be at the gate when the truck arrived. So, he tucked his coat in while opening his umbrella and began to walk quickly. The rain was pouring down fast and lightning streamed the sky with bold sounds and bright streaks. It was a dark and stormy night, and it wasn’t safe.

While walking back to the post, TJ noticed that the street lights were blinking off and on. He also saw that the carrier was going to arrive before he reached the gate. TJ stopped for a moment so that he could open the gate through the hand held tablet to let the driver inside the gate.

The truck entered inside the gate and waited for TJ to come to the window. As TJ entered, he took off his coat and tossed it in his chair. He then walked up to the window to check the driver in. He got on the intercom and asked the driver for his licenses and billing papers. No one answered and after not receiving a response he asked the driver again for his credentials. TJ looked out the window, and saw that something wasn’t right about the driver so he turned on the spotlights to see if he could be of any assistance.

The truck was still running with the wipers going, but he couldn’t see who was inside. The windows were darkly tinted and the headlights were on. TJ dreaded going back out into the rain. It was pouring down horrifically and he wasn’t about to enter back into the hell that he just came out of. He wanted to try once more to get an answer from the driver. As he stood inside the guard house he was examining the truck. He looked at the trailer number to see if it was on the schedule, in hopes of identifying the driver but nothing stood out.

There weren't many carriers coming so he figured that he would narrow it down to the ones that were on the schedule. He walked over by the door to see if he could get a better look at the numbers on the trailers. The rain was pouring down and the room was beginning to fog up. TJ put on his glasses as he wiped the windows for a visual. The guard house was very small so when the temperatures dropped, the little space became very condensed. After straining his eyesight, he was able to see six numbers.

666187, TJ repeated the numbers in his head three times and walked over to the desk.

The street lights were blinking on and off again and the spot lights were dimming out. By the time TJ opened the ledger to verify the truck, lightning had struck harder and louder. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a man in a grey coat appeared in front of the window. TJ was so scared that he jumped out of shoes, while dropping his cell phone to the floor. He couldn’t believe his eyes nor did he see the driver get out of the truck.

TJ went over to the window as he watched the man like a hawk. He then reached over to make sure that the door was locked. Walking back to the window, he looked up and said,”I need your credential sir, so you can drop the trailer off and leave.”

The man stood there at the window for a moment then he raised his hand and put the papers inside the crack of the window. Not once did he look up at TJ or give any eye contact. TJ took the paperwork along with his license and examined it. The handwriting had bled through the paper so he couldn’t see much. His license looked very old and was damaged around the edges. Something wasn’t right about this carrier and TJ needed more information before he could let the driver in.

He was hoping to get a name or an address so he could see which company the driver was with. After looking back through the ledger, he picked up the company phone hoping to reach a manager for assistants but the phone was dead. TJ looked once more at the license hoping to see a picture of the driver. He was b feeling unedged and wanted to get the trailer dropped and the driver out of his hair. It was a dark and stormy night and TJ wanted him gone.

All of a sudden, everything shut down and all you could hear was the sound of the storm. The lightning in the sky was the only source of light. TJ looked out the window at the man and said, “Sir, for your safety and mine, can you please get back inside your truck until I can locate someone to verify you and the package.” The man didn’t respond or move; he only stood there like a mannikin modeling a grey bucket hat and coat.

TJ began to look around for his cell phone. Forgetting that he had dropped it on the floor. He bent down to pick up his phone and began to dial not realizing he had no service. As he came back up there was a flash of lightning through the glass door. There the man stood staring at TJ with a straight face. His eyes were black and shaped like an oval. And his nose was missing from his face. He didn’t appear to be human at all or from a world that we consider normal. TJ watched the man raise his hand to open the door. He watched the knob turn as if the man was trying to come in.

TJ trembled with fear as he held the phone in his hand. He tried calling for assistance once more but his phone kept taking him to an operator which was no longer in service. He wasn’t sure whether or not the man was armed, so he picked up his flash light for protection. It was the only thing in his reach and possibly hard enough to knock the man out. TJ closed his eyes tightly wishing and hoping that he was in a nightmare and would wake up soon. The lightning struck the air once more and thunder rumbled loudly, like bowling balls striking down pins.

He fell to the floor screaming, “No, no, this is not real!” “You are not real!” Suddenly, the image of the man had disappeared and there was a trailer sitting at the dock under door 12. The rigg was gone and so was the man in the grey coat. The storm had cleared out and the lights were back on. TJ looked at the time and saw that he had four hours before the next shift. Walking back to the desk, TJ, thought about how much time had passed since his encounter with the man in the grey coat. As he sat down, he searched the ledger and saw that the trucks were pushed back a couple of hours due to the intensity of the storm. Therefore, no one should have been there until five am.

TJ looked back at the paperwork, as he was astounded to see that everything was blank. For a moment he thought that maybe he just imagined everything until something fell on the floor. He reached down and picked up the license that belonged to the man in the grey coat. And there it was the driver's first name and age along with an address from another state. TJ frowned up as he looked at the old and worn out card as he wiped it with a tissue. He also saw that the license had expired, dating back to 1979. Although he was not able to see the driver's last name, it did show his first name which was Earnest.

Earnest was from Brunswick County and he was a 46 years old truck driver. TJ began to put his thinking caps on and started researching the ledger. He took the license and the information that was retrieved and ran it through their database. He knew he had a couple of hours before the other shift came on so he started digging. He pulled up the name of the company hoping to find more information on the carrier along with the driver. And what he found was shocking as ever.

While he was able to google information about the plant, he also came across an article on a truck driver who had died in a trucking accident on the same day. TJ found out that the company that the man worked for used to supply them with supplies but had burned down twenty years ago due to electrical failure in the plant. It also stated in the article that the truck driver whose name was no other than Earnest Guise, was killed on the way back from dropping off a load from the plant which he currently works at now.

The article stated that the fire and the drivers’ fatal accident happened around midnight. TJ looked out the window towards the dock door 12. He took off his glasses, then put them back on realizing that the truck at the dock door was not at all the truck he saw a moment ago. He sat back and stared at the computer and looked back at the license only to see that the dead man was wearing the same coat and hat that he wore on the night of his death.

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