The Thunderstorm
Chapter 1
POW
“Good morning Vietnam,” Michael pushed through the doors to the office with his hands held high above his head. He waited for a second as the populace of the office remained silent, observing him with anxiety, or trying to ignore him completely. “You know, Vietnam because the thunder out there reminds me of the constant gunfire of that war.”
“But you weren’t in Vietnam,” Pam stated for the fifth time that week. “You were just a baby when it happened.”
“I know Pam,” Michael quickly pulled a straight face, and with pursed lips added, “And thank God that the drafting list didn’t come to that,” finishing his sentence, he retreated to his office and slammed the door behind him.
Jim sent Pam an interesting look from where he was slouched back in his chair, causing them both to erupt in laughter.
(X)
“Michael,” Jim cleared his throat as his private interview in the break room started, “Has spent the better part of this week watching old Vietnam War movies. “ His eyes grew big as he considered his next sentence, “None of us know why, but I like it that way, it adds an air of mystery for the whole thing.” A wholesome laugh escaped his throat, but stopped short, “I just hope he doesn’t end up making us do a reenactment or something like that.”
(X)
“The TV from the conference room is in his office, almost blocking the door so no one can come in and interrupt him, which is two violations already,” Pam stated as the camera panned into Michael’s office with the blinds drawn shut, “his favorites right now seem to be Apocalypse Now, Platoon and Forest Gump. He used to like Saving Private Ryan, but he found out it was the wrong war.”
(X)
“I like Vietnam War movies okay,” Michael threw up his hands in defeat as he laughed, “You caught me.” Suddenly he became very serious, “There’s something appealing to me, about a guy who can go off and fight for our country when we desperately need it and come home and run a successful shrimping business. That could be me.”
(X)
The Office was quiet that day and since Michael had a new hobby everyone could finally get some work done for a change. The only sound over the typing of keyboards was screaming and bullets from inside Michael’s office, until a low rumble from outside hit the office so strong that knickknacks fell off of desks.
Immediately Dwight shot up from his seat, “Everyone remain calm,” he shouted loudly as another rumble racked through the office, “this is not an Earthquake because Scranton is located safely out of the ring of fire.”
Phyllis swiveled away from her desk as the room shook once again, “It’s probably the storm that Chet Montgomery said we would get today. I hope Bob’s okay, he had a delivery to make out of town.”
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Jim nodded as the lights flickered.
The door to the break room ripped open as Kelly ran into the room with Toby who was a few feet behind her, “Oh my God you guys,” she exclaimed from the middle of the room, “The walls shook and knocked my fluffy pencil holder off my desk and then the lights flickered and I heard on the radio that everyone was supposed to go home at lunch because there’s a severe thunderstorm warning and I don’t want to go because what if—“
“Wait,” Dwight held up a hand to silence her, “Who said that we could go home at lunch?”
“Well, it wasn’t Michael since he hasn’t been out of his office all day,” Oscar added with a scoff.
Kelly blinked once, “I don’t know it was just on the radio. Maybe the city? Or the council? Or some board? I wasn’t paying attention but I don’t want to go home because I’m afraid of the dark and what happens if the lights go out and I’m there all by myself someone could come get me and-“
“Shut up,” Dwight demanded, his hand still remained raised in the air, “there has to be a way to get this information from a more reliable source.”
Jim groaned and reached out his hand lazily to his telephone. He hit a red button that was a switch to the radio and immediately an announcer was speaking concisely, “All residents should remain where they are, an attempt to leave might result in injuries and currently emergency vehicles are out of service.”
Stanley placed down his crossword puzzle, “Great.”
“What’s going on?” Michael questioned as he exited his office in a rush, “My movie finished and on the television it said something about being arrested if we leave. It might have been the news, but I think it was a commercial for one of those new reality shows.”
(X)
Michael leaned back and cushioned his head with his hands. With a bright smile on his face he began, “Yes I did try out of a reality show over the summer, I thought that since the cameras are always here, I could do it twenty-four seven instead of nine-to-five five. The one I tried out for was called Kid Nation. Apparently I got the title wrong; I just assumed that it was making another country that would be a Kid Nation to America.”
(X)
“It’s just a thunderstorm,” Jim stated, still seated in his chair with an atmosphere of boredom around him.
Dwight’s eyes grew wide as he looked at his rival, “No,” he shouted and pointed a finger at Jim, “This is much more than a thunderstorm. The authorities have are taking responsibility for malfeasance,” He stopped talking and looked directly into the camera as he came to his final thought, “This could be the beginning of a dictatorship similar to 1984.”
Jim pursed his lips, “No Dwight, I don’t think it is.”
“Dwight,” Michael sighed and covered his eyes with his hands, “Stop being an idiot, America stopped being under a dictetatorial rule in the seventies.” Creed nodded in agreement and Jim looked puzzled.
Phyllis glanced up from where she sat in her office chair, “What should we do?”
“We’ll have to come up with a way to trick the police,” Michael announced as he jumped up onto the reception desk, completely blocking Pam out.
Dwight shook his head with disgust, “Thank God, I gave up my status as Sheriff’s Deputy—“
“Volunteer Sheriff’s Deputy,” Jim corrected as he pivoted in his chair.
“Volunteer Sheriff’s Deputy,” Dwight nodded in agreement, “But I got out of there before the whole place turned to the dark side.”
“Michael,” Toby began in his monosyllabic tone, “I think the safest and smartest thing to do right now is to stay inside.” He leaned against the wall near the doorway to the kitchen, and waited for Michael to shoot him down.
Michael clenched his teeth together, “You know what Toby? I think you’re right. I think you should go back to your corner and not come out of it no matter what happens.”
“That’s not what I meant, I just think—“
“Into the back,” Michael demanded as he pointed to the doorway. He grinned superiorly as Toby hung his head and returned to his desk.
Everyone observed Michael with agape mouths. “What? He questioned as he pushed himself away from Pam’s desk and moved into the middle of the room, “It was his idea.”
Angela, stood by accounting, her arms crossing in irritation over her chest spoke up, “Michael, what are we supposed to do? I need to go home; I have to feed my cats.”
“I thought your cat died?” Michael answered.
“I have more than one,” she answered as she straightened her back in an attempt to collect herself.
Michael looked directly at the camera filming him, “Well then I guess you should be thanking me for getting you out of the house.”
“Michael, seriously,” Kevin stood up from his seat in the corner, “I’m hungry, I can’t stay here all night. I want McDonalds.”
“Well,” his voice was drawn out as she answered, “I say we should all storm the door at once, if we do, there will be too many of us for the police to stop.”
“Yeah!” Dwight agreed as he pumped his hand into the air.
“I think you’re forgetting why the police want to keep us in here,” Pam began, hoping to clarify the situation.
“Oh, Pam,” Michael shook his head, “I thought that you would be one of the good ones, but it looks like they got to you too.”
She sent a glance to Jim, who shrugged the matter off with a smirk.
The rest of the office watched as Michael and Dwight ran down the hallway screaming a battle cry until they reached the elevator, where Dwight pressed the button and waited patiently. When the elevator arrived they began screaming again until they were inside, then Michael pressed a button and they disappeared.
“Well,” Pam exclaimed as she left her post behind reception, “We need to prepare for the worst.”
“You mean like eating people?” Kevin asked
Angela rolled her eyes and fumed, “We should have already been prepared.”
Jim’s eyes grew big and with a confidant nod, he added, “This is going to be fun.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
The (X) indicate either a talking head, or a scene change.
There is a mild, mild, injury in the later chapters. And all characters that are marked do show up sometime or another throughout the course of the story
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
There is a mild, mild, injury in the later chapters. And all characters that are marked do show up sometime or another throughout the course of the story
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter End Notes:
There are seven more chapters to come (that's what she said). They'll be posted very soon.
