Chapter 146

5.u.

“No!” Corporate Man screamed, leaping into the room.  Supply caught him by the necktie and pulled him back up as more sharks poured in from the conference room. 

They fed in a primal frenzy.

The sounds of water churning and hulking fish slapping against each other as they slammed against the office walls went on for long horrible minutes.  A bloody foam lay on the surface of the water and continued to rise, filling the room, subsiding once it reached the ceiling.

The Union stood around the hole in the floor, gaping at the pool of recent violence; shocked and unmoving.

No one spoke.

A dark form burst up through the water and launched into the room.  It slapped against the floor and rolled onto its back, gasping and flailing, breaths only coming in hoarse gasps.

“Oh my god,” Business Woman called out.  “He’s alive!”

They rushed to Fair Wage’s side and examined him for bites and other wounds.  His hands bled, scraped raw on sharkskin, and his forehead had a split over his left eyebrow where he’d been slammed against something unyielding during the initial collision.

“How…  How?” asked Senior Executive.

Fair Wage smiled. “I don’t fear inflation.  It barely affects me.”

“But… all that blood,” Supply said.

Fair Wage opened his hand revealing a crystal clear debit card.  He said, “It’s a diamond card.  My purchasing power is quite formidable and that shark’s belly was quite soft.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Professor Inflation said, his voice booming and theatrical, “as I devalue each and every one of you.”

Chapter 145

5.t.

“I know a way,” said Supply.  She looked a Demand.  “Do you think you’re strong enough?”

“I have to be,” he said.

Supply grabbed Demand’s hands and said, “Business Woman.  You look after him, okay?  Don’t let him wash away in this mess.”

There was a sound, like computerized jingle-bells echoing across the voids of space.  And Supply started growing.  Seven feet.  Then fifteen feet tall.  As she grew, Demand shriveled and shrank.  Four feet, two feet, then six inches short. Business Woman snatched him out of the air before he fell.

Supply’s back pressed against the ceiling.  She grunted and strained.  Her legs crushed Union members against the side walls.

The shark’s head burst through the doorway.  Its teeth gnashed against Senior Executive’s shoulders, ripping the fabric of his suit jacket, but finding no purchase.

Supply yelled and elbowed the ceiling until it cracked.  She hit it again and a large section broke free leaving a gaping hole.  She pulled herself up through the opening.  Corporate Man joined her, dropping down from somewhere; necktie cape flapping over his shoulder.

“Quick.  Let’s get everyone up here!” he shouted.

Supply reached down and pulled up Business Woman, then Senior Executive.

“Hurry.  Hurry!  That thing’s almost through,” Franklin Buck cried out.

One of the Great White’s pectoral fins stabbed around the mangled metal door.  The huge fish writhed and twisted and it tried to swim through the opening; its mouth of razors snapping and biting.

Supply lifted Franklin Buck through the hole and reached down for Fair Wage.  The door gave way dumping the shark into the small space and right on top of their elderly companion.  The room became a blender of thrashing, biting, frothing chaos.  Flailing arms clawed desperately beneath the overpowering bulk of the huge fish.  The shark’s tail whipped back and forth through the water as it gnashed greedily.

Then the water turned red.

Chapter 144

5.s.

“The water’s stopped,” said Demand.

“Great.  So we’re trapped.  Up to our necks in water.  With sharks just outside,” said Franklin Buck.

Business Woman leaned toward Supply and said, “How are your doing?”

“Better.  It always takes it out of one of us when were have to transfer power like that.”

There was a deep ka-chunk sound and everybody froze, their breaths held.

The water started draining from the room.

“Oh thank god,” said Franklin Buck.

“No.  This can’t be good,” said Corporate Man.

 In moments the room was empty. Only a film of water remained.  It coated everything neck-high and lower.

“Well, I don’t care,” said Franklin Buck.  “It’s huge relief.”

The metal door groaned as if in answer to his statement.  The wall creaked under the tremendous pressure from the ever increasing volumes of water out in the conference hall.  A hinge buckled and fine spray erupted from a small gap.

“Are you kidding me?” said Business Woman.

Something large thudded against the door.  Another gap opened along the seam and more water hissed into the room. 

Then it hit again.

And again.

“It’s the Great White,” said Fair Wage.

“We gotta get outta here,” Franklin Buck yelled, almost shrieking.

“Calm down,” said Corporate Man.

“Easy for you to say with that special necktie you got.”

“Think, people,” said Corporate Man.  “How can we fight inflation?  Senior Executive and I have moved all our assets into safer commodities investments.  We’ve got–” 

The shark hit the door again, bending in the upper corner.  Water gushed into the room and a flash of triangular teeth snapped repeatedly on the other side.

Chapter 143

5.r.

Professor Inflation stood in front of a full length mirror admiring the way his cape fluttered when he twirled.  A tinkling chime sounded from the desk computer and a pleasant voice intoned, “The Union has escaped the sharks.”

Professor Inflation didn’t seem to notice the voice and continued to appreciate his image in the mirror, cocking his head first this way then that, puffing out his chest, arching his back slightly, and flexing his butt muscles.  Then he sauntered over to the computer, his attention lingering on the mirror a moment longer, even as he walked away.

“Looks like it’s almost time,” he said, pulling up a video display with a few nimble keystrokes.  On the screen Corporate Man and the rest of the Union were nearly neck deep in the water of the little room.

“Hmm…  It’s interesting, but it lacks drama now that the sharks are no longer a factor.  Run market scenario number six and alert me when the fun starts.”

He trotted back to the mirror and whirled his cape across his body and up in front of his face.  Then he snapped it to his side like a matador.  He curled his lip into a snarl. 

No.  Too much. 

He tried a sly grin. 

Almost. 

He added a slow wink.

Perfect.

Chapter 142

5.q.

“What’s this?  A conference room?” asked Senior Executive.

“I think it’s a convention hall,” said Business Woman. 

By this point the water was almost to their knees.  Progress across the convention room floor was hindered by the necessary exaggeration of their steps and the weak, almost limp form of Supply who was dangling on the shoulders of Senior Executive and Corporate Man.

A chorus of snapping supports and falling metal grates sounded throughout the grand hall, dropping dozens of sharks in the ever deepening water.  Makos and bullsharks and hammerheads and tigers and white-tips slapped hard into the shallows all around them.  The big fish seemed dazed after the long fall, but quickly regained their predatory focus and cut through the water in stuttering, wriggling spurts.  Some of the smaller sharks were almost fully submerged with only their upper back and dorsal fins jutting above the surface.

The sharks made darting runs at the splashing, frantic humans but arched away from the thrashing, stomping legs and feet when they were within a few yards.

A door to the Union’s rear exploded from its hinges as the Great White crashed into the conference hall amongst splinters of inexpensive hollow core paneling. The water was thigh-deep now and three quarters of the massive shark was beneath the surface.  Sheets of water sheered up and over its sleek back as it barreled toward them.

“Move!  Move!  Move!” Business Woman cried out.

The Great White slammed into a circling blue shark, knocking the smaller fish out of the water.  It flailed helplessly through the air then splashed down with a frantic slap. The Great White snapped at an approaching reef shark and then careened toward a hammerhead and bit down on the unwary fish’s tail.  Blood spurt from the hammerhead’s thrashing body and the water became a boiling froth of scarlet and panic.

“Blood in the water!” Franklin Buck screamed.  He tried to quicken his pace but the water was up to his waist and he couldn’t move any faster.  “Swim for it!”

He dove forward, kicking and stroking the water; fervent and mad.  Most of the sharks were busy feasting on chunks of the destroyed hammerhead, but the sudden thrashing from Franklin Buck drew their attention.  Corporate Man and Business Woman yelled for Franklin to calm himself; to stop. 

He didn’t hear them.

A mako shark cruised through the water, its movements agitated and quick.  Hungry.  It sped toward Franklin Buick and snapped.  The bite was exploratory and tentative but on the mark, ripping away a large swath of green jacket fabric and scratching a line of shallow cuts in Franklin’s side.

He screamed and flailed.  The fish circled around for another run and then shot through the water toward The Dollar Man. 

Fair Wage dove between the shark and his colleague, patting the water and humming a low warbling sound.  The shark flinched and lurched toward Fair Wage.  The old man pivoted and chopped at the water as the fish went streaking by, his hand clipping the shark’s sensitive nose.

“Get everyone to the door,” Fair Wage said.

“What about you?” asked Senior Executive.

“I can handle whatever Professor Inflation sends our way,” he said pulling a hank of his wet silvery hair from his forehead and then elbowing an aggressive bull shark.

The water in the conference hall was chest deep when the team arrived at the large metal door.  They pried it open.  The water level on the other side was higher and gushed out, nearly washing them back into open water.

“Hurry!  Close the door!” Franklin Buck shouted as they fought their way into the little room.

“Fair Wage is still out there,” said Business Woman.

“He’s as good as–” but Franklin Buck did not finish.  His eyes widened with terror as the great white shark barreled toward the door, cutting through the water like a u-boat.  Riding on top was a man in a brown suit.  When the big fish was a few feet from the entrance Fair Wage reached down and poked the shark in the eye.  The fish jerked to side, angling away and back out into the conference room.  Fair Wage leapt from its back and in through the door.

Corporate Man and Senior Executive muscled the door closed.

Chapter 141

5.p.

“Down here!” Fair Wage called out.  He was standing near an open door in the blue-lined hallway.  Inside was a stairwell illuminated by a harsh amber light which stabbed out into the cool, twilight tones of the corridor.  “Oh crap.  I hear something.”

Fair Wage jumped back and closed the stairway door.  Supply rushed forward yelling, “No.  It’s him.  It’s him.”

She pulled the door open and went to the edge of the landing.

“Supply?  Is that you?” Demand said.

“Yes.  I’m here,” she said.  Corporate Man and Senior Executive brought Demand up to the landing where Supply hugged him to her chest.  Instead of wincing at the pressure to his injuries, he stood taller.  He seemed strengthened.  His wounds stopped bleeding.  Supply gasped for breath when they parted.

“Where are we?” asked Senior Executive.

“We’re still on the thirteenth floor,” said Supply, still trying to catch her breath.  “A secondary level though.”

“Any hostiles?” Corporate Man asked.

“None so far,” she said and slumped against Senior Executive.

“Just some creepy photographs,” said Franklin Buck.

There was a loud clanging slam as a steel panel fell from the wall, swung against the down stairwell, and sealed it shut.  A chorus of similar sounds echoed throughout the floor.

“That can’t be good,” said Franklin Buck.

Corporate Man gathered everyone together, advised them all to stay close to avoid getting separated, and moved them down the hallway through the dim, bluish light.

They’d walked for what felt like hours and though the immediate danger seemed a distant memory, somehow the atmosphere of the place had grown more ominous.  They searched various offices, a couple cleaning closets, a break room, and some bathrooms, but found nothing. 

Fair Wage was getting tired.  His aged body was under much strain.  When they found themselves in another break room he marched to the water cooler and said, “I don’t care what they charge me, I need water.”

He filled a small cup and drank deep.

“Oh god.  It’s salty.”

The water cooler gurgled and sputtered then started to shake.

“Everyone get back,” said Business Woman, herding them to the far side of the break room.

The water cooler burst, spouting up like a geyser, boiling against the ceiling, and drenching the room.  Similar explosions could be heard throughout the floor.

The Union fled the break room, but found the hallway equally discomforting.  Water streamed from huge metal grates in the ceiling.  A deep, meaty slapping sound pounded against the grates and the entire floor shuddered.  Then the bolts securing the grates to the ceiling gave way and the whole thing crashed to the floor, pinned beneath the bulk of a large, agitated shark.

“Oh shit,” said Business Woman.

“Is that a Great White?” asked Franklin Buck as the shark flopped and writhed in the six inches of water that had accumulated on the on the hallway floor.

“No,” said Fair Wage as he and the rest of the Union ran in a general “away” direction.  “That’s a grey reef shark.”

Another loud snap and thunderous clang brought down a second ceiling grate and an even larger shark.

“That one’s a Great White,” Fair Wage said.

The water was nearly a foot deep and the grey reef shark behind them skittered and floundered over the carpeted floor, making some progress in the Union’s direction.

“Through here,” said Corporate Man.  He opened the door to a small office.  They raced in, ran to a door on the far side of the room, charged through it, and found themselves in a large, open space with a tall ceiling.