Asset Management

Mara bolted back to her office, locking the door and shoving a filing cabinet against it.

"What happened?" Elias asked, trembling. "Where is Gary?"

"Gary has been liquidated," Mara said, reaching for the bottle of tequila she kept in the bottom drawer. She took a long pull, straight from the bottle. The burn grounded her.

"Liquidated?"

"Eaten, Elias! The consultant is a ghoul. A literal ghoul."

"That's... that's against HR policy," Elias squeaked.

"We need a strategy," Mara paced the room. "He’s going by the org chart. He’s targeting based on performance reviews. Who had the lowest KPI last quarter?"

"Sarah," Elias said automatically. "And then Tim from IT."

"Okay." Mara wiped her mouth. The alcohol was humming in her veins now, turning her fear into a cold, hard calculus. She grabbed the office intercom, which ran on the emergency battery.

"Attention team," Mara spoke into the mic, her voice steady and commanding. "This is VP Vance. We have a... security situation. Sarah, Tim—I need you to secure the Server Room on the north side immediately. Everyone else, barricade the breakroom."

"Ms. Vance?" Elias stared at her in horror. "The Server Room has no lock. You're sending them to the slaughter."

"I'm sending them to buy us time," Mara snapped. "It’s a strategic diversion. Asset reallocation."

"They're people!"

"They're bait, Elias! If he's busy eating Sarah, he's not eating us."

Mara grabbed her purse and shoveled the remaining mini-bottles of vodka from the minibar into it. "We need to get to the Executive Suite on the top floor. The CEO has a satellite phone and a hardened safe room."

"I can't believe you," Elias whispered.

"Believe whatever you want," Mara said, unlocking the door. "Just stay behind me. And don't bleed."

From down the hall, Sarah’s screams began. They were short, sharp, and cut off by the sound of tearing meat.

Mara took another drink of tequila. "Let's move."