The Backroom and Other Short Horror Stories

Crack a Cold One

No one knows where it came from. A Pepsi machine, appearing just like any other refreshment dispenser. However, only one button works, a button labeled "Let your fate decide." A different drink comes out depending on what will happen in your near future. A Coca-Cola when you're about to be in an argument. A Sprite when you're about to feel sick. A Dr. Pepper when you're going to relax. The list goes on, and drinks that aren't owned by Pepsi spew out all the time. Since the cheap price, a quarter a can, attracts people to quench their thirst, most are unaware of the consequences the beverage will bring afterwards. The drink tastes as they remember, except the aftertaste seems stronger.

Cans are never expired and never seem to expire soon. We have set up many cameras and have sent many spies to see who refills the machine. But we were brought back empty-handed everytime - the machine seems to restock itself somehow.

For our safety, we all agreed to place the machine in the corner next to the ticket office. Although it is the first room people enter and go through, the room is vacant and boring, and hardly anyone lingers around. Lyon, the guy who works the tickets, does not fear the machine, and lives off of the drinks whenever he works. Often he gets a Coca-Cola or a Dr. Pepper, but his thirst overrules his tastes so he drinks whatever exits. He claims he has never seen anyone, other than those purchasing a refresher, mess with the machine.

It was another boring day here, at the museum about our town. This building was originally an apartment complex, but not enough people moved in, so the mayor bought it out and turned into a dinky meusuem about our small town.  Out of the 15 floors available, only 10 were used, each floor representing a 10 year lifespan. The other 5 were used for storage, business things, and rooms for the staff that worked here. We had a choice if we wanted to live here, the catch was that we were responsible for our rooms and had to work extra for no pay or pay up. Since I had no where else to go, I decided to stay here. As anyone can image, this small town does not have a lot of history, so not a lot of people come in nor is there a lot of things to keep clean. To me, it is like living at an apartment during the apocalypse.

It was a boring day, so I decided to go down and visit Lyon. Lyon was not a talkative man, but he did enjoy spending some time with me if not a lot of people came in. Everytime, he offered to buy me a drink from the Pepsi machine, but my fear made me reject his offer whenever he asked.

Lyon was an old, heavyweight man with a bushy white mustache and bald head. I was the complete opposite, with a baby face and short brown hair, all on top of a skinny young adult body. Despite our differences, we found we liked a lot of the same thing and never grew bored of our conversations. Often we chatted about baseball, old TV shows, and upcoming technology. We would stay and talk for hours at a time, never realizing how late it was until Lyon just so happened to look at the time to make the announcement that the museum was closing soon. On those days, I hardly got any work done. And on the days after those ones, I had to work extra hard.

Lyon opened up his can of Pepsi with a satisfying click. Pepsi, from what I knew, that meant it was going to be an exciting day. But what was there to be excited about, if no one was in visiting? Normally there were a few people within the first few hours, but today there was not a single one. Traveling tourists with nothing to do often came by and checked out what this town had to offer before they left. Today, they were scarce. Maybe enough word got out that there was nothing to see here. If that were the case, I doubt very much this museum would survive. From there, I will have to start searching for a serious life.

"Boring day today," sighed Lyon, after taking a sip of his drink. "You got your job done, kid?"

"The others are working on it," I replied. "You are the one that does most of the work, you know. All we so is clean, clean, and clean."