Chapter 1: The Tractor Ride (A Short Horror Story by VB3)

I felt dead inside. This day was just another hard slog of giving visitors the same old tour with a smile plastered on my face. The whole place on my face gave off a feeling of slow atrophy and decay in my eyes. I guessed that it ought to be time for me to drink my morning coffee to give me a boost and pick up my mood, the main reason for my whole bad mood was my going on a diet in the last week.

It turned out that skipping breakfast and reducing your calorie intake caused a person to be grumpy for a while. Even stumbling around as I did in the morning and trying my best to summon enough energy to deal with my daily job didn’t do anything to improve my smile. More coffee then, another cup strong enough to make me feel something other than dread for the tasks ahead today.

I’d only been in this job for a month after the last person quit or something. I think his name had been Dan or Steve. The Farm management and my colleagues weren’t quite clear about that and just muttered under their breath about profit margins and strictly following health and safety procedures. I’d ask my co-worker Alex today if I could remember when I saw her and had a spare moment.

I walked straight to the staff room for the Farm. The place had a popular sounding name that resonated with its target market, Cattle something Park but it was too early for me to think about the exact details. Hoping that the ghost of the coffee machine was happy today so it would be working and provide me with a decent hot beverage this morning and not require an exorcism or hands-on DIY to begin working. I swore that the machine was even older than me and I was twenty-two. The cheapskate management team were trying to save money in all the wrong places.

The staff room felt emptier than usual, I would have guessed that everyone else was setting up for the day and I was running later than I had initially expected. Grabbing some dry coffee beans I tossed them into the machine before adding some water from the cold metal tap in the sink. Turning it on a deep grinding sound began before it chugged to life and began to pump out the hot brown liquid into the mug, I had placed under it.

It looked like the ghost in the machine was happy today, I didn’t need to perform any tricks to make it work. Not today.

On the Farm there were two things that I had to get used to, the first was a smell that became a great deal worse in summer and hot weather. The second was the noise. No matter how many years I worked there the sounds would never become familiar.

Leaving the staff break room I headed towards the changing rooms to see my colleague Alex who was getting dressed for her role as both tractor driver and general protector during the tractor rides. She certainly wasn’t shy about getting changed in front of others.

‘Ready for another day of walkers and gawkers?’ she called out to me while she was struggling to put on her thick, heavy boots. They looked like reinforced matt black things designed to stomp through mud and anything else that got in her way.

I managed to smile this time, the coffee running through my bloodstream and increasing my heart rate. My stomach, although empty, didn’t protest in hunger at me this time.

‘You know it, Alex!’

‘I’m only glad that I get to put on protective equipment. I have no idea how you deal with it with a reinforced shirt and trousers only.’

‘Well, you know that the visitors to the Farm want to see a friendly face when they sit down in the trailer for their tractor ride. I don’t see them appreciating me dressed up in full riot gear like you.’

‘Hah. True on that. Did you get any plans at the end of the day? I was thinking some beers and a bucket full of rocks would hit the spot. I don’t plan on eating until I’m out of this place. Maybe hit a BBQ place afterwards for a beer or two. Vegetables included. You in?’

Although I doubt that I’d have much of an appetite after today I did enjoy spending time with Alex. She was a pretty funny and interesting person, aside from her sense of humour. The main reason that she ate so much was that she was seriously into exercise and body strengthening exercises. Protein was her go-to food along with a ton of vegetables. I wasn’t quite sure how she could choose to eat meat after working on the farm but each to their own. As long as I didn’t have to watch her scoff down near-raw steaks then my stomach would thank me.

‘Sounds good Alex. Just give me a moment to put on my farm tour guide uniform.’

I got myself dressed in my overclothes along with my super colourful t-shirt that showed a smiling face with the words ‘Happy to help!’ The clothing wasn’t my idea of fun, but I had been told by my manager at the farm that it was all about the optics. Basically, by dressing in a certain way more people would be interested in the tractor ride which meant that tickets would sell out and the farm would generate a greater profit. I was fairly sure that I’d still get paid the same amount per hour though, it wasn’t as if this was my long-term plan. To move forward required effort so I had been studying taxidermy through an online course, yet to move to practical work but it was an industry that was in demand at least.

The work on the farm as a tour guide was something to do on the side during the holiday season. At least that was my plan anyway. This morning looked to be pretty fresh outside, the crisp sound of the grass crunching below my feet and the birds chirping in the trees made me feel like it might be a good day after all. And then I heard the sound that turned my stomach and made me realise exactly why I had skipped breakfast this morning, it was low and harder to hear but it echoed. It sounded like the reason for the existence of the farm had just woken up, the main attractions at least aside from the play area for the children and tired parents that brought them here on weekends like today.

I prepared myself mentally as I always did before I went out with Alex. Her sense of humour was what threw me when we were out working on the tractor run. I frankly wasn’t sure if it was a coping mechanism that she had developed or if she found her jokes funny. Either way, it wasn’t something that I’d like to deal with when giving out tours. When you have to give the same spiel a thousand times to another bunch of paying customers and answer a routine question with a smile you didn’t want a voice talking in your earpiece giving you another morbid joke about harvesting crops.

She was now completely covered head to foot in her equipment. Although everything was behind secure fences she still chose to do so according to the current guidelines as a safety precaution. I would suppose that I was luckier in some ways than her as she had to enter and exit a moving vehicle and my role was to sit inside an air-conditioned trailer covered in metallic bars and plastic screening while exiting for several minutes.

If the tractor broke down in the mud or we had an emergency then she would be the first responder who had the necessary medical, combat, and psychological training to deal with it. I reckoned that when Alex wore her full kit and waved at the kids, she did love the cheers that they gave her.

In my opinion, any job that wasn’t directly handling cattle was brilliant even if you did need to have good interpersonal skills, deal with the occasional screaming kid, and do your job for the entire day with a smile on your face and a cheerful attitude. Even if the money was better, you still faced a bigger risk if things got out of control, judging from some of the jokes that Alex told me she must have known a few of the handlers personally. The equipment that Alex was currently wearing was a joke compared to some of the stuff that I’d seen worn during the days when the Farm was shut down for processing and food shipments.

‘Sue…Sue!’

I heard my name before realised that I must have spaced out for a minute or so. That lack of breakfast kicking in had drained my stomach. I’d need to grab a vegan snack bar or two to keep my energy levels going after all. Anything that wasn’t meat-related would be fine.

My body had unconsciously dressed itself while I had been in a state of deep thinking. Turning towards Alex who was now fully kitted out and looked like she was ready to take on the world I smiled at her. She hadn’t put on her helmet yet as we had yet to finally begin our shift. It also helped humanise her a little bit more with the visitors and their kids, the best way to start any tractor-trailer ride was by giving a friendly and welcoming first impression. Once, she started up the vehicle that helmet would not be coming off in any circumstances until we arrived back at the starting point, and she’d grab herself a quick protein shake.

‘Yeah. Sorry, Alex. I kinda skipped breakfast this morning and decided to stick with coffee.’

She turned to look at me with a disgusted look on her.

‘Sue, breakfast is super important for your health. I know you think I’m a meat freak and I am.’

I almost choked at that expression. I did not want to hear that word right before we were starting. Anything but that.

‘But I also eat a load of vegetables along with some carbs as well. A healthy body is a happy one. You know if you’re not eating, I’m going to have to report it. Seriously….Tell you what, I’ve got a few protein bars I keep around for extra energy. You eat a few and I’ll keep quiet, sound good? It’ll help you to keep that disgusting brown gunk you love to drink in the morning.’

‘You mean coffee?’

‘It’s bad for your health and the stuff from that ancient machine is thick enough to be gravy.’

I let out a light laugh at that and reached out my hand.

‘Ok Alex, you win. I’ll eat a few protein bars if you pass them to me. I’ll make it even better and eat them in front of you.’

She looked sternly at me after hearing that and tried to raise a single eyebrow without much success. Reaching into her locker with her sterilised gloves she pulled out several protein bars that showed a strong looking cloud mascot on them. I’d never seen a cloud with so many muscles before.

‘Right. You have to take care of your health. Seriously, girl, you look really good and all in your super colourful t-shirt. It matches the colour of your eyes. But I’m telling you that no one likes someone who’s getting skinny. Time for nom nom time.’

I raised a hand at that.

‘Please Alex. Just let me eat the protein bars before we head out. I need a little time to get in the right mood for new visitors alright?’

Alex nodded at me in agreement. What she didn’t realise was that I was trying to delay her bad sense of humour even for a little bit.

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‘Well, don’t drool on your food. Eat! Save the saliva for the children!’

 I was too late. She’d already started on the terrible, terrible jokes that made absolutely no sense to me. Quickly unwrapping the protein bars I chewed them and swallowed them, my stomach instantly making small gurgling sounds as it appreciated the nature of actual food and not thick liquid stale coffee. Once I’d finished them off, I grabbed a spare bottle of water Alex had passed me again from her locked and washed them down. Throwing the wrappers into the changing room bin I stretched both my arms into the air.

‘Ready to start afresh, new daaaay!’

I turned my posture into a friendly tour-guide style friendly appearance. Professionalism at its finest. Alex grinned as she held her white helmet under one arm, fully dressed and equipped as I was in my bright overalls and colourful t-shirt.

‘Yup, I’m always ready to work hard and build up a good appetite for dinner. Remember the BBQ, vegetables, and beers though. The secret of a good worker is always having something to look forward to.’

I recalled then that I had wanted to ask Alex something this morning when I had first arrived but before I headed to the staff room to grab my cheap coffee from the company machine. The exact thing slipped past me though, it had to do with health and safety procedures. Never mind, it’d come back to me later. As for now, it was time for us to go and start work.

We walked out to the waiting room and past the staff security barriers that separated us from the Farm. I waved at a few colleagues on the way with a bright smile on my face getting myself in the right frame of mind for when finally opened up the main entrance and groups of visitors and their families came steaming in.

Some of the moaning and groaning noises had started as though the walkers and gawkers as Alex had described them were aware that a whole load more people would be turning up soon.

We walked straight down the yellow lines in between the electrified fencing.  

I saw one guy Mike who was in charge of handling the cattle, it was hard to tell from his appearance as he was fully equipped in his armour and sealed from head to toe. He had an electrical baton at his side and a fabricating plastic restraint device clipped to his hip. It was his nametag and body language that tipped me off. The guy always tried to strike a cool looking pose, at least in his mind, every time I saw him. Unless someone else had borrowed his white, shiny fully body armour for the day then the nametag read correctly. I gave him a wave and smile in reply as Alex and I walked by towards the tractor and trailer site. She gave me a strong nudge that almost hurt given her lightweight body armour.

‘Hey, ease up on the pressure. Those elbow pads feel heavy you know.’ I told her directly with a happy smile.

Now that we were out and heading towards our work site where the tractor and airconditioned trailer were kept, I had to keep my professional face on regardless of the situation. The sound of the cattle from behind the secure fences moaning accompanied me.

‘He likes you, Sue.’

 I frowned at Alex.

‘Excuse me? You mean Mike?’

‘Yeah, didn’t you see those awful attempts he makes at looking strong? Guess it’s his way of showing his affections.’

‘Well, if he liked me then he’d come directly to me and talk.’

‘You do intimidate him a little.’

I stopped then for a moment, my relaxed smile still staying on my face. I pointed at my body and then at Alex with her light armour and metal boots. Stretching out my t-shirt a little bit I looked down at the colourful patterns and then back up at her.

‘Please. I’m not even dressed to intimidate.’

‘It’s all about the attitude.’ Alex replied before we had both finally arrived at the tractor. I grabbed a checklist from the trailer and walked around making sure that I kept to all of the health and safety rules. Although the dangerous areas of the Farm are clearly marked and either require security access or are ringed with electrical fencing it was still necessary to be cautious.

I heard the morning alarm ring then, the one that means that the gates have opened, and the Farm is ready for business. Looking toward Alex I finally remembered what I had wanted to ask her about before I had my morning coffee. The bloke who worked in this job before me. I think his name was Steve or Dan, but I did recall that no one talked about him aside from warnings about following specific health and safety rules. Summoning up my courage and prepared to listen to a full working day of bad jokes I walked up to Alex as she was running through her check of the tractor.

‘Hey, Alex. I have a question.’

‘We’re starting soon Sue. Better get on with it then. What’s your question?’

‘There was a person who worked in my job before me. I’ve seen a photo of him in the staff room wearing the same t-shirt style I’m wearing. The thing is that I’ve asked around and no one is willing to talk about him, even management avoids the topic.’

‘Oh. Well, that’s an easy one. His name was Jacob and he’s right over there.’

Alex gestured with one hand vaguely towards the electric fence while her other hand ran over the tyres to make sure they had been fully cleaned. I looked at the fence and saw the cattle drooling and moaning in a large crowd.

‘Yeah, very funny Alex. Where exactly?’

She turned around and put her helmet to rest on a tractor wheel turned and pointed at a particular cattle. This one looked fresher than the others.

‘Sue. He’s right there. Once you get infected it’s too late. A scratch or a bite is enough.’

I felt a slight chill going down my spine seeing the fresher looking cattle moan and drool along with the rest of the crowd. His tattered looking clothes still held a hint of colour, but he wasn’t wearing any footwear.

‘What happened to him, Alex?’

‘He saw an old friend of his and reached out to wave goodbye during his last day here. She grabbed him and…’

Then she grabbed her helmet as we could both hear the sound of children and adults happily chatting. I put a smile on my face, put the checklist back in the tractor and assumed my cute tour guide posture.

Holding my hands wide I smiled with my teeth and began my day with the usual greeting that we always gave visitors.

‘Hi there and welcome to the Farm. We raise zombies.’

The End

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