Telfords - Episode 02!

Karl was not about to back down. The soup stack in front of him created the perfect defence, not like the cereal stack he'd taken cover behind during the earlier shoot-out. That had come down right on top of him – a key Frosties box had been shot out from the base by well-placed foam torpedoes. He'd been hit in the leg by a smaller bullet as he ran to the next aisle, but that was only one point. He was still ahead, on account of that butt-shot he'd landed on Theresa. “Hehe,” he sniggered.

There was movement among the freezers. Karl wasn't sure where he saw it, something had bobbed in his peripheral vision. He shifted his grip, tweaked his aim, and covered the entrance to aisle 12. A quick look over his shoulder. Kerry was still covering the rear of their aisle; they wouldn't be able to flank him, but they couldn't wait all morning. Management knew they didn't get much done, but they had to have something to show for a morning's work, and this stalemate wasn't getting them anywhere. Before nine in the morning, none of the seniors gave a damn, and after nine, only about half, so half of the staff worked. Karl, Kerry, Theresa, Dave and Imran decided which half on a day to day basis - with Nerf guns.

Karl saw movement again, right in his line of sight this time - above him! Someone was crawling almost flat across the top of the freezer, their angled Nerf gun waving slightly in the air. He'd have a perfect sniping point to take Kerry from behind and pin Karl down. Karl would have to leave cover to catch him by surprise, but Kerry had his back to him, so he couldn't warn her without giving them both away.

He checked his watch; it was getting on already. The doors were open, and customers were moving into the aisles. The hunched shoulders of the prone figure cast a shadow over the floor of aisle 12. He was almost above the frozen promotions, ready to take a shot. It was Imran, had to be. No one else would crawl through the dust and grime, the forgotten debris, and scattered bird droppings, dragging themselves on a paper thin sledge made from their own apron. Imran was dedicated to everything but work. He would strive harder than any of them to take home his pay cheque for minimum effort. The Nerf gun mornings were his idea. Fortunately for Karl that didn't mean that he was also a particularly good shot. Creative though, and that turned the tide regularly.

Karl worked on home and leisure, but he was in a grocery aisle – this was Imran's territory. Maybe he was better backing off and entrenching himself elsewhere, but there wasn't time for that. And who knew where Dave and Theresa were? Waiting in ambush, probably, covering the middle aisle that separated them.

Imran had stopped. He was ready. Karl cocked his rifle and poked the muzzle just over the top soup can. He'd have one chance to headshot Imran as the grocery assistant took aim. One chance to end it.

A shadow to his left! Karl cringed as he felt his finger tighten on the trigger, and the recoil as the foam bullet left the shaft. It skipped off the side of the freezer, his accuracy destroyed by the shock.

Behind him, Kerry spun, and fired off two rapid shots, both striking the shadow. A girl – Theresa – screamed in frustration and threw herself back into the adjacent aisle. Karl turned his attention back to the sniping Imran, but it was far too late. Cocky as ever, Imran had taken the time to stand, and fired one clean shot straight at Karl's nose.

As Karl fell backwards, his grip on his rifle abandoned, he heard the echo of Kerry's shout reverberate down the aisle. “Nooooo!” None of the soup toppled with him, thank god, even though he'd scrambled at it to stay up right. Now he lay there in the middle of the entrance to the aisle, a defeatist smile on his face, which was very rapidly wiped clean.

His view of Imran was blocked by a tall, imposing athlete of a man. Neat hair, neat suit, neat, cheap tie. Oh God, they'd all forgotten. D-Day. New management.

The man seized Karl by the shoulders and ripped him off the floor. Kerry had vanished, and Theresa was nowhere to be seen. All that left was Dave, who came out of aisle 11 moments later, escorted by Marty, carrying his confiscated Nerf rifle. Imran already felt the burning glare of the new manager on him, and was now thoroughly regretting his decision to stand atop the freezer.

The new suit seethed at him: “Get down, before I fire you and throw you under a car!”

It looked like a whole new world was about to open up for Karl and the rest of the Telfords store as they were marched towards the manager's office. The next few minutes would decide a lot of things for them; everything would change. Karl knew only one thing: he would fight it.

Next time on Telfords:

Karl and Jason meet... THE BOSS