The Cage Read Online Free

placed his hands on the wall. Behind them, the cage door slammed shut. Jeff heard the hinged hasp fall into place, followed by the sound of the lock snapping shut. The keys jingled as their captor pocketed them.
    “Okay, well done. See how easy that was? You can all relax now.”
    Slowly, Jeff turned around and faced the man. So did most of the others, except for Jared, who remained facing the wall and sniffling quietly.
    “Now then.” The man lowered the shotgun, pointing the barrel at the floor. “I’ve got things to do. Time is short.”
    Without another word, he turned around and strolled back out into the store, shutting the warehouse door behind him. Jeff, Jared, Clint, Roy, Scott, and Carlos all stared at the door and then gaped at each other in silence.
    Then they all began talking at once.
    “Jesus fucking Christ, what the…”
    “I think I pissed myself…”
    “This isn’t happening…”
    “Is he gone? Is he…”
    “Shot Big Bill. Shot Big Bill and Alan…”
    “Oh God, oh God, oh God…”
    “Quiet.” Jeff held up his hands. “Listen. Is he still out there?”
    They fell silent and listened. Beyond the closed door, the intruder was whistling. The tune was familiar to Jeff, but he couldn’t quite place it. Then they heard him begin to turn all of the televisions and surround sound systems back on. Alan and Carlos had turned them all off, as they did every night ten minutes before closing.
    “What’s he doing?” Scott whispered.
    “Robbing the place,” Clint said. “Duh.”
    Jared shuddered. “Let’s just hope he hurries up and leaves after he gets what he came for.”
    “I don’t think it’s a robbery,” Jeff said.
    “Well,” Carlos asked, “then what the hell do you think he’s doing?”
    “I don’t know. But I don’t think it’s a robbery. Why would he waste time turning all of that shit back on, first of all? And if it was a robbery, then why didn’t he take our wallets and stuff when he made us empty our pockets? Why didn’t he empty out the cage? This is where the top-dollar stuff is, and it would be a lot easier to steal iPods and cell phones than to walk out of here with a big screen TV or a refrigerator.”
    “What about the cash drawer,” Roy suggested. “Maybe he just wants that?”
    “Maybe.” Jeff nodded. “But then why not just ask for it at the beginning? Why herd us all back here and go through all of that? If he just wanted the cash, why waste all that time? And besides…”
    His voice trailed off as he listened to the sounds from out in the store grow louder. It sounded as if the intruder had turned up every television and stereo full blast.
    Carlos nudged him. “Besides what, Jeff?”
    “He…he said he only needed six.”
    “Yeah.” Roy shook his finger at the others. “I caught that too. Weird shit. What the hell did he mean by it?”
    “I thought it meant that he needed six of us alive,” Jeff said.
    “I heard him, too,” Jared whispered, “but I thought he was talking about money. I thought maybe he needed six hundred dollars or something.”
    Despite the tension inside the cage, Jeff grinned at that. He noticed that Roy was grinning, too.
    “On a Thursday night? In this frigging economy? With everybody either wanting to put things on layaway, or just having us explain all the technical aspects to them so that they can turn around and buy it at Wal-Mart for half price? Fat chance. We won’t have that much cash on hand until the weekend.”
    “But a robber wouldn’t know that,” Jared insisted. “And Bumble offered him money, right…right before he got shot.”
    They all fell silent for a moment. Then Scott shook his head.
    “If it’s a robbery,” he said, “then why is the sick fuck turning the volume up on all the televisions and stuff?”
    Jeff thought about pointing out that he’d already mentioned this, but didn’t. Scott was scared. They all were scared. Last thing any of them needed to do right now was start breaking