Some time in the not so distant future

beginning for a horror movie

The morning meeting is breaking up, people are finishing writing their notes and gathering their belongings to head back to their desks. Two cell phones buzz simultaneously. One of the phone owners nonchalantly checks the message and his eyes widen. 'Live in five', he says as calmly as possible to everyone and no one in particular. Three people freeze in their place unsure how to handle the news. They linger in the meeting room until they are the only ones left.

Sarah broke the silence asking 'John, can we use your office? We all have cubicles.'

'Sure, come on...' John said as he picked up his belongings off of the meeting room desk.

The rest followed John up the stairs to his office on the next floor. They all tried to hide their excitement attempting to talk in hushed tones en route. Once in his office they were all giddy.

'John, you log in and Bob and I will split it with you.' Seth remarked

'I'll chip in too.' said Sarah

'Ok. Don't worry about it. If it goes longer than 15 min then we can split it.' said John as he logs into his computer.

They waited with bated breath as John logged into the internet web site. 'Ok, we're in'

'Anyone want to bet $5, male or female.' said Bob as he reached for his wallet.

' $5 female and I will parlay that bet with a rating of over a 7...'

Seth was cut off as the video started. 'No bet, it's a guy.'

'Alright, shush. I don't want to get caught. Let's not ruin a good thing.'

They all watched intently as the grainy webcam video started. A man in his early 20s is sitting on the corner of his bed. He is talking to the camera but the audio keeps cutting out and it is extremely difficult to hear what he is saying. The man leaves the frame for a moment and comes back with a large canvass for paintings. He sets it up on the bed facing the camera like a backdrop. He sits back down again and the canvass falls over on him. He leaves the frame again and comes back with tape. He rigs the canvass onto the bed so it doesn't fall down when he sits back down. He tests the rigging by bouncing up and down a little on the side of the bed. Again he starts speaking but it's impossible to hear what he is sayng. The man walks up to the desk where the cam is set-up, picks up a shotgun and sits back down on the side of the bed.

Someone opens the office door startling everyone in the room. He starts talking but then realizes what everyone is up to. 'Hey, I thought that was blocked at work.' He exclaimed.

'If you want to watch just come in and close the door. But shush.' said John.

'Sup' Frank, its just getting good now.'

'Shush'

The man in the video quits talking and starts taking some deep breaths trying to psych himself up. As the tension mounts the viewers motion to each other that he isn't going to do it. A minute passes, another minute. All of a sudden the man puts the shotgun in his mouth and blasts his brains out onto the canvass behind him then slides off the bed. The ringing of the shotgun reverberates through the previously silent room. The only thing left standing is the canvass with blood splatter, brain chunks and bits of skull. The video stops and a message appears 'Please Vote Now'.

'Well, it was kinda creative.'

'Better than last weeks.'

'I give it a 6 but there are 3-4-5 of us in here sharing the log-on I give it an 8 to make it fair.'

'Yeah, an 8 is fair considering.'

'I thought it sucked.'

'But there are 5 of us watching it on a log-on. Come on.'

'8?'

'OK, an 8' as John selects the rating at the bottom of the screen. 'Wow, 3 million viewers and it went on for.... 12 minutes. That's going to be a pretty nice check for the beneficiary.'

Another person opens the door and walks into the office carrying work. 'Aww, did I miss it? I left my phone in my jacket pocket. Damn. Was it good?'

'Eh, it was alright. Nothing special.'

'John, let me at least give you a $5 for it. It's a dollar a minute. That's at least a drink with lunch.'

'I'm not going to argue. Everyone get out of here and do some work already. I got stuff to do.'