Rust and Spikes

“I don’t know what makes you think we can fix this place up,” I told Robert.
The warehouse was a strange mix of broken and rusted metal implements. It used to manufacture old war munitions, but that time has long since passed. The time between then and now however showed itself clearly in the decrepit environment. Of course we still wanted the warehouse. It would also be a great marketing direction.

The warehouse would be scrubbed clean, rebuilt if it was needed. We would advertise it as washing away the bad remnants of war and suffering. It would work, even if I had to pay a fortune for it to do so. I was making enough money off this financial adventure to do as I pleased, but looking at the warehouse I realized I would lose a lot of that income.
“Robert, I take it back,” I told him as we walked. “There is plenty of space here, more than we would get from those other warehouses that we have seen. It is perfect for setting up the construction as well as a small division of workers.”
It took a few metres before I realized Robert was no longer with me. When I turned around I saw that he wasn’t behind me, but making his own way through the warehouse towards the exit
“Robert!” I shouted. “Get over here, we’re not finished!”
Robert didn’t listen to me in the slightest. I couldn’t even see hesitation. Still, I wasn’t about to be left alone in this place so I decided to join him and began walking after him. However, he had just left the warehouse when I was only halfway there. He turned to face me with a blank and fearful expression. In a second he closed the door and I heard a metal clunk as he barred it.
I paused and stared at the door in disbelief. I jogged forward and tried the door, knocking, calling, shouting and kicking. The door would not budge and despite the rust it wouldn’t break either. I went from feeling anger to fear as I turned towards the warehouse and began roaming amongst the machinery to search for another exit. I would have used my phone if Robert didn’t answer all my calls. There was nothing, but suddenly a glint appeared out of the corner of my eye. I turned to see a light had turned on near one side of the warehouse. With a small amount of hope in my heart I walked over towards it to see it was a construction light pointing out a small set of stairs leading downwards into some sort of basement.
Most likely it was an area used for storage, so there had to be some safety exits; at least one maybe. I descended the stairs fully aware that my forma shoes were making loud metallic noises against the steps. Of course, what really terrified me was the second last step. The metal broke and my foot shot through the step into something sharp, not to mention the broken edges of the step which bit and scraped their way up my leg. I yelled out in pain, severe agony running through my body.
There was nobody that would come and help me at this point. I pulled my foot off the metal spike below the step, thankful that it didn’t go any deeper. Once I had done that I bound my foot in a tie ridiculously. I cursed Robert for this. I would have him not only fired by as a person destroyed in the working world. His punishment will come later, now is not the time.
I limped onwards through another door to the floor below the ground floor. It was dark, but I noticed there were slits below the factory floor that provided enough light as well as the floor below my feet now. As drops of my blood stained the rusted grating I wondered to myself if this place really manufactured weapons like Robert said. The amount of grate and saws led me to believe that I was standing in a butchers back kitchen.
My journey continued until I looked to left. There were a set of stairs ascending and I believe towards the surface. Carefully as I moved I soon reached the foot of the stairs. It was as far as I got before something loomed over my right side. I felt a deep cutting around my left shoulder and realized I had been struck with a saw blade by a large man clouded by shadows. The teeth dug into my flesh and once they reached a no-go point my assailant wrenched the saw back, digging into me and sending me into a realm of pain I never thought existed. I felt sharp pains in left arm that I would have thought were caused by a heart attack if it wasn’t for the deep gash the monster created.
He raised his arm for another swipe and as it fell I lunged towards him, pushing a shoulder into his stomach. The beast was heavily built, but I am not a light weight. I felt the saw blade connected with my back leg as I toppled him to the ground. It wasn’t the most painful fall for me, but definitely more so for him. I quickly got to my feet and stumbled backwards from my wounds. The man lay groaning in agony as a dark iron spike of some machinery protruded from his chest. It was a large spike, not particularly sharp either, but the maniac had enough weight to help the spike drive itself through his body. He lay there, attempting to pull himself off, but the pain was too much.
It was time for me to leave, so within moments I made it back to the trap door and removed the bar. It opened easily for me, most likely due to the adrenalin. My car was gone, of course, no doubt stolen by Robert, wherever he was now. I limped away from the warehouse, always looking back in fear. I don’t know why I did, that was a fatal wound if I had ever seen one.
I found people and safety. An ambulance collected me; a middle-age man held together by makeshift bandages that the people gave me. It was a terrifying journey on the way to the hospital and I soon passed out. When next I woke I was in a hospital bed surrounded by board members, hungrily talking about who would lead the company if I passed. Not a friend or family member in sight. My life changed after that. I ran the company to the ground to stick it to those leeches that wanted to stab me in the back and as for the one who actually did, they didn’t find a body, just a bloody spike.