Left 4 Dead Fan Fiction
A Prelude to Left 4 Dead
by Element118
"I understand, sir, but..."
"No, you obviously don't! Get me your manager!" the man growled. The Everyday Electronics employee sighed and began scanning the store for a manager. After a few moments, his eyes landed upon the only manager working that day.
"Alright, sir. I'll be right back with a manager, just wait right here," he instructed. The man grumbled but didn't argue. With another sigh, the employee began towards the television aisle.
"You're doing fine, Dave," Louis assured his newest employee who was practicing price tagging the televisions. Having just been hired the day before, Dave needed to be trained. And, of course, Louis was the one who had the responsibility to do so. He was the manager on duty that day after all.
"Thanks sir," Dave said, and he continued scanning and pricing.
"Louis!" came a call from behind them. Louis turned to see another of his employees striding towards him, obviously agitated.
Here we go...
"Uh, we got a customer who wants to talk to you," the employee, whose name was Jake, said. Louis chuckled, looking past Jake to a middle-aged man standing towards the front of the store. They had been open for only an hour, and already there was a complaint. He had hoped today would be somewhat relaxed, but he knew that was never the case.
"Alright, thanks Jake," the manager said, adjusting his tie and rolling his sleeves back down. "You mind staying with Dave here? Just show him the ropes for pricing and all that crap." Jake nodded, and Louis walked off towards the waiting customer.
"Are you the manager?" the man asked before Louis could say a word. He was a heavyset man with a balding head and squinting eyes. He wore a suit and held a obviously broken DVD player in his hands.
"Yes, I am sir," Louis replied kindly, coming to stand before the man. "What can I help you with?" The man nearly shoved the broken DVD player into Louis's hands. Louis studied it, but it didn't take long to see what had caused it to break: someone had dropped it. It was obvious, yet the man stared at Louis as if it was his fault.
"I see, and you purchased this from here?" Louis asked. The man snorted, and produced a receipt from his pocket. Louis placed the broken DVD player onto the counter next to him and studied the receipt. "Says here you bought this yesterday."
"That's right."
"So what happened?" Louis asked, but already knowing the answer. It was a common event: a customer buys an item and takes it home only to drop it while taking it out of the box or setting it up somewhere it would obviously fall from. It was surprising how clumsy people were.
"What's it look like?" the man blurted. "It just fell apart as soon as I took it out of the box!"
"I apologize for that sir," Louis said, trying to diffuse the man's misplaced anger. He noticed that the man was sweating and pale, and that there was small foam collections at the corners of his mouth. "Let me take care of this for you. What's your name?"
"Bill Coleman," the man said. "And you're damn right you'll take care of it for me. I expect a full replacement." Louis just nodded and picked up the broken DVD player, taking it and the receipt into the back with him. He didn't even bother to ask the man if he had bought a warranty on the thing, not wanting the problem to escalate or last any longer than it had to. There was no way to prove that the thing had not come out of the box broken, even though Louis knew the guys in shipping and knew they were very careful with the transfer of the electronics. Not to mention the astounding amount of styrofoam the producers pack into their boxes. So, Louis would just give the man another one and open it in front of him to make sure that this one was not broken. Problem solved.
Sighing, the manager placed the box on a counter near the coffee machine, and started to make himself a cup. He knew it was going to be a long day. He could just feel it.
