His eyes were burning from how long he had been staring at the screen. His head felt hazy, he should have taken a break hours ago.
But he didn't want to take a break, what he wanted to do was finish this crap and go home. Just the thought of his soft bed made his eyes watery, though that was probably due to how irritated they were.
He closed his eyes and and leaned his head to the edge of the office chair. He remembered weeks ago when he told himself that he would no longer take projects like this. That he would tell his boss that there were limits to his body and that he had to respect that.
But then his boss had called in an all hands on deck meeting, these types of meeting had been occurring more frequently. Management were always able to make them feel that the company was in crisis, and that if they didn't come together and complete whatever project it was then they could all lose their jobs. Of course they would always butter up, by saying they understood that they were putting in a lot of work and how appreciated they were, and once this project was completed it would be smooth sailing.
It was all a bunch of shit.
He stood up to stretch and look around the office, he could see some of his coworkers were seated and sleeping on their desks. A couple had headphones on probably blasting music to stay awake. Others were laid out in sleeping bags in various areas of the office. He remembered how their boss had introduced the idea and had tried to spin it as a cool and fun thing, 'Sleepover in the Office!' Told them that all the cool tech startups did stuff like this.
That was also a bunch of shit.
That should have been the biggest red flag, but they had believed it. And at first it had been fun, they would order pizza and have music playing while they worked—but after a while the novelty worn off and it felt more like a sleepover that refused to end.
He should have quit, he should have quit months ago.
When he had started this job, he knew he was incredibly lucky to have been hired. He hadn't gone to a prestigious school, it was a local state school that was maybe one step up above a community college. The computer engineering courses there were so sparse, that he ended up teaching himself most of what he knew now.
Remembering how much he struggled to find a job in his industry, he feared what would happen once he left his current position. And the company had been good to him, promoting him quickly after entering. In three years he had become an assistant project manager, and he had health insurance and benefits! Giving it up now would not be easy, and he felt a sense of responsibility for his younger team members.
He sighed to himself, something had to change, but he was too scared to put anything into action.
He walked back to his desk and took out the sleeping bag he kept in his file cabinet. He moved his chair to the side and extended the sleeping bag under his desk. He took off his shoes, laid down, and set a phone alarm for an hour. He ignored the ringing in his ears and immediately passed out.