by Jack Hunt
He looked at the man.
Again he tried.
Nothing. He slapped the handlebars.
“Start, you sonofabitch!”
All the while the man observed with curiosity. When the bike wouldn’t start, the two of them climbed off with Josh intending to roll it out. He didn’t get far.
“So that’s it? You’re just going to come all this way, break in, and leave?” the man said.
“I didn’t break-in. The door was open,” Josh said over his shoulder.
“But you entered. Are you in the habit of doing that?”
“No.”
“Yeah, he is, he broke into a house earlier to get gas.”
“Lily.”
“Well, it’s true.”
That got a smile out of the man.
“So you’re out of gas?”
“No, there’s gas. But Josh says sometimes the figmajig gets clogged.”
“Figmajig?”
“She means the fuel injector,” Josh added, scowling.
“I can take a look at it.”
“So can I,” Josh said, continuing to push the bike forward.
“Listen, I was about to cook up some chicken and rice for supper.” That got their attention. “Are you hungry?”
“Nope.”
“I am,” Lily said.
“It would be a shame to eat alone.”
“Thanks but we’re leaving.”
“That’s too bad,” he replied.
Josh told Lily to hurry up. She sidled up beside him as he rolled the bike up to the gate. “I’m hungry. Can’t we just stay for something to eat?”
Without looking at her he replied, “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because…”
“Because what?”
“Because…” He stopped rolling the bike and looked at her then at the man who still hadn’t moved and was watching them. Josh looked out toward the road.
“It’ll be dark soon. You don’t want to be out there after dark. It’s not safe,” the man said.
“We’ll be fine,” Josh replied.
He rolled the bike on but Lily had stopped walking. “Bean, let’s go!”
“I want to stay.”
“We can’t.”
“But mom sent us here.”
“Your mom sent you here?” the man asked, taking a step forward. Josh squeezed his eyes tight. Oh no, that’s all he needed. Now he’d want an explanation. The man looked back at the house then at them. “Look, why don’t you stay for supper? If you want to leave after, you can. How’s that sound?”
Lily’s eyes widened. “Josh? Please.”
He exhaled hard. Josh grit his teeth. He nodded and Lily let out a squeal. “But only until after supper.”
Lily hurried back over to the man without any thought of whether he was dangerous or not.
“LILY!” Josh bellowed.
“It’s okay,” the man said, raising a hand. “I’m clean.”
She looked back at her brother then at the man.
“I’m Lily by the way.”
“That’s a pretty name. Lily, I’m Ryan. Would you mind taking this inside?” he asked, handing her a small bag of vegetables. She took them in while the man waited for Josh as he veered the dirt bike back around and rolled it in.
Josh scoffed. “Now it all makes sense. RW. So, should I call you Ryan or Andy?”
He’d changed his name.
“How about dad?”
Josh shook his head. “Yeah, right.”
“How’s your mom?”
Josh glanced at him, stopped the bike, put the kickstand down, and walked on into the shack without giving him an answer.
Chapter Four
17 days earlier
June 18
Josh carried a disposable plate of food and set it down outside her door.
He walked away and lingered at the corner of the hallway, waiting for the door to open. It didn’t. She didn’t want him to see her.
Four days. Four days had passed since the strange incident in the town and that’s when things got really weird. His mother hadn’t returned home with them on the evening of his release. Instead, she’d gone with the victim to the hospital and called a friend to pick them up outside the ice cream store. They were dropped home and given instructions not to leave the house until she returned.
A request he’d ignored after being locked up for the past 90 days.
“But mom told us not to leave,” Lily said as he prepared to head out for the evening and go to an open-air party. There was to be a huge bonfire. Everyone he knew would be there. Alcohol. Weed. Good company. Time to catch up. It was just what he needed after what he’d been through.
“That was for you. Not me.”
“Josh, you can’t go out.”
“Lily, you’re always talking about not wanting to be treated like a little kid, here’s your chance. You get full run of the house. Eat ice cream, watch whatever shows you like, blare the music loud. Keep the doors locked. I’ll be home by midnight.”
“But I’m ten.”
“And in a year you’ll be eleven. That’s how getting old works.”
Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, he dabbed cologne on. “Besides, I’m meant to see someone tonight.”
“Callie Wright?” She asked, a grin forming.
He shot her a surprised look. “How do you know her name?”
Lily leaned against the doorway all proud of herself. “She came by while you were inside.”
His brow furrowed. “What did you tell her?”
“Oh, nothing.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Lily.”
“Only that you kiss her photo every night and…”
She burst out laughing as he dug his hands into her sides and tickled her. “All right, all right, I’m lying.”
He grinned as he returned to checking his jean shirt.
“So is it her?”
“Yeah,” Josh replied.
“I could go with you.”
“Oh no,” he said, brushing past her and ruffling her blonde hair. “You’re staying here.”
“I’ll stay out of the way.”
He turned and crouched down in front of her. “I can’t be taking you to a party. I’d never live that down. Babysitting my kid sister? C’mon, Bean, do you know how that would look? It would be social suicide. I know you don’t understand but when you are old enough, you will.”
“I’m already old enough. I’ll be eleven soon. You said it yourself.”
He laughed, slipping his feet into boots.
She refused to give up. “I’ll tell mom.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me.”
He narrowed his eyes, growled, and relented. He stabbed a finger at her. “You’re too smart for your own good. All right. But you stay nearby. I don’t want you drinking, smoking, or saying anything that would…”
“Embarrass you?” She gave a wry smile.
“Yes. Not that. And… you don’t say anything to mom.”
She ran two fingers across her lips and mimicked throwing away a key.
Lily held to that word. Strangely, everyone at the party was too preoccupied or intoxicated to care. And it turned out fine in the end. Callie actually thought it was kind of endearing that he brought her.
Right then, little did he know that would be the last night of normality he would experience.
In the early hours of the morning after the incident, Josh had awoken to a ding on his phone. The screen lit up, illuminating his dark room. He reached over and glanced at several text messages from his mother.
I’m home.
Josh, I’m not feeling well.
Please don’t enter my bedroom.
Leave food and liquids outside and I’ll get it.
Tell Lily not to worry. I’ll speak to you later. I need to sleep. Love you.
It was vague and unlike her, especially since she’d been adamant about spending time together
after his release from the facility. After her second day of not coming out, he thought it was some kind of protest, an odd way of getting back at him for the hell he’d put her through over the past year.
It wasn’t. Not even close.
Over the next few days, his mother forwarded him articles and multiple videos about some aging syndrome that had gripped the USA. He flipped through news channels and listened to a few segments mentioning some mysterious illness that was rapidly spreading.
Someone else might have laughed, thinking his mother was exaggerating because of her profession, but that wasn’t her, she was quite the opposite and he knew that. She was the firm anchor. Not swayed by public opinion or fake news. His mother’s background in the medical field had made her the first person to dismiss conspiracy theories or fear-mongering. She questioned any news reports of small outbreaks, especially ones that listed unusual medical symptoms.
However, this was different.
It was serious enough that borders were immediately closed, airlines were grounded, and train and bus stations in all major cities were shut down. All of which had led to widespread speculating by conspiracy theorists, outrage by others, and panic purchasing. It didn’t take too long to realize the government was trying to contain something that they’d never come across before.
Something was spreading faster than they could contain.
Pinpointing when it started was challenging with so many online media outlets picking up stories and running with them. But if reports online or the news on the radio were to be believed, the first details came in weeks before he got out.
Sitting in front of his phone and reading online reports was like going down a rabbit hole that seemed to have no end. The internet was full of conspiracy theories, people grasping at straws, and others speaking of government control. Josh eventually managed to find one of the earliest news articles that came out of Long Island, New York.
Mysterious Aging Syndrome Baffles US Doctors
Four weeks after first reported, an unusual aging syndrome appears to have shaken Long Island and left doctors confused.
When 63 residents of Long Island were showing a puzzling mixture of symptoms related to aging including cataracts, skin problems, hip pain, wrinkles, weight loss, gray hair, and balding, it had all the makings of what doctors believed was an isolated form of Werner Syndrome, a rare disease that causes the body to age too fast for which there still is no cure. However, unlike Werner, these symptoms appear at an accelerated speed and can be transmitted to others. This has experts alarmed, and many are calling it a virus.
A team of epidemiologists from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) were brought in to work around the clock to find answers after it was reported to be contagious.
Almost immediately, conspiracy theories have begun pointing the finger at biotech anti-aging companies, the World Health Organization, rogue government experiments, a targeted terror attack, and even vaccines. These are just some of the speculations swirling around a mystery that has baffled the US medical field. It’s also what has added fuel to the fire of residents throughout the greater Long Island region as they search to unravel the clues.
So far in the last month, dozens have contracted and died from what now seems to have all the makings of an Ebola-style virus due to its ability to spread by direct contact. As the death toll rises, leading health authorities fear that it could be even more deadly than the Black Death.
Worried residents of Long Island are calling for answers. Could it be airborne? Is it environmental? Was it transferred through water or food? What is causing it? Can it be stopped?
US health officials are scrambling to understand the severity of this outbreak, which only came to light after a video was leaked to the local press by someone experiencing advanced stages of what they are now calling The Aging syndrome. With so many questions going unanswered and the confusion surrounding this unusual and deadly illness, it has left scientific minds stumped and residents fearful.
Among the victims so far, Julia Garner, 44, was a student of the Juilliard School who went on to have a career as a dancer and then as a teacher. She was suddenly overcome by a rash and frequent nosebleeds, followed by the rapid symptoms of aging. Initially, it was suspected to be Werner Syndrome. However, a battery of tests soon ruled out Werner. What differentiates this new illness is the speed, how contagious it is, and a unique phenomenon that not even doctors can decipher.
No longer able to continue regular life, Julia was soon forced to close her dance school. At first, she was misdiagnosed and sent home from the emergency room after being told that it was probably the common cold. Further tests by her doctor resulted in her transfer to a hospital where specialists and an epidemiologist were brought in as her health quickly deteriorated and she began to age years in a matter of days. In less than thirty days she was dead.
Dr. Alice Munroe, an epidemiologist from the CDC in Atlanta, who is investigating the illness, said it’s a true mystery and one that is horrifying to witness. “We are working hard to try and understand the cause but more specifically why the aging process slows in individuals after they transfer it to another person. What we know so far is that this is no longer an isolated incident. Our focus right now is on studying the ways it is transferred, how widespread this may already be, and what we can do to contain it while we search for a permanent cure.”
“Contain it?” They were beyond that point. The article was dated one week ago with details of people with symptoms that went back a month earlier, which meant it had been in full swing for at least five weeks. And what was this talk about it slowing in individuals after transfer? That made no sense. Viruses didn’t work that way. But was this a typical virus?
He flipped through channels on the TV to try and find some up-to-date info.
As he was doing that a notification came on his phone from Callie.
“Have you seen this?”
She sent him a video that was making the rounds across social media. He tapped it and a shaky camera revealed the face of a middle-aged man. Josh turned up the volume. “By the time you see this, I’ll probably be dead or in a government lab. I know I look as if I’m fifty but I’m not. At least I wasn’t 16 days ago.” He lifted an ID and brought it up to the camera.
It was of a college freshman at the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He pointed a gnarled finger to his date of birth. “I was born in 2002. That’s right. That makes me nineteen years old but clearly, I don’t look like that anymore. And for those who would say I am making this up to get attention…” He set the ID down and lifted a university newspaper that had a snapshot of him and was dated sixteen days earlier. He tossed the paper to one side and pulled the skin on his face. “It’s all real. I don’t know how I contracted this or why this is happening. I am filming this to get the truth out. There’s no hope for me, just as there hasn’t been for those who have already died. They’ve brushed this under the rug and tried to contain it but failed.” The guy turned his face away from the camera at the sound of banging. “They’re here. They’re here for me.” His voice rose as he hurried to get out what he knew. “I can’t be sure, but by my estimate, I have to be aging several years a day. I figure if the average life of a human is eighty years, at this rate, I could be dead within thirty, maybe forty days.” He reached forward, and the camera went dark.
Several years a day? Josh thought back to the night he got out. The incident in the downtown. He’d overheard what the cop said about the victim’s ID. If this had reached Massachusetts, it had gone far beyond Long Island, New York. And now it was on his doorstep. What other states were affected?
Another text appeared from Callie.
They are talking about preventing travel outside of major cities.
He quickly typed back a message. Any other states?
He waited. Within seconds she came back with a link to an unapproved and unregulated website tracker that had been put up by someone in the medical community to keep tra
ck of reported cases in real-time. A map of the United States appeared, and all over it were blinking red dots indicating clusters of outbreaks. “Holy crap.”
Panic gripped him. He got up and hurried down the hallway, and began banging on the door of his mother’s room. “Mom!”
Chapter Five
July 5
They devoured food like ravenous beasts.
All the while, Ryan studied them from across the table. It had been ten years since he’d last seen Josh. He was only six when the life he knew was upended in the worst way possible. He could hardly believe his eyes.
“Take a picture, it might last longer,” Josh said, noticing him staring.
“Just noticing how much you’ve grown.”
“Yeah, amazing what happens when you’re not around.”
Awkwardness followed.
“About that.”
“Don’t waste your breath.”
That stung. He couldn’t fault the kid. He was caught up in the middle of the separation, an innocent bystander who didn’t get a say in how it went down, the drawn-out divorce, the public humiliation, and the court ruling. Lily’s eyes darted between them, a smile tugging at her lips. Ryan could see Elizabeth in her. Those mousy brown eyes and tiny curved nose.
Shifting the topic, Lily asked, “So what do you do?”
“Do?”
“For a job?”
He smiled. It sounded like a grown-up question, one she’d overheard adults ask and was now mimicking. “I guess you could say I’m a handyman. I do a little of everything.”
Josh snorted but didn’t say anything.
“How old are you, Lily?”
“Ten but I’ll be eleven next year. Then I’ll be old enough to do more things.”
He chuckled. “Is that right?”
“Yeah. That’s what Josh says. Though I did get to go to this party a few weeks back. Josh took me there. Mom didn’t know because…”
“Lily.” Josh scowled at her.
She dipped her chin. “I wasn’t supposed to say anything.”
