Read Online The End Came With a Kiss by John Michael Hileman - Free Book Online
Authors: John Michael Hileman
they want to kiss him. I feel the adrenaline hit me like a shock wave, as if I am experiencing this for the first time. The kiss! That’s how it’s spreading! How did we miss it? It couldn’t be more obvious. I have to warn someone. I have to warn Kate!
I tap my watch. "Call Kate." The phone in my pocket makes the call. Why am I doing this to myself? I know what she is going to say. Do I really want to put myself through this again?
"Hi, Ben," says Kate on the other side of the line.
"Honey. I need to know something." My voice sounds shaky.
"Are you okay?"
"This is going to sound strange, but I need a straight answer."
"Sure. What is it?"
"Has anyone kissed you? Even a quick peck on the lips."
There is silence.
"I’m not going to be mad. I just need to know."
"It was nothing," she says casually.
I feel my chest constrict.
"It was innocent. Some college kid, probably playing a prank."
"When did it happen?"
"Yesterday."
"Have you kissed Ella since that happened?"
"I don’t know, probably. Why? What’s going on?"
"You’re not going to understand this, but don’t kiss her. In fact, try to stay away from her until we can talk."
"Okay. That’s weird."
"Please, Kate. It’s a matter of life and death. I’ll explain when I get home."
"Life and death? All right. You’re officially scaring me."
"It’s probably nothing. It might even be wonderful. But I have a bad feeling about all this."
"About what?"
"Whether good or bad, Kate, the entire world is about to change, forever."
8
As I press my thumb on the cancel button, glowing red on my smartphone, I find myself locked in a numb stare. What am I doing? I intended to go back to the first recognizable sign of the spreading mutagen and work my way backwards. How is it I’m here, three weeks into the gestation? This dream world seems to be feeding off of whatever I’m thinking about. First it was my wife’s tear-stained face, now it’s the bizarre kissing fad that swept over the entire world with hardly a batted eyelash. How could they not notice? No, they did notice, eventually. They just didn’t care because they liked the lasciviousness of it, especially the least attractive. I can’t imagine how intoxicating it must have been for them. The farther the mutagen spread, the more beautiful people were becoming, and the harder it was to resist the kiss.
Another memory shimmers in around me, but I resist. I can’t follow my whims any longer, I have to stay focused. But as it solidifies, I find myself unable to resist. It is three days later, and the secret is spreading through the company like wildfire. But their reactions do not match the fear and dread I feel. Most seem excited, and why shouldn’t they? They’re getting thinner, stronger, younger. People who were suffering from chronic pain are coming in dancing. They don’t see that their productivity is down 40% or that their speech is sluggish.
I am in the boardroom with the CEO and all the head executives of the company. Devon Prescott has us watching a news report on the flat screen to his left. "Official word from the CDC is that this is not a virus," says the news anchor, sitting in front of a spectacular view of downtown New York. "However, they are cautioning people to stay in their houses and to refrain from physical contact until the danger can be assessed."
"Danger?" says the woman next to him. "My grandmother looks likes she’s in her 40s again and my sister, who has been confined to a wheelchair for the last sixteen years, is walking."
He laughs. "I think everyone has a story like that. Whatever this is, it’s going global. To discuss what this might mean for life on planet earth, we’ve brought together a panel of experts…"
Prescott interrupts. "I can tell you what it means for this company. We paid out three billion dollars for a product that went to market on its own. Somebody please tell me we’ve found a way to stop the spread of this thing."
"We haven’t
I tap my watch. "Call Kate." The phone in my pocket makes the call. Why am I doing this to myself? I know what she is going to say. Do I really want to put myself through this again?
"Hi, Ben," says Kate on the other side of the line.
"Honey. I need to know something." My voice sounds shaky.
"Are you okay?"
"This is going to sound strange, but I need a straight answer."
"Sure. What is it?"
"Has anyone kissed you? Even a quick peck on the lips."
There is silence.
"I’m not going to be mad. I just need to know."
"It was nothing," she says casually.
I feel my chest constrict.
"It was innocent. Some college kid, probably playing a prank."
"When did it happen?"
"Yesterday."
"Have you kissed Ella since that happened?"
"I don’t know, probably. Why? What’s going on?"
"You’re not going to understand this, but don’t kiss her. In fact, try to stay away from her until we can talk."
"Okay. That’s weird."
"Please, Kate. It’s a matter of life and death. I’ll explain when I get home."
"Life and death? All right. You’re officially scaring me."
"It’s probably nothing. It might even be wonderful. But I have a bad feeling about all this."
"About what?"
"Whether good or bad, Kate, the entire world is about to change, forever."
8
As I press my thumb on the cancel button, glowing red on my smartphone, I find myself locked in a numb stare. What am I doing? I intended to go back to the first recognizable sign of the spreading mutagen and work my way backwards. How is it I’m here, three weeks into the gestation? This dream world seems to be feeding off of whatever I’m thinking about. First it was my wife’s tear-stained face, now it’s the bizarre kissing fad that swept over the entire world with hardly a batted eyelash. How could they not notice? No, they did notice, eventually. They just didn’t care because they liked the lasciviousness of it, especially the least attractive. I can’t imagine how intoxicating it must have been for them. The farther the mutagen spread, the more beautiful people were becoming, and the harder it was to resist the kiss.
Another memory shimmers in around me, but I resist. I can’t follow my whims any longer, I have to stay focused. But as it solidifies, I find myself unable to resist. It is three days later, and the secret is spreading through the company like wildfire. But their reactions do not match the fear and dread I feel. Most seem excited, and why shouldn’t they? They’re getting thinner, stronger, younger. People who were suffering from chronic pain are coming in dancing. They don’t see that their productivity is down 40% or that their speech is sluggish.
I am in the boardroom with the CEO and all the head executives of the company. Devon Prescott has us watching a news report on the flat screen to his left. "Official word from the CDC is that this is not a virus," says the news anchor, sitting in front of a spectacular view of downtown New York. "However, they are cautioning people to stay in their houses and to refrain from physical contact until the danger can be assessed."
"Danger?" says the woman next to him. "My grandmother looks likes she’s in her 40s again and my sister, who has been confined to a wheelchair for the last sixteen years, is walking."
He laughs. "I think everyone has a story like that. Whatever this is, it’s going global. To discuss what this might mean for life on planet earth, we’ve brought together a panel of experts…"
Prescott interrupts. "I can tell you what it means for this company. We paid out three billion dollars for a product that went to market on its own. Somebody please tell me we’ve found a way to stop the spread of this thing."
"We haven’t
Similar Books
No Quest for the Wicked
Shanna Swendson
Death in a Summer Colony
Aaron Stander
No Mercy
Lori Armstrong
Thawing the Ice
Shyla Colt
The Sorcerer's Legacy
Brock Deskins
Covered: Part One
Mina Holt
Franny Parker
Hannah Roberts McKinnon
Black Diamond
Ja'Nese Dixon
Living the Dream
Annie Dalton
Hell-Bent
Benjamin Lorr