It was almost seven am when Jack yawned, picked up his cell phone, and looked at the time on it. As he set his phone back down, he suddenly felt sick and hurried to the bathroom to throw up. After he rinsed out his mouth and washed his face, Jack walked back into his bedroom. When his girlfriend Laura’s text sound came through on his phone, Jack went to pick it up. As he picked it up, a wave of nausea flooded over him again. What is going on? I felt okay last night, he thought.
Jack managed to read Laura’s text which stated that she was horribly sick and was going to the ER. Even though Jack felt nauseous, he wanted to call Laura to find out what was wrong. While he searched for her name in his contacts, he had to toss his phone down onto the bed and run into the bathroom again. He vomited with force as everything that was left in his belly was now in the toilet. Now, as he felt extremely weak, Jack staggered back to his room and carefully laid back down. I’ll call Laura later, he thought.
Jack reached for the remote and turned on the television. As he tried to relax and wait for the nausea to subside as he scrolled through a few channels. The channel he stopped on was talking about just how he and many others were feeling; nauseous, light-headed and now weak. As he listened to what the doctor and the reporter were talking about, he couldn’t believe it.
“What? People are getting sick and dying because of cell phone use? That’s absurd,” Jack looked across the bed at his cell phone.
The doctor also said that he believes that it’s aliens that want us dead. He explained to the reporter that some how the aliens are transmitting dangerous toxins through the cell phones and into us. As the reporter rolled his eyes, thanked the doctor for the interview, and then turned away, the doctor yelled out.
“It’s been going on for years. The aliens are tired of waiting for us to die!”
“Aliens? Toxins through the cell phones? Now I’ve heard everything,” Jack said.
Jack grabbed his cellphone from across the bed and looked up Laura’s number. As he listened to the phone ring on the other end, he felt nauseous again. I have to find out how Laura is doing, he thought. Finally, someone picked up and answered Laura’s phone.
“Hello?
“Laura?”
“No, I’m sorry, but Laura died about five minutes ago.”
Stunned by what he just heard, Jack ended the call and dropped his phone. He then, got up and ran into the bathroom again. This time he saw blood in the toilet after he threw up. He wiped his mouth with some tissue and crawled back into his room.
“This can’t be happening. Am I dying?” Jack sat on the floor and leaned up against his bed.
The newscaster on the television continued to talk about the volumes of sudden deaths happening around the world. Controversy rose as to why and if alien influence was a part of it. Jack contemplated calling 911 and asking for help. Would they even be able to save me, he thought. Once again on the television, Jack heard another reporter talking to someone else. It was a coroner from one of the local hospitals in the area. Jack listened as the coroner said that many of the patients who she has autopsied died from a brain bleed and other mysterious circumstances.
“But what do you mean by other mysterious circumstances?” The reporter asked.
“Well, I was told that in order to keep my job and respected reputation, I can’t divulge anymore information about it. However, I will say that the witnesses said that the patients felt nauseated each time they used their cell phone, and were constant cell phone users.”
“So, are you saying that you believe in the alien theory and alien toxins that’s been talked about this morning?” The reporter asked.
“I’d rather not say anymore at this time… Except… Everyone, be careful out there,” the coroner then turned around and went back inside her office.
“This is crazy,” Jack said as he sat on the floor.
Jack rubbed his stomach until he felt a stabbing pain on the right side of his head. The pain was so intense that it made him vomit right where he sat. Blood now flooded his bare legs and carpet. Shaking and weak, Jack didn’t have the strength to move and the pain in his head continued. He sat there and heard someone else on the television say, are there aliens trying to bring an end to our species or is there an unknown and deadly virus going around?
Not being able to move, Jack hung his head down and thought about his life. Did I fully enjoy my life here on earth? I would have been a great dad, he thought. Only a few minutes of reflection passed when bloody drool ran out of Jacks mouth and onto his shirt. And it wasn’t long after that, that Jack’s body went completely limp.
A friend of Jack and Laura’s knocked on his apartment door and called out his name. Not hearing an answer, he unlocked the door with his spare key and walked in.
“Jack, are you here?”
Jack’s friend looked around and then slowly made his way down the hall to the master bedroom. When he pushed the partially closed door open, he saw his friend on the floor, slumped over, and in a pool of blood.
“Jack,” his friend waited but saw no movement. “I told him that he was on his cell phone to much.”
The End
Pennie! You killed them! I love it! This took the prompt and kept escalating it. We often talk about raising the stakes in our fiction and this story felt like it kept pushing that way. Very cool.
Thank you for sharing your fiction with us and joining us in this prompt celebration!
Wow, very scary .