Black Days

By A.B. Croucher

The Third World War might be over, but its effects are about to be felt in a way no one could have ever imagined. The new generation has been altered by the same bio-weapons that wiped out a vast number of their predecessors, making puberty come with much more than just acne and awkwardness. Alexei Murta is one of the first to experience these changes, and it very quickly turns into a constant struggle to not only survive, but do so while keeping a hold of his humanity as things fall apart both around and within him. The Third World War might be over, but it has left something even more hazardous in its wake: the Shifted Generation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781646285167

Book preview

Chapter 1

January 1, 2057

5:27

Today is a momentous day, a day unlike any other before in my life, the day that marks the dawn of a new era of freedom and joy, my sixteenth birthday. Why should be obvious. Three words: legal driving age. Of course, I need to actually get my license first and, more challengingly, an actual vehicle to drive. That last bit might never happen, though. It’s hard enough to keep food on the table, let alone a mode of transportation beyond public transit or your own two legs these days. Even then sometimes that can cost something most aren’t willing to pay. I can’t let that keep me down today. Hope is hard to come by, so any glimmer of it you can find you latch on to like a buoy in an ocean of despair and desperation. Wow, Alex, nice metaphor. That’s totally how you keep things light now, isn’t it?

Despite the fact that for me today is so extraordinarily important, naturally it wasn’t to anyone else, so class was just as dragged out and painful as usual. Prewar this would be a holiday and everyone would be off work and school, but that seems like a distant memory now. Now there’s no such thing as a day off for any working adult outside of weekends, or even for kids in school in order to avoid the need for such ‘frivolous’ things as daycares for anyone over three. If anything, today seemed even longer than normal, probably augmented by the fact that not a single person even so much as mentioned it being my birthday. Well, at least that means no birthday punches by both friends and…not so much. Maybe I should just count myself lucky they’re leaving me alone today. Happy birthday. We won’t beat you to shit today behind the school and cost you twenty bucks in first aid, yay. That’s doubly good right now because I haven’t been feeling the best since lunch. It’s probably from some slightly ripe deli meats that were in my sandwich. Wouldn’t be the first time. It hasn’t given up either. I can still feel my gut churning like it’s trying to get the shit I put in it out ASAP.

Staring at the clock, originally to keep tabs on how close it is to last bell, at this point I’m so deep in my own head that I might as well be staring into the vast emptiness of space. Which is why when the bell does ring I jolt so hard I hit my knees off the bottom of the desk. Cursing under my breath, for the moment it takes me to rearrange my thoughts and bring myself back to the here and now most of the class is already gone. Jamming my supplies in my pack, I make quick work of doing the same, but rather than hopping on the bus like most everyone else I just run straight past them. They aren’t school buses; like holidays those aren’t a thing anymore, and even though transit is pretty cheap, free is still the best option. Just not the safest. Most of my friends think I’m crazy for going home on foot, not only that but also through the alleys, but in all honesty the alleys might be safer for me than the buses. At least here I can actually run away from danger. Nothing’s really happened to me back here so far beyond this one time a stray dog tried chasing me down, but luckily dogs aren’t exactly great at climbing walls.

Nothing happens this time either, and within twenty minutes of weaving my way through the back alleys around garbage and debris, I come back out onto a main drag across the street from our apartment building. Time for the part I don’t like, a dozen flights of stairs. Sure, there’s the elevator, but it tends to smell like piss and vomit or worse, so I take the free exercise and much less disgusting environment of the stairwell. Having to pause a second to catch my breath once I reach my floor, I wander to our unit, fumbling through my bag along the way, looking for my keys because I doubt Mom’s home yet and Daemon’s prob—

Happy birthday!

Oh god! The virtual explosion of voices as soon as I open the door pretty much stops my heart in my chest, and makes that nasty knot in my gut drop faster than the stock market at the start of the third war. I literally fall back on my ass, nearly throwing up in the process but managing to keep it down. Trying to shake off the sudden nausea, a strong hand suddenly grabs me by the shoulder.

Hey dude wow, you all right, man?

I’m…yeah, I’m fine, just…scared the shit out of me.

"Ha, damned obvious that! I half expected you to squeal like a little girl, Alexis!"

Groaning at his overused name-calling, I still grab his hand when he extends it to me for him to pull me back onto my feet.

Shut up, you know that’s not my name. At least I’m not named after a piece of burnt wood.

He just laughs boisterously and punches me in the shoulder, which is meant playfully, but Cole has a habit of underestimating his own strength. Or maybe I just overestimate mine. He’s a lot like the vast majority of guys that bully me at school, except we’ve known each other nearly our entire lives, so rather than becoming one himself, he’s the closest friend I have. I couldn’t count how many times he’s saved my ass from being hauled away in an ambulance, so dealing with his slightly intense personality is pittance in return. Like how he’s currently dragging me by the hand he used to pull me up toward the kitchen, practically throwing me into the seat at the head of the table before shouting for everyone else with his booming voice, his proximity making my ears ring in response. Intense and very, very loud.

As everyone filters in I’m able to take account of who’s here, seeing as my initial entrance was too much of a shock to the system for me to even register who was actually present. Naturally my family’s here, Mom, the twins Gabriella and Sera, who are both nine, and my brother Daemon, who’s barely a year younger than me. Outside of them and loudmouth Cole there’s also Evaline and Grant, which is as far as my friends group extends. Grant’s been around the longest after Cole, a nerd with an attitude but also a social standing that protects him from the usual torment of people with his scholar appreciation in school. Evaline’s relatively new to the gang, only coming around in high school as she was in a different middle and elementary than the rest of us. She’s a bit…eccentric, and more than a bit doom and gloom, but also very forward and determined. I don’t know why, but she has me pegged as the perfect partner, despite my repeated and increasingly callous rejections. Cole makes a point in making sure she doesn’t get either of the seats adjacent to me, claiming one for himself and glaring at her arms crossed menacingly as she goes to take the other until she takes the hint and moves with a pout on her face. I can’t help but laugh at it a little.

The last few to the table are forced to find something other than an actual chair to sit on seeing as we only have enough for just our family, or just stay standing in Grant’s case. God forbid he sit on a box. The other seat next to me remains empty, but why is obvious; Mom’s yet to come in, but everyone here knows better than to take her spot. Except Eva, but she’s been dealt with. Looking around for where she is, she startles me a little when she comes up behind me and puts what has to be the biggest cake I’ve ever seen in front of me. It’s nothing fancy and clearly homemade, but it’s beautiful to me, dark chocolate icing adorned with sixteen little lit candles, comically small looking on such a large cake. I can’t remember the last time we’ve had an actual birthday cake, not just a few cupcakes with a candle on them. It might have even been before Dad died. Trying not to let the thought get me down I go for the knife, but get interrupted mid grab when something else gets plopped in front of me. The tiny box I find before me is expertly wrapped, the metallic black paper adorned with a thin gold ribbon clearly Evaline’s handiwork, made even more obvious by her smug grin as I pick it up. Mom gives me a small peck on the cheek before sitting down by me, earning a sarcastic aw from nearly everyone present before she hushes them.

It’s a mother’s right to embarrass their child on their sixteenth birthday. That includes you, she says, pointing at each of my siblings around the table.

Now then, I know we usually have cake first, but I think we should do something special for your sixteenth. I hope you excuse the lack of numbers. Please accept this gift as a happy birthday from all of us, sweetie.

All of them? What could possibly be in this small box that took everyone’s help in buying? I mean, it’s the size of a ring box, but there’s no way it could be something that has no real use because we’re all about efficient spending here, save for Grant. I pick it up, gauging its weight and gently shaking it. If anything’s moving in there I can’t hear it, and it’s not heavy at all. Putting it back down, I carefully unwrap the shiny paper so we might be able to use it again to find a plain brown cardboard box. Plying off the tape holding it closed, I open it up to find a single key. It’s not a normal one, though, not like my unit key. It has a thick plastic casing around the top, like a car k—

Oh god! No, you guys are messing with me, there’s no way—

Look out the back window, my mom says, motioning to the small window over the rusting kitchen sink.

And click the button.

Jumping out of my chair so fast it falls over with a decent thud, I bolt across the room. Peering out of it, I press the lock button and see the lights of an old Axis hatchback blink back at me.

Seriously? Awesome! A 2033 Axis Acheron? It’s even the DRC model!

God, Alexei, you’re such a nerd for cars.

Shut up, Eva.

Luckily, she does. I don’t need her going off about my passion for vehicles again. It seems like it’s Mom’s turn to dampen the mood next, however.

"She’s old, but she’s in prime condition. But, you need to get your license first before I let you even sit in the driver’s seat. Also, it’s our family car now, so you’re not going to be the only one using it."

O-of course, I’ll only use it when I really need to. Now I just have to call the—

Oh no, you don’t, I’m not letting you drop everything to go off and do that just yet, young man! Enjoy your party first.

So much for calling the licensing center. I guess she’s right though; everyone took the time to come here for me, not to mention helped getting the car in the first place, so the least I can do is give them some of my time.

Cake time, woo!

Cole’s exclamation draws everyone’s attention back to the huge cake sitting on the table, and it’s a good thing he’s sitting so close to me because he starts banging his fork and knife on the table incessantly until I manage to get a piece to him. Which he promptly inhales before anxiously waiting to see if there’ll be any left once everyone else gets their piece. Well, at least none will get thrown out as long as he’s around. Even once they get theirs, anyone within arm’s reach of him has to keep their guard up or risk losing it to the bottomless pit of a man. Evaline, safe far away from him, is free to eat hers as daintily as normal, looking almost terrified she might get some on her homemade gothic attire. Grant toys with his, moving small pieces around on his plate for a while before taking a small bite then discreetly passing it to Cole, who quite indiscreetly whoops in joy and digs in. Grant’s never really cared for sweets, and everyone here knows that, so no one’s insulted by it. My family savors every bite, knowing it’ll be a while before they have something like this again, probably until Dae’s sixteenth a year and a bit from now. I don’t blame them. It looks and smells amazing, so I’ll make sure to enjoy it as thoroughly as possible too. I almost feel bad for stabbing it with my fork.

Raising it to my mouth, which is practically watering with anticipation, when I let the fork slide between my lips the sweet, smooth, and delicious flavor I was anticipating judging by everyone else’s reaction is far from what I get. It’s like my taste buds have been electrocuted, and they protest immediately. I try to keep a straight face so I don’t insult Mom and force it down, which I regret instantaneously. My stomach begins churning violently, and I can feel its contents making its way back up my throat, threatening to come out. I move my chair back to stand up, but the movement just makes it worse, forcing me to stop as everything starts spinning around me. Cole seems to sense almost instantly that something’s wrong, looking up from his plate and giving me a concerned cock of the eyebrow.

Lex? What’s wrong, dude? You don’t look so hot.

I…I don’t know…I think I’m going to be sick.

I can see the bathroom only steps away, but it might as well be miles. I bring my hands to my mouth in a futile attempt to stop the upheaval, but my lunch, and that one bite of cake, erupts from my mouth with such force that the nasty mess reaches across half the table, covering what was left of the cake in the process. All I can hear is my mother screeching as she watches red start trickling down my face as I fall to my knees, holding on to the table to stop from going the rest of the way down. The coppery taste of blood is building up in my mouth, threatening to choke me. Instinctually coughing it out, red drops spatter across the floor and table. Oh god, w-what’s happening? It hurts, it hurts so much. I can feel my insides retracting and heaving. It’s like I’m being torn apart from the inside! Am I dying?

I can hear everyone else freaking out, too, which intensifies as the blood I’m coughing up starts getting darker to the point of being pretty much black, and thick like tar. Oh god, what is that? What’s…happening? I’m… Things are falling away. The last thing I catch is Daemon kneeling in front of me saying something, but I can’t hear him. I can’t hear anything over this deafening thunder going off in my head.

Chapter 2

January 4, 2057

15:15

Voices. They’re faint, distant somehow, and muddled, like I’m underwater. Slowly they become clearer; soon I’m able to pick out what they’re saying. Just because I can hear them doesn’t mean I can understand them, though. God. I feel like every muscle in my body has cramped up, and my brain is pounding out of my skull.

Another shift, that’s five in one week.

What’s Alpha’s status?

Relatively stable, but you know the chances of survival for someone with his degree of variance.

I don’t know, he seems different. He has the highest variance rate we’ve seen, yet his sequencing is showing—

Wait, vitals are showing signs of consciousness. He may be coming around.

I’ll take my leave then.

What are they talking about? Shift? Degree of variance? Chances of survival? I hear footsteps, followed by a hissing sound and a door sliding open and shutting in quick succession, then nothing. The silence is deafening, which is why when the person apparently still left in the room speaks up again it scares the shit out of me.

Can you hear me, Mr. Murta?

It takes a while, but eventually I find my voice, along with my vision. What is this place? Everything’s so bright, a harsh stark white and overlit. The one in here with me sounds female, but I can’t actually tell by looking at her, not with the full-body hazmat suit they’re wearing. That’s probably very much a bad sign for me. Is this a hospital? It doesn’t look like any part of the one we usually go to. How long have I been out? I can’t really remember what happened for me to be here. Where is everyone? Are they okay?

Where…am I?

What the hell? What’s wrong with my voice? It’s so low and gravelly, and disturbingly harsh. The hazmat lady seems to notice my alarm at the sound of my own voice, doing the typical calm down motion with her arms and hushing me. After a little while I manage to calm down, unclenching my body that I hadn’t even realized I seized up and evening out my breathing.

Slight vocal changes are to be expected. It is far from wh—something you should be concerned about.

"What? I heard that. What should I be concerned about? What’s happened to me? This is far from a slight vocal change!"

Mr. Murta, please calm down. I’ll explain what I can, but I need you to calm down.

That tone. Is she…afraid of me? There’s a tremor in her voice now that wasn’t there a moment ago, and she’s stepped back away from me and toward the door. She’s right. I need to calm down. Freaking out like this isn’t going to help me any. It might even do the opposite.

I-I’m sorry, I didn’t…I’m just scared.

She seems to relax a little herself with that, shoulders dropping ever so slightly.

So…what is this place?

You’re…under quarantine at Zender Hospital. You were brought here from your local hospital after we received a call on your condition.

That’s right, I remember now, all that vomiting, blood and pain. Did it have something to do with that disgusting black tar that started coming up near the end of it?

How long has it been?

Three days.

That long? I might as well have gone into a small coma.

What’s going on? Do you know what happened to me? What was that black stuff?

It’s…complicated and difficult to explain. You’ve—

Suddenly alarms start blaring through the room, red lights flashing and the words containment breach blasting over the intercom. Needless to say, that’s enough to freak me right out, but when I go to jump up and run I find myself strapped to the bed I’m on by my wrists and ankles. What the hell? Let me go! The hazmat lady is freaking out now, too, both from the alarms and the fact that I’m clearly not calm anymore. Pretty soon, though, something happens that stops both of us dead.

Alexei!

Mom just bursts into the room, tears streaming down her face, and comes running up to me, wrapping her arms around me in a tight embrace as everyone else present is left frozen in shock. Not two seconds later do at least half a dozen security officers barge in, but for some reason hazmat girl holds them back at the door.

I’m so sorry, I didn’t know, the war…the exposure…I didn’t…

What? What is it? Why are you apologizing to me?

The sound of my voice just serves to make her even more upset, her muttering becoming unintelligible as she continues begging for forgiveness for something I don’t even know about. Her sniveling and hugging and fretful kisses are probably a normal reaction to having something like this happen to your son, but mine is becoming less and less so. I can feel something…wrong building up inside of me, muscles clenching and breathing getting harder. What is this? Why do I… God, she smells good…

Pull her off!

The half a dozen guards are on us in no time flat, two of them tearing Mom away from me while the rest take on the task of holding me down as I absolutely lose it. Even though I know I shouldn’t be doing this and that I can’t possibly win against the five full-grown men