ADAMANTINES -Human Extinction Threat

Fare well friend, goodbye

But then, just as if on cue, his lips quivered.

Then his body stirred.

Thanks goodness! He's still breathing!

His eyelids parted slowly, and showers of life returned onto his face. He tried to straighten his body posture. But it was all futile.

He groaned.

His head was still drooped over his chest. Swaying. Feebly.

"My good friends, s-since i f-feel l-like m–my t-time i-is o-over, l-let m-me wish you my g-goodbye a-and may God see you t-through t-this" he groaned, winced and then continued "s-seeing how g-good you've been t-to m-me, m-maybe i should also t-tell y-you s-something i happened to overhear somewhere. T-t-though a-am not any s-sure a-about it.." he paused and then started to babble discursively.

What more did this man know and how much more could he still be hiding? Why not spit it all out at once?

Then, out of sudden, his entire body started quaking, uncontrollably. This prompted his limp self to droop more to his right. But when he was about to land on the dusty pavement shoulder first, miraculously, he managed his right elbow in time and used it as a pivot. But that didn't last that long.

For another wave of rigorous quakes and tremors struck him again, like an angry, furious super earthquake. The stranger growled and chattered in great agony as his elbow lost its grip. He tumbled down on his back and started to writhe mechanically on the pavement, as if obsessed with some kind of peculiar demons.

Astonished, Liz initiated a quick step backward. Dazed.

Over her face was a mixture of pity, fear and shock. Her usual lovely, calm and serene face was absolutely absent.

After a short while, the stranger's demonic writhing started to depreciate systematically, until he was as still as dead. Not realistically dead though, for i could still see his chest moving up and down. Plodingly.

His lips stirred and then parted.

He was still facing skyward, though not directly at the ranging sun rays. But at the station's rooftop. And unlike us, who were standing away from the station's cool cover.

Anyway, i guess we were the healthy ones after all.

"M-my f-friends, something i-is c-coming aaa-and you s-should be v-very c-cautious about i-it. Please, try to r-resist i-it c-completely. P-ple..." he coughed multiple times, and sneezed.

But what did he mean by that?

"Hey hey, what do you mean by that?" Liz chimed in quickly, not allowing me a chance to ask the stranger myself. But that's her. She has always been a very curious, and cautious, alert and attentive to detail. Many times i liked her for that. More so when it came to our tedious investigations.

"T-ttth.." he coughed and groaned, more weakly this time "t-ttthe v-vvvva..." he stopped and what followed thereafter was a spree of coughs and sneezes. And spasms.

His body then started to cave in as if his head was desperately seeking a friendly closure with the legs. All the while, his hands remained capped over his belly as if it was being shredded to pieces.

The scene was so humiliating to watch and i could feel mists of tears gathering around my eyes. Whatever which was happening to him was so damn cruel and merciless.

And if that was the true face of the mysterious illness, then definitely, we had a very concrete reason to be afraid of it.

A ripple of fear reverberated over my entire skin. And i flinched.