Jordan awoke suddenly to the incesent beeping of the alarm clock. Turning over he checked the time. 6:45, goddamn. He sat up on his bed and yawned. He went through is scheduel mentally, making sure to leave time for kitchen cleaning.
He yawned again and instinctively reached to scratch his stomach. As his nails hit the skin large chunks of skin fell off. Suddenly awake and very aware, he looked down. His entire body was red and he could see the places where he had just scratched. Massive, deep fingernail marks crossed his stomach from right to left. He stood up and turned to his mirror. He was sure he could see right through his skin! Arteries pumped and he could watch the blood flow from his heart.
His Heart! It was in the right place but it didn't seem to have any structure at all. Just a mass beating blob in his chest! It was now easily the size of his head. As he looked at himself a cold chill ran through his back. He still had form, but due to his skin tone, he looked more like a recently born rat.
Looking at himself with morbid curiosity, he saw all of his organs function. He realized again that he was standing. Sitting down immediately, he felt skin chunks slip off his legs as they rubbed the bed.
After calming down he stood up again and carefully made his way to the bathroom. As soon as he opened the door, he was hit square with the scent of bile and digestion. Staggering back, he felt his legs rub against one another. He could almost hear his flesh hit the floor. All these factors smashed together to make him sick to his stomach, yet hesitant to do anything for fear of loosing more flesh.
He stood there a quivering mass, to an observer he would have looked almost satanic in his condition. He was still only dressed in a pair of boxers, and his figure was much smaller due to the massive skin loss. HIs red hue made him seem all the more sickly and evil.
Breathing heavily, Jordan tried to walk away from the bathroom without scraping his legs or arms too much. He made his way to the living area. The bag of presents still sat on his couch. Moving over, he picked it up and put it down on the ground. He laid down on the couch and closed his eyes momentarily. If he couldn't see himself, maybe he would be able to think clearly.
He looked over his situation. He needed medical attention soon. He lived halfway across the city from the hospital. He could call for an ambulance. Possibly even try to order a house call. He would reach for the nearby phone at the end of the couch. He would call someone and open the door.
He breathed again, then opened his eyes. His house was the same as he had left it. Slowly, cautiously, he sat up and reached for the phone. Picking it up, he turned it on and began to dial 911.
He lifted the receiver up to his ear. No noise, not even a dial tone met his expectations. He put it down and picked it up again. Once again no sound came through. He checked the wall. The phone was plugged in. He turned to his TV and fiddled for the remote completely forgetting the skin flaking off his arm. Picking up the small device, he pressed the power button. The box buzzed and a "emergency broadcast system " message counting down the minutes until another program would run.
2:34 minutes. He would wait for that long to see it. If some sort of terrible disaster had hit the town, he wouldn't be able to get to a doctor. If this continued, who knows how long until he hit a vessel or other important function. Even just a puncture at a vessel would probably drain him of blood.
A beep came over the television. To show that the program was about to run. He propped himself up in the chair ready to hear whatever it was they had to tell him.
The screen buzzed for a moment and a camera cut to a man in a chopper above the city. He looked at the camera in his seat. Jordan recognized the man from the local news, whats his name.
"This is the emergency broadcast system. If you are in your home, stay there and we will tell you what to do." Jordan listened intently, unintentionally leaning forward in his chair.
"A virus has hit the sewers of Lethbridge. As of yet, we are unsure of it's symptoms, or as to how it entered the sewer system. Be cautious to use any source of domestic water. Crews have begun to introduce a neautralizing chemical to clean out the virus. At the moment we are unsure of their success. We'll keep you up to date with hourly updates. At this time the only advice we have is to stay in your homes and try to avoid using any water at all. Our time is up. We'll be back in one hour"
Jordan's mouth had been open in disbelief for most of the program. A virus in the sewer system, that meant he could,. no did, get it from the pipe! This is what it was. He could only guess how many people had caught the virus.
This was nothing like he knew of though. Even the most powerful necrotizing fascitis took at least a day to reach his state. And how was he still able to move with his skin coming off so quickly? Theoretically he should have fallen apart hours ago. Afraid of moving he just continued to wait there for the next broadcast.
58 minutes. Not like he could do much else.