The End - Visions of Apocalypse

The trees rustle in the wind, bare branches moving with gentle waves. The sky is clear blue.

I turn to look at him. I see his face clearly.

“Will you stay with me?” I ask.

He takes my hand. “Of course, my love.” I stare into his eyes. They are beautiful.

WILSON G. EIGER Tick

Wilson Geiger is a fantasy author who decided, at the ripe age of 41, that he’d better start taking this writing thing seriously. He is, of course, thankful that it happened before the great ending of us all. You can find more of Wilson’s works at wilsongeiger.com.

What does a man do when he realizes he’s made a grave error? Does he admit it? Ignore it? Hide it? Does he try to correct it? What makes a man, what defines him, are his answers to those very questions; often they may go beyond the personal dilemma, maybe resulting in dire consequences. In the following story, a young, promising scientist is forced to confront demons of his own creation, and the terrible answer he finds within. If that answer doesn’t kill him first.

4. TICK

by Wilson Geiger

Brothers will fight
and kill each other,
sisters’ children
will defile kinship.
It is harsh in the world,
whoredom rife
—an axe age, a sword age
—shields are riven—
a wind age, a wolf age—
before the world goes headlong.
No man will have
mercy on another.

—Poetic Edda

In the end, Ragnarok was nothing like the stories told to us by our Father’s Fathers. Yes, man fought man, the earth was torn asunder, but the Gods? They stayed out of it, content to watch us all die. There was no great serpent, no wolf Fenris, no Odin. Only men and fire.

And that, let it be said, was most certainly enough.

* * *

The viral strain had gone through extensive testing, reactive and passive, and it was deemed suitable for the next stage: live testing. The strain was tested initially on rats, with excellent results; spikes of 300% above normal hostile and aggressive response were documented. After the incubation period, which took several hours, the rats began to posture. After further observation, the subjects would lash out at any that came near them. In the third phase, they became aggressive to the point that the specimens attacked each other on sight.

The decision was made to fast-forward the process; testing moved to simians, with similar outcomes. The virus set family on family initially, until familial bonds were broken by the mutations; after that it was simple elimination of every individual.

The Confederation suits were very encouraged by the results.

* * *

James could not believe what he was seeing on the live feeds. Once he realized, it was almost too late.

Gunfire and screams had erupted down the hall, shattered the pristine image the designers had engineered for the complex. White clean walls, the streamlined structure of security doors, the lighting that had been fed through streaming chambers above and below; blood had spattered along the passages now, the smoke and screams of fighting and death had ruined the calming effect. James could almost imagine the designers’ sneers of contempt, their outrage at the pillage and anarchy that defaced their artistic vision.