I Went Forward In Time

WARNING:

The following story contains descriptions of graphic violence, strong language and content some may find disturbing. This is a work of fiction and none is true of any sort. Viewer discretion is advised.

Before I begin, let me first say my name is Miles Crescent. I'm a 29-year old from South Carolina and recently I purchased a device that allows me to go forward and back in time. If you're reading this, then there's still a chance to make things right before shit hits the ceiling. Trust me, this will be worth your time. I guess I need to go back to when, well, when everything first started.

See, I'm a loner. Been living on my own since I was 19, getting into trouble with the law every now and then. Spent a few nights in the slammer for shop lifting or other petty crimes. I could never keep a girlfriend cause I couldn't break away from old habits and couldn't keep a job because of my hobbies. Eventually, I tried to put my life together and got a job at the local plant. Nothing like being overworked, underpaid and ridiculed by an asshole boss who has a thing for the young female workers. Guy is such a pig. Sometimes I just want to ram his face into one of the machines. I've managed to keep this job longer than most and things began to get better. I started seeing a woman named Natalie. My goodness how beautiful she is. Long blonde hair, perfect figure and a smile that glows so bright you could see it from space. We've gone on a few dates and day by day we begin to fall for each other. That was, until I bought a device I regret. I was browsing the internet one day and noticed an ad for a new limited device that is one of a kind that can allow you to travel through time, so I clicked on the ad. It was no bigger than those old pagers that were once a big thing in the 90s and early 2000s only it had a small LED screen with some buttons. The price was far cheaper than I thought. Only 20 bucks? Count me in. I pulled out my wallet, put in my VISA card information and then clicked the "buy now" button. The notification then appeared thanking me for the purchase and informed me that my package would arrive within the next 24 to 48 hours. 

The next day after finishing up another long and grueling twelve hour work day, I returned home to find a box sitting on my porch. I picked it up and carried it inside. When I opened it, I saw it was the pager looking device. I sat down and turned it on. The device lit up like a Christmas tree. I had to close my eyes and blink them several times to shake away the stars from the sudden brightness. I fiddled with it for several minutes while reading the instruction manual of how to work the damn thing. Once I had it figured out, the screen went black and then the words, "Date. Time. Year." I laughed at this, thinking this was a joke so I went along. The current date is December 9, 2020 and the time is 7:33 PM. I put in December 8, 2020 and put in 8:30 AM then pressed the "ENTER" key. At first, it seemed like nothing happened. I felt disappointed.

Feel like I just got ripped of $20. Then, I noticed the sun was in a completely different spot. It was to my east and I noticed my neighbor was leaving for work. I walked out of my house into the early morning cold and saw the paper in my driveway. I picked it up and when I saw the date, I was baffled. It said, December 8, 2020. It worked. The fucking thing worked. I ran back into my house and went back to the current time. Everything was back to how it was from before. I laughed in shock and amazement. I just traveled through time. When I looked at today's paper on my table, a crazy thought came to mind when I read the headline, "Cases continue to surge." I typed in, "December 8, 2022. 7:40 PM." I was about to press the enter key again, but I stopped myself for a second. Am I prepared to see what is about to happen? Will I be entering a whole new world or will everything still be as it is? Will the pandemic be over? Will everything be back to normal?

Sweat rolled down my face and I could taste saltiness as it hit my lips. I looked down at the date I had put in and my finger hovering over the enter key. I closed my eyes and pressed it. When I opened them, everything seemed fine. It's as if the machine malfunctioned and kept me in the present time. That is, until I opened the front door and my heart sank to my stomach. My entire neighborhood was abandoned. Cars were left unattended with luggage in most of them. I walked down my driveway and looked around. No signs of life anywhere. It was quiet except for the birds chirping. I walked around for a bit, all the houses were empty and ransacked. What the fuck happened here? The pager began to beep and when I looked at it, it began flashing then turned off. No, no, no. It was dead. The fucking thing was dead. I tried turning it on but it didn't so I ran back inside and checked the box.

I found a charger but then remembered there is no power. No power means no charging the device. "Fuck!" I yelled in frustration. The news station. It was only twenty minutes from my house. I grabbed my car keys and ran to my car. I started it up and headed for destination. Once I arrived, I ran inside and found the power was in. Station must've been running on generators so I entered an empty office, plugged in the charger and began to charge the device. It turned back on and I quickly put in the date from my timeline and pressed enter, but a message popped up indicating me that the device needs at least 50% battery life in order to work. I drained the battery and I only used it twice. 

It's been an hour since I've been here and I'm sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall. I check the device and it's only on 30%. This thing is taking forever to charge up. What happened to this world? Was it the virus? Was it a nuclear war? No. If it was that, the sun would still be blocked out. Was it a chemical attack? What the fuck happened? I bumped into the desk and the computer screen came on. I looked at it and stood to my feet. I clicked on the internet browser icon and the news station's home page came up. I couldn't believe what I was reading. "Vaccine dubbed failure; no cure." Shit. It was the virus after all. What does this mean? Is this our future? I sat back down on the floor and checked the pager. 32%. I decided to close my eyes and fell into a deep sleep. I awoke in the dead of night. Absolute darkness except from the moon light. I checked the pager. 41%. I stood to my feet and stretched a bit, feeling my bones spring to life as they popped. I left the office and found the break room. I searched around for any kind of food when I found a drawer full of granola bars. It'll do. I took one out, tore the wrapper open and ate it. Everything was so quiet. I can't remember the last time was so still and so quiet. I'm 2 years into the future and if this was what was going to happen, how can I warn everyone?

I looked at the table and found a newspaper that had the same headline. I grabbed it, tore half the page off, folded it and placed it into my pocket. I left the room and went back to the office. I checked the pager and it was at 55%. Finally. Enough power. I started putting in the date to go back when I noticed movement outside. They looked like people and they saw me. They began walking towards the door and when I saw their faces, I jumped to action. I quickly slammed the door shut and barricaded it as the people outside began pounding on it and what sounded like animal-type screeches. I finished typing in the date and as I went to hit enter, the door busted open, knocking me to the ground. The people all attacked me at once, scratching and clawing at me! I tried to fight them off but there were four of them and one of me. One of them bit me on the leg and I screamed in pain as I knocked the coffee mug off the desk and used it to smash it against the man on top of me. I kicked the woman gnawing on my leg and punched the other in face. I dived for the device as the people charged me just as I hit enter!

I awoke in my house again and found it the way it was earlier. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I stood to up and went into the kitchen when I found a woman's disemboweled body on the floor and her child laying dead on the dining room table. He had his stomach ripped open and his organs gone. I checked the date - December 11, 2021.

I can't come back to my current time and I'm not sure if this will get back to anyone, but if you are reading this, I beg you, don't believe anything they tell you. While I can't come back, I can damn sure send this warning - the vaccine was indeed a success, but it turned those who took it into something even worse than death.