Allan and Jonny were hard at work on a construction site in Salina, Oklahoma. The sun was shining down on them, casting a warm glow over the beautiful scenery that surrounded them. Wildflowers dotted the fields, and a gentle breeze blew through the trees, rustling the leaves. Birds sang in the distance, and the sound of a nearby stream added to the peaceful ambiance.
"Man, it's a beautiful day today." Allan said, taking a break from his work.
"Yeah, it's hard to believe that we're getting paid to work in a place like this." Jonny replied.
They were building the foundation for a new small space exploration company that was opening up soon, both were unemployed and needed this break.
"I know, it's a great opportunity for us." Allan said. "But it's not just about the money, it's about making a difference in the world."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Jonny replied. "I've always dreamed of doing something that would make a real impact. And this job is a step in the right direction."
As the day went on, the two continued to work, building the foundations for a brighter future. They chatted about their hopes and dreams for the future, about their families and loved ones, and about the things that truly mattered in life, it was starting to get late and Allan begins to anticipate leaving work.
"Man, I can't wait to get out of here." he said to Jonny. "I'm starving. Think I might go get a burger on the way home."
"Sounds good to me." Jonny replied, pausing to stretch his back. "I could go for a burger right about now, and a cold beer."
Just as they were finishing up for the day, they noticed something strange in the sky. A bright meteorite was hurtling towards Earth, leaving a trail of fire behind it. As it got closer, they could see that it was going to hit the planet with immense force.
"Holy shit, that thing is gonna hit us!" Allan shouted.
"We have to get out of here!" Jonny exclaimed.
The two ran for cover as the meteorite smashed into the planet with a deafening roar. The impact created a massive shockwave that radiated across the Earth. The impact was close by, and the shockwave from the crash rumbled across the land. Allan and Jonny were thrown to the ground, dazed and disoriented. Miraculously nothing was damaged except for the area of the initial impact, a small radius of 5 feet around the meteorite, however, the shockwave was felt around the world.
"What the hell was that? " Jonny asked, getting back to his feet.
"I don't know, but it was close." Allan replied, dusting himself off.
As they tried to make sense of what had just happened, they noticed that something felt different. They couldn't quite put their finger on it, but they knew that something had changed.
The next day, Allan and Jonny started to feel a bit ill, their bodies were sore, they assumed they had just worked very hard the previous day, plus getting tossed to the ground didn’t help much. They both decided to stay home, enjoying a day of rest, relaxation and gaming, however things began to get bad.
As the days passed, Allan and Jonny's symptoms became worse. They both had high fevers, severe headaches, and muscle aches. They were weak and unable to do much more than lay in bed. Luckily they lived down the street from each other and their wives seemed just fine, like nothing had affected them, but Allan and Jonny couldn't help but worry about one another. They called each other every day to check in and see how the other was doing. They both thought this illness was strange, unlike any flu or cold they had ever experienced before.
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After a week and a half, their fevers rose to an astonishing 112 degrees Fahrenheit and their wives were terrified. They rushed them to the hospital where they found a waiting room full of patients, all with similar symptoms. They were all struggling with the same strange illness that seemed to be sweeping around the world. On the television in the waiting room, the news was breaking about the sickness, “Not many people are infected, around 8% of the entire world's population thus far, or nearly 640 million people. The CDC and WHO are warning of the possibility of another devastating pandemic, however, the pattern of infection seems random, and centrally localized to the middle of the United States, with less infections reported in a radius the further out you go.”
It was then that they remembered the meteorite crash. It had hit very close to their location and they had both reacted to it. They had both been outside, looking up at the sky in awe as the meteorite streaked across the sky. They had felt a shockwave ripple through the air, and then everything went dark.
“The government must not know about the meteor.” Jonny said
“It can’t be though, I just don’t see a meteor causing this type of outbreak, maybe here, but around the world?” Allan responded.
As it turned out, the meteorite had been carrying an unknown element that had reacted with the Earth's atmosphere, causing a shockwave of energy when colliding with the Earth that radiated across the planet. Unbeknownst to everyone, this shockwave had changed parts of people's DNA, giving them special abilities. But, only if they survived the sickness that came before they gained the powers, which was flu-like but far worse, killing 85% of the people it infected.
Allan and Jonny were among the lucky ones who survived the sickness, and they emerged from their hospital rooms looking and feeling incredible, they seemed to have undergone a sort of transformation after being left on life support for the last 3 days. Allan was taller, faster and stronger than ever, Jonny was leaner with massive muscles.
Over the course of the next few days Allan and Jonny began to develop their new abilities. Allan was working on some projects around the house, he had to fix the ride on lawn mower, normally he brings it to the lift, today it wouldn't start.
“Erg, this is going to be a pain in the ass to fix.” Allan grunted as he bent over to push the machine. The mower slid easily across the ground, Allan stands with an astonished look on his face. “uh, how..” Allan says absolutely flabbergasted. With a flip of the wrist, he turned the machine over on its side. “Whoa, this is amazing, this strength, I also feel lighter, and faster than usual, and this height increase is throwing me off.” Allan says to himself as he stands in amazement.
Jonny has been standing in his bathroom, staring at the mirror for 3 hours, trying to figure out how and why he has rabbit ears now attached to his head. “I don’t understand, I fall asleep watching Bugs Bunny, I wake up with wabbit ears?” Jonny says looking very confused. Out of nowhere, the more he thought about the cartoon, the more he started to change, but he wasn’t replicating the figure he had in his head, he instead transformed into a large white bunny with brown spots and long floppy ears. The rabbit stood about 3 feet tall and must have weighed 200 pounds. Hopping around, making huge thumps around the upstairs bathroom.
“Honey, are you okay?” Calls out Jonny’s wife, however, there was no answer. Worried, she ascends upstairs.
“Babe, did you fall?” She asks as she approaches the bathroom door.
Panicking, Jonny thinks very hard and at the last second before his wife burst through the door, Jonny transforms back into himself, butt-naked on the floor.
“What are you doing down there? Are you okay?” Asked Fiona his wife.
“Uh, yeah, no worries, I’m just doing a, uh, pre-shower workout heh.” Jonny explains nervously. “Phew, I don’t want her knowing about this until I can figure out how to control it.” Jonny says in his head as he gets up and starts the shower.
“Allan has been looking for you, he seemed kind of in a panic or maybe it was excitement, I couldn’t really tell.” Fiona says to Jonny. “Maybe you should hurry up and go find out what he needed, after the last few weeks, I’m pretty sure y’all want to have a free day to relax before you get back to work.”
“Yeah sure, you’re right, I definitely will, thank you love.” Jonny says as he shuts the door and takes his shower. Quickly after, he rushed over to Allan’s house looking for him, he seemed to be nowhere to be found. Knocking on the front door, Jonny waits for an answer.
“Hello? Oh hey Jonny, Allan’s not home at the moment, he went off looking for you and then decided to go shopping, he must have hit a growth spurt in his adult years because he somehow grew overnight. His clothes didn’t fit properly so he went to buy new ones, I’ll let him know you came by.” Allan’s lovely wife Mayra said to Jonny.
“Yeah, thank you Mayra, that would be great, let him know I’ll be around, I need to discuss some stuff with him.” Jonny said as he was walking back to his truck. On the short ride home, Jonny couldn’t help but wonder if Allan has had any odd things happen to him.