Expiration Date

by Kristin Coley

  “Yes, why else would I be following him around?” I grumbled, crossing my arms as my gaze immediately went back to him.

  “How long?”

  “Five minutes and –”

  She cut me off. “That’s good enough for me. We’re supposed to go to the next class while this one has their snack,” she informed me and I sent her a desperate glance.

  I had to save this kid.

  I’d already invested time and energy into him. I needed to change what was going to happen to him. I didn’t explore why it was so important to me, already knowing the answer as Amber smiled at me reassuringly. “It’s fine. I’ll talk to the teacher.” She went over to the teacher who was setting out the snacks and spoke to her for 37 seconds as I anxiously chewed my nail and took surreptitious glances at Blake.

  “I told her you had low blood sugar and asked if you could eat a snack with the class.” Amber gave me a piercing look. “Save him.” She walked out of the room and I took a deep breath, wandering over to the kids as they took their snacks from the teacher. She smiled kindly as she handed me one and I went to the edge of the room where I could keep an eye on Blake. I munched on the goldfish shaped crackers and grape halves as the minutes ticked down to seconds.

  Nothing happened and I glanced around the room, wondering if I was missing something. When my gaze went back to him, his face was turning blue and I realized he was choking. I dropped my snack, racing to him as I prayed I wasn’t too late. I dropped to my knees in front of him, quickly twisting him around to do the Heimlich, but it didn’t work so well on his little body. I heard the teacher yelling at me in the background, but my focus was on Blake. I beat him on the back, trying to dislodge whatever was in his throat and then tried to use my finger to sweep his mouth as he stared at me in terror. I couldn’t grab it and in desperation leaned him over my knee, trying to do a modified Heimlich. Something popped out of his mouth, rolling across the floor and I lifted him up as tears streamed down his face and he gasped for breath.

  “Oh my God,” I heard the teacher say, picking up the round grape he’d choked on. She sat down hard on the floor, staring at me in shock. “You saved his life.” I glanced up to see Amber standing in the doorway, her hand over her heart as she gave me a nod. Blake threw himself at me, getting snot all over my shirt as he sobbed against my chest. I patted his back as a new expiration date formed.

  “It’s okay, kid. You’ve got a long life ahead of you,” I whispered into his hair, hugging him tightly.

  ***

  “That was amazing,” Amber gushed excitedly as we rode the bus back to the high school. There were a few stares from some of the other student volunteers who had heard about me saving Blake, but most ignored me. “I knew you were a superhero.”

  “Not a superhero. More like an anti-hero,” I muttered, slouching down so the bus seat blocked me from view.

  “He would have died if it wasn’t for you. You gave that little boy a life. If that’s not heroic, I don’t know what is.” She nudged my arm and I glanced over reluctantly. “This thing you do, it’s a gift,” she declared vehemently. “Don’t ever believe anything else.”

  ***

  We made it back to school in time for lunch and I sat at our table, my back to the room as I tried to breathe.

  “Brandon isn’t here today. Family stuff. He texted me.” Joy’s excited chatter washed over me as she sat down with her lunch bag. “We did it though. We changed his expiration date. I mean, we won’t know, know, until you see him, but, Hope, we did it.” I swallowed hard, trying to keep the nausea at bay, unable to look at her. She fell silent, and from the corner of my eye, I could see her tilt her head, trying to look at me. “Hope, what’s wrong?” She asked hesitantly, something on my face causing a note of fear to enter her voice. “Hope, what happened?”

  Amber caught her question as she dropped her lunch tray on the table across from us. “Which thing? Her saving a little boy from certain death or the fact that I’m going to die in 2 weeks, 8 hours, yada yada?” Joy turned stunned eyes toward Amber who nodded. “Yep,” she said, the word popping off her tongue. “I know.”

  “Know what?” Houston asked sharply, sitting on the other side of me, his shoulder brushing my arm even though there was plenty of room for him to scoot over. “I’m dying to know what you think you know, Amber.”

  “Funny you should say dying, because apparently, I am,” she joked, raising her palm for a high five which no one reciprocated. Houston and Joy stared at her, and I whispered, “It’s not funny.” Amber lowered her hand, scooting forward. “Look, Hope, I get it’s serious, but if I don’t laugh about it, I might go crazy, okay?”

  I raised my eyes to hers and she slowly leaned back at my expression, her face whitening as I said, “They’re all going to die.”

  48 seconds went by before Houston asked urgently, “Who?” I glanced at him and then over my shoulder, my gaze going to the table filled with cheerleaders and football players.

  “They are.” My gaze went back to Amber. “You all die at the same time.”

  “We did this,” Joy breathed, pushing back from the table and running out of the cafeteria.

  “What does she mean?” Houston asked, shaking my shoulder. “Hope, talk to me.”

  “Brandon was supposed to die yesterday,” I answered dully. “We prevented it,” I paused, the words stuck in my throat. “Now, a dozen more people are going to die that weren’t supposed to yesterday.”

  “And you think it has something to do with Brandon?”

  “I think Brandon is going to die too and whatever we changed yesterday caused this,” I replied, my face contorting in a grimace.

  I heard him take a deep breath, then release it as Amber stared across the room at her teammates, all laughter wiped from her face. “I’m going to go talk to Joy.” He stood up then leaned down, his voice low as he asked, “How much time do we have?”

  I blinked at him in surprise before answering, “2 weeks, 3 hours, 16 minutes, and 33 seconds.”

  He exhaled as he said, “We have time,” then left the lunchroom to follow Joy. I stared after him, wondering if that meant he believed me when Amber made a choking noise. My gaze shot to her devastated face and she shook her head.

  “Homecoming.” She swallowed. “The Homecoming game is in two weeks.”

  “During the football game,” I guessed dully.

  “Halftime would be my guess. They crown the Homecoming Queen then,” she replied, her fingers shredding a napkin. “Natalie is a shoo in to win.”

  “Nothing has changed,” I told her, stilling her fingers with my hand. “We will fix this.”

  She stared at me, her expression distant as she asked, “Then what? What if we make it worse?”

  I had no answer for her and we sat in silence until the bell rang, neither of us eating as we dealt with the horror of what I’d revealed.

  ***

  I went to my locker after the final bell, not all that eager to leave since Houston hadn’t been in any of our afternoon classes. I assumed he was with Joy somewhere and tried to ignore my sense of abandonment. Amber had left without a word after lunch, and I couldn’t tell if she blamed me for the fact that she and a dozen other students were destined to die decades sooner than they were supposed to.

  I spun the lock on my locker, banging it on the door in frustration when it got stuck, and when that didn’t do any good, I rested my forehead on the cool metal as I took deep breaths. “You’re fine, it’s fine, death is inevitable,” I murmured repeatedly until I calmed down. I worked the lock, managing to get it open this time, and went to shove my backpack inside, having no intention of doing any of my homework tonight.

  A folded note laid on top of the books already in there, and I reached for it, wondering if Houston or Joy had left it. The slanted scrawl was unfamiliar and it took me a second to recognize what the double string of numbers meant.

  “Coordinates,” I murmured to myself, staring at them in puzzlement. “But
to where?” There was nothing else on the paper and I flipped it over. Today’s date and a time were stamped on the other side, nothing else, and I stuffed the note in my pocket. I had 2 hours, 48 minutes, and 11 seconds to decide if I was going to go the coordinates listed.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Mercy

  I stood in the exact spot where I would die and idly wondered if today was the day. Two figures walked toward me from different directions and I could see when they noticed one another; their steps faltered briefly, confirming to me they hadn’t told each other about the notes I’d left for each of them.

  My eyes swept the area warily, but no one else approached. I tugged my sleeves up, revealing the tattoo I’d gotten after finally convincing Kendra to sign the damn consent form. It suited me, a fact she’d never bothered to understand, calling me morbid. My hand lifted to the hoodie hiding my face, debating if I should remove it. After a second of indecisiveness, I pushed it back.

  I was tired of hiding.

  Tired of pretending to be normal.

  If they didn’t understand me, then there was zero chance anyone else ever would.

  I fiddled with the ear buds still safely tucked in my ears, music blaring. Even with no one around, they acted as my security blanket. With them in, I could control what I heard, what I learned when someone spoke.

  They came closer, their steps slowing in unison as they saw me. I tucked my hair behind my ears, tugging my headphones out in a practiced motion. I kept my hair long just for the purpose of hiding the fact that I kept headphones in ninety percent of the time.

  “Are you Mercy?” One of them stated bluntly, stopping five feet from me, and my gaze narrowed as I tried to decide if she was Joy or Hope. Standing together they looked similar enough I wasn’t sure which one was which.

  “I am,” I answered, seeing her wary gaze sweep over me. “And you are?” I let the question linger and she arched a single eyebrow.

  “You invited us. Don’t you know?”

  I shrugged. “Honestly, you’re kind of hard to tell apart from a distance.”

  “Why did you ask us here?” The other one spoke, her hands rubbing together nervously and I saw she wore long gloves.

  “You’re Joy,” I pegged and she nodded. “This is where we die,” I answered, waiting for their reaction to see if I was right.

  “And you thought it was a good idea to bring us here?” The other one, Hope, said, her face declaring me an idiot. “And if I told you we were going to die in the next thirty seconds?”

  “I’d say that was a pretty nifty gift you’ve got,” I retorted, my nostrils flaring as I realized I was right.

  She snorted, glancing away. “I don’t know if I’d call it a gift, but we’ll go with it.”

  I glanced at the quiet one, Joy, seeing her gloved hands in a new light. “I’m guessing your ability involves touch?”

  “Affliction, you mean,” she replied curtly. “Living people’s deaths isn’t a gift.”

  I swallowed, nodding respectfully. My gaze went to my other sister, searching for similarities. “Hope, right?” She nodded and I said the first thing that came to mind. “Our names are the world’s biggest joke.” I pointed to her, “Hope. You know there is no hope. Everyone dies.” Her eyes narrowed, but I glimpsed the truth in them. She agreed. “And you, Joy. You feel people’s deaths. Does anyone die happy?” She shook her head. “Mercy,” I glanced up at the sky, chuckling darkly. “There is no mercy in death.”

  “You saved Brandon.” I glanced over at Joy as she spoke. “Why?”

  “Dumb luck,” I answered honestly. “You were the one I was focused on, but I happened to hear where he was going to die and intervened.”

  “Heard?” Hope questioned sharply.

  I smiled at her. “You’re quick.” Her expression didn’t change and I sighed. “People speak, I know where they die.”

  “Where they die?” Her voice was questioning, not doubting me, but not completely understanding what I meant. I pointed to the ground where I stood.

  “As in the geographical location.” I tapped my forehead. “World’s best GPS right here. I know exactly where I am at all times and also where I die. Which happens to be right here.” I wagged my fingers at them. “And funnily enough, you two die right here too. As in the exact same spot.”

  Joy glanced at Hope, communicating silently and I felt a spurt of envy. They knew each other. They had secrets together, a friendship, things I’d never experienced. “We all die at the same second too,” Hope said grudgingly. “If Joy touches you, I’m willing to bet you die the same way we do too.”

  “Except, that’s physically impossible,” I declared, my nose wrinkling as I walked in a tight circle. “We can’t all die in the same place at the same time. It defies the laws of physics.”

  “Dude, you know where people die, I know when, and Joy knows how. I don’t really think the laws of physics apply here,” Hope argued, her arms on her hips as she stared me down and I leaned toward her until our noses almost touched. She didn’t back away like I thought she would, instead holding my gaze.

  “I think we have the same nose,” I said, watching her eyes cross as she looked at her own nose. I backed away, gazing at them curiously. “How long have you known each other existed?”

  “About two weeks,” Joy answered right as Hope said, “2 weeks, 5 days, 6 hours, and 14 minutes.”

  I whistled, “Impressive time keeping skills there.”

  “More than a match for your GPS skills,” she retorted, a cautious smile crossing her face. I gave a slow nod, feeling a smile curve my own mouth.

  “You want to get out of here?” I asked. “Place kind of gives me the willies,” I mentioned, rubbing my arms exaggeratedly and Hope sniffed.

  “You’re an idiot,” she claimed but I was pretty sure she meant it affectionately. Joy didn’t say a word as she watched our verbal match.

  “There’s a taco truck,” I offered, shoving my hands in my pockets as I headed toward it, praying they’d follow.

  “We like tacos,” Joy replied, falling in step and Hope shot her a betrayed glance. “Okay, I like tacos?”

  “We don’t know anything about him,” she reminded her, and I turned around, walking backward.

  “You do know, I can hear you, right?” I tapped my ear. “Exceptional hearing.”

  “Do I look like I care?” She snapped, folding her arms. “We don’t know you.”

  “Yet, you still came.”

  “He has you there,” Joy mumbled and Hope glared at her.

  “You came too,” she accused and Joy shrugged.

  “Yeah, but I’m not treating him like he’s enemy number one.” Joy’s gaze darted to me and skittered away when she realized I was watching them. “He’s our brother.”

  Hope growled, clearly uncomfortable with the thought, but she nodded curtly, gesturing for me to lead the way. We placed our orders and settled at a nearby picnic table, Joy and Hope sat next to each other while I sat across from them.

  “Is this really where we die?” Joy asked curiously, studying the area. We were downtown by the river, not far from the industrial area, and at this hour it was quiet. Most of the workers had gone home, making it a ghost town except for a few dedicated ones and a random homeless person.

  “According to my super special ability it is,” I answered, unwrapping my taco. “At least, I always believed it was where I died.”

  “You don’t believe that anymore?” Hope asked before taking a bite of her taco.

  “I don’t believe in coincidences,” I replied grimly. “And since meeting you, I think there is more going on than we know.”

  “We don’t know anything,” Joy blurted out and this time Hope didn’t shush her, instead lowering her taco.

  “I know something,” she admitted and Joy gave her a betrayed look. Hope rolled her shoulders uncomfortably. “I talked to my Dad last night and he admitted I was adopted.”

  “Wait, you were adopted?” My tac
o lay forgotten as I stared at the two of them as they nodded. “Both of you?” I questioned, a sense of bitter disillusionment growing inside of me.

  “I was adopted when I was two,” Joy explained. “I really don’t know anything about my life before then. I might have been in foster care?”

  “I thought I was Frank and Sandy Lancaster’s daughter my entire life, at least until I met Joy.”

  “The two of you really don’t know anything,” I comprehended, poking my taco, no longer hungry as I grasped how different our lives had been. “We’re nothing alike,” I muttered hollowly.

  “I wouldn’t say that,” Joy disagreed and I glanced at her, wondering why she’d think we shared anything. We didn’t even have the same ability. She waved her hand over the table, indicating our food. “We all ordered the exact same thing.”

  Hope dropped her taco, staring at it in shock, as my gaze darted to each of our plates. “Soft steak taco, no tomatoes,” I whispered in awe, seeing that Joy was correct.

  “We might be different, but I think that’s the point,” Joy suggested, drawing our gazes. “We’re all here…now…for a reason. We complement each other.”

  Hope sighed, picking up her taco again. “If you weren’t adopted, who raised you?” She asked, staring at me.

  “Kendra,” I replied, reaching for my own taco, my stomach letting out a growl with their acceptance. “She was a nurse during the experiment. When it went south, she got stuck with me.”

  “Sorry,” Hope muttered, seeming to hear what I didn’t say.

  “Whoa, slow down? Experiment?” Joy glanced between us, her face lost. “Did you know?” She demanded, staring at Hope.

  “I don’t think I know what Mercy knows,” she commented. “But yeah, Dad mentioned experiments, some government thing, but he didn’t know any more than that. Only that when he took me, my parents gave up their entire lives to keep me.”

  I nodded, Kendra had essentially done the same thing, except she’d resented me for it. I glanced at Joy. “We’re the result of a highly classified experiment to find the fountain of youth. The experiment was eventually considered a failure and all records of it destroyed.”