In five days, every single living cell on planet Earth will be dead.

You have one chance, Mark Fischbach.

~~~~~

I woke up the very next morning feeling just as energetic and proud as I had yesterday morning. Yesterday was a really good day because, even though I didn't want to admit it to myself at the time, it was nice to take a day off work and just celebrate my achievements with my fellow coworkers.
But now that today was a new day, it was time for me to get back to work. I still had a long life ahead of me and I wanted to use all that time that I had to try and change the world for the better once more.

"Penny?" I knocked on my daughter's door, hoping that today wasn't a day where she had slept in, whether she had done so intentionally or not.
"Yes Daddy?"
I silently let out a sigh of relief. "Can I come in?"
"Yes."
A small smile formed in my face as I turned the doorknob and slowly opened the door before stepping inside.
"Daddy, can you help me pick out what to wear for school?"
"Of course." I went over to her closet and picked out the first outfit that I laid eyes on because I was kinda in a rush to get to work so that I could figure out a new project to work on.
"But Daddy, I just wore that last week!"
I sighed as I put the outfit back in her closet and began searching through her clothes until I found something that I knew that she hadn't worn in a very, very long time.
"It's perfect!" Penny cried in excitement as she took the hanger that the outfit was hanging on.
I smiled. "I'm glad you like it. Now, do you know where your mother is? I'd like to see her before I head off to work."
"Oh, Mom's in the bath." Penny replied as she placed the outfit I had picked out for her on her bed.
"Okay, thank you sweetie." I planted a kiss on her forehead and ruffled her hair. "You have a good day at school today, okay? I'll see you later today when I get home from work."
"Okay Daddy." Penny hugged me tightly and I hugged her back, gently rubbing her back as I did so. "See you then."

"You know, the phone's been ringing for you all morning." Amy said to me as I entered the bathroom after she gave me permission to come inside. "It must be important."
"Really?" I asked her, confused as to why I hadn't heard the phone ringing in the kitchen. It wasn't like the ringing was super quiet. But, then again, it wasn't super loud either. "Well, I guess I'll answer a call if whoever's been calling happens to call again."
Amy nodded as she ran a hand through her wet hair.
"I'll see you tonight when I get home." I bent down and she leaned up slightly so that she could press her lips to mine. We kissed for a few moments before I pulled away.
"Have a good day today." I gave her a smile as I turned and walked back over to the door.
"You too honey." She smiled back at me as I opened the door. "I love you."
"I love you too."
"Don't spend too long in there. You still gotta take Penny to school." I winked at her before stepping out into the hallway and closing the door behind me.

I went out to the kitchen expecting to hear the phone ringing as I did so. However, the kitchen was filled with silence, something that wasn't usually the case when it wasn't the weekend because Amy would usually be in there packing Penny's lunch for school. Nonetheless, I walked over to the phone and saw that I had ten missed calls from the same number. When I saw what number had been trying to get ahold of me, I knew exactly who it was.
It was Jim.
"Why the hell would he be calling me?" I asked myself quietly as I adjusted my lab coat before heading towards the front door, deciding it would be best to talk to him in person rather than attempt to call him back.

As I stepped outside, I looked down and saw that the morning paper had already arrived. I walked over to my mailbox where it was laying in wait for someone to pick it up.
When I read the title of the article on the front page, my heart sank down into my stomach.

Cure "Deadly"

My heart sank even further down into my stomach as I read the contents of the article.

The cancer cure discovered earlier this week by twenty-seven year old scientist Mark Fischbach has been deemed to be "beyond deadly," according to officials.

The "cure" doesn't stop at only killing cancer cells. The drug goes on to kill every other living cell in not just the human body, but everything else as well. If this gas-based drug was ever used, it could go on to cause catastrophic damage to the Earth itself.

"No." I murmured as I shook my head. "No, no, no. This can't be happening. The cure can't be deadly. This is just some twisted nightmare and I'm going to wake up soon."
"The cure's gonna help people. You've done so much good for this world."
"The cure isn't going to anything but help people."
I kept whispering to myself in order to reassure myself that this really wasn't true. A part of me was convinced that this was just some nightmare that I was having and another part of me knew better.
This was reality, whether I liked it or not.
"I've gotta fix this." I whispered as I quickly ran over to my car so fast that it was as if my entire life depended on it.

*****

"We're so fucked Mark!" Jim shook his head as he drew a red line on the board that went from the very top to the very bottom. "The drug is dangerous! We're going to get our funding pulled!"
"Is that all you care about?" I crossed my arms as I spoke to him. "The world could possibly fall into critical danger and all you care about is the fact that our funding is going to be pulled? Wow Jim, I thought that you were better than this."
"None of this would be happening if you hadn't found the cure, Fischbach." Jim crossed his arms as well as he continued to stare at the red line on the board with a look of distress on his face.
"How was I supposed to know that the cure was deadly?!"
"You should've known that the cure was deadly because you should've tested it before we made it known to the public!"
"You made it known to the public before I could run tests!" I was yelling at the top of my lungs and I scared myself from just how angry I was. "I discovered the cure and planned on running tests the next day if you hadn't made it known to everyone!"
"Then why didn't you tell me that you hadn't tested it to make sure that it was safe?!" Jim started yelling as well and everyone was staring at us now.
I fell silent for a few moments as I thought of what I should say. I sighed once I found a way to put my words into coherent thoughts. "I got too caught up in everything. Everyone was so proud of me and I felt like I was on top of the world. I completely forgot about my plans to run tests on the cure."
"You certainly didn't forget about going out to skip work to go and hang out with Annie at the bar." Jim smiled because he knew he had backed me into a corner that would be almost impossible for me to escape from.
I sighed again. "No, she convinced me to go with her. It was my decision and I take full responsibility for it. I should've just stayed at work."
"Yeah." Jim snarled as he nodded. "You really should've just stayed at work."
I looked down at the ground, not sure what I should say now.
"You got us into this mess and you better fucking get us out of it." Jim snarled again, forcing me to look back up at him by placing his hand on my chin and moving my head upwards forcefully. "Do you understand?"
I gulped, my heart pounding in my chest as fear was swept throughout my entire body. I opened my mouth, hoping that words would escape it.
But they didn't.
Not wanting Jim to yell at me again, I forced myself to nod.
"I couldn't hear you Fischbach." He was so close to me that I could feel his hot breath on his face. I could also smell the coffee that he always drank before heading to work. "What was that about getting us out of this mess that you created?" He poked me hard in the chest.
"I-I'll get us out of this mess."
Jim tilted his head, the angry look still remaining on his face.
"I'll get us out of this mess, sir."
"Good boy." Jim smiled only slightly as he removed his hand from my chin. "Now, get your fucking ass in the lab this instant! We cannot afford to lose our funding!"
I hardly any time to react before he shoved me full force onto the ground. I rubbed the back of my head as I slowly stood up again because it had started throbbing when it came into contact with the ground. I sighed and shook my head slightly as I put my hands into the pockets of my lab coat and began making my way over to my lab, knowing full well that my coworkers were all staring at me as I walked by them. I forced myself to look up when I saw Annie. She was back to wearing her normal work uniform and she gave me a look that seemed to say, "Things are going to be okay, right?"

"It's not as dangerous as everyone's saying that it is." The sound of Ryan's voice caused me to nearly leap out of my skin. He was standing right next to the double doors that led to my lab. "Right, Doc?"
I shook my head. "No Ryan, it's all just a bunch of crazy talk. You know how the media is. They like to tell people things that will immediately spark conversations. We have nothing to worry about."
The worst part about me saying those things is that I hardly believed the words that were coming from my own mouth.
"If you say so, Doc." Ryan shrugged as he walked off and headed to where Annie and a few others were all standing and whispering quietly amongst themselves. I shrugged it off and placed my hand on the doorknobs, pulling them only to find that they were locked. I stuck my hands into the pockets of my lab coat and started searching for the key. When I discovered that the key wasn't in either pocket, I then started searching the pockets of my jeans.
"Don't you dare fucking tell me that I left the key at home." I muttered in frustration as I pulled out my phone and began dialing Amy's number. I placed the phone up to my ear once it started ringing and waited for her to answer.

"God fucking damn it all!" I cursed loudly when the call went to voicemail. I saw everyone staring at me once more through the corner of my eye. As I listened to Amy's voicemail, I rubbed my forehead in an attempt to calm myself down before I left her a message. "Why the fuck did I even take the key home in the first place?"
I waited to hear the beeping noise before I started speaking. "Hey honey, I'm just calling to ask if I left the key to my lab at home. Call me back as soon as possible because I kinda need those." I forced myself to laugh a little before hanging up and putting my phone back into my pocket.
"She's probably not even going to even listen to that voicemail because she's so terrible at answering and returning calls." I muttered in frustration as I looked around and saw that everyone had stopped staring at me. I was about to force myself to go over and talk to Annie in order to pass the time while I waited for Amy to call back when I saw that the door that led up to the roof was open. I thought that this was very strange because that door was never open. Deciding that I had nothing to lose mostly because I had nothing better to do, I walked over to the door and three of my coworkers who were standing nearby watched me as I walked through the door and closed it behind me. After closing the door, I began running up the seemingly endless staircase that led up to the roof.

Wind blew wildly as I opened the door at the very top of the stairs while gasping for breath. I wasn't exactly the most athletic person out there and I was terrible at running so I felt like my entire chest was on fire and I also felt like I could hardly breathe at all.
"Matthew?" I asked when I saw my soft-spoken and dark-skinned coworker standing dangerously close to the edge of the roof. "What are you doing up here?"
"Oh God..." Matthew whispered as I walked over to him and stood beside him. "Mark, what have we done? Why didn't I run the tests before Jim found out about it?" He started speaking again before I had the chance to respond. "I could've made it so that the cure was safe for everyone to use." He continued on. "This is so much worse than previously thought." He sighed, tears gleaming in his eyes. "The "cure" is going to change everything."
Suddenly, he stepped onto the edge of the roof and spread his arms out.
"Don't you dare Matthew!" I yelled as I began attempting to help him down.
He shoved me away with his leg before jumping off the ledge, still holding his arms out. I watched in horror as he fell until he hit the road that awaited him below. A very tiny part of me expected him to slowly stand up and limp away, but the rest of me knew that he was laying down there dead.
"Matthew..." I trailed off, wishing that he allowed me to save him from jumping off.
"Matthew was a good man." Jim's voice at the doorway caused my heart to skip a beat. "He'll be missed."
"How long have you been standing there?" I asked as I walked over to him.
"I just got up here. Annie told me that she saw you walking up to the roof. I wanted to make sure that you weren't about to do what Matthew just did."
"No, I couldn't do that." I whispered as I stared down at my feet. "I have a wife and a daughter at home. I can't leave them, especially since the "cure" is deadly."
Jim nodded. "Well, I'm glad that you decided to stick around." He then sighed. "The president wishes to speak with us."
"W-What?" I asked, hardly able to believe what he just told me. "Why would he want to speak with us?"
Jim shrugged. "Perhaps it's to reassure everyone that everything's going to be okay."

*****

"You're Mark, I presume?" The president held out his hand towards me so that I could shake it.
"Yes, that's me." I forced myself to not stutter as I made eye contact with him while shaking his hand.
"Well, it's very nice to meet you." He smiled as he let go of my hand.
"It's an honor to meet you." I smiled back at him.
He simply gave me a nod while someone behind a camera on the floor below the stage we were all standing on motioned for the president to come forth to the podium.
"It's time for us to try and ease the fear that has been swept throughout the nation."

I wasn't listening to what the president was saying at all.
Now, it wasn't because I didn't care about what the president was saying.
It was because I knew that he was going to make both Jim and me speak.
Thankfully, the president had Jim speak first and that gave me more time to figure out just what I wanted to say.
"While the drug turning out to be dangerous is certainly not something that was expected, we are going to do our best to make sure that the drug doesn't cause the catastrophic damage it was prophesized to cause in today's news." Jim turned his head towards me and motioned for me to take his place at the podium.
Don't you dare fuck this up. I thought to myself as I forced myself to walk towards the podium. Once there, I placed my arms on it and cleared my throat.
"As the person who is responsible for the drug's creation, you can rest assured knowing that I will fix my mistake." I kept my eyes on the cameraman, trying to push the fact that I was live on TV on a channel that millions and millions would be watching. "Humanity will live on. I can promise you that."
Just then, the president stepped towards the podium and stepped back so that he would could have access to it.
"I will see to this situation as well. I will make sure that everything goes smoothly. Rest easy tonight America. The world isn't ending."

*****

"Mark..." Amy trailed off as I walked into the house and took off my lab coat.
"Amy..." I trailed off as well. I took off my shoes and began walking upstairs.
"Are you really certain that you can fix this?"
The words caught me off guard so much that I stopped in the middle of the stairs. Now that she was asking me this question, I realized that I wasn't too sure if I could fix this or not.
But there was no way in hell that I was going to tell her this. It would only scare her.
"Yes, of course I'm sure that I can fix this. Did you hear what I, Jim, and the president said on the news today?"
"Of course I heard what the three of you said." I listened to her as I resumed walking upstairs. "But I'm still doubtful."
I looked back at her once I was at the top of the stairs. "You shouldn't be doubtful at all. Everything will be okay. If I have the potential of creating the cure for cancer, then I have the potential of fixing something I created."
Amy didn't respond to me at all. Instead, she turned and went back to sit down on the couch.

"Daddy, is the world gonna end?"
Penny's little voice scared me when I walked by her room. In fact, it scared me to the point where it forced me to stop dead in my tracks as my heart skipped a beat.
"What do you mean sweetie? Why would you think that the world's gonna end?"
"Well, everyone at school was saying that your "cure" was going to cause the world to end because it was bad. And then Mommy said that the newspaper said that it was going to cause terrible damage to the Earth." She paused for a moment. "Well, she actually said another word but it was a word that was really hard for me to say. It was something like "catastrophic.""
Normally, I would praise her for saying such a big word (For someone her age, at least) so well, but I didn't have the mental energy to do so. "Honey, sometimes people get worried over silly things so they say things because they're scared that something very scary is going to happen."
"So, the world isn't going to end?"
I shook my head as I went into her room and walked over to her bed. "No, the world isn't going to end sweetie. You have nothing to worry about."
She smiled and wrapped her arms around my neck. "Good. I didn't want the world to end."
"I didn't want the world to end either." I whispered as I hugged her back.

*****

I laid in bed with Amy sleeping next to me, feeling crushed by own guilt. How could I let this happen? The fate of the entire world was now resting in my hands.
My actions and choices are going to determine whether or not humanity survives.
You're going to regret this decision one day.
The words that my mother had said to me when I had graduated from college suddenly echoed in my head. Three years ago, I thought that she was totally insane for saying such a thing.
But now, three years later, I've finally realized that she was totally right.