[ WP ] The world is rapidly changing as the plague of our era is spreading fast . But it does n't affect humans . It eats plastic .

Plastic, and plastic-like polymers. Chewed, eaten away at like a phone in a microwave. Turning black, bubbling, gooey and stretched like cheese on a pizza. Then a burst of pus would surface, spilling like a ruptured cyst. The material would collapse in on itself, imploding into strands of molten polymer. That came later. 
 
 
 
 Pinpointing a beginning: I met Anna in a cold January in New York City. She told me she was running from a bad past, and the traces of a suppressed accent sounded in her voice. When she changed, thin white scars caught the light on her back. If I ever traced them, Anna flinched. I'd volunteered at domestic shelters while at college and did n't ask questions. 
 
 
 At the time, I had it all. A flat in New York, a girlfriend who never wanted to discuss history, and a solid job at a newspaper that still sold paper copies. Foot in the door. Zach dropped a file on my desk. He was ruddy faced, losing his hair and thirty-five pounds ago he was considered in good shape. 
 
 
 
 `` Factory dropped across State. Just fell into the ground. No structural problems until now, so go check it out.'' 
 
 
 
 `` I'm on the real estate desk, Zach,'' 
 
 
 
 `` It's a building, is n't it?'' Zach took his coffee and put a red finger on top of the file. `` Check it out, Tom.'' 
 
 
 
 `` Put a word in on the Sports desk, and I will,'' I replied. 
 
 
 
 Starting the ignition in my car, the air freshener fluttered by the rear view mirror. For the Giants, but I had n't been to see a game since Dad moved. Anna's travel suitcase lay in the backseat, a spare pair of pumps in the passenger seat. She'd also left a crumpled foodbox from a vegan restaurant. A work conference in Chicago, or Seattle. She was a private person. 
 
 
 
 I did n't know it then, but that factory was the beginning. The black fluid spread for a mile and a half. It had manufactured early kid's toys. The colourful ones, made of a soft enough plastic to chew and maul without injury. Press was n't welcome. It was completely roped off, raining miserably. I checked in at a motel down the road and, after seeing a man watching my car, took Anna's suitcase inside with me. 
 
 
 
 I Skyped her from the bedroom. She grinned, dressed in one of my white t-shirts, hair tied up in a curling ponytail. 
 
 
 `` I might be tied up here a while,'' I told her. `` They're still figuring out what happened, and I want to be here for it.'' 
 
 
 `` Is Zach still making promises about sports?'' It was a running joke between us. 
 
 
 
 `` Yeah, but this time I'm sure. Listen, I've got your suitcase here.'' 
 
 
 
 
 `` Do n't open that,'' Anna joked, but her face was tight. `` Dirty clothes, you know.'' 
 
 
 
 She had a little black mark on her cheek that I did n't remember there before. Like a beauty spot, but it seemed to move like a bug. 
 
 
 
 `` I'm going to open it,'' I joked. I reached for the zip. 
 
 
 `` No!'' 
 
 
 `` I'm going to do it,'' 
 
 
 
 `` Please, Tom, do n't...'' 
 
 
 
 The black spot grew, spreading molten in her cheek. At first she did n't notice, then her eyes turned wide in horror. A trembling hand reached up to touch it, prodding at the exposed areas of her skin. Red strands stretched out, her teeth shining through the leaking pus. The suitcase was full of cash, bills and bills in neat bundles. Anna dropped the connection, choking screams rising in her throat. 
 
 
 
 I could n't have known that she was running from something more serious than a bad past. The cash in the suitcase, the subdued accent, and more than that... The plastic implants that had completely changed the shape of her face. Not the person I'd thought, but the plague became personal. 

