Expiration Queue

Every citizen receives a date—their Expiration Day. When that day arrives, they report to the Queue: a miles-long line monitored by silent officials in white coats. At the end of the line is a door no one has ever returned through. The system is perfect, unquestioned, and—according to the government—merciful. But today, something impossible happens. Jonah Reed receives a notification: Your Expiration Is Today. Report Immediately. The problem is, he has twenty-three years left on his lifespan. Desperate and confused, Jonah enters the Queue hoping to correct a clerical error. Instead he finds: • People who insist they've stood in the line before • A man whose wristband shows a date centuries in the future • A mother clutching a child who's not supposed to be there • And officials who seem to recognize Jonah when he swears he's never been here The closer Jonah gets to the front, the stranger things become. Time bends. Memories fracture. People disappear from the line without stepping forward. And through the speakers overhead, a distorted voice keeps whispering: "You weren't supposed to escape." As Jonah uncovers the truth behind the Queue—what it is, who created it, and why his name resurfaced—he realizes the system isn't about ending life. It's about reclaiming something that was stolen. Expiration Queue is a chilling, high-concept speculative thriller about fate, identity, and the cost of stepping out of line