The hazmat figure looked at the pink dust on his suit, then back at the peculiar rainbow smoke rising from the manhole. Beyond the manhole, back toward what was left of the Loop, a shimmering glow filled the sky.

Tommy lifted Grace, put her in the passenger seat, and strapped her in. He held the faceplate over her head and asked, “You good?”

She smiled as if sitting in this strange car, encased in an adult’s hazmat suit was the most natural thing in the world, and gave him another thumbs-up. He smiled back, unable to contain his joy. He had his daughter.

He twisted the key in the ignition, expecting to hear the monotonous clicking of a dead battery. But it had only been four days, after all. The engine turned over almost immediately. He turned on the headlights, put the car into drive, and they pulled away.

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Copyright © 2013 Jeff Jacobson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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ISBN: 978-0-7860-3078-1

First electronic edition: August 2013

eISBN-13: 978-0-7860-3079-8

eISBN-10: 0-7860-3079-8

Notes

1

Taken from the World Health Organization website.