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skin on her wrists peeled off sickeningly in his hands to reveal a tortured network of corrupted blood vessels and mutilated muscle. His hands recoiled. He could see now that her face was little more than a mask of ruptured tissue, blistered with open lesions and gaping fissures. The skin around her once passionate eyes had been completely eaten away by the acidic action of the deadly fumes. |
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Charlie slumped away in a fit of coughing, rolled over and slammed his body against the steel barrier that shielded him from the three-story plunge to the beach below. His own senses were locked tight against the terrible reality of the moment. |
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There was a sudden and terrible silence with only the droning sound of the surf to remind him that he was still locked into this horrifying moment in time and space. |
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Slowly, uncertainly, he opened his eyes. The dome of darkness that spread over him was needlepointed with a complex puzzle of tiny white and blue specks of light. Mocking stars were laughing down at him from the otherwise emptiness of the black sky. |
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The deadly fumes were gone, gone as quickly as they had come. He sucked in the air and felt the pain of his effort slam into his lungs. Reluctantly he opened his mouth a second time. He heard the tortured sound of her |
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