Julia’s fireball hadn’t extended all the way to the eastern wall, and though the buildings were in bad shape, they weren’t vaporized or melted. Society divided violently, then divided again, and again. XXX Her breath died in my mouth, and her heart faded beneath my resting palm. My ethereal hands slid through the lengths of my arms, my ethereal feet dropped into my new heels, and my ethereal eyes unfocused behind my new retinas, before clarifying. For I went once more to the realm of my daughter, and found it to be a sterile, barren place. We needed to find the antithesis of Joy. She was a silhouette against the dim light, her scalp exposed and weeping, only the faint tuft of blonde hair left just above her forehead.




















