"I don't care if I get wet!"

Eric snatched at her hand, but Angel quickly pulled away. She let her hand extend beyond the umbrella's translucent canopy, its special shielding against radiation and chemical contaminants having been turned off despite Eric's warnings.

"You can't do that!" he cried.

"Why not?" she said. "It's been years since the fallout. Why use this stupid shield anyway? What difference does it make if things APPEAR normal?"

Tears streaked her lover's face, but he said nothing.
Disgusted with the futility of it all, she hit another button on the handle and turned off his holo-projection. He offered no answers. The streets were filled with ghosts. Why did she need the illusion of another?

She slowly lowered the electric umbrella's clear dome and watched the chemical burns climb up her arm and spread across her skin until the agony of her body matched her soul.

Soon she would join them all, and she would be free.