Description

the last cigarette

This is not a test.

Walter Regin’s life is in shambles. His marriage is on the rocks. His wife, along with their young son, traveled 900 miles to stay with her parents. Alone, Walt wallows in his thoughts, focusing on the series of events that brought him to this place. His concentration breaks when he hears an emergency alert on the television.

He’s left in disbelief at the message. Nuclear war is imminent.

As he looks out at the panicked streets of St. Louis, he grapples with feelings of helplessness and the looming possibility of facing nuclear destruction alone and afraid. With no hope of reaching his family before the bombs arrive, his only option is to survive and hope they do, too.

With the clock ticking down, Walter must confront his past mistakes and find a glimmer of hope amidst the impending doom.

Will he be able to reconcile with his loved ones, or is he doomed to face the end alone?

Includes two additional short stories:

Broken Reel

A man drives along a wooded road, though he has no memory of leaving home. There’s no other traffic, no sign of life, other than a roadside memorial. As the evening progresses, he sees the same memorial again. And again. Is he dreaming or trapped in a nightmare?

The Cleaner Comes at Midnight

The streets of Philadelphia run red with blood. High above, a man watches the city descend into madness from his apartment. Unwilling to risk his life in the hysteria below, he watches as a military helicopter flies over with a message playing from a loudspeaker. Is it a sign of a pending rescue, or is it the beginning of the end?

other formats: paperback