
In a crumbling metropolis where fog and smog trade places across centuries, Roddie navigates a world of broken concrete and lingering fire. Left behind while the soldiers march north, he lives with Molly, a caretaker whose soothing chants mask a harsher reality. Their cramped refuge crackles with tension, and Roddie’s frustration boils over as he confronts the ever‑present threat of the mysterious Invaders that keep breaching the city’s fragile defenses.
Desperate to keep the dwindling garrison functional, Roddie turns his hands to a grim, makeshift surgery, stitching together damaged soldiers with whatever tools he can find. The ritualized commands he recites echo through the ruined halls, while twisted, multi‑limbed figures shuffle in uneasy formation. Amid the smoke‑filled corridors and the constant hum of decay, Roddie’s frantic ingenuity offers a fragile hope that the city might yet hold its line—if only he can keep the broken pieces from falling apart.
Language
en
Duration
~28 minutes (27K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2016-02-17
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
1915–2003
Best known for brisk, imaginative science fiction stories from the 1950s, this American writer published in magazines like Galaxy and If before later readers rediscovered his work through Project Gutenberg and audio editions.
View all books