Skin on My Skin

Ebola, N1H1, the Spanish Flu, and the Black Death were common colds compared to the Preacher’s Plague. The work of homophobic religious fanatics, led by a man called The Preacher, the Preacher’s Plague was a genetically engineered virus designed to eradicate homosexuality for good by making men violently allergic to each other. The virus ultimately did far more than the Preacher had ever planned for, however. He had hoped to kill all homosexuals. Instead, his plague began to infect women as well as men, making humans violently allergic to one another, and thus began the end of the human race. Billions perished, governments fell, and society itself collapsed as the few remaining survivors isolated themselves as well as they could, praying for the plague to burn itself out.

Jacky Wyatt was eight when the plague first struck. He spent the next five years in a homemade containment unit, watching through sheets of plastic and duct tape as his father slowly went crazy. After his father’s death, Jacky moved on, living as scavengers do, permanently alone and eking the best life he could out of the ruins of New York City.

Jacky’s life is turned upside down the day he discovers a Toucher girl while out scavenging. Touchers are immune to the Preacher’s Plague. Most live out their meager existence in the worst kind of slavery. Jacky does not think he is a hero, but the girl ultimately touches something inside his soul, something deeper than the intense sexual attraction he feels towards her after living alone for fifteen years.

The girl has caught the eye of The Preacher, however, and so has Jacky. Soon he is left with two choices: fight for the girl, or make a deal with the devil hot on their trail.