I set the package down slowly and pull my hands away. I crouch there staring at it. What is this? My mind flickers with images of a dusty attic somewhere, some old soldier's souvenir chest, the house selling, a relative dropping a garbage bag full of old junk off at a donation bin somewhere... But it couldn't happen, right? Some kind of active chemical weapon finding its way into a salvage shop's antique bin? It's ridiculous, isn't it? I've never heard of anything like this happening before. Something somewhere in the system must prevent this kind of thing, right? But...

I pick up the package again and stare at the label.

OUTER LAYER TO PROTECT YOU FROM BLISTER GAS

Blister gas. I've never heard of it before. Is it the equivalent of a tear gas grenade? Or a chemical weapon that could wipe out my entire neighborhood?