Arthur Conan Doyle 
The Poison Belt 

The science fiction book The Poison Belt is written by British author Arthur Conan Doyle.

According to Challenger’s forecast, the Earth is sliding into a belt of deadly ether that would likely suffocate humanity based on how it affected the Sumatran people earlier in the day. He invites his Lost World friends to meet him at his property outside of London and tells them to each ‘bring oxygen.’ They see how people’s behavior becomes agitated and chaotic as they travel there.

Finally, the final oxygen cylinder is depleted, and they open a window in preparation for their demise. They expect to perish, but to their astonishment they survive, determining that the Earth has now crossed the toxic belt. In Challenger’s automobile, they travel across the lifeless countryside before landing in London.

The world reawakens without them being aware that they have lost any time at all, and they learn upon returning to Challenger’s home that the ether’s influence was just momentary. As a result of the enormous amount of death and destruction brought on by runaway machines and fires that occurred while people were sleeping, Challenger and his companions are eventually able to persuade the world of what actually occurred, and humanity is shocked into placing a higher value on life.