Book Preview “Ryan!” Heedless of his own injuries, J.B. bolted to his side, firing his Uzi through the veil of smoke. Grabbing Ryan by the legs, he dragged him back to the wall. “How bad is it?” “Not…good. I know that much,” Ryan gritted. He brought his trembling neck muscles under control to look down … Read more
Book Preview “What’s wrong with him?” Ryan demanded Mildred didn’t answer. She turned away and rammed two stiff fingers down her throat, trying to induce vomiting. It took Ryan only an instant to understand. With a curse he tossed away the canteen. Poisoned. The whole bastard lake was poisoned! Dropping the Steyr, the man clumsily … Read more
Book Preview Mildred’s anguished cry echoed around the circular ruins Ryan’s heart seemed to seize in his chest. He ducked behind the wall and turned. The Armorer stood as if rooted in place. Ryan could clearly see the spot where a small portion of his leather jacket had been pushed aside a fraction of an … Read more
Book Preview Jak’s hand was red and swollen The slash was dark, puffy and angry looking. It had stopped bleeding, but now it oozed a clear fluid. Mildred sniffed, then wrinkled her nose. “Sweet-sour stink. Either those little bastards have some kind of venom in them, or their feces are more virulent than I first … Read more
Book Preview “Something’s wrong here.” “Yeah. I feel it, too,” Jak said, a concealed knife dropping into his hand from his sleeve. “Better stay in the mat-trans,” Ryan said. “If we come back with a droid on us, we’ll need backup.” Turning away, he saw that J.B. was already at the oval hatch, looking for … Read more
Book Preview The companions really didn’t have a choice “Are we all agreed, then?” Ryan asked, looking from face to shadowy face. “We fight them?” The answer was unanimous and in the affirmative. “When we last met, the she-hes took us by surprise,” Ryan said. “That’s why we ended up at Ground Zero in laser … Read more
Book Preview “You strong boys going to help with these chains, or what?” Ryan and Jak leaped from the wag and followed Mitch into the shed while Annie remained in the passenger seat. Jak glanced back, making sure that the woman wasn’t reaching for the shotgun that was nestled in a rig beside her. “It’s … Read more
Book Preview Chapter One “They say a week in a truck is a long time. ’Specially if you ain’t got no shitter, and no time to stop. Me? I say it’s how you get to know who your real friends are.” Trader Toms cackled in a wheezing, cracked tone that broke down into a phlegm-ridden … Read more
Book Preview Krysty lay on her side, gasping Her vision smeared back into being—tripled, doubled and then finally was normal. She felt as if it had just rained hammers. Every cell of her body ached, and she tasted the copper of a nosebleed in the back of her throat. She reached out. “Ryan…” Mildred moaned. … Read more
Book Preview Chapter One The sky was a dark blue bleeding into an umbra of purple. It lurched, turned, then spun through 180 degrees. Sickening pain jarred in Jak’s elbow, making him bite back the curse that welled up in his throat as bile sought to join it. The Colt Python .357, never a light … Read more
Book Preview Prologue The creature exploded out of the laurel bushes and charged across the dirt road, its four arms raised for a fast chill, the black talons dripping green venom. “Ambush!” sec chief Charles Donovan cried, flicking off the safety on his massive crossbow. “Gene and Rosemary, stay with the cart! Everybody else, form … Read more
Book Preview The ceremony was over “I don’t know what it is we’ve stumbled into, but I’m thinking it looks mighty big, J.B.,” Ryan said. “Agreed,” J.B. said, quickly glancing behind them. The Armorer pointed to the open door ahead and Ryan took the lead, jumping onto the raised step and ducking through the door … Read more
Book Preview Chapter One “A hard rain’s going to fall,” Doc muttered gnomically from the rear of the wag. Mildred looked at him, also hard. The reference was lost on the others; but she, of an earlier age than them, wondered if some memory had once more filtered through Doc’s labyrinthine and fogged mind. Jak … Read more
Book Preview The deal was on the table “Come along with us to Cascade. Lend a blaster if there’s any chilling to be done on the way. The healer helps patch any wounds, and talks to the old-timers, and the six of you get a fair share of every trade I make,” Having done something … Read more
Book Preview The piles of corpses and severed Realizing what was coming. the slaves struggled futilely with their bonds, weeping and begging their captors for mercy. Al but the companions. Jak. Krysty, Mildred, Doc. and J.B. were staring at Ryan. Their fixed, defiant expressions al said the same thing: we’re not going to check out … Read more
Book Preview “This could change all our lives for the better,” “If there’s another world out there, an unnuked world, maybe we wouldn’t want to come back.” “Mebbe you wouldn’t want to come back,” Krysty said. “If you’ve got big love in your heart for Deathlands because you were born here, that’s your business,” Mildred … Read more
Book Preview “What was that half-wit talking about?” Mildred was enraged. “Why the hell did he take Krysty away?” Doc smiled sadly. “Because, my dear doctor, I fear that like so many of us, he may not be exactly of sound mind.” “A crazy. Great,” Jak snorted. Doc’s smile broadened. “I think you may have … Read more
Book Preview There was no guarantee It was possible that they wouldn’t find Steel Eyes at the journey’s end. Yet there had been no arguments over the course of action. And no second thoughts once they had begun. Magus was a plague on all their houses. It was said that his artificially prolonged life had … Read more