I'm really excited to share the Scorched: The Last Nomads releases this week! The novel is 99 cents for pre-order and during release week. This new look at the end of the world comes one-hundred and sixty-seven after a massive coronal mass ejection from the sun devastated out world. In my novel, Keyes, a resident at The Park, is struggling to survive. When her sister goes missing, she needs to decide if she should leave the safety of the walls to search for her.
When I set out to write this book, I had intended a straight up post-apoc thriller. Well, I can never seem to stick to genre. The series has a Mad Max mixed with steampunk/solarpunk feel. Right now, the series is in a place where the world is very rusty and dusty, but by the end, we'll get a very different look at the world. I'll be blogging more about solarpunk and eco-criticism soon. But for now, let's enjoy Keyes' journey!
Buy Scorched: The Last Nomads on Amazon
Survive the Night. Suffer the Day.
Every day, I pray my sister survived the wasteland--and that the bond between us will be enough for me to find her.
One hundred and sixty-seven years ago, a solar coronal mass ejection devastated civilization. In the blink of an eye, modern technology died. Destroying the grid might not have brought about our end, but the solar superstorm blighted the land and made us sick. After the crisis, lawlessness ruled, and societies fell. This is the hellish world my sister Ash and I grew up in. If it's not the landscape trying to kill you, the wailers who roam the wasteland at night will.
Now our home, The Park, teeters on the brink of extinction. When the annual shipment of supplies from Low Tide outpost failed to arrive, my sister led a small scouting party to find out what happened.
But she never came back. No one did.
I can either hope for a miracle or mourn her for dead. I can't live with either option. The elders won't let me leave. But nothing will keep me from Ash. The unexpected arrival of The Dead Troupe--part-nomads, part-performers--offers an unexpected opportunity to find her.
Now I just need to survive the sunburnt earth where the wailers roam and none but the Dead Troupe survive.
Join Keyes in her search for Ash in this post-apocalypse CME fiction with solarpunk and steampunk elements, Scorched: The Last Nomads, The Burnt Earth Series Book One
Chapter 1
The worn metal casing of the monocular burned the
tender skin around my eye as I peered across the wasteland. The wind blew up a
torrent of red dust that burned my nose. I stifled a cough. The windmill’s
paddles turned, metal squeaking. I scanned the horizon. Nothing moved. Nothing
lived. It had been eight days since Ash and her party headed out beyond the walls
of The Park on a journey to Low Tide outpost. When the annual shipment of
supplies had failed to arrive, my sister had led the expedition to find out
why. The only problem was she hadn’t returned.
I panned the lens toward the
ruins of the city in the distance. We called the route between our two
communities Hell’s Passage. Between the hostile landscape, daily temperature
holding well above one hundred degrees, and the dangers inherent traveling
through the fallen world, Hell’s Passage was the perfect name. This was the
world Ash and I had been born into, a
hell complete with its own demons. If the solar sickness or dehydration didn’t
kill us, the wailers would. If Ash and her group had been caught out at night
when the wailers roamed… No, I wouldn’t think like that.
“Keyes?” Ronan called up from the
ground.
I lowered the lens and looked
down from my perch on the watchtower at him. Ronan was still wearing his smock
and goggles. His black hair stuck out wildly, the silver at his temples looking
like wings. His forehead was wrinkled with frustration, his lips drawn into a
tight line. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I’ve got good news and bad news.
Talked to Carrington. I promised her we could get
downriver and back in a few hours. Just a quick trip to check things
out.”
“And?”
“She agreed, but on two
conditions.”
I slipped my monocular into my
toolbelt. Grabbing a rope, I slid down from the watchtower to the ground. My
boots landed with a thud, stirring up a cloud of dust. When Ash hadn’t returned
on time, I’d started begging the elders to let me leave the safety of The Park
to look for my sister. Their answer was a resounding no. But Ronan and I had
cooked up a plan. Ash and her group had driven our landsailers down the dry riverbed toward the fallen city. Someone
could go see if the ships were parked at the waterfall. That’s where they would
have stopped. There was no way around the boulders. If the ships were there, at least we’d have some idea
of how far they made it.
“What conditions?” I asked.
“First, that we only go and check for the landships. No detours. We check for the ships
then come back.”
“Fine.” Sure, we’d check for the landsailers, but what else might we see? I
needed to know how far Ash had made it. Had she gotten to the waterfall? If she had, we’d find the landsailers there. If so, how much further had she made it? Had she
gotten as far as the lighthouse, the safe harbor between Low Tide and us? Further? Was she delayed in
getting back or had something happened? “And the other condition?”
Ronan pointed in the direction of
Park Building.
The building, which had once been
the central hub of the natural park where our community resided, sat on a rise
above the rest of the small village. One hundred and sixty-seven years ago, a massive coronal mass ejection from the sun
had devastated the world. The grids went down. Technology buckled in the blink
of an eye. We could have survived it, we could have rebuilt, but it seemed that
humans did not fare well in the face of global natural catastrophe. Lawlessness
ruled. The Park, which had once boasted small shops, tiny cabins, quaint cafés,
and the administrative center—Park Building—became a refuge from the city. Walls
had been erected to keep marauders out. But that was when mankind thought their
biggest problem was one another. In the years that followed the solar
superstorm, it became apparent that the
earth had been doused with massive
radiation. Crops failed, and people started dying of solar sickness. Worse was what had been born in the CME’s wake.
Monsters that lurked only at night: the wailers. Now the walls kept us safe.
But I had been trying to get
outside those walls for days. Unfortunately, the elders’ second condition was about to ruin any chance I had of
sleuthing.
Enrique made his way toward us.
The slender man who wore a perpetual frown had two shotguns strapped on his
back. He nodded to Ronan and me. “I’ll go get some water for us then meet you
at the gate.”
I shot Ronan a knowing glance.
The elders knew me well enough to know that I wouldn’t be satisfied with only
half the story. Enrique, leader of the watch and a very self-assured hardhead,
was there to keep me in line.
I sighed. “Okay. Well, we’ll have
to take it, conditions aside. I’ll meet you in ten,” I said then headed off in
the direction of the little house I shared with my sister. I worked quickly,
packing up my tools. I also grabbed a map which I’d copied from Ash’s things
before she’d left. I drummed my fingers on the paper. If they would just let me
go alone. Frowning, I grabbed my goggles and a scarf. I cast a glance at Ash’s
empty cot. With our parents gone, Ash was the only person I had left in the
world. What did they expect me to do, just sit here and wait? What if she was
hurt somewhere out there? Or trapped? I had this terrible feeling in the pit of
my stomach that something was wrong. My sister was in trouble. I knew it. And
she was still alive. What gave them the right to decide I couldn’t try to find
her?
Frustrated, I headed back outside
where Ronan and the chronically-irritable Enrique waited.
Enrique handed canteens to both
Ronan and me then signaled to the guard on the gate. Metal screeched in protest
as they unlatched the locks then turned the wheel to open the massive gates. Dust blew across the wasteland
and into the community center. It burned my nose, and the taste of silt filled my mouth. I wrapped my scarf around
my nose and mouth and lowered my goggles. The blue-green tinted lenses blocked
out the harsh light.
Something had happened to the
Earth’s atmosphere in the wake of the solar storm. From what I had read in our
small library, the Earth’s protective layers were supposed to keep out harmful
radiation. But people were still getting sick. Maybe in another hundred years
or so the Earth would heal herself. But by that time, humanity would be dead.
Perhaps only the wailers would survive.
“How far do you think they could
get in the landships?” Enrique asked as
we headed toward the dry riverbed. Ronan and I had worked for the last several
months building ships that could travel quickly and easily across flat land.
Fashioned from canoes fixed with wheels, sails, and a rudder—based on a design
I’d seen of ships that used to race on
the frozen lakes—the ships could quickly come up to speed.
“About three miles downriver the
terrain gets rough. If they managed around the rocks, they would have had to
stop at the waterfall. No more than six or seven miles,” Ronan said.
Enrique nodded then motioned for
us to follow him. We walked to the riverbed and began our trek down the rugged
landscape. I thought back to the day my sister had left. Ash had gone out with
Lordes, Faraday, and Nasir, who loved my sister. All of them were strong. All
of them had a reason to live. Something unexpected had happened.
As we walked along the dry riverbed,
I glanced at the shapes along the river’s edge. Dry brush and reddish vines
with sharp thorns had overgrown what looked like nothing more than heaps along
the river. Underneath were the ruins of houses. This area had once been
picturesque, a beautiful community nestled against a lovely green park, a river
running through it. There was a magazine in Park Building showing the hot air balloon
festival that used to be held in the sunny meadows between us and the city.
Hundreds of brightly-colored balloons would dot the skyline over the
picturesque fields. Now there was nothing but thorny vines, dirt, and the
wailers.
We made our way quickly down the
dry riverbed. As we went, I spotted a large brick building among the ruins. The
vines had completely choked the
structure. As we went, I watched for any sign of Ash and the others. The dust
had long since blown away their tracks,
and thus far, I had seen no sign at all.
Enrique kept checking his timepiece. He was right to be
cautious. We had to make it back before dark.
We made our way quickly. As we
went, I noticed the terrain growing increasingly rough. The landships could be steered, but between the
boulders and the occasional rusted out car, they would not have gotten much
further. It wasn’t long after that when we came to the dried up waterfall.
“There,” I said, pointing to a
rise in the river made of a mix of concrete and boulders. Beyond that, the river’s depth fell dramatically. On
the riverbank nearby, I saw the ruins of several buildings, including one I
knew to be an inn which had once enjoyed the picturesque view—before all the
water had receded back into the depths of the earth. The landships were sitting beside the jumble of
rock.
Ronan and I rushed over to the
ships. They had been carefully stashed, the sails lowered, parked in line.
“She made it this far,” Ronan
said, setting his hand on my shoulder.
I looked through the ships. There
was no sign of anything wrong. No scratches. Nothing broken. No blood.
I exhaled deeply then climbed
onto the rocks nearby. I scanned all around. On the bank near the riverbed
below, I saw the dirt a hand had shifted, and rocks that had tumbled to the
riverbed.
“There,” I said pointing.
Enrique and Ronan joined me.
“See how the dirt is shifted, the
rocks loosened. They must have walked
down the bank and climbed down there.”
Enrique squinted then nodded.
I pulled out my monocular and
looked off in the distance.
“Anything else?” Enrique asked.
His voice had a hard edge to it, but I understood his apprehension. On his last trip out, Enrique was part of a group
that had encountered trouble. They had lost someone on that voyage. He never ventured beyond the walls
after that.
I shook my head. “No.”
“How far is it from here to the lighthouse?”
Ronan asked, referring to the midway point between Low Tide and The Park.
“Too far for us to be concerned
with,” Enrique said, and then slugged some water from his canteen.
Frowning, I pulled out my map.
Enrique was right. It was too far for the three of us to travel before dark.
“Why don’t the two of you rest?
I’ll scout downriver, just thirty minutes or so. Maybe I can see—”
“No,” Enrique interrupted. “We’ll
go back now. We know they made it this far. That, at least, is something,” he
said then turned to the ships. “Should we get these ready and take them back
with us?”
“Leave them here. The others may
need them when they return,” Ronan said.
“We’ve come all this way,” I
said, feeling my chance to figure out what happened slipping from my hands.
“What about the inn? If I can get to one of the upper floors, maybe I can see
downriver.”
Enrique shook his head. “The
wailers like closed, dark places. The place could be infested with them.”
“The windows are open. They won’t
be inside if there’s light,” I replied.
“The floor could be compromised.
They could be in the basement.”
“But—“ I began, but Enrique cut
me off once more.
“Keyes, I know you want to find
Ash, but Ramsey sent me to make sure you didn’t get any wild ideas, so that’s what I’m doing. Ash is probably at Low Tide
getting ready to make the trip back. And she won’t thank any of us if she comes
back and finds out you got yourself killed looking for her.”
I sighed heavily.
“I’m sorry, Keyes,” he added.
“Drink up. We need to head back.”
We took a few moments more to
drink some water. I couldn’t help but notice the strong taste of sulfur. The
water in our reservoir was getting low. We had already started work on another deeper well, but so far, we hadn’t had any
luck. Without the supplies from Low Tide to clean the water, we were in
trouble. I took another sip of the smelly water then closed up the canteen.
Looking just once more through my spyglass downriver, I eyed the city. The window panes on the upper floors of the tall
buildings glinted in the sunlight. I winced.
Once more, my stomach
twisted. Maybe Ash had made it this far, but something told me that she was not
at Low Tide. My sister was in danger, and yet another day was going to pass
where I had done nothing to save her
.
we are making super writing papers with most inexpensive rate. The excessive variety of statistics may be notify to the papers for expand their knowledge. The firsthand records can be posting in the writing papers.scholarship essay writing service is operating more essay papers
ReplyDeleteIt's an inspirational blog. Most of all I like reading a personal blog. For me, it's the best motivation. Somebodies' achievements inspire me for making my posts for https://exclusivethesis.com/buy-a-blog-article.html better. Likewise, I try to improve my skills.
ReplyDeleteReligion coursework writing services are very common nowadays since there are very many students seeking Religion Assignment Writing Services and religion essay writing services.
ReplyDeleteMy ex-husband and I had always managed to stay friendly after our divorce in February 2017. But I always wanted to get back together with him, All it took was a visit to this spell casters website last December, because my dream was to start a new year with my husband, and live happily with him.. This spell caster requested a specific love spell for me and my husband, and I accepted it. And this powerful spell caster began to work his magic. And 48 hours after this spell caster worked for me, my husband called me back for us to be together again, and he was remorseful for all his wrong deeds. My spell is working because guess what: My “husband” is back and we are making preparations on how to go to court and withdraw our divorce papers ASAP. This is nothing short of a miracle. Thank you Dr Emu for your powerful spells. Words are not enough. here is his Email: emutemple@gmail.com or call/text him on his WhatsApp +2347012841542
ReplyDeleteHe is also able to cast spell like 1: Lottery 2: Conceive 3: Breakup 4: Divorce 5: Cure for all kinds of diseases and viruses.
Everyone has their own tastes. Even a strong friendship between several people can be strong, even when their tastes do not match. I like movies or books of romantic style first of all. For my development in the activity, I study a lot of scientific literature, and I recommend to get acquainted with my works my marketing plan. This is a winning ticket for each student.
ReplyDelete