EXCERPT
Desolation
(Stone Age Book 2)
(Stone Age Book 2)
by M.
L. Banner
Desolation is the second book in
the Stone Age series. Also available:
Stone Age.
Desolation is currently on tour
with Enchanted Book Promotions. The tour stops here today for an excerpt. Please
be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.
Description
A world devastated: a sky filled with magical auroras at night and deadly
radiation during the day; technology all but gone; hundreds of millions dead by
fire, starvation, disease and violence. The survivors will have to face their
own desolation.
Three groups struggle to endure and hold onto what little they have,
while others will do anything to take it all. On a beach in Mexico, a small
town in Wyoming, and a rural ranch in Illinois, epic battles between good and
evil will be fought. Winners will have to face forces of nature never seen
before.
But there is a dim light on the horizon. A 150 year old secret may lead
the lucky few to a place that holds the promise of a new future, unless the sun
sets on humanity first.
The stunning follow up to the #1 Amazon Best Seller Stone Age.
Movie Rating: PG-17 for descriptions of violence and language.
Excerpt from Chapter 16: Blood
and Water!
Western Nebraska
Melanie’s thirst
was insatiable as she pushed down again on the old pump handle, summoning
another refreshing torrent of water. She drank, filled her water bottle, and
then doused her head and neck, cooling her body down, slurping the last drops
as the gushing flow trailed off into rivulets. She had had her fill. Not so insatiable after all, she mused.
The well pump was
located in back, conveniently visible from the driveway of the farmhouse she
had been approaching for the last hour. When she spied the pump, she had paid
no mind to the state of the house, or to whether it was occupied or not. She
regarded it now.
Before their escape
module had crashed, she could see that all of North and South America were
dark. This was no doubt the result of the giant solar storm that took out the
ISS’s systems. She was pretty sure that anarchy reigned in the cities, but
unsure if its ugliness had yet taken root in the more rural western states,
where she was. Being one to not take chances, she approached the house with
care, hoping that her caution was overdone, and she would find Ma and Pa Kettle
having their Sunday dinner. Speaking of which, she was hungry.
She painstakingly
peeked in each of the back windows, following the wrap-around porch, finding no
one moving about. However, there were several signs of occupancy, and one in
particular that caused her concern. Her vision and focus, previously lost in a
haze of dehydration, were now sharp and hyper aware as she approached the back
door. Its small window, about chest height to her, was broken. She peeked through
the jagged opening, looking into the home’s kitchen. A light breeze blew
through the opening, brushing the single curtain aside, and then letting it
fall back into place. Each breeze revealed more of what she was looking at:
lots of dishes and discarded food strewn around the kitchen; a wood-burning
stove - it was on, its heat
visible - and resting on top, an old camp-fire coffeepot with steam gushing from
its spout; and a man.
Melanie hurriedly
looked to her left and then right and then back through the breach again,
attempting to will the curtain aside once more so that she could see. A man
with crazy hair dressed in overalls walked out of a large pantry into the
kitchen. He wrapped a folded towel around the coffeepot’s handle to temper the
heat.
One of the porch’s
old wood floor boards creaked, sounding an alarm behind her. She spun, shocked,
as she was staring at the ugliest mug of a man she could ever remember seeing.
Rotten breath and the words, “What do we have here?” spilled from a mouth
missing several teeth. The gun he pointed at her and everything about him
announced this was one bad dude.
Praise for the Book
"I didn't think it was possible, but Desolation is even better than Stone
Age. A truly gifted writer, ML Banner will keep you turning the pages till
the very end." ~ William H. Weber,
bestselling author, Last Stand Series
"A superbly entertaining science fiction thriller You'll find it
impossible to put down!" ~ Darren Wearmouth, bestselling author, First
Activation & Critical Dawn
"Desolation is a great
apocalyptic story. It has a great storyline, with well-developed characters.
The world building is just awesome.!"
~ Book Junkiez
From the Author
Hello lovers of apocalyptic fiction!
I devour the same books I enjoy writing: science fiction, but especially
anything apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic or dystopian. I love stories about
regular people being put into extra ordinary circumstances, and having to rely
on their own cunning and that of others to survive.
Stone Age and Desolation
are that kind of story. They're fast moving, have some regular and amazing
characters who must make life changing decisions, all while the world is
experiencing an apocalypse unlike anything imagined.
When not writing fiction, my wife and I split time between Tucson,
Arizona and the sunny beaches of Mexico. I also write for a few blogs, and I
still write articles to assist small business owners for one of the companies I
founded, SmallBiZ.com.
Links
