Book excerpt: Twenty years ago plagues swept humanity to the brink of extinction. The very few that survived were left in a world of plenty, but resources start to become scarce with the passage of time, and people have lost most of their abilities to do anything but forage. Two orphans, born after the apocalypse, flee a once safe and nurturing community grown from gathered wanderers now controlled by evil men. There are no laws to be enforced, there is no social conscience to be adhered to, and there is nothing politically correct. The civilized hysteria of the past has given way to hiding when you can, running when you must, and fighting when you are cornered. A dark stranger, immersed in regret and dangerous to himself and everyone he meets, confides the secret of why the world is as it is. Two orphans must survive, and find someone to trust.