Blood to Dust

"Blood to Dust"

an excerpt

Gary Baker, January 2013

(beginning of book one, chapter eight)

Elias checked the dial on his watch.

West by SouthWest

“Good,” he breathed with relief.

Thankfully Melanie had never noticed the compass inlaid into the base of his time piece, and as such had been more than amazed each time they reached another rise where they could see the smoke plume again.

Looks like scouts didn’t leave me completely stranded after all.

It was more a realization than he had thought it would be, since each time he had ever actually needed the piece of equipment or the proper knowledge of its use had been within city limits until this. Most parks back home had been longer north-south than east-west, usually gated in by highways and the occasional coastline, and thus were easy to navigate without the use of a compass providing you knew the area well enough.

The Great Return

"The Great Return"

an epilogue

Gary Baker, November 2012

(part of a much larger project, book 1 of Blood to Dust)

Elias stepped out of the waygate and into his living room as if leaving the archway from the kitchen. He then paused just inches from the portal and scowled at his surroundings.

Nanna wasn’t home, much like he had expected, and the garbage had been taken out to avoid becoming a breeding ground for pests, but what was off was the lack of any other changes. On the wall to his right stood his miniature library, where books both crazy rare and brand new were organized by size, then genre, and then author with an LED ceiling light mounted in the corner above it all. Further along that same wall was the entertainment system with basic speakers and a small series of games and other gadgetry that he only used on the rare occasions when he had nothing better to do than to watch movies streamed from his primary gaming console.

Across from that, along the opposite wall, was the plush thrift-store sofa and the crocheted blanket laid over it by Nanna not long after he had bought it. On a side table nearest Elias, sat a small vase with small clear marbles in the bottom. Somehow the water was still clear of algae growth and the flowers were still