A century after the nuclear conflagration almost destroyed the world, humanity endures in a lawless land. Those who inhabit Deathlands are either killers or those who would be killed. But an elite few defy the laws of this new natural selection—playing both sides of the eternal game of life and death. Ryan Cawdor and his band of warrior survivalists never leave a friend behind... or a cold heart alive. Stranded in the salty desert wastes of West Texas, Ryan and his companions find pre-Dark wheels and set out on a treacherous journey across inhospitable terrain. Hopes for a hot meal and clean bed in an isolated ville die fast when the companions run into a despotic baron manipulating the lifeblood of the desert: water. But it's his fortress stockpiled with enough armaments to wage war in the dunes that interests Ryan, especially when he learns the enemy may be not other than the greatest—and long dead—Deathlands legend: the Trader. (Scorpion God - 1 of 2)