The Ruins
THE COMPLETE SERIES BOOKS 1-4
(PLUS BONUS NOVELLA)
THE RUINS BOOK 1
THE RUINS BOOK 2
THE RUINS BOOK 2.5 (BONUS NOVELLA: THE SHADOWED WALL)
THE RUINS BOOK 3
THE RUINS BOOK 4
By
T.W. Piperbrook
www.twpiperbrook.com
www.facebook.com/twpiperbrook
©2020 Post Script Publishing
Cover Design
Alex Saskalidis, a.k.a. 187designz
Typography
Polgarus Studio
Editing & Proofreading
Cathy Moeschet & Sheila Shedd
Technical Consultant
John Cummings
Table of Contents
Preface
THE RUINS Background: Pertinent Recap of The Last Survivors
THE RUINS Chapter 1: Bray
Chapter 2: Kirby
Chapter 3: Kirby
Chapter 4: Bray
Chapter 5: Kirby
Chapter 6: Kirby
Chapter 7: Bray
Chapter 8: Bray
Chapter 9: Kirby
Chapter 10: Kirby
Chapter 11: Kirby
Chapter 12: Kirby
Chapter 13: Bray
Chapter 14: Bray
Chapter 15: Kirby
Chapter 16: Bray
Chapter 17: Bray
Chapter 18: Bray
Chapter 19: Bray
Chapter 20: Bray
Chapter 21: Bray
Chapter 22: Bray
Chapter 23: Bray
Chapter 24: Bray
Chapter 25: Bray
Chapter 26: Flora
Chapter 27: Flora
Chapter 28: Flora
Chapter 29: Bartholemew
Chapter 30: Bray
Chapter 31: Bray
Chapter 32: Bray
Chapter 33: Bray
Chapter 34: Deacon
Chapter 35: Kirby
Chapter 36: Bray
Chapter 37: Bray
Chapter 38: Kirby
Chapter 39: Kirby
Chapter 40: Kirby
Chapter 41: Flora
Chapter 42: Flora
Chapter 43: Deacon
Chapter 44: Jonas The Collector
Chapter 45: Deacon
Chapter 46: Bray
Chapter 47: Jonas The Collector
Chapter 48: Jonas The Collector
Chapter 49: Bray
Chapter 50: Jonas The Collector
Chapter 51: Bray
Chapter 52: Bray
Chapter 53: Jonas The Collector
Chapter 54: Bray
Chapter 55: Kirby
Chapter 56: Flora
Chapter 57: Kirby
Chapter 58: Bray
Chapter 59: Kirby
Chapter 60: Flora
Chapter 61: Kirby
Chapter 62: Bray
Chapter 63: Bray
Chapter 64: Bray
Chapter 65: Kirby
Chapter 66: Bray
Chapter 67: Bray
Chapter 68: William
Chapter 69: Kirby
Chapter 70: Kirby
Chapter 71: Kirby
Chapter 72: Bray
Chapter 73: Kirby
Chapter 74: Bray
Chapter 75: Bray
Chapter 76: Bray
Chapter 77: Bray
THE RUINS 2 Preface
Chapter 1: Bray
Chapter 2: Bray
Chapter 3: Bray
Chapter 4: Flora
Chapter 5: Bray
Chapter 6: Bray
Chapter 7: Bartholomew
Chapter 8: Jonas The Collector
Chapter 9: Bray
Chapter 10: Deacon
Chapter 11: Kirby
Chapter 12: Jonas The Collector
Chapter 13: Bray
Chapter 14: Flora
Chapter 15: Kirby
Chapter 16: Bray
Chapter 17: Flora
Chapter 18: Flora
Chapter 19: Halifax Soldier
Chapter 20: Bray
Chapter 21: Flora
Chapter 22: Kirby
Chapter 23: Kirby
Chapter 24: Bray
Chapter 25: Kirby
Chapter 26: Bray
Chapter 27: Kirby
Chapter 28: Bray
Chapter 29: William
Chapter 30: Bray
Chapter 31: Kirby
Chapter 32: Kirby
Chapter 33: Deacon
Chapter 34: Deacon
Chapter 35: Bray
Chapter 36: Kirby
Chapter 37: William
Chapter 38: Bray
Chapter 39: Kirby
Chapter 40: William
Chapter 41: Bray
Chapter 42: Deacon
Chapter 43: Kirby
Chapter 44: Bray
Chapter 45: William
Chapter 46: Bray
Chapter 47: Bray
Chapter 48: Bray
Chapter 49: Kirby
Chapter 50: Bray
Chapter 51: Enoch
Chapter 52: Bray
Chapter 53: Bray
Chapter 54: Bray
Chapter 55: William
Chapter 56: Deacon
Chapter 57: William
Chapter 58: Deacon
Chapter 59: William
Chapter 60: Deacon
Chapter 61: Bray
Chapter 62: Kirby
Chapter 63: Bray
Chapter 64: Kirby
Chapter 65: Deacon
Chapter 66: William
Chapter 67: Bray
Chapter 68: Kirby
Chapter 69: Bray
Chapter 70: Bartholomew
Chapter 71: William
Chapter 72: Bray
Chapter 73: Kirby
Chapter 74: Bray
Chapter 75: William
Chapter 76: Kirby
Chapter 77: Flora
Chapter 78: Enoch
Chapter 79: Kirby
Chapter 80: Bray
Chapter 81: William
Chapter 82: Kirby
Chapter 83: Enoch
Chapter 84: Kirby
Chapter 85: Bray
Chapter 86: Bray
Chapter 87: Bray
THE RUINS 2.5 Preface
Chapter 1 - Bray
Chapter 2 - Bray
Chapter 3 - Bray
Chapter 4 – The Trail Guard
Chapter 5 – Kirby
Chapter 6 – The Trail Guard
Chapter 7 – Kirby
Chapter 8 – Bray
Chapter 9 – Bray
Chapter 10 – Bray
Chapter 11 – William
Chapter 12 – Bray
Chapter 13 – Bray
Chapter 14 – William
Chapter 15 – Bray
Chapter 16 – Kirby
Chapter 17 – William
Chapter 18 – Bray
Chapter 19 – Kirby
Chapter 20 – William
Chapter 21 – Kirby
Chapter 22 – William
Chapter 23 – Bray
Chapter 24 – Bray
Chapter 25 – Bray
THE RUINS 3 Preface
Chapter 1: Bray
Chapter 2: Bray
Chapter 3: Cullen
Chapter 4: Bray
Chapter 5: Bray
Chapter 6: Bray
Chapter 7: William
Chapter 8: Kirby
Chapter 9: Kirby
Chapter 10: Rudyard
Chapter 11: Kirby
Chapter 12: Kirby
Chapter 13: B
ray
Chapter 14: The Clicker
Chapter 15: Bray
Chapter 16: Bray
Chapter 17: The Clicker
Chapter 18: Bray
Chapter 19: William
Chapter 20: Bray
Chapter 21: Kirby
Chapter 22: Bray
Chapter 23: Bray
Chapter 24: Bray
Chapter 25: Cullen
Chapter 26: Bray
Chapter 27: William
Chapter 28: Bray
Chapter 29: Bray
Chapter 30: William
Chapter 31: Bray
Chapter 32: William
Chapter 33: William
Chapter 34: Drew
Chapter 35: Kirby
Chapter 36: William
Chapter 37: William
Chapter 38: Kirby
Chapter 39: Bray
Chapter 40: William
Chapter 41: Bray
Chapter 42: Cullen
Chapter 43: Kirby
Chapter 44: Kirby
Chapter 45: Bray
Chapter 46: William
Chapter 47: Bray
Chapter 48: Kirby
Chapter 49: William
Chapter 50: Amelia
Chapter 51: William
Chapter 52: Kirby
Chapter 53: Bray
Chapter 54: William
Chapter 55: Amelia
Chapter 56: William
Chapter 57: Bray
Chapter 58: Kirby
Chapter 59: William
Chapter 60: Amelia
Chapter 61: William
Chapter 62: Bray
Chapter 63: William
THE RUINS 4 Preface
Chapter 1: Bray
Chapter 2: Bray
Chapter 3: William
Chapter 4: Kirby
Chapter 5: William
Chapter 6: Bray
Chapter 7: William
Chapter 8: Kirby
Chapter 9: Kirby
Chapter 10: Tolstoy
Chapter 11: Kirby
Chapter 12: Kirby
Chapter 13: Kirby
Chapter 14: William
Chapter 15: Kirby
Chapter 16: Kirby
Chapter 17: Bray
Chapter 18: Kirby
Chapter 19: William
Chapter 20: Kirby
Chapter 21: William
Chapter 22: Bray
Chapter 23: William
Chapter 24: William
Chapter 25: Bray
Chapter 27: Bray
Chapter 28: William
Chapter 29: Kirby
Chapter 30: William
Chapter 31: William
Chapter 32: Kirby
Chapter 33: Kirby
Chapter 34: Bray
Chapter 35: Kirby
Chapter 36: Bray
Chapter 37: Bray
Chapter 38: Kirby
Chapter 39: Kirby
Chapter 40: Bray
Chapter 41: William
Chapter 42: William
Chapter 43: Kirby
Chapter 44: William
Chapter 45: Esmeralda
Chapter 46: William
Chapter 47: William
Chapter 48: Bray
Chapter 49: Bray
Chapter 50: Kirby
Chapter 51: William
Chapter 52: Kirby
Chapter 53: Kirby
Chapter 54: William
Chapter 55: Kirby
Chapter 56: Bray
Chapter 57: Kirby
Chapter 58: Kirby
Chapter 59: William
Chapter 60: William
Chapter 61: Tolstoy
Chapter 62: Kirby
Chapter 63: Kirby
Chapter 64: Bray
Chapter 65: William
Chapter 66: Kirby
Chapter 67: Bray
Chapter 68: William
Chapter 69: Kirby
Chapter 70: Kirby
Chapter 71: Bray
Chapter 72: Kirby
Chapter 73: William
Chapter 74: Kirby
Chapter 75: William
Chapter 76: Kirby
Chapter 77: William
Chapter 78: William
Chapter 79: William
Chapter 80: William
Chapter 81: Kirby
Chapter 82: William
Chapter 83: William
Epilogue
Afterword
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Other Things To Read
Preface
Welcome to The Ruins Complete Series.
If you’re here, chances are you’ve read THE LAST SURVIVORS, and you’re already familiar with the characters. If so, I want to thank you for continuing on this journey with me. I hope you are as excited as I am to find out what happens to Bray, William, and Kirby as they head out into the wild.
If you haven’t read THE LAST SURVIVORS, you might want to check out those books first. A lot has transpired between the characters that leads into this story—events that have shaped and changed their relationships with one another, and, quite frankly, you might be lost without that knowledge, or the knowledge of the world.
In THE LAST SURVIVORS series, we explored many of the places in and around Brighton, but by the series end, it became clear that the world was much bigger than our characters imagined. Since the beginning of that series, Bobby (Adair) and I had the concept of a “last survivor,” someone who could fill in some of the gaps of technology and information that had been lost to Brighton.
That’s where Kirby came in.
Kirby stirred things up quite a bit. Not only did she give Bray some much-needed grief, but she brought Tech Magic and a whole new backstory to the series, and introduced information outside of what our characters knew. The dynamic between the trio of Bray, Kirby, and William was intriguing, and I couldn’t wait to explore it further.
And a question kept repeating in my head: what else is out there?
THE RUINS is my attempt to find out.
Whatever happens, wish Bray, Kirby, and William luck as they head toward Kirby’s settlement to get more guns. They’re going to need all the Tech Magic they can get to face what’s in THE RUINS.
-Tyler Piperbrook
December 2016
THE RUINS Background: Pertinent Recap of The Last Survivors
Three hundred years after the fall of society, the last fragments of civilization are clinging to life, living in the ruins of the ancient cities in nearly-medieval conditions. Technology has been reduced to legend, monsters roam the forests, and fear reigns supreme. Wind-borne spores disfigure men unlucky enough to be infected, twisting their minds and turning them into creatures to be feared. The survivors have different names for these creatures, but some call them the demons, or twisted men.
After accidentally killing the mother of an infected boy, a Warden named Bray—a hunter of demons—vows to keep the motherless boy safe. He loses track of the boy, William, in the Ancient City, only to watch as the boy takes up with a band of demons, succumbing to the spore’s madness. Before Bray can rescue William, a violent army captures the boy.
While tracking William, Bray encounters a woman named Kirby from a strange settlement, who carries several pieces of Tech Magic he’s never seen—guns.
Telling some clever lies, Bray gets Kirby to join him, under the guise that William is his son.
They track the army to Brighton.
After surviving a bloody battle, in which Bray is shot and wounded, Kirby reveals to Bray that she is also infected. She also reveals that she has figured out some of Bray’s lies, but she respects his bravery and his allegiance to William.
Eventually, they rescue an emotionally battered William, who has taken revenge on the worst of his abductors by commanding a pack of demons to kill them.
William swears off his demon brothers, and the three make a pact to l
eave Brighton for good, in the hopes of discovering what lies in the ruins.
THE RUINS
A Dystopian Society in a Post-Apocalyptic World
Book 1 of The Ruins Series
Chapter 1: Bray
“Don’t worry, I survived another night,” Bray said, removing the bandage to check on the gunshot wound on his shoulder. “In case you were worried.”
He grinned at Kirby, who was just stirring underneath her blankets, rubbing her eyes. She made a face at him, but didn’t answer. William was lying next to her, still sleeping. Bray could see the thin outline of the boy’s body, rising and falling as he breathed.
After escaping the battle at Brighton unharmed—except for Bray—they’d spent most of each day on horseback, working their way east over the mountains and hitting deeper snow, then heading north and following the coast toward the settlement where Kirby’s people had all breathed their last breaths, leaving her alone in an unfamiliar land.
On the plains again, with the ocean east and the mountains west, they’d found places where the snow only thinly covered the ground and the horses were able to graze.
Bray, unfamiliar with the landmarks, and knowing he was in a part of the world he’d never traveled before, hoped they were getting close to the settlement.
Normally, Bray would’ve avoided traveling in the winter, preferring a warm bath and warmer women to keep him company, but he’d made the decision to leave Brighton, and he meant to stick by it.
Now, with the morning sun peeking through the forest, spearing the snow-covered ground and fighting back the cold that seemed to have deepened overnight, Bray watched William sleeping. He was still concerned about him. They’d had a few conversations about his mother, Ella, but most of them had ended with William looking away, seemingly lost in a swirl of thoughts that had plagued them all since leaving Brighton.
Bray couldn’t blame the kid.
They were all dealing with things.
Kirby stood from her blankets. Bray glanced at the gun holstered at her side. Her rifle was on the ground, close to her. She’d refused to let him shoot either weapon, telling him that it would be a waste to spend the ammunition on anything other than killing demons.
“We should be at the settlement today, right?” he asked Kirby.
“Yes,” Kirby said, looking around the forest. “It’s a few miles away.”
“Your Tech Magic hurts like hell,” Bray said, as he continued cleaning the bullet wound in his shoulder with some water from his flask. “I can’t wait to get one of those guns for myself and try it out on something other than me.”