Books with author H. W. Stone

THIS IS A SHORT STORY OF APPROX. 5,000 WORDS.Claire knows only a world where most of humanity lives inside sparsely populated cities protected from the Outside by guarded walls. She is a new Driver whose job is to transport items between these cities. Under the watchful eye of her Protector, Shaun, Claire makes her first run from San Jose to Angel City to bring back medicine needed to save hundreds of lives. However, the trip takes them through the dangerous land of the Outsiders. Using their skills, Claire and Shaun must escape from their armed pursuers in a chase across miles of barren wasteland with no hope of help.

The H5N1 virus was the deadliest disease in the history of mankind. Not only did it spread rapidly, reaching every corner of the globe, but it also resulted in an inconceivable 100% mortality rate among adults. Within a month, almost every human being became a victim of the virus. All that remains of humanity is a handful of "immune" children. Except that they aren't truly immune. The virus lurks in their bodies, ready to strike when they reach maturity. Kyle, Hannah, and Amy are three immune kids who find themselves thrust into a lonely world after losing the people they have known and loved. No longer able to rely on the company, wisdom, and experience of adults, they must survive in the harsh post-pandemic world with only a handful of other immune children. But the trio soon learn that dying from H5N1 isn't the only thing they have to worry about.

Laura and her classmates have been looking forward to their senior camping trip for weeks. Three days on an island paradise, away from school and their parents. What more could they ask for? The camping trip starts out well enough. The island is scenic and just the kind of escape to nature that Laura had hoped for. However, cracks soon begin to appear in her plans. Her boyfriend ditches her to hang out with his friends. She has to share a room with one of the teachers. But those are the least of her worries. A student disappears, and no one can find him. Soon, Laura and the other students realize that the camping trip is anything but a dream vacation. There’s something else on the island. Something large and frightening. Something that lurks unseen beneath the earth. Something that welcomes the presence of the students because they will satisfy its appetite.

Eve 142 has lived her entire life in the domed city of New Eden, home to the only surviving humans after the War. Like all of the inhabitants of New Eden, Eve 142 is a clone. Together with the other clones, dubbed the Adams and the Eves, she leads a safe, predictable existence. However, Eve’s life changes when she causes a tragic accident to befall one of the Adams. As retribution, she and her counterpart, Adam 142, are banished from New Eden.At first, Eve 142 considers their punishment a death sentence because she grew up believing the world outside the dome was uninhabitable. She is wrong. Forced to live in the Wastelands, Eve and Adam discover many new truths about the outside world and, more importantly, the truths about themselves.

In a kingdom where the Gifteds are captured and thrown into fights to the death, Voima is fortunate that she is just a Regular. However, her brother, Vendd, isn’t so lucky. Since his Power started manifesting itself, the siblings have lived a life on the run, barely escaping the king’s soldiers.Just as Voima and Vendd have settled into a new home, a fleeing Gifted enters their lives, begging for help but bringing soldiers after him. Despite the siblings’ efforts, the soldiers discover Vendd’s Power. Now Voima, an outmatched Regular girl, must find a way to defeat the kingdom’s most dangerous Gifteds in order to save her brother from certain death.

During a routine drive to dinner with her parents, sixteen-year-old Annie Walker’s car is struck by a pickup truck. The resulting accident kills her parents and leaves Annie unconscious. When she wakes up, she thinks she’s in a hospital, but the truth is far stranger. Annie has been downloaded into a computer program called PATTIE.With the help of PATTIE’s brilliant programmer, Eric, Annie struggles to come to terms with her new existence. She also finds that being inside a computer has both advantages and disadvantages. Unfortunately, the disadvantages can kill her.

Dystopian fiction meets fairy tale re-tellings in this collection of three short stories:"A House in the Woods" - At the conclusion of a scavenger hunt for Old World artifacts, Hansel and Gretel find themselves lost on the outskirts of the city after dark. They stumble upon a house in the nearby woods, hoping that they will find help inside, but the house's inhabitant has other ideas."The Girl in the Crimson Robe" – The Global Resource and Materials Allocation system is in charge of allotting food and other necessities to Rose’s village. When GRandMA grants an unreasonably low allocation that is far too little for the village to live on, Rose must try to convince it to offer more."The Music Box Maker" – In this retelling of "The Elves and the Shoemaker", Henry Wayne is a master craftsman whose skills have deteriorated with age. When a Chief Legislator asks him to build a music box, Henry finds that the job is more difficult than it first appeared. Fortunately, Henry has some help from an unexpected source.

THIS IS A SHORT STORY OF APPROX. 7,000 WORDS.-- #2 in the Driver Series and sequel to "Drive" --Claire is a Driver, tasked with helping to transport items between walled cities shielded from the Outside. On three previous runs, Claire successfully avoided the Outsiders to complete her missions. This time, the mayor asks her and her Protector, Shaun, to bring back precious cargo from Sacramento. From the start, Claire notices this run is different. She isn't allowed to see the cargo loaded onto a big rig truck, another Driver and Protector from Sacramento accompanies them, and there is a decoy truck to throw off the Outsiders. Despite all of the precautions, Claire's convoy runs into a trap set by the Outsiders. She's no Protector, and she doesn't know what she's transporting, but Claire knows that she's all that stands between the Outsiders and whatever lies inside the truck she has to protect.

Using an old radio that he inherited from his grandfather, Charlie picks up unusual transmissions on a shortwave frequency. Every morning and every evening, a woman’s deep, monotonous voice recites a series of seemingly random numbers. The numbers change every day, and Charlie can’t figure out what they mean.Enlisting the help of his best friend, Jenny, Charlie tries to unravel the mystery behind the messages. However, the more that he and Jenny dig into the significance of the transmissions, the more that Charlie realizes he has a bigger problem on his hands.

First, the probes arrived. Then the mother ship landed. Then Lia’s world changed forever.With the alien invaders’ arrival, Lia and her best friend, Bryn, sign up for military duty to protect their town. When the aliens attack, however, Lia and her comrades are helpless to stop them. Worse, after the attack, she discovers that several of the townspeople, including her family, were abducted. Despite Lia’s pleading, no one wants to save those taken by the aliens.Desperate to rescue her parents and her little sister, Lia turns to the only source of help she can find… a captured alien invader.

For the first time, all four stories in THE DRIVER SERIES in one volume!Includes:- Drive- Protect- Search- RescueClaire knows only a world where most of humanity lives inside sparsely populated cities protected from the Outside by guarded walls. She is a Driver whose job is to transport items between these cities. Under the watchful eye of her Protector, Shaun, Claire takes on important and sometimes deadly missions. Her duties take her into through the lands of the Outsiders, people who won't hesitate to use Claire and Shaun for target practice.