Anyone else ever find they were hungry for the next book of either series?
Even when it was bad, you knew the story was going to get GOOD!!
Having read both from the start, I gotta say, this is like losing a family member........
This offering is just a surface idea, everyone who reads deathlands and outlanders do not need all the "fill ins" that the books invariably contain to update anyone who may not follow them, please feel free to add to this, please feel free to flesh out whatever areas need it...this is just an offering.....I sincrely hope it is, if not entirely enjoyable, at least thought provoking.....please forgive how elementary it is, I am NOT a writer 
IMHO A good way to end with serious finality would have been something like:
As the swirling energies seemed to evaporate, Kane looked to Brigid "What is this place? I thought we were supposed to be going to visit Shizuka"
"Maybe they finally cleared the redoubt and wanted to surprise us?" Said Grant.
Brigid turned, looking around, blinked twice " I do not believe we are anywhere near New Edo , look carefully, everything looks to be brand new, like it was just installed and is waiting for someone to come use it" she said as she packed the interphaser into it's specially designed case.
Kane's point man sense flared hard " Alright, by the numbers, whatever this place is, we have not been here before" Grant stopped, as if held suddenly in place "Listen! "
In the distance, a solid thump, like a hammer striking padded wood.
"Alright, let's go see who's home" Kane said as he took lead.
Brigid stashed the interphaser case into a wall duct and closed the grill for safe keeping.
"Quake zone? Maybe we landed in what used to be southern Arizona?" asked Grant.
"No, although what used to be Arizona was affected by the San Andreas fault, the effect subsided with the sinking of California" Brigid replied "this is something else"
"Oh good, so like, maybe son of Ulikummis come for revenge?" Grant joked.
"I don't think so, I ...." Brigid stopped, walked to a service hatch built into the side of the hallway and placed her hand against it "someone or something just used this door".
"How the hell could you know that?" Kane asked
"Well, since everything was hardened against nuclear strike, the door mechanics were designed to use force rather than speed to open and close"
"Which means they take a while to power up and down" Grant finished
"Only you would have noticed that" Kane grinned at her "Ok Let's see who our hosts are"
"Brigid, Grant, stand ready" Kane said as he walked to the door "let.s hope they still used the same codes the original owners did.
With that, Kane punched the old code into the recessed keypad.
As the door started to slide back, Kane stepped into position and pointed his Sin Eater at the opening.
Once the door was open, Kane stepped through, seeing no one on the other side, he motioned for his companions to join him.
"This is the strangest thing, I feel like we have somehow taken a step into the designs of a standard redoubt, nothing disturbed, no signs of raiding or even age" Brigid whispered.
"Well, if this is a "somehow" completely isolated and protected redoubt, we could use a back up for the backups" Grant said, remembering all the times Cerberus was compromised.
"it would make a great off sight staging and holding area" Kane replied "but I think we should secure it before we claim it".
"Well, let's go see where we are, the front door should be this way" Brigid suggested pointing down the long and oversized hallway "it might give us a clue as to which redoubt this could be" she suggested.
"Alright, but keep ready, I don't like surprises and this is already been one after another" Kane growled.
After walking the full length of the hallway, the trio rounded the final corner and discovered the Large hardened access door wide open.
"Ok, this is just not right, how could the redoubt be completely accessible, but show no signs of aging or looting?" Brigid demanded
"Don't know, don't really care, this feels like a trap, and I for one want the mystery solved before I waste any more time on the how, let's just find whoever is playing this game and put an end to it" Grant declared, with that , he stepped through the opening into the sunshine.
"Ok, I don't know about the rest of you, but I am seriously lost here" Grant said.
"What is it?" Brigid asked as she joined him.\
"Oh no, no no no" Brigid cried
Kane rushed out looking for targets "What?" he demanded as he scanned the area and found no targets.
"Look at the geography, the skies....everything" Brigid whispered in what seemed to be shock.
As Kane and Grant looked, neither could readily see what had Brigid so upset.
"Umm, I think..."Grant started to say looking sideways at Brigid.
"Oh no" Kane said.
"Ok, can I have a clue so I can get the joke too?" Grant, half joking half demanding, said.
"If the clear skies, perfect forest and endless horizon is not enough of a clue, look at the mountainside, see the perfectly carved faces?" Brigid asked Grant.
"This is not right, we cannot be....." Kane started to say, but his attention was drawn away to the forest below.
"What now? Grant demanded.
"thought I saw something moving, a flash of white" Kane said scanning the trees.
Another distant thud, like a hammer pounding padded wood, suddenly, a Flash on the horizon.
"Dammit, we gotta get out of here" Kane said .
"Well if we are where and when I think, the interphaser is our only hope, but since I have no clue as to how we ended up here in the first place, I really have no idea how to get somewhere safe" Brigid said.
"Ok, for the stupid people, where the hell are we?" Grant demanded.
"Somehow, we have ended up in Mount Rushmore, and it looks like skydark is just about to start" Kane explained.
Grant turned to Brigid " Ok, so how about we wake up now, this is one seriously messed up dream".
"I really don't think we are..." Brigid started when Kane growled "company!" cutting her off.
All three crouched and found cover behind a boulder.
"What did you see?" Brigid asked Kane.
"6 people in the clearing at 2 o'clock", Brigid took a look over the rock, crouched back down.
"2 women, 4 men , one old man, apparently lame and using a walking stick, 1 boy and 1 short and 1 tall man, both middle aged, the women are, middle aged, one very dark skinned and one light skinned with blazingly red hair" Brigid stated
"ummm....also, one albino, sneaking in the trees" Brigid added after a moment.
"What I wouldn't give for your memory"Kane said.
"Well, since the apocalypse is about to start, I say we leave them walking the other way and head back inside, at least if we close the doors, we will have time to figure out how to get home" Grant suggested.
"And leave those people to die?" Brigid asked with some disdain.
"If we are where and when you think, they most likely died 200 years ago" Kane said.
"As much as I can agree with that, I don't have to like feeling like a coldheart" Brigid replied.
"Faster than you, not move" a voice said from above.
Both Kane and Grant spun, Sin eaters jumping into waiting grips, a shot and a curse.
Kane holding Empty air with his SinEater hanging to the side on it's holster rail, Grant with a leaf bladed throwing knife jammed into the slide of his.
Brigid Rolled and brought up her mini uzi only to be looking at the business end of thin sword held by an old man in a long coat.
"I think that would be an unwise decision madam" said the old man.
"Who are you" Brigid asked having recognised the old man as being part of the party she saw earlier.
"To hell with that, how did you get up here so fast? " cursed Grant.
"Dr. Theophilis Algernon Tanner, at your service" the old man said with a bow.
"Jak" the albino above them said.
Brigid smiled, "I doubt you would hurt a lady with that victorian stature Dr".
"You would be surprised how much and to who that victorian stature could do damage lady" said a gruff voice.
The owner stepped around the boulder revealing a tall man with an eye patch.
"Alright, since I don't see any reason to be coldheart about this, drop the blasters and let's talk, names Ryan, doc and Jak you have already met" said the apparent leader of the group.
More people came from varying directions "this is Mildred", Ryan said indicating a black woman, "Krysty" said a red haired amazon warrior type woman, "Ricky" said a voice from the trees, the owner stepping out to reveal a teenaged hispanic looking young man.
"J.B.Dix" said a voice from the left of Ricky, the owner revealing himself by limping out of the trees "bastard rock rolled when i was skirting the path, may have twisted My ankle a bit" The fedora wearing man said as he sat on the path.
" I swear, sometimes you act older than doc, John" Mildred said as she went to him and looked at his ankle.
"Aww, you know I only do things like this so I can get attention from you Millie" J.B said.
"I believe you have fostered a need within John Barrymore that is reminiscent of an old married man My dear Dr Wyeth" Doc Tanner said with a grin.
"Can it you old coot" Mildred said to Doc.
J.B., still grinning, looked at Ryan "what have we got?"
"Not sure" Ryan replied, "you sec men?" Ryan asked Kane.
"No, we kinda took a wrong turn somewhere" Brigid answered "you coldhearts?" she asked.
"umm, did I miss something?" asked Ricky
"Nope" answered Ryan, " they sorta remind me of...us".
"yea, I kinda got the same impression, lover" Krysty said.
"I am truly intrigued, however" Doc said as he pointed to the horizon and the mushroom cloud which was still rising.
"Doc's right" Brigid said, "I am Brigid, this is Kane and Grant, we really should be getting inside and closing this door if we expect to stay alive"
"Ok, slow and easy, we got a good start, and the jump, I don't want to send anyone on the last train west without a reason, don't create one" Ryan said as he motioned everyone inside the redoubt.
Krysty grinned at Ryan "you know lover, I think you are mellowing"
"Nope, just don't want to be a part of that" he said pointing to the cloud "at least not till we know where we are and if we can survive it" Ryan replied, then he lifted his chin towards brigid,Grant and Kane "and I get the feeling they may be able to help with that.
Once everyone was inside and the door closed, the group proceeded down the long hallway.
"I think we should proceed to the medical facilities, there appears to be a few people who need Dr.Wyeth's attention" Doc tanner offered, indicating J.B.'s limp and Kane's bloody wrist.
J.B looked at Kane's Sin eater "never seen one like that before, I could fix it while Millie works on that gouge on your wrist" he offered.
"Not like I have much choice" Kane growled, but lightened a bit when Brigid looked at him, "But I appreciate the help" he added.
..............................................
Outside, the world was going to hell, multiple nuke strikes across the globe were taking a toll on the environment, laying waste to countless ecosystems and forever changing the nature of life.
..............................................
After several days and much arguing and explaining, the 2 groups become friends, working out where and when they are, and attempting to discover how they not only came to be there, but how to undo whatever happened and, if possible, get home.
.............................................
"It had to have been a solar event!" Brigid argued.
"I have a hard time believing that your Lakesh would not have taken such things into account when designing the interphaser" Doc said.
"Oh, Lakesh tends to not quite believe he can be wrong sometimes" Kane replied.
"I don`t see how we can actually create a solar event to undo what happened" Ryan said "besides, how would you even know what part of the event caused the disruption that sent us all here?" he added.
"well, if I remember what I learned from Balam, only strong Electromagnetic forces can have a disruptive effect on quantum space that would explain what happened" Kane offered.
"So, a solar event, striking the earth in a relatively weak area of the ozone would have interfered with your interphaser?" Mildred asked.
"Theoretically, I suppose that could be the case, but what happened to your party?, the mat trans are specific, almost straight line devices, I don`t see how it could have accomplished what happened, and even if it did, how did one solar even effect 2 time periods?" Brigid wondered aloud "unless" Doc interjected "your interphaser was affected by the event, then, while being diverted, crossed our data stream?"
"Ok, so we almost think we know what happened, it does not help us fix it" Kane growled "you know this stuff gives me a headache Baptiste, how do we fix this?"
"I would say take 2 aspirin and call me in the morning" Mildred joked.
Brigid smirked "I don`t think aspirin will help with everything, but I do believe the surface information is really all we need"
"How do you figure?" Kane demanded, not amused at all.
"Well, consider that we are in the middle of the biggest EM event of all time" Brigid started.
"And if we could find a way to use that energy, we could undo what has hijacked our souls and sent them on this perilous journey" Doc finished.
"pretty much" Brigid smiled.
"I assumed we would have to find a way to work the interphaser and mat trans in unison to achieve such a goal" Doc surmised
Brigid grinned "Doc, you are surprisingly educated for a deathlander"
"I used to be" Doc whispered.....
...............................................
Later, in the mat trans control room
...............................................
"I still don`t see how any calculation could take into account , not only everything that is happening out there, but undo what we experienced" Grant declared
"Well, think of it like a road, you not only have to identify it, which both the interphaser and mat trans will do for us, you also have to have a way of going the direction you choose, and the power to travel it, the math will cover the choice, the EM will power it" Brigid said.
"And how, by the three kennedys, to you propose to harness an outside energy source to power, what is traditionally, and essentially, an internally powered system?" Doc demanded.
"Well, remember that the interphaser and mat trans rely essentially on ley lines for guidance, and then later for assisting in maintaining the integrity of the data stream" Brigid offered", I can power both devices initially from traditional sources, then shunt the power routines from the ley lines, to the EM fields"
"Ludicrous madam, you will scatter our bones to the 4 winds, those EM fields are not only not stable, but in a fluctuation that makes it impossible to predict or harness!" Doc declared.
"Remember Doc, the ley lines may seem stable, but fluctuate just as much as any other natural energy source, the routines may need a tweak here and there, but I think it is not only possible, but probable that we will be able to do what we need to to get home" Brigid answered.
......................................
After hours of tedious and painstaking work and calculations
......................................
"Well, it`s not pretty, but the math holds up, I think we are ready" Brigid declared.
"Baptiste, I still don`t get why the interphaser has to be in a hole in the mat trans chamber wall" Kane said.
Brigid turned to him " I already said we needed to run them in conjunction, with differing quantum fields there really is only one way to make that happen without changing the entire design of the equipment"
Kane narrowed his eyes and growled impatiently. "Fine fine, let`s just do this so I can talk to Lakesh, yet again, about his penchant for not giving full disclosure on anything he subjects us to" .
"Your party ready Ryan?" Brigid asked.
"As ready as we ever are with this stuff, nice meeting you, I am...happy, that the future is capable of coming out of the mess humanity created"
Grant smiled "oh, it is not coming out of so much as making it a little more interesting"
Brigid counted down "3,2,1" with that Ryan closed the chamber door and Brigid activated the interphaser.
for an instant, nothing happened, suddenly, the control room was filled with mist while the chamber had swirling energies, then the effects transposed on top of each other, them the chamber was filled with mist and the control room filled with swirling energies, a bright flash.............
"