The Dead Weld

THE WORLD ENDED ON A TUESDAY. CALEB STONE PUNCHED IN ANYWAY.

Two hundred years ago, Caleb "Digger" Stone was a construction foreman in Texas. He built foundations, poured concrete, and followed the blueprints. He was a man who knew how to fix things.

But when the apocalypse arrived-a catastrophic event known as "The Cascade"-his father, the ruthless CEO of Stone Industries, didn't give him a seat on the escape ships. Instead, he locked Caleb in a cryogenic freezer and turned his mind into a tactical simulator.

Caleb wakes up two centuries late.

The wealthy elites have fled to orbit, calling themselves the Seraphs. They left the Earth to rot in a radioactive fog known as the "Grey-Line," a rusted hellscape ruled by the Foundry-a cult of cyborgs who believe flesh is a sin and scrap metal is salvation.

Caleb is no longer just a builder. He is Asset 489. A seven-foot-tall juggernaut encased in matte-black ceramic armor, armed with a sarcastic AI named Betsy and a rotary cannon he calls "The Bone-Shaker."

He has no country, no timeline, and no friends. But he has one last work order.

THE MISSION: A holographic message from the grave points Caleb to the "Static Suburbs"-a glitching, perfect 1950s reality simulation hidden in the middle of the wasteland. Trapped inside is Iris, the little sister he failed to save two hundred years ago.

She isn't just a prisoner. She is the Architect-a living weapon capable of rewriting the laws of physics. And everyone wants her.

• The Seraphs want to use her to "format" the Earth, wiping away the rust, the radiation, and the people to start over.
• The Foundry wants to harvest her energy to fuel their machine god.
• The Void just wants to eat everything.

To get her back, Caleb has to cross a world that defies logic. He must battle through acid storms, negotiate with flesh-harvesting cyborgs, and storm a reality that is literally falling apart.

He isn't out to save the world. The world is already broken. He's just the maintenance crew sent to clean up the mess.

This is Blue-Collar Science Fiction.

Perfect for fans of Halo, Fallout, and Mad Max: Fury Road, THE DEAD WELD is a gritty, high-octane military sci-fi thriller about a man who treats the apocalypse like a job site.

WHAT READERS ARE LOOKING FOR:

• Heavy Metal Action: Powered armor, rotary cannons, and kinetic melee combat.
• A Unique Hero: Caleb isn't a chosen one or a space marine. He's a handyman with a very big hammer.
• Cyberpunk Horror: Glitching realities, body-horror cyborgs, and cosmic dread.
• Heart: A story about a brother who will burn down the universe to keep a promise.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dean Elkins is a writer, professional handyman, and former funeral director based in Pittsburg, Texas. Drawing from a diverse background in industrial construction, electrical work, and the funeral sciences, Dean writes science fiction that feels heavy, greasy, and real. He knows exactly how a machine breaks, and exactly what it takes to fix it. The Dead Weld is his debut novel.