Apocalypse Asunder

When zombies show up, the world usually goes to hell. They tend have that effect on, well, on everything. Zombies aren’t good, aren’t bad; they just are. They can’t help themselves. They destroy and consume because it’s what they do. Unfeelingly, unthinkingly, unerringly. But while a hungry corpse will hunt you down and chew you up . . . what people will do can be far worse.

What turns good people bad? It’s really not that hard to figure out. They want something more than you. They need something more than you. Because no one is stopping them. Trust is a casualty of the apocalypse as surely as safety and survival. Not everyone is bad, but apathy and a lack of concern kill the same as malicious intent. An awful lot of people will let a lot of awful things happen if it means they survive. They’ll even do them to you; who cares if they feel bad about it afterwards? Because that’s what it’s all about when everything goes to hell.

Survival.

In the middle of a zombie apocalypse, nothing is routine and nothing is normal. One mistake can be your last. With winter closing in and life stripped of all the things that turn winter from just one more season into something that can kill, Jessica has to decide which is more dangerous for her and her daughter. Do they travel across two states in search of warm shelter, or sit tight and pray for providence to see them through?

One thing Jessica’s learned amid the apocalypse though . . . help comes to those who help themselves.