In the face of a rampaging plague of flesh-eating zombies, what would it be like to be one of the first police officers deployed? How would this differ from the experience of a general member of the public at home, or a nurse expected to care for an early bite victim? These were the burning questions I needed to ask when I began writing Plague War: Outbreak. I wanted to experience the situation through multiple sets of eyes and work through the different problems each might face. Some of the questions that came to mind included:
- Once authorities realise that the virus is transmitted through bites, would health professionals be asked to euthanise bitten patients? Would they comply?
- As a police officer with a sworn duty to protect the public, how long would it take for you to swap restraint for lethal force? How long before police abandon their posts to protect loved ones at home?
- As a soldier, how do you adapt to an enemy that refuses to follow the rules of combat, an enemy that knows no fear and will never stop until the last one is dead?
- And for a member of the public, how long before you give up on the authorities and look after your own fate? How many people would take advantage of the chaos to prey on their fellow man?
- Who will be able to adapt, fight back and survive? Who will give in, wilt and succumb?
Plague War: Outbreak explores these questions and others by following four different main characters as they fight to survive the explosion of violence. Harry is a doctor faced with managing an emergency department as the plague first hits. A British backpacker named Steph, is stuck on her own. Desperate for help, she manages to contact her cousin – Harry; but to reach him, she’ll have to cross a state in chaos. Mark is an Australian soldier, returned from active service only to be dumped by his partner, Georgie. As horror descends on Sydney, he will seek to ensure the safety of his ex-girlfriend. Penny is a police officer in the riot squad. After her team is decimated by a swarm of infected, she will have to decide; protect the people under her care, or abandon them to rescue her son.
No one is safe in the apocalypse, and only those willing to fight will survive. Together they will form an alliance, but will it be enough for them to hold out until the Australian Army regroups to fight back?