Book Description

Hidden inside each of us, buried deep in our DNA are remnants of code from ancient viral infections. Scientists call these pieces of code fossil viruses. Usually this code lies harmlessly inert in a species, and over successive generations, mutations further reduce its capacity to ever code for what it once was. But what if an embedded viral RNA strand remained dormant and unchanged for millennia, only waiting for the correct missing nucleotide to bring it back to life? Dr. Steven McQuinn lives with his lovely wife, Holly and ten year old son, Jeremy in a quiet suburban home in Maryland. A virologist at the U.S. Army’s Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), he has been on the forefront in studying some of the hottest pathogens on the planet, but nothing has prepared him for what he is about to face. Something that everyone in his field once thought of as impossible has happened–a pandemic has spread instantaneously around the planet infecting most of the world’s population. Worldwide, people are becoming sick and falling into deep comas. Only a few seem to be immune. As McQuinn and the research team at USAMRIID race against time to discover what the mystery pathogen is and how it could have infected an entire planet so quickly, the laboratory becomes progressively isolated from the outside world. News stations drop off the air and the team loses contact with outside resources; they are on their own in this seemingly insurmountable fight. It appears that a Pandora’s Box has been opened, unleashing a mindless evil upon mankind. Even USAMRIID is not isolated from the disease and the infection quickly rages through the staff like an out of control wildfire. The real horror reveals itself when the infected awaken from their comas with a virus-ravaged brain that harbors an insatiable fury. The infected are now no more than enraged rabid animals that savagely attack with deadly intent. Forced to leave the facility, Steven rushes home to his family through the post-apocalyptical landscape that has befallen the world. They set out on the road to find sanctuary in the country. Meeting up with other uninfected survivors the growing group will have to fight their way through hordes of infected as they discover that no place is really safe. No matter how prepared you are, how cautious you try to be, your best laid plans are not enough to protect you from the Zombie Virus.