Surviving the Evacuation 23: One Minute More

Was anyone else alive? 


With each kilometre travelled, Maggs Espoir is increasingly certain the answer is no. In the aftermath of the outbreak, most people barricaded their homes or fled to somewhere remote. Maggs and her husband, Etienne, went to work, ensuring the electricity supply for Quebec and beyond. When the mushroom clouds rose above Montreal, the lights finally went out, and Maggs and Etienne were separated. In the year since, Maggs hasn’t stopped searching for her husband or given up hope that he’s still alive.

Between bandits, plagues, and the ever-present undead, Maggs and her small community are forced to flee one refuge after another. As civilisation fades into memory, the roads become increasingly treacherous. Strangers are more likely to offer a gunshot than a welcome. Medicines run out. Food runs scarce. Only the undead endure.

As the long winter finally comes to an end, her community is forced to accept that they might be among the very last survivors in North America, if not the world. For some, this realisation brings despair. Others see the increasing division as an opportunity for power. With factionalism rising, Maggs is tempted to strike out on her own, until the chance sighting of a plane suggests they aren’t alone after all. A plane means more than just survivors. It means a runway, a fuel supply, and enough food security that some people can be spared from farming. It means civilisation. And if those people survived the evacuation, then perhaps her husband survived, too.


A story of love, loss, and determination, set in the Pacific Northwest, three months before the events of Book 22.