Isolation

Isolation confronts readers with the demise of America told through multiple characters, much like Stephen King’s The Stand. Bacterial outbreaks kill growing numbers across the US, leading the government to ban face touching. Enforcers like Trevor monitor the Touch Bans, making sure no touching occurs in public places. Maggie must gauze her infant son’s hands and spray them with a noxious antibacterial to keep him from touching his face. As the price of human connection becomes deadly, the fear of spreading contagion compels the government to quarantine families inside their homes. Gary, a government Sterilizer, lives a quiet life of scanning and scouring the victims of bacterial attacks until an accidental touch occurs, and he longs to escape his hermetically clean prison. Individual isolation grows beyond human endurance until someone reaches out in hope once again.