Chapter One

It looked like a nuclear bomb had landed. And in some ways, it had the same effects.

Johnny sat on the army's boat as it cruised slowly through the River Forth, of what used to be Edinburgh. The fires had all been put out a year and a half ago, when this disaster began, only a month after he left Ashdene Ridge, but the evidence was still here.

As he looked out at the bridge, then at the nearby, grubby beaches, he knew the chances of finding anyone alive and uninfected were slim.

In May 2015, an airborne virus had broken out in Sheffield. The symptoms were terrible; red, puffy eyes, followed by slurred speech and stumbling. Then, savagery, growling like an animal, brutal, attacking everyone in sight, with whatever they could find.

This lasted twenty-four hours before the victim died, in a puddle of their own urine.

Johnny had been training on the Isle of Man when it began. When ferries filled with refugees had crowed on, they had to stop and help everyone get rehomed. The government was too busy trying to sort the virus out.

Johnny had worried for Ashdene Ridge. Especially Tee.

He still thought about her. He tried not to cry. She'd have just turned sixteen.

But when the virus had eradicated England, Scotland and Wales, it brought along its own problems. Tens of thousands of people from the north-west of England alone, who had come to the Isle of Man, had to be rehomed, helped, look for survivors.

But then, unbelievably, it had got worse.

Due to rising water levels, the Thames Barrier had broken. London had flooded. A few villages on the eastern coast had been wrecked as well; the Forth had almost sunk Edinburgh.

Now, it was deemed safe to look for survivors.

As Johnny's eyes scanned the empty beaches, he heard the captain shout out.

They'd found a girl on one of the beaches. She was shivering, cold from the autumn air, wearing just a thin, purple dress. But alive.

His eyes widened as she was helped up.

Tee.

"Tee!" he gasped, before she turned to him, smiling.

"I can't believe you're alive!" he cried out, embracing her.

She managed to hold him, hardly believing what was going on. "Johnny!" she squealed, gripping on. Then her smile faded, as she pointed, "Some of us are over there. But we're not all in good condition."

The captain asked, "How many?"

Tee thought for half a second, before answering, "Nineteen."

She looked back at Johnny, her eyes filled with tears. "They're not going to believe it."

Then Johnny asked her, "What happened?"

So she told him.