State Of Infection
by Michael J Frey
Description of book:
Just months before the Battle of Central Park and the onset
of the Second Civil War, President Obama declares martial law in New York, New
Jersey and Connecticut as Montoya's encephalopathy spreads.
Despite the military's best efforts, the government falls
and Manhattan is reborn as a city-state under a military dictatorship.
Survivors Mike Calaf, and Avalon Calendar struggle to survive, caught between
the zombies and the new ruler of New York.
But long before the zombie infection, during the First Civil
War, Doctor William Jackson (of the Confederate States of America) is trying to
unravel the mystery behind this strange new sickness. He knows that if Complex
P fails to work, there could be devastating consequences which might influence
the future of mankind.
Trailer:
Excerpt:
It’s been nearly a year since the outbreak. Most people call
it the ZA infection, though it’s not really an infection. The proper medical
term is Montoya’s encephalopathy (named after Claude Montoya, the French
researcher who spearheaded the early studies).
I was in my office seeing patients when it began. Back then
I had a medical practice on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, about a block
away from my one bedroom apartment. I could get from my office to my home
before you could say Jack Robinson. It was convenient as heck (and in the end,
probably saved my life).
In those days my biggest concern was keeping the practice
growing. Medicine is, among many things, a business, and like most businesses,
mine had overhead. Lots of overhead. In my case overhead meant two
receptionists and two nurses. I also had the malpractice insurance to cover,
which seemed to go up almost every year. Next came the office supplies (both
secretarial and medical). Then throw in the computers, maintenance, and a small
reserve for holiday parties. Private practice in New York City was a costly
beast to say the least.
Fortunately, I did pretty well and was able to celebrate my
black Friday earlier and earlier each year. I wish I could attribute my good
fortune to my skills as a doctor, but as Avalon might say, that dog won’t hunt.
There were plenty of good docs in New York City before the ZA infection, so I
had to find a way to stand out. The real secret to my success was keeping the
waiting down to a bare minimum. I prided myself on it. Everyone hates waiting
for the doctor, I get that, I hate it too. And no group of people does hurried
and rushed like Manhattanites. So if Mrs. Kessler had an appointment at noon,
she was seen by noon, or sooner. That, and a pair of the friendliest secretaries
known to mankind, is what kept my people coming back.
Of course, it didn’t always work out that way. All it took
was one complicated condition to throw off the schedule. For example, during
what I thought was a routine physical exam, I felt an enlarged liver in a
fifteen-year-old boy. That’s how a visit booked for twenty minutes became
forty-five minutes. After explaining the findings to a terrified patient and
his mother, I then had to order liver function tests, screening tests for
hepatitis and a CT scan of the abdomen. It takes time, but it has to get done.
You do what you can while keeping the bottom line in mind. And, if Mrs. Kessler
wants to tell you about her son’s academic success at Brandeis University, or
Mr. Barkman wants to show you pics of his new Shetland Sheepdog? Well, you
smile and look at the pics, or at least that’s what I did. Good word of mouth
followed, and my practice grew; satisfying both my needs as a physician, and as
a businessman.
I wish I could say my office was filled with marble and gold
leaf, and that I had one of those big fancy wooden desks. It wasn’t like that.
But it wasn’t one of those tired, worn out old offices with dirty carpets and
framed posters of Matisse and Van Gogh everywhere you turned. It was pretty standard
I guess.
On my desk, I had two photographs. One was a recent pic of
Kimberly and me in the North Fork of Long Island (the wine country). The other
was of my sister and my parents, which was taken at a wedding, or bar mitzvah,
or something; everyone dressed up and smiling in the type of picture that
seemed dated the second it went into the frame; the type of picture destined
for a desktop. Overall, I’d say it was a nice setup. Then the ZA infection came
and everything changed. And if a little zombie apocalypse wasn’t bad enough,
the Southern Federation showed up next to conduct what they called the Second
Civil War. Talk about bad karma.
Manhattan is now what one might call a city-state, a tiny
little country onto itself. And who gets to be king of New York? A man named
Castor Dean does. Castor Dean is the class president...of a pretty big class.
Not that he was elected by his classmates (or anyone else for that matter). His
authority was given to him by what remained of the military after the government
collapsed. His official political title is the Gallum Major; which means king
or ruler. Personally, I would have chosen “El Hefe” if I ruled New York, but
they never offered me the position. This is not to say that Castor Dean is a
bad leader, it’s just that the vox populi never meant much to him. Most
survivors welcomed Castor and his absolute rule. After all, because of him, the
city still has electricity and clean water. That fact alone makes Castor worth
his weight in gold.
Castor changed things up when he came into power. For
starters, he renamed the city. Manhattan, he felt, had been erased by the ZA
infection. The survivors of the zombie apocalypse needed a fresh start, a new
beginning. So Manhattan was reborn as Gallum City, and Roosevelt Island (a
small island adjacent to Manhattan) became its capital. Because of Roosevelt's
small size, Castor’s army was able to clear out the zaps in a matter of days.
This zombie-free sanctuary (just a few minutes boat ride from Manhattan) was
the ideal location for the new ruling class. Roosevelt Island was divided into
three sections. The southern section became a military town named New Sparta
(where most the soldiers were barracked). The middle of the island was for
government leaders and their families. The northern section was given to the
surviving civilian population, the natives, who lived on Roosevelt before the
infection. They were allowed to stay, provided they agreed to relocation.
About the author:
Michael Frey is a physician and assistant professor in New York City. He has been published numerous times as a short storyist and poet, but this is his first zombie novel. He lives in Somers, New York with his wife Jessica, two children and two dogs.
Interview with Author:
My Review:
I am a
zombie fanatic and have often fantasized about what it would be like after a
zombie apocalypse. For Doctor Mike Calaf
it is like a dream come true. When the
infection first begins Doc Mike manages to escape his office full of
zombies. He ends up in high-rise
apartment with his best friend’s girlfriend, Avalon, who Mike has been crushing
on for a long time. They fall in love
and have a great set up even if they are stuck on the 23rd floor of
his building. They great through the
wall to other apartments to forage for food and other things they needs. They watch the world as they knew it come to
an end from way above the chaos.
When
soldiers from the new Gallium City come to rescue them, it doesn’t feel much
like they are being saved, but kidnapped.
They are taken to what was Roosevelt Island, which started it’s history
as a mental asylum. This island is
zombie free and ruler by Caster Dean, the king.
Caster Dean
wants Doc Mike because of his experience with obstetrics. Dean wants to repopulate the world and his
wife has ovarian cancer. Because of his
knowledge Doc Mike and Avalon are instantly part of the upper society. They are given a beautiful elegant apartment,
supplies, a Porsche , guards and
servants and privileges. There is
electric, running water and plumbing.
Remember the old saying “If it sounds to good to be true?” Sometimes fellow survivor can be worse than
zombies.
I really
enjoyed this book. It is zombies. I love post apocalypse books and this is a
great one. The author is very good at
developing the story and the characters are great. I wanted Mike and Avalon to survive and have
all the spoils of being a survivor where things would be free for the taking. Great book.
Don’t miss it especially if you are a zombie fan like me.
Chance to win Book: rafflecopter
LINKS:
Link to State of Infection website. There are some really cool video links here:
