Alex Williams

The survivors wait on tenterhooks for Project Beta to strike. For Lord Blackwood to retaliate with all his strength. Then, hours turn into days. Days turn into weeks. Still, there is no sign of Project Beta. Life begins to return to a new, hesitant normal.

On the run, but divided. Nearly beaten, but not quite broken. Then come the gunshots in the distance. In the direction of Chloe and Daniel.

Then come the gunshots in the distance. In the direction of Chloe and Daniel. Desperately hoping that they managed to escape with their lives – with Chip, Ellie and Lars by his side – Will must do all he can to get back to them.

Will Batchelor hates his new life in London, the private school his father forces him to go to. He misses Brighton. He misses his friends. He misses home. Little does Will realise that his problems are about to pale into insignificance. Because lurking on the horizon is a threat like no other.

When Will wakes up, it takes him a moment to remember the girl in the supermarket. For weeks, he has been trying to find survivors. And she had been in the middle of the dog food aisle. Just standing there.

Will Batchelor hates his new life in London, the private school his father forces him to go to. He misses Brighton. He misses his friends. He misses home. But little does Will realise that his problems are about to pale into insignificance.

Just as it looks like all hope is lost, Will receives a text message from a friend he thought dead. Asking if anyone is still out there. If anyone is still alive. The problem: Will is in London. His friend is in Brighton.

Will, Chloe, Daniel and the other rebels continue to flee the clutches of Project Beta.

When Will wakes up in the back of the van–in agony and struggling for breath; his limbs cable-tied–it takes him a moment to remember the girl in the supermarket. For weeks, he had been trying to find survivors. And she had been at the middle of the dog food aisle. Just standing there.

Will and Chloe thought they had escaped them. They thought that, finally, they were safe. But they were wrong. Now, two members of the Willow Hall community–the community which has already done so much to help the exiles–are captives of Project Beta.

Having seen no human life for two days, Will and Chloe never expect to hear a car engine. To see the car emerging over the hill. To see the shotgun-wielding men emerge from it. Because for Chloe and Will, the men have a purpose. A purpose which could not be more terrible.

Will can't escape the image burned into his mind—Leo's gunshot. The horror that followed. Daniel’s screams. Chip’s agonised barks. The wailing of his campmates.

Their journey is finally at an end, but their new reality has only just begun. In a desolate city, haunted by memories at every corner, Will – with Chloe and Daniel beside him – must make a new life from the wreckage of the A-Virus.

Two months since the A-Virus hit. Since all but the last few survivors of the human race fell victim to the apocalypse. Now, Will might just have the slimmest of chances at finding out why the A-Virus really happened. Why they are being kept in the Society against their will.