Patrick Ashe

The Autumn Queen Protocol Patrick Ashe

TWIN STORIES OF TERROR FOR THE PANDEMIC ERA

Mike Ballard is a humble data scientist, mourning the loss of his dad due to COVID-19 when an even deadlier variant emerges. He reluctantly follows his survivalist friend to a crackpot "cure," which sends his quiet life into bedlam when he witnesses a new outbreak-the rampaging undead! After learning the ways of this afterworld, Mike finds a lonesome peace. With his cat at his side, they live in the woods, evading the undead and trading with other survivors. Mike's life is turned upside down once again, however, when he finds himself obligated to bring a young girl to safety through a highly infested area. Will they make it?

There's also a secret about this afterworld.

Cassandra Riven is a spurned elite soldier called up to check a remote research facility that went dark. As a struggling millennial and transgender woman of color, facing systemic prejudices, she feels little choice but to take the job. Yet, those who send her have lethally ulterior motives! Like Mike, she also finds a strange peace in this life. Then, when she reaches the facility, she learns the truth about the infection and her mission. And she must guard that truth using her supreme skill against the weaponry of her superiors and an oncoming horde of the undead. Will she overcome these two evils? Will she save the world?