Surviving the Evacuation

A year and a half after the collapse of civilization, pirates plague the Atlantic, the Saint Lawrence River is a radioactive dead-zone, and the forests of Quebec are succumbing to disease. With insufficient supplies to last until autumn, the survivors in Eastern Canada have no choice but to flee. A final evacuation is planned, to migrate across the breadth of irradiated North America to what they hope will be permanent safety on the Pacific coast.

A year after the outbreak and nuclear war, very few in the Northern Hemisphere have survived. Fourteen thousand Europeans and Canadians found safety behind the great defensive walls built across Nova Scotia. When they are attacked by piratical bandits who now control the ruins of New York, they have no choice but to flee.

Bill Wright’s final evacuation is underway. A route to the bastions in the Pacific Northwest has been mapped out. Supply dumps have been created, and the first batch of evacuees have already departed. For those still waiting to leave, there’s little to do and less to eat, so it was inevitable that some might turn to theft and murder. With spies discovered in their midst, and another attack by the Atlantic pirates imminent, it will take all of Bill’s cunning to prevent this evacuation from becoming a rout. After the outbreak, most people either hid in their homes or fled towards safety.

Was anyone else alive? With each kilometre travelled, Maggs Espoir is increasingly certain the answer is no. In the aftermath of the outbreak, most people barricaded their homes or fled to somewhere remote. Maggs and her husband, Etienne, went to work, ensuring the electricity supply for Quebec and beyond. When the mushroom clouds rose above Montreal, the lights finally went out, and Maggs and Etienne were separated. In the year since, Maggs hasn’t stopped searching for her husband or given up hope that he’s still alive.