A new flu strain has been spreading across Africa, Europe, and Asia. Disturbing news footage is flooding the cable news channels. People are worried. People are frightened. But Zed Zane is oblivious. Zed needs to borrow rent money from his parents. He gets up Sunday morning, drinks enough tequila to stifle his pride and heads to his mom’s house for a lunch of begging, again. But something is wrong. There's blood in the foyer. His mother's corpse is on the living room floor. Zed's stepdad, Dan is wild with crazy-eyed violence and attacks Zed when he comes into the house. They struggle into the kitchen. Dan's yellow teeth tear at Zed's arm but Zed grabs a knife and stabs Dan, thirty-seven times, or so the police later say. With infection burning in his blood, Zed is arrested for murder but the world is falling apart and he soon finds himself back on the street, fighting for his life among the infected who would kill him and the normal people, who fear him.

Slow Burn: Infected picks up the story of Zed, Murphy, and Jerome where Slow Burn: Zero Day ended. All three have all been infected but have not succumbed to the most pernicious symptoms of the virus. They’re not the mindless cannibals that most infected are. Nevertheless, their band of survivors, fearful about the trio’s infections, have ostracized them. Now, back on the street, with weapons to defend themselves but little food in their packs, they embark on a search for Murphy’s family while following the rumor of a safe haven in the form of a doomsday bunker under a house in east Austin. But the world is more hazardous than they could have guessed. They expect violence from the voracious infected but they have harsh lessons to learn about the lethality of the uninfected. And without people to support the infrastructure of modern civilization, they find that danger comes in many forms.

Destroyer finds Zed saying goodbye to one friend and pressing forward with two new ones to whom we are introduced in Book 2 – Infected. Mandi, whom Zed and Murphy rescued from the bunker, is immune to the virus. Russell, whose home the others plundered in search of food and other supplies, is also a slow burn, but lower-functioning, childlike and docile. After seeing the carnage at the dormitory, a raging, vengeful Zed wants only to kill Mark, his nemesis and the former leader of the ROTC squad. Since Mark has disappeared, Zed unleashes his fury on untold numbers of infected in his path as he makes his way back to the hospital, in an attempt to rescue Steph, a nurse whom he befriended while seeking help for the feverish Murphy shortly after the prison riot. But the brave medical staff, holed up on the tenth floor of the hospital, and running out of provisions, has decided to take matters in hand by exposing themselves to the virus, and shooting those who “turn.” Zed is determined not to face another loss, but once again, time is running out…

Dead Fire picks up following an infected attack on Sarah Mansfield’s fortified house, during which 3 people seek shelter with the Zed Zane and his fellow survivors. In the confusion, however, Murphy is gunned down, and an unthinking, emotional Zed strikes out to enact revenge. Unfortunately, the shooting and commotion have only attracted more Whites. A diversion plan emerges to rid the horde of the Smart One trying to figure a way through the gates, and lead the other infected away from the compound. Momentarily safe, the survivors turn to the matter of where to bury the dead. Zed, being now the only one available who would not attract the attentions of the infected, accompanies Freitag on this morbid mission. In short order, Zed is once more embittered and hardened against trust, when he finds himself stranded. After a series of developments that prove the Whites to be more formidable foes than he ever dreamed, he finds his way back to Sarah’s house to find the compound overrun with infected and his friends mysteriously vanished without a trace, leaving Zed to rely once more solely on his wits to survive...

Survive the infection! Survive the Infected! Following his none-too-soon reunion with his friends at the safe house, Zed is hoping things can finally fall into a stable routine, but in post-virus Austin, things are far from stable. On a mission to raid the ammunition bunkers at Camp Mabry, Zed and Murphy spot a group of the newer, naked infected, who are exhibiting some sophisticated and disturbing new behaviors, such as scouting and hunting – for them. After a narrow escape, the two pass the home of Mr. Mays on the return trip, stirring Zed’s predictable rescuer impulse. Finding Mr. Mays dead, Zed brings fellow chain gang escapee Nico along to join the group, whose numbers have grown again, thanks to their merger with the girls on the riverboat, where the group has moved, as seems to be the safest hiding place… Or is it?

Survive the infection! Survive the Infected! Zed and Murphy are trying to find their surviving friends to finally get out of Austin and head west to safety, away from the zombie hordes. But trouble, their perpetual companion, dogs them at every turn as they discover that infected humans aren’t the only source of mortal danger.

Kill the infection! Kill the Infected! In the aftermath of the battle for Monk’s Island, Murphy has been nursing Zed back to health in a remote house at the west end of the lake. But every day they see helicopters cross the sky, heading south and then back north again. Zed wonders if the helicopters are proof that not all civilization has collapsed. He convinces Murphy to seek out the place where the helicopters are landing so they can find the answer to that question. What they find at the end of their journey is both more dangerous and hopeful than either would ever have guessed.

Time for Revenge It’s time for revenge. Zed’s animosity toward Mark has been simmering through the deaths of too many of his friends. Zed realizes he can no longer pretend he’s able to take the high road and rise above his hate. He sets out to track the horde of naked Whites in order to find Mark and kill him. Of course, none of Zed’s schemes work out as planned. See what kind of trouble he and Murphy get into in Slow Burn: Grind.

Will Any Sanctuary Stand? With both the Naked Horde and the Survivor Army destroyed, Zed and Murphy make their preparations and head to College Station to do their small part in salvaging humanity’s future. But the post-virus world isn’t kind to humans or their plans and nothing they find on their journey is what they expected.

Fourteen years have passed since the virus ripped through the global population, crushing the modern world and leaving the cities crawling with the infected. The immune who survived the violence of the collapse fled to remote havens like Balmorhea, a tiny town in the desert of far West Texas. There, a few hundred normals made a go of it, building walls, farming the dry dirt, and learning to thrive together. With them, Zed and Murphy, survivors of the infection are different but still human. Distrusted and despised because of what they are, they're still the first to fight when the hordes maraud out of the wastes. Now, a new menace is lurking beyond the horizon, threatening to destroy everything they've built. Will they survive the savage violence sweeping across the desert, or will they be consumed by the FIRESTORM?

Librarian's note: There is an Alternate Cover Edition for this edition of this book [here](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34230191.here "here"). Survive the infection! Survive the Infected! Book 1 A new flu strain has been spreading across Africa, Europe, and Asia. Disturbing news footage is flooding the cable news channels. People are worried and frightened. But Zed Zane is oblivious. He needs to borrow rent money from his parents. He gets up Sunday morning, drinks enough tequila to stifle his pride and heads to his mom’s house for a lunch of begging, again. But something is wrong. There’s blood in the foyer. His mother’s corpse is on the living room floor. Zed’s stepdad, Dan is wild with crazy-eyed violence and attacks Zed when he comes into the house. They struggle into the kitchen. Dan’s yellow teeth tear at Zed’s arm but he grabs a knife and stabs Dan, thirty-seven times, or so the police later say. With infection burning in his blood, Zed is arrested for murder but the world is falling apart and he soon finds himself back on the street, fighting for his life among the infected who would kill him and the normal people, who fear him. Book 2 Slow Burn: Infected picks up the story of Zed, Murphy, and Jerome where Slow Burn: Zero Day ended. All three have been infected but have not succumbed to the most pernicious symptoms of the virus. Nevertheless, their band of fearful survivors, have ostracized them. Back on the street, with weapons to defend themselves but little food in their packs, they embark on a search for Murphy’s family while following a rumor of safe haven in the form of a doomsday bunker in east Austin. But the world is more hazardous than they know. They expect violence from the voracious infected but they have harsh lessons to learn about the uninfected. And humans to support the infrastructure of modern civilization, they find that danger comes in many forms. Book 3 Zed is saying goodbye to one friend and pressing forward with two new ones, Mandi, whom Zed and Murphy rescued from the bunker, is immune to the virus, and Russell, also a slow burn, but lower-functioning, childlike and docile. After seeing the carnage at the dormitory, a raging, vengeful Zed wants only to kill Mark, his nemesis and the former leader of the ROTC squad. Since Mark has disappeared, Zed unleashes his fury on untold numbers of infected in his path as he makes his way back to the hospital, in an attempt to rescue Steph, a nurse whom he befriended while seeking help for the feverish Murphy shortly after the prison riot. But the brave medical staff, holed up on the tenth floor of the hospital, and running out of provisions, has decided to take matters in hand by exposing themselves to the virus, and shooting those who “turn.” Zed is determined not to face another loss, but time is running out. The Slow Burn Series Book 1 – Slow Burn: Zero Day Book 2 – Slow Burn: Infected Book 3 & 4 - Box Set Slow Burn: Destroyer & Dead Fire Book 3 – Slow Burn: Destroyer Book 4 - Slow Burn: Dead Fire Book 5 - Slow Burn: Torrent