Whispering Pines is a classic, quiet, private American subdivision on the edge of Asheville, NC, set in the pristine Blue Ridge Mountains. Which is good since the zombie apocalypse has come to Western North Carolina and really put suburban living to the test! Surrounded by a sea of the undead, the residents of Whispering Pines have adapted their bucolic life of block parties to scavenging parties, common area groundskeeping to immediate area warfare, neighborhood beautification to neighborhood fortification. But, even in the best of times, suburban living has its ups and downs what with nosy neighbors, a strict Home Owners’ Association, and a property management company that believes the words “strict interpretation” are holy words when applied to the HOA covenants. Now with the zombie apocalypse upon them even those innocuous, daily irritations quickly become dramatic struggles for personal identity, family security, and straight up survival. Welcome to normal life in Z-Burbia!

The Grove Park Inn. From the early 1900s right up to Z-Day, the Grove Park Inn was the place for the affluent to stay when vacationing in Asheville, NC. Everyone from F. Scott Fitzgerald to President Barak Obama stayed at the Grove Park. Artists, actors, diplomats, masters of industry, all called it a temporary home at one point or another. But that was before the zombie apocalypse. Now the five story stone, brick, and wood luxury inn is home to a different element. An unknown element. A heavily armed element. With Whispering Pines being rebuilt, Jace "Long Pork" Stanford has nothing better to do than find out who the newcomers are. Well, while he's not busy dealing with the ever present Z hordes. Or running for his life from paramilitary mercenaries. Or possibly blowing up more of the zombie infested city because he can't help pressing buttons. Buttons are meant to be pressed, even in the apocalypse, right? Looks like it's just another day in Z-Burbia!

Jace Stanford has lost family, friends, and his arm to the zombie apocalypse that hit his formerly quiet, American subdivision of Whispering Pines. But he has also gained new allies, a new sense of purpose, and something he never in a million years would have thought would be a plus: the cannibal savant known as Elsbeth. Now facing certain destruction from a faction known as the Consortium, Jace needs Elsbeth’s help more than ever. But is she up to the task when her past is revealed? A past that is possibly more shocking than the zombie apocalypse itself? Jace may find out the hard way. And in the zombie apocalypse, the hard way usually means a whole lot of people are going to die.

Forced from their home of Asheville, North Carolina, Jace Stanford’s family, along with a convoy of suburbanites, misfits, criminals, and soldiers, must battle their way through the I-40 corridor of Eastern Tennessee. When they are separated from their friends and allies in Knoxville, the Stanfords have to rely on their skills as post-apocalyptic survivors to fight off the Zs, insane Vols fans, homicidal sorority girls, and the most deadly of the post-apocalyptic threats- cannibal gangs! No longer are the Stanfords trying to survive day by day, but hour by hour and minute by minute, foot by foot and inch by inch, as they flee down what is known as Cannibal Road.

The American Midwest- a bucolic ideal that hasn’t quite translated to the zombie apocalypse. Instead of open arms and welcoming faces, there are now open mouths and ravenous Zs. The blue collar drive to work hard is now a red-mouthed hunger for flesh. Jace Stanford, as well as the remnants of the survivors of Whispering Pines, and the rag tag bunch of private military contractors, laborers, and former (everyone hopes) cannibals now must face the vast, exposed space of America’s Heartland in order to get to the possible sanctuary of The Stronghold in the post-apocalyptic ruins of Boulder, Colorado. Just a simple convoy from point A to point B, right? Yeah, right. Not for these folks. Z-Burbia 5: The Bleeding Heartlands is full of blood, guts, pus, and snark as Jace and company are forced to deal with yet another whacko group of crazy survivors, zombie hordes on a scale they have never seen, and the mystery of who keeps skinning folks and leaving the butchered bodies as some type of bloody warning. Yep, just another fun time in Z-Burbia for the Stanfords!

From Asheville to Knoxville, Cannibal Road to the Tomb, Jace Stanford and the Whispering Pines survivors have been on the run and fighting for their lives non-stop. Now, with the plains to their backs, the crew are just steps from their destination: The Stronghold of Boulder, CO. All they have to do is make it through the nightmare that is Denver, CO. While running from the mega-powerful, corporate/political/military entity that is the Consortium. And dealing with the brainwashed killing machines that call themselves the Sisters. Not to mention a crazy mad scientist hell bent on making life really, really hard for everyone. Oh, and there’s the issue of the horde of zombies that’s close to half a million strong. Yeah, that’s kind of a bummer. But, hey, if anyone can get his friends and family through a nightmare like this, it’s Jace Stanford, right? Right? Okay, they're probably screwed.

The end of the world is close. The dead walk the Earth, feasting on the living. Rogue bands of crazies, gangs of cannibals, and evil organizations fight for what is left of civilization. Blood and violence are the laws of the land. Those that survive must do things that no sane person should be forced to do. Good thing Elsbeth isn't exactly sane. The savior of, and saved by, the Stanford family, Elsbeth now fights for the Stronghold. She has friends and allies willing to fight right along side her. Most of all, she has family. She has sisters. And it ain't the sisters that need to watch out for the apocalypse. It's the apocalypse that needs to watch out for the sisters! TheZ-Burbia series continues, but now it is Elsbeth's turn to tell the story. Hang on for one crazy ride with a cannibal savant and her battle-hardened sisters as they tear through the wasteland and turn the zombie apocalypse on its undead head!