The North (#wattys2016)

Breakout. Escape The City. Stay Alive.

Sixteen-year-old David Simmons is on a mission to save his eight-year-old sister. In a smoldering world infested with walking cadavers, the survivors of Simmons infantry reserve unit are going hatches down in a pair of armored personnel carriers and everyone knows that it's only a matter of time until their fuel runs dry.

There's a weak short wave radio signal from a place called Sanctuary Base and it's supposed to be zombie-free. But there's more than a thousand miles to cover, a biting, unforgiving cold, armed survivalists, legions of the living dead and someone called SUNRAY.

Eight teens. A dying world. An unspeakable evil. They're outgunned, outnumbered and out of time.

This tense young adult thriller offers a terrifying vision of survival in a post-apocalyptic world where the bonds of friendship and family are the only things left that are worth fighting for.