Survivors

Survivors #0

by Terry Nation

Survivors of a global plague battle for life on an empty planet. A gripping vision of a post-apocalyptic world...

'A fine piece of British post-apocalyptic fiction'

'Nation's novel is based on his original cult series...and is all the better for it, being far, far more gritty and realistic' SUNDAY SUN

A virus has wiped out 95 per cent of the world's population in just a few weeks, leaving the remaining 5 per cent to stay alive in a world devoid of the most basic amenities - electricity, transport and medicine.

The few survivors of the human race are forced to fall back on the most primitive skills in order to live and re-establish some semblance of law and order.

Abby Grant, widowed by the plague, moves through this new dark age with determination, sustained by hope that her son, who fled his boarding school at the onset, has survived. She knows she must relearn the skills on which civilisation was built. With others, she founds a commune and the group return to the soil. But marauding bands threaten their existence.

For Abby, there's a chance for a new life and love when she encounters James Garland, the fourteenth Earl of Woodhouse, who is engaged in a desperate fight to save his ancestral home. But more important, she must find her son.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Post Apocalyptic, Dystopia, Apocalyptic, Audiobook, Survival

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Terry Nation was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist. After briefly joining his father's furniture-making business and attempting stand-up comedy, Nation turned his hand to writing and worked on radio scripts for The Goon Show and a range of TV dramas such as The Saint, The Avengers, Z Cars, The Baron, The Champions, Department S and The Persuaders. He went on to write about 100 episodes of Doctor Who and wrote scripts for the American TV series MacGyver (1985) and A Fine Romance (1989).

He is probably best known for creating iconic villains the Daleks in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who. Nation also created two science-fiction shows - Survivors and Blake's 7.

Terry Nation moved to Los Angeles, California, United States in 1980. He died from emphysema on 9 March 1997, aged 66.

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uneven, but compelling. Horrifically dated until the apocalypse strikes, then horrifically prescient. Full review to follow on www.davidmoody.net shortly.

Update - here's my take on the book: https://bit.ly/3rjegGl

[Jade Heslin · Rating 2 out of 5]

God, this was boring. I don’t remember actually being bored reading it, but the fact that I can’t remember anything about the plot, characters or style really speaks volumes about the author’s level of penmanship.

Terry Nation is a TV writer, and I’m sure he is very good at his day-job (he invented the infamous Darleks after all), but he should have stuck to TV instead of getting grandiose ideas of becoming a novelist.

I’m not saying that TV writers are any less worthy of praise, it’s just that the two fields are completely different.

And that’s why I’m not going to let this put me off post-apocalyptic fiction for good. The last few I’ve read have been pretty dire, but NO – I’m standing firm!
I really have nothing to say about this book. There was a ‘twist’ at the end which was condescendingly predictable. I just… Pffft… Words elude me.

I have given this book 2 stars. 1 star is reserved for those truly abhorrent spewings. I didn’t hate this book. I was just indifferent.

[MisterD · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst the recent TV series is clearly based on this novel - several of the main characters are there, as are key episodes - it has its own pace and scale. The onset and aftermath of the Death are well delivered, to the extent that we as quickly become innured to the scale of the morbidity as do the protagonists. We immediately become caught up in their daily struggle for survival. The post-apocalyptic world, and the variety of ways in which its inhabitants conduct themselves, is very much in the tradition of John Wyndham's tales.

At times, however, the book doesn't ring quite true. Written in the seventies, it shows its age in a number of minor details, and isn't shy of presenting a gallery of stock characters from those days. More irritatingly, here and there are inconsistencies in the narrative - encounters with other groups of survivors, for example, are rarely followed though to a logical conclusion, though when this is done the excitement and interest are built up to page-turning level. Similarly, in places the time-scale leaps around unsatisfyingly, from second-by-second action to whole seasons in the space of a paragraph.

The final scene is a surprise, well enough, though the revelation is flagged up more obviously than HMS Victory at the Nile; but Terry Nation leaves us wanting more, which is probably the best place to end.

I'd very much like to see a re-write of this book, as I feel the TV programmes addressed some of the ommissions. These criticisms apart, "Survivors" is a good read overall, not overly demanding and, indeed, thought-provoking.

[Jonathan Norton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terry Nation's tie-in novel from 1976, linked to the 1st season of the TV show he created. To get round various legal issues the 2008 remake was billed as based on this book, rather than a remake of the TV series, but I never saw that adaptation so I dunno about it. I have seem all of the 70s version, and love it and am willing to defend all of it, including seasons 2 and 3, which Nation didn't have much involvement with.

The book is great but different. The early chapters are pretty much the same as the opening episodes, but then we quickly diverge away. Obviously, it focuses on the central 3 and we don't get much development of the other survivors. There are brief appearances by figures who get bigger stories on screen, such as the gold-collector, and the dashing young aristocrat Jimmy Garland. The London settlement, which got 2 episodes at the start of season 2, is summarised in a few paragraphs. On the other hand Wormley's National Government is a bigger thing than it was on TV. The timeline is rather different, and infrastructure crumbles away much faster in this world. We don't actually get any detail about the Chinese lab that the opening credits implied was the source of the plague, it all starts at airports.

One thing that does stand out is the stunning finale, which has no parallel in any of the 3 seasons. If, like me, you got the idea (from immersion in Doctor Who fan culture) that Nation was just a hack who found a crock of gold in the Daleks even though other people did a lot of the work, then this and the original TV show will set you right.

[Emily Mehlman · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars

So little character development. Easy read, but fairly boring. Some suspense at moments, but mostly that just fizzled out. I like the premise, but not impressed.

[Mr Osowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Terry Nation holds a special place in my heart--Daleks! But his book just didn't do it for me. There was some good philosophical discussion about what the world would be like if most of us died. And, granted, it doesn't fall back on a lot of the post-apocalyptic tropes (probably because it was written in the 70s). I just didn't get attached to the characters like I hoped. And the ending was a bit predictable.

[Anže · Rating 2 out of 5]

While it is a fun read at times, I can not ignore the lazy writing, especially towards the end of the book which is abrupt and very disappointing. It ends in such a swift and sad manner, that it felt like the writer has gotten bored with the story he was trying to tell and just decided to end it right then and there with as big of a shock he could muster.

[Hex75 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ho preso in mano questo libro cercando di ricordarmi lo sceneggiato da cui è stato tratto, un programma visto 40 anni fa su una piccola tv in bianco e nero: ovviamente nessun risultato, eppure l'ansia che emerge dalle pagine mi è comunque familiare.
"i sopravvissuti" è una storia distopica proveniente dai tardi anni settanta inglesi, in cui la civiltà come noi la conosciamo viene spazzata via da un virus e ai pochi superstiti tocca trovare il modo di sopravvivere: è fantascienza figlia del suo tempo, forse ingenua e monodimensionale ma decisamente realistica, con i protagonisti alle prese con problemi decisamente assai concreti e nessun happy ending all'orizzonte che possa far tirare un sospiro di sollievo al lettore.
Poteva essere migliore, poteva essere più vario, ma anche così Terry Nation si riserva un suo posticino nella storia della fantascienza UK.

[Nina Pernina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Knjigo imamo prevedeno v slovenščino.

Danes pandemije niso več distopičen konstrukt, saj smo jo vsi dali čez, toda roman je bil napisan v 70-ih letih in prikazuje, kakšen je lahko razplet, ko ostane samo še 10% prebivalstva, ki se morajo za preživetje vrniti k starodavnim veščinam poljedeljstva, obenem pa se zaščititi pred predatorji, namreč ne glede na čas in okoliščine priskledniki in demagogi, željni oblasti, bodo žal vedno obstajali.

Žanrsko branje, dokaj solidna zgodba sicer brez psihološkega suspenza. Vas pa na koncu čaka preobrat, ki vas bo pretresel, še bolj udarno bi bilo, če bi pisatelj namenil več strani razpletu.

[L Eidsness · Rating 4 out of 5]

As chilling and compelling as the show!

[Matthew Kresal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A virus emerges in Asia and, thanks to modern air travel, makes its way across the globe in a matter of weeks. Hospitals are overwhelmed, and governments struggle to react. Then people start dying, and those left unaffected or recovering begin dealing with the aftermath.

As I write this review in the third week of February 2022, such a reality is all easy to imagine, thanks to the still ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Yet that description also matches something written more than forty years ago. Terry Nation, a writer for British television best remembered today for giving the Daleks to Doctor Who, brought such a vision to life to UK television viewers in the mid-1970s with his hit TV series Survivors, with its tale of a world ravaged by a plague that killed 95% of the population. Nation, who left the series after its first season due to disagreements with its producer, would then take his vision to the printed page with this novel.

Like the TV series, Nation's novel starts in seemingly ordinary surroundings. We meet Abby Grant, who becomes the lead character as she learns of the effects of the disease first from her son Peter, off at boarding school, and then from her husband once he comes home from London at last. Readers are also introduced to Jenny Richards, living in London, whose flatmate comes down with the disease and, through a mutual acquaintance who is a doctor, gets the warning to get out of the city before the plague hits its worst. There are uncanny moments echoing the modern pandemic here, with characters comparing it to the flu and insisting that people don't die from it, giving these chapters an air all the more unnerving.

And, almost before characters or readers are even aware, Nation brings the world as we've known it to a sudden and ignoble end thanks to "the Death."

Abby, her husband dead, goes about setting off to find her son and a new community. She becomes far more successful at the latter than the former, with much of the opening third or so of the novel being the story of how she comes to meet Jenny and Greg Preston. Greg, a British engineer who arrives from Holland by helicopter and sees a chance to start over again, completes the trio of main characters. Together, Abby, Jenny, and Greg take readers through what follows, meeting up with other survivors, establishing a community to relearn the skills lost to the conveniences of modern society, and dealing with threats from nature and their fellow human beings. And, when a new clue occasionally arises, Abby continues to seek out her son.

Nation's novel, and the TV series that inspired its first half or so, follows in a rich vein of British fiction imagining the end of Britain as they knew it. It's far to say their echoes of both H.G. Wells and John Wyndham in the narrative, if with a 1970s spin on their ideas, writing as Nation was at a time of food shortages and energy crises. And Nation, as with those two giants of British SF, is interested perhaps more in what comes after an apocalypse than it how comes about, as the latter two-thirds of the novel will attest.

And what a Britain it turns out to be. Nation in places paints brief but vivid pictures of the horrors unfolding elsewhere, including a group wintering in London and people resorting to cannibalism. Yet, for the most part, however, readers rarely know more than the central trio learns in their encounters. There are different groups of survivors the trio encounter trying out their own systems of government, including one group led by a surviving union leader Abby meets early on that takes on a more substantial role in events than it had on-screen. How the Death changes relationships are explored, as well, in the latter chapters as characters settle down and Nation spins off the TV series narrative. In the end, the back-breaking labor of farming in a British climate eventually leads to the group making a far-reaching decision, one both would have been hard to portray on a 1970s BBC budget, and that ultimately builds up toward the novel's gut-punch of a finale. There are times when the narrative, especially in its time-jumps, becomes more telling than showing. Yet Nation spins a captivating tale, all the same, helped out by his ability to paint quick portraits of his characters in words that would rival the later writings of Russell T Davies.

Whether you're familiar with Survivors or not, Nation's novel has plenty to offer. It's a compelling narrative, even after more than four decades, of the end of the world as we've known it and what comes after, told with characteristically British understatement and a strong cast of characters. You might think that two years into a real pandemic, this would be the last thing you'd want to give your time towards, perhaps? Nation's novel will, if nothing else, make you grateful that (as horrible as they've been) things haven't been worse.

Or, perhaps, have you wondering whether it'll be like this next time.

[Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the one hand, this novel is horribly dated - so 1976 it hurts - and on the other it is timeless and horribly prescient. This is the story of a pandemic surging - allegedly - from China, beginning with the rapid collapse of amenities due to illness absence, and from there describing the collapse of a society that cannot exist without a functioning modern economy. Spot on, considering the experience of the Covid pandemic. It also ends - ironically in the light of today’s news - with refugees going from England to France in a small boat.

This novel is adapted from the scripts of a TV serial, and the TV writer skills of the author show. The storytelling is simple and shallow, but compelling in short bursts. For a depleted world, there are too many characters in too small an area. This makes following who does what a little confusing, but a TV serial needs an ensemble cast and several locations to jump between. Similarly, the events of the story unfold in an episodic, recurring way which follows the structure of a serial. This makes the book a bit too easy to put down between chapters.

It is nevertheless a good read, although one I am unlikely to return to. Much of the drama and threat is taken up by the mistrust and hostility between groups of survivors - who needs Zombies? Survival is thrilling jeopardy enough, with a few nutters and megalomaniacs thrown in. What is really well done is the depiction of passing time and nature swiftly reclaiming all human-made structures. Nature becomes a threat in itself for humanity that no longer knows how to live off the land, a silent but relentless antagonist.

The TV series had been intended to be long running, examining the decay of our old society and exploring the rise of a new society, but it was cancelled. The story had to be brought to an end to close this book somehow, and the author manages that with a last minute emotional twist. A bit implausible and convenient, but hey that’s how TV scripts work.

[Adam Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carolyn Seymour reads Survivors, Terry Nation's novel based on the stories he wrote for Series 1 of the TV series although with a very different series. The novel is, in many ways, more grim than the TV series. However, more than trying to be "dark," the Survivors attempts to be a realistic story of what might happen in England after an apocalypse brought about by plague. Terry Nation makes no real attempt to be overly moody or artificially depressing (other than in perhaps the last scene). Rather, he tries to tell a story that's realistic and true to life and tries to imagine how society would re-form after a plague catyclysm in a largely secularized United Kingdom. He does a solid job of it and his world is populated by characters, some of them likable, some of them not, but all with very realistic motivations.

The audiobook is read by Carolyn Seymour (who played Abby Grant) and she does a magnificent job in making the story and it's a wide variety of characters come to life. Overall, this is a solidly written and produced book.

[Taksya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Della serie tv del 1975 ('76 in Italia) ricordo chiaramente solo la sigla. Il resto è nebuloso e, anche rileggendo la trama degli episodi, non emerge nulla dalle nebbie.
Non so dire quanto romanzo, scritto da Terry Nation (autore della serie tv e padre dei Dalek) e letto da Carolyn Seymour (protagonista della prima stagione della serie), si discosti dalla serie se non facendo riferimento alle brevi note trovate sulla wiki.
La narrazione è frammentaria, con molti stacchi televisivi e poca fluidità tra i momenti di azione e quelli più descrittivi.
La lettura della Seymour è in grado di tenere viva l'attenzione e la durata non eccessiva del testo aiuta a non distrarsi troppo.
Il finale, abbastanza sorprendente, è di certo diverso dal finale di stagione ed è, alla fine dei conti, la parte più interessante della storia.
Nel complesso siamo sulla sufficienza, ma non una stella più di tre.

[Bronwyn Hegarty · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot is good which explains why it was made into a TV series. The writing in three parts keeps you interested but it is simplistic with little characterisation or power to induce emotion. It was popular at the time as it was probably one of the first apocalytic novels, and as we know us humans are starving for this kind of stuff. It interested me as research to help with my writing and I will now watch the series. I expect this will have more depth to it which is unusual as it is often the other way round. I did not like the ending.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a new edition of a book originally published in the 1970s I believe when the original TV show was on. This new edition was released in conjunction with the new version of the TV show. In the style of the age it is a little slower, more suspense by anticipation of trouble, than the action packed books, movies and TV of today but still a great story with realistic human reactions to situations. This is more of the drama of human relationships than the action and conflict of current "pulp media."

[Bruce Richardson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a great book, but not terrible. I only read it because I'd seen the original TV series as a small child.

The unremittingly bleak tone is realistic given the scenario and the book doesn't glory in "apocalypse giving men the chance to be real men" the way so many books of this theme and time did (e.g. John Christopher's "The Death of Grass"). One historical/political note that I was too young to notice at the time: Terry Nation really had it in for Arthur Scargill. Arthur Wormley, the union leader now setting himself up as a tyrant, was clearly a dig at him.

[Krista · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story could have been so good. But the writing just wasn't great for me. I was very much aware the while time that I was reading someone's writing, and could not get lost in the story. I never felt connected to the characters.

Having seen the TV show based off the book, I enjoyed the show much better, although it ended on a cliff hanger. (The show and book are very different also.)

This was my 2015 PopSugar Reading Challenge book made into a TV show.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A flu pandemic spreads from China, killing millions and leaving Britain decimated. Abby Grant goes in search of her son and discovers a new future for herself.

Nation's novel had a fascinating concept for 1976, becoming eerily real in 2020. Not the best written book, the story holds the reader's attention well.

[bumblethunderbeast · Rating 2 out of 5]

picked this up because I really enjoyed the BBC series and I was disappointed that it only ran 2 seasons. This is one of the few cases where a movie or film is better than the book. The book was fine, just not exceptional.

[Kit★]

Recently watched the (2000's version) of the show based on this book and I loved it. Sad to hear they're not making any more seasons. Seen it was based on this book, so might like to read it if I ever find a copy.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

First read 2008(?)
Reread 2022

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was tedious. Not really my jam.

[☆Ruth☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting and thought-provoking. I felt the author sketched a pretty realistic picture of what might happen to society in the case of a world-wide pandemic.

[H Wilson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very poor

Very poor jumped around too much no real story.
Needs structure didn't do any detail leaving gaps.
Was very disappointed

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit that I really liked the premise of this book in the 1970s, when I first saw the TV series. It was the TV series that led me to the print version, especially because the book version doesn't follow the same plot as the TV series. I don't mind that at all. After all, we are talking about an imagined fictional future, where almost anything could happen.

During the pandemic, the narrative of the book took on a rather current theme. A killer plague originating in China that is conveyed by the instruments of globalisation. It was all horribly familiar. However, in the actual pandemic, the medical authorities were able to develop a sufficiently potent vaccine to take the sting out of the virus. Covid is still with us, but in a less lethal way.

And this is what the book tempts us to do - to draw comparisons between the fictional pandemic and the actual pandemic. What I found interesting is that the authorities gave up so readily in the book. In reality, the authorities struggled hard to maintain a semblance of normality, to get people to isolate, to use the mass media - mainly TV - to project the message. There was none of this in the book, and I wonder why? Even the Black Death had a well defined transmission route and time sequence. In the book, lethality spread almost instantaneously. That didn't ring true.

The book also reflects the mores of the time in which it was written. It's written from a 1970s middle class perspective, which dates it somewhat. The received wisdom of the BBC in the 1970s doesn't ring true today. I found it interesting how the main characters are part of the organising class - professionals who know how to set things right. I think that I would have liked the injection of a little more pluralistic views in the book. A couple of working class characters who were other than the cardboard cut out trade unionist malcontents we are given, maybe one or two characters whose background is other then Anglo-Saxon. These people were there in the 1970s, but the BBC didn't really cater for them. It would today.

And that really is the point at which things boil down. The book hasn't stood the test of time too well. Its a product of the times in which it was produced. It had a really interesting idea, but it was delivered in a quite wooden way. I would happily watch the TV series again, but I doubt that I'll go back to the book.

[Mad Medico · Rating 3 out of 5]

Survivors is one of my favourite television series, so I was interested to see how Nation adapted it in novel form - the series uses the long-form episodic format to develop the post-Death world in great detail, focussing on interpersonal relationships and solo drama as well as sociopolitical themes of the development and regression of society, and the tensions between different modes of living, and realists and dreamers. The boom adapts the first couple of episodes (as well as a small selection of Nation’s other series one episodes) before developing an alternative narrative - there’s less focus on friction in the settlement and few alternative visions of society are presented (beyond Wormley’s government). The novel’s narrative is more elliptical, covering around half a decade, and looks at the development of the small agricultural commune among the rapidly disintegrating world - the idea of plants taking over and the vestiges of human society decaying is presented really well, with the main cast of characters being far more isolated, and the landscape being much more ‘wilded’ than in the series. The new characters are not particularly special (and don’t compare well to the charismatic Welshman Charles who is conspicuously absent from this adaptation) and I felt that there was a missed opportunity to develop the main three beyond what was seen in the opening series (the only real development I saw was the isolation of Abby and Greg’s indecisiveness and agreeable nature (a chance from the series which I felt didn’t make a lot of sense, Greg having become the leader in the later series). The prose is fairly strong and if anything the pace is a bit too fast, the half decade not making itself felt with the constantly progressing plot. The ending is, of course, wildly different to the original, and I like the ‘escape to Europe’ idea (the group’s planning is one of my favourite aspects of the series) - shame about the soap opera ending that cheapens the narrative somewhat.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite TV series, I was interested to see it translated into novel form. On the whole it's a good experience, the depictions and details of the ruinous landscape are well-written, and the story is delivered by great passion and economy by Carolyn Seymour.

Terry Nation's prose is somewhat dry at times, belying his scriptwriter chops, but the same strengths alive in his TV work can be found here. As Elizabeth Sandifer in her TARDIS Eruditorum essays points out, Nation is a master of depicting characters caught in the challenge of the moment, and of being able to bring life to a scene with clear and present danger. This makes his world-building and character development a practical, visceral experience.

I was fascinated by the deviations from the TV series, some minor, others significant. I intent to read the sequel, Genesis of a Hero, to see how much deeper this 'alternative' Survivors universe proceeds in relation to the second and third series of the TV show. I have to admit, the Arthur Wormley character's rapid absence from the original series seemed odd to me when watching it - clearly he and his men were set up to be an ongoing problem, much in the same way Travis and the Federation were in Nation's later series Blake's 7. Here, in his novelization, particular narrative is restored. I remember thinking the Anne Tranter character would be a perfect match for Wormley's society, and that it was a shame the series never made this jump. It would seem Nation considered it a shame too, among other developments - indeed, there are moments where I could almost hear him saying 'Right, I hated X and Y in the series, so I'll scrap it and do what I wanted in the first place.' And just so - it's his book.

I would recommend the audio reading of this over the print. I can imagine some tracts could be arduous to read, but in this case Carolyn Seymour sold it to me in a way I couldn't have mustered myself.

[Colin Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terry Nation is perhaps best known as the man who invented the Daleks on Doctor Who. Often when he wrote for them he would recycle the same old story and I think others wrote better for them than the man who invented them.

Survivors was a post-apocalyptic TV drama written by Nation in the 70s. This is the book that is based on that series. The book shows that there is much more to him than the recycled scripts he would  often use.

A global pandemic kills 95% of the world's population the remaining survivors all who have lost their other family members have to negotiate a world without technology and the resources they have taken for granted gradually become more scarce and the danger from other people they meet along the way becomes greater.

The 70s setting stands out but that doesn't detract from the enjoyment it made it more enjoyable actually. A group of disparate people build a community together and quickly Abby Grant stands out as their reluctant leader while at the same time she's hoping against hope that her son Peter may have survived the virus.

It's a really enjoyable read. The characters aren't always as well developed as they could be but it's a chilling look at how we'd all struggle without many of the things we take for granted as well as how ordinary people can be terrifying if all restraints are removed.

It was an enjoyable read and a nice twist in the end..

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5*
Bought this based on the strength of the author's work on TV shows such as Dr Who and Blake's 7, two classics of sci-fi.
Was a little disheartened reading some of the other reviews but am happy to say I don't really share their views and actually found this a fantastic read.
The story is relatively short but tight and tense the whole way through, constantly building tension and despite teasing what might happen next you're never quite sure which way the story is heading. The plot moves through three acts: the first establishs the premise and outlines the main characters. The second is the bulk of the book detailing their lives and their struggles to survive in the new, post-apocalpytic society.
The third charts their plans for the future and even ends with a little twist.
Overall I found this to be quite entertaining and undeserving of some of the negative reviews I've seen on here.
I should point out that the early stages of the book dealing with the events that cause the collapse are errily similar to those that happened to everyone a few years back so this might be triggering for some people. Fortunately those scenes are over with quite quickly and the story continues to move at a decent pace.
It doesn't have the typical blood and guts of modern works like The Walking Dead and The Last of Us (et. al), rather it's much more a struggle for people just trying to stay alive.
Kinda refreshing not to have blood thirsty zombies at the door all the time!