Zone One question

Colson Whitehead is best know for his 2019 release "The Nickel Boys" about a notorious reform school for boys in Florida. "Zone One" is a 2011 release and brings a refreshing take on the genre of zombie apocalypses.

First, a personal admission. I normally don't enjoy fiction that focuses on either zombies or post-apocalyptic worlds. Most are not well written. Or they focus on themes that have been well travelled over the years. Even when they are well written, such as Cormac McCarthy's "The Road", I find them to be depressing and bleak when showing the extremes of human depravity. "Zone One" attempts to take on the post-apocalyptic genre from a different perspective. "Zone One" takes place at an unspecified period of time after a plague has destroyed most of humanity. The plague has created two forms of zombies. The rapid animal-like zombies that attack without provocation. The remaining zombie population has been frozen in time. They remain in locations that meant the most to them when they were alive. The office worker who stares at a copy machine that no longer works. The fortune teller who died providing one last fortune to a customer. But humanity believes that there hope. After the remnants of the military destroy the zombie population in New York City, sweeper teams are assigned to clear each building in New York City. Block by block. Building by building. Floor by floor. The sweepers search for zombies, put them into body bags and place them into streets for disposal teams to pick up.The sweepers believe that they are making difference in preparing New York City for the return of a healthy population. As they progress in their clearing, their optimism is buoyed by a decreasing number of zombies that they find in their travels. They are receiving positive news reports from their higher headquarters in Buffalo. They are able to begin to grow crops again and can look forward to a more consistent food supply. However, as the story progresses, it becomes clear that all is not as the sweepers believe them to. Their illusions are shattered in the final dramatic pages as it becomes clear that the world that they knew before "The Last Night" is gone forever.

For the majority of the book, the primary antagonist is not the zombies. It is the sense of loss of a world long gone. It is the sense of overpowering loneliness. Characters recount their lives when the plague first overtook civilization. They recall seeing parents and loved ones turn into zombies. To survive in an uncertain world, characters are forced to leave their relationships and personal connections behind. In a sense, they become a sort of emotional zombie ready to leave their relationships behind during a crisis. The main character, Mark Spitz, recalls a story of a woman that he met in a toy store when hiding from pursuing zombies. Their friendship develops into a romantic relationship. Then one day the one disappears while scrounging for food. She never returns. Spitz simply accepts her disappearance with a shoulder shrug and begins to prepare to move to his next destination down the road. There are no tears because he has seen too much loss. So many people have been lost in the plague that his girlfriend simply one more person to leave behind in his past.

"Zone One" is not a happy book with a happy ending. People have been broken by their experiences during The Last Night. Institutions have been destroyed and there is nothing to replace them. But Whitehead provides a needed twist on a well trod genre.