Ever Onward

Sergeant 'Deadly Dave' Henderson is one very unstable soldier. Has been for years now. Ever since he got back from 'over there'. When finally served his divorce papers, good old 'Deadly Dave' seeks revenge on his wife by shooting her. He does this, not as might be expected, in their home or in the bed of his wife's lover, but at her place of work --- a top secret chemical warfare lab in the California desert.

As the bullets from Dave's M-16 spill blood and shatter bone, they shatter too the vials of a highly toxic secret nerve gas --- a gas cunningly designed to kill only humans, chimpanzees and the greater apes. So deadly is this 'man-made plague', that once released into the atmosphere and carried by the winds, eighty percent of the world's population is dead within a week.

'Ever Onward' is the story of the twenty percent of humans who somehow survive the global plague--- at least for a while.

High school teacher Josh Williams is one of them. On a camping trip in New York's Adirondacks with his teenage son Jessie and brother-in-law, Josh awakes to find that 'Uncle Bob' has somehow turned into a pile of dirty grey ashes.

Private Jocco Wellington is another survivor. Like Josh Williams, Jocco awakes to find that everyone at China Lake Weapons Center has died during the night; turned into a greyish substance that reminds him of a wasp nest he once crushed as a lad. Unlike Josh, however, Jocco is not overly disturbed about the loss of life --- after all, why should he be. He was still alive, and, for Jocco, that's all that really mattered.

These two natural leaders, the teacher and the soldier, go about rebuilding society each in their own way. Josh's vision is one based on family, friends and community, with equality, fair play and justice for all. Jocco's vision is somewhat darker and far more self-centered. One man builds a group of frightened, suspicious survivors into a thriving, vibrant community on the green shores of Upstate New York's Lake Champlain. The other man forges his own personal army of misfits, killers and psychopaths, lining the desert highway to his kingdom with the crucified remains of all that dare defy him.

When these two men finally meet, who will be the one to go 'ever onward'?

Please note:
This is not a children's book.
Mature language and actions are depicted.