The Zombie Plagues Dead Road: The Collected books. (186 page)

Pearl likes her life with Billy, but
she longs for England, and wonders what has become of her home. For
now she is content to be a part of the Outrunners.

~

RONNIE

Ronnie came to us in the first book
already involved with Patty and seemingly happy with his situation.
There are references to conversations between him and Mike that
cemented their relationship, but no actual written record of those
conversations.

Ronnie is Mike's right hand man. Mike
says he is a completion of himself and he depends on him and seeks
his advice. Mike discuses nearly everything with him. Several times
he and Candace are the only ones that Mike takes into his
confidence or seems to trust with the really big things.

We know Ronnie came
from
Pritchard Alabama
.
Pritchard
is a small city on the outskirts of
Mobile Alabama
. He came to Watertown
to build houses for the Army base expansion and stayed.

He is a carpenter by trade. Quiet,
solid, loyal are apt descriptive words for him. His relationship
with Patty probably would not have happened had the world not
changed drastically. Patty was waiting for something else she
didn't even know she was waiting for at the time. Ronnie saw her
regularly, they lived in the same apartment house, Ronnie lived in
2c, patty lived one floor below in 1b. They both shopped at the
same supermarket on State street, Ronnie didn't like to shop at
all. But as often as he saw her in passing he never asked her out,
although he admits he had thought about it a few times.

~

TIM

Tim is Patty's brother, or at least
that is the way she presents him and he doesn't correct that
perception. A little more on that down the road...

Tim is really not much more than a kid
when we meet him in the first book. When Annie comes along he is
immediately attracted to her. They are both about the same
age.

Tim looks up to Ronnie. He views Ronnie
as the man who came along and saved himself and Patty. Most likely
that is exactly what happened as they were on the North Side and
would have been picked up by the North Side gangs before long.
Traveling with Ronnie probably stopped that from happening. Tim
looks at him as an older brother he never had. Stability in a bad
situation.

Tim also looks up to Mike and Mike is
fond of Tim. That is evidenced in the things Mike trusts him
with.

~

TOM

Tom Evans comes into the first novel as
a man who really doesn't know himself. He goes from a position of
leadership to last in line for responsibility once Mike Collins is
leading.

He felt cheated at first when Candace
went with Mike. His belief was that if things could have stayed the
same she would have ended up with him, not Mike. He doesn't want to
leave Watertown at first but eventually he comes around to the
realization that he can't stay. Still, he remains in Mikes
shadow.

He is a skilled Mechanic. He shows that
he has a little more depth than he normally shows in his journal
entries, especially after Lydia is killed.

~

THE NATION

The Nation is situated between the
former states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and extends to the
East and West as well as it grows.

That settlement is the heart of The
Nation, but The Nation is not the only group of survivors vying for
control of the former United States. The Fold is another group that
will eventually come into conflict with The Nation, but there are
others they will have to deal with as they grow and begin to take
new territories.

Although The Nation will always remain
headquartered in the valley, not all the main characters will. As
they grow they will spread out across what is left of the North
American Continent, and that is when the real problems with other
survivors will come.

~

THE FOLD

The fold is peopled by the survivors
from the Earth's Survivors Settlement Earth Books. They initially
start their settlements on what remains of the west coast, but soon
move away from the coast and the continuing earthquakes.

They resettle at an oasis in the desert
and become The Nations greatest rival, even enemies.

The two groups will finally face off
against each other in all out war in the later books.

~

RAPID CITY

Rapid City was established by people
other than The Nation. At one time a Zombie stronghold, it was
wiped out each time it was reestablished. Eventually The Nation
will gain a stronghold there and Rapid City will become a gateway
into the south, and Alabama Island beyond.

~

THE BOOK SERIES

The book series consists of more than
twenty books that are already written for the main series. The
publishing schedule was aimed at two books per year, one in the
spring, one in the fall. The decision was made to end the series in
early Spring of 2016 with much left unpublished. Legal arrangements
were made for the remaining books to be given over to another
writer for possible future publication.

ABOUT THE SERIES CREATOR AND AUTHOR

Wendell (Dell) Sweet wrote his first
fiction at age seventeen. He drove taxi and worked as a carpenter
for most of his life. He began working on the internet in 1989
primarily in HTML, graphics and website optimizations. He spent
time on the streets as a drug addicted teen as well as time in
prison. He was Honorably discharged from the service in
1974.

He is a Musician who writes his own
music as well as lyrics. He is an Artist accomplished in Graphite,
Pen, and Digital media. He has written more than twenty books for
the Earth's Survivors series, many of which are unpublished, and
several dozen short stories.

All music, lyrics, artwork or
additional written materials attributed to characters in this
novel, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright © 2015 Dell
Sweet.