February 5, 2021
Lost World Post Five
Week 5, Day 5 – Lost World
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction
Release Date: April 28, 2015
Cover Design: Jimmy Gibbs
Formats: ebook, audiobook, and paperback – grab the ebook for just $0.99 for a limited time!
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With their shelter destroyed and their sense of security shattered, Vivian, Axl and the group set off in search of a safe place. But the group’s morale is at an all-time low, and they now know it’s not just the dead they have to fear. Weeks of wandering brings sickness, death and loss to the survivors, and Vivian soon finds herself losing hope of ever discovering a safe place to live.
RIP: Characters we lost in Lost World
Moira
I don’t think this one was much of a surprise to readers. From the moment we met Moira and her family, it was obvious she was dependent on Nathan. I threw this in because there are a lot of people – not just women – who become so dependent on their spouse that they don’t know what to do with themselves after they’re gone. I think that type of person would be doubly lost if they found themselves in a horrific situation on top of that – such as a zombie apocalypse. So, yeah, a horde comes and Moira can’t get it together enough to save herself, and despite everything Vivian does, she dies. Moira wasn’t a big part of the group and we didn’t get to know her very well, but her death does cause a domino effect in the group that changes everything.
Liz
Moira’s daughter was collateral damage, really. Vivian did her best to save the little girl, but she wants her mom and ultimately gets away. As everyone knows, I’m not afraid to kill off kids – despite the fact that some readers have gotten really, really pissed at me over this – and I felt it realistic that Liz wouldn’t want to be without her mother. Again, we never really got to know her that well, but she’s part of that domino effect I was talking about.
Dylan
He’s one of the little boys Moira and Nathan found at the beginning of the apocalypse, and he also dies at the hot spring when the horde finds them. Honestly, I did this for a few reasons. One, because I felt like I had a lot of kids in the story and they are not only hard to develop and make an interesting part of the story, but I also feel like they would be the most vulnerable in a situation like this. The other reason was because I needed there to be a feeling of great loss after this, but I wasn’t ready to kill off the other characters quite yet. I just didn’t feel like the timing was right for them. You know I don’t mind killing people if it works with the story, but in this instance, I needed to keep them longer so I could move things along.
Jessica
This is Winston’s daughter and the only member of his family left since his wife and son both died from the virus. She’s also part of the domino effect I was talking about. We didn’t get to know a ton about her. She was engaged and was a teacher, and she seems to be holding up okay and adjusting to life in the apocalypse. That’s about all, really. She’s taken on a lot of the responsibility of caring for the kids, and she’s with Dylan when he dies, so we can assume she was trying to protect him. We can also assume that she and Dylan both might have lived if Vivian hadn’t been so focused on Moira and Liz. If she’d been able to divert her efforts to helping someone who actually wanted to be saved, there’s a good chance that Jessica and Dylan would have made it. Had that happened, Winston’s fate would have been different as well.
Jake
He’s the reason for the great divide in the group. He’s sick, so Angus, Darla, Parv, Hadley, and Jon are off looking for antibiotics when the horde attacks, which puts the group at risk and probably means more fatalities. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, they aren’t able to save him and Jake dies from whatever illness he has, which pushes Joshua and Anne together.
Hadley Lucas
Hadley doesn’t die, but we do say goodbye to her in this book. I’ve already talked about this in my other posts, so I’m not going to say a lot about it, but I will once again mention how much I loved writing her transformation. I like a character with layers, and the Hadley/Ginny storyline meant a lot of characters and a lot of demons. Out of the ashes of Hadley Lucas we get Ginny, and not only is she a pretty awesome character, but she ends up being Meg’s mother, who is the main character in Twisted World. Which was a book I didn’t even know I’d write at this point.
