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1-Page Summary of The Kill Order
Overview
This novel is about a group of people who are trying to survive in the aftermath of a series of devastating natural disasters. The first disaster was a solar flare, which caused all sorts of problems for everyone on Earth. Then, there was an outbreak of some sort of virus that killed most people and made others into mindless killers.
The novel begins with a group of teens, their friends, and army veterans. They’ve formed a makeshift family in the Appalachian Mountains in western North Carolina. One day, they’re shocked to find that an airship arrives at their village and men wearing hazmat suits begin shooting them with darts filled with a dangerous virus called the Flare. The virus drives people crazy and eventually kills them.
Mark and Alec go back to the village where they find out that Darnell has come down with the virus. Eventually, he dies from it. Misty later contracts the virus and also dies, as does Toad. Mark, Alec, Trina, and Lana decide to head to Berg headquarters in hopes of finding a cure for it there. They trek through the woods but are separated from Lana and Trina by an insane group who set fire to their home. They’re captured by people at Berg headquarters but manage to escape them after discovering three things about Asheville’s plans: firstly, Asheville has turned its back on Berg base; secondly they want everyone dead because resources are scarce; thirdly they have Flat Trans (a transportation device linked to Alaska), where PFC (Post-Flare Coalition) is located—the international government based there has ordered that Asheville be destroyed with a deadly virus so order can be restored all over the world in time for repopulation efforts.
Mark then sends Deedee to the Flat Trans in a stolen plane. Mark and Alec have also come down with the virus. They crash their plane into the PFC building that contains the Flat Trans, where Trina is waiting for her brother.
Prologue – Chapter 14
The novel begins with the Maze, a place where children are sent to be tested. They have numbers instead of names and wear uniforms. The main character, Thomas, has already been implanted by WICKED (World In Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Department) who is doing research on a cure for the disease that affects millions of people. He’s no longer able to communicate telepathically with his best friend Teresa or anyone else in the Glade because they’ve already had their brains removed and replaced with computer chips.
Teresa realizes that she has no other choice, because WICKED doesn’t have any other choice. Indeed, Teresa and Thomas helped to construct the Maze. After Thomas is implanted with a tracker chip, he is taken down to the Maze.
Thirteen years earlier, Mark wakes up in his hut to discover he is a little chilly. Considering the world has become so hot, he finds this a good thing. On the other side of the hut, Alec snores. He’s gruff but has a heart of gold. Also sleeping in the room are Trina and Lana. They have come to North Carolina after surviving for one year amidst horrors and bloodshed caused by sun flares that destroyed most of society as we know it today.
Mark finds Trina by the stream. She is sitting on a boulder and reading an old-fashioned book. Mark thinks she is pretty, so he sits down beside her, and they hug. He decides it will be a perfect day.
Chapter One
Trina tells Mark that she hasn’t had a perfect day since her sixteenth birthday. Mark remembers how, at her party, he was ignored while Trina liked another boy named John Stidham. They decide to change the subject, but Mark feels his perfect day slipping away as dark memories cloud his mind. Trina takes Mark’s hand and says it will happen soon. They head back down to the village where they expect Alec and Lana will have chores for them.
