Diabetes in Fiction

The gigantic comet has slammed into Earth, forging earthquakes a thousand times too powerful to measure on the Richter scale, tidal waves thousands of feet high. Cities were turned into oceans; oceans turned into steam. It was the beginning of a new Ice Age and the end of civilization But for the terrified men and women chance had saved, it was also the dawn of a new struggle for survival—a struggle more dangerous and challenging than any they had ever known….

Celeste Muldoon is alone when the Big One finally hits, because, for the first time ever, her best friend stood her up after school. Nicky and Celeste share a birthday, matching tattoos, an obsession with the upcoming Mars mission, and pretty much everything else. So why did he ghost her on the day she needed him most? As the quake’s death toll rises and days pass, Nicky and Celeste’s parents fear the worst. But Celeste doesn’t buy it. He couldn’t be dead. Nicky’d spent their senior year selling essays to rich kids and was about to get caught. He’d told Celeste about his plan to vanish, to reinvent himself and escape the disaster he’d created. The quake would be perfect cover. But she can’t convince anyone that he could still be alive. Only Meo, a mysterious stranger who was somehow mixed up with Nicky, seems to believe, but Celeste has every reason to distrust him—even if her heart races whenever Meo shows up. When Celeste finds Nicky’s notebook, it sends her and Meo on a quest across the broken city, up the coast through towns sheltering quake refugees, and eventually all the way to Florida, where the mission to Mars is about to lift off.

New York Times best-selling author William R. Forstchen now brings us a story which can be all too terrifyingly real ... a story in which one man struggles to save his family and his small North Carolina town after America loses a war, in one second, a war that will send America back to the Dark Ages ... A war based upon a weapon, an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP). A weapon that may already be in the hands of our enemies. Months before publication, ONE SECOND AFTER has already been cited on the floor of Congress as a book all Americans should read, a book already being discussed in the corridors of the Pentagon as a truly realistic look at a weapon and its awesome power to destroy the entire United States, literally within one second. It is a weapon that the Wall Street Journal warns could shatter America. In the tradition of ON THE BEACH, FAIL SAFE, and TESTAMENT, this book, set in a typical American town, is a dire warning of what might be our future ... and our end.

Meet the most unlikely person to survive a zombie apocalypse. David Hall is a 30-year-old, divorced, self-proclaimed wine connoisseur. He has no business venturing into a world of flesh-hungry monsters. But when a phone call from his diabetic sister gets disconnected, he knows he's the only one who can provide her the care she needs. Seeking help from his gun-toting, survivalist brother-in-law, and his ex-wife, David must make a dangerous journey across the city of Asheville. But the real danger isn't the zombies he'll have to face, or the threat of certain death; it's what kind of man he'll become if he survives the trip. This Zombie Apocalypse Comedy is Douglas Adams meets Max Brooks.

Insanity was rampant…Rape and murder was as common as suicide. Medical help was allowed only for certain diseases, and disobedience incurred the worst of punishments. Ever since the sudden appearance of the white hole over Earth in the year 2000, society had decayed—and now only the corrupt survived. Dr. Simon Negron knew the odds were against him, but he dared to defy the medical code. His ‘crime’: giving insulin to a diabetic. And because of it he became a fugitive…a hunted outlaw with only a teenaged prostitute and a gang youth for allies…a haunted man running for his life in a nightmare world of increasing madness…a desperate human being who would dare to take a stand against the evil domination of THE SUDDEN STAR.

Dad always said if things get desperate, it’s okay to drink the water in the toilet. I never thought it would come to that. I thought I’d sooner die than let one drop of toilet water touch my lips. Yet here I am, kneeling before a porcelain throne, holding a tin mug for scooping in one hand, and my half-gallon canteen in the other. The Lockwood brothers are supposed to be able to survive anything. Their dad, a hardcore survivalist, has stockpiled enough food and water on their isolated Nevada ranch to last for months. But when they are robbed at gunpoint during a massive blackout while their dad is out of town, John and Stew must walk 96 miles in the stark desert sun to get help—and they have only 3 days before their time runs out….

Living after the apocalypse really isn’t that hard for most of the survivors. The virus killed all but 1 in 10,000. The few remaining people are left in a world of virtually unlimited resources. Grocery stores overflowing with food and drink. Thousands of empty houses to pick from. But one survivor, a nineteen-year-old girl, requires more than simple food, water and shelter. As a type 1 diabetic her body desperately needs insulin to stay alive. With civilization gone, no one manufactures it anymore. She hoards all the insulin she can find, but every day marches toward the end of her stash of vials. She has a choice. Accept her fate and death, or tackle the almost insurmountable task of extracting and refining the insulin herself. Brilliant scientists struggled to make the first insulin. What hope does a high school dropout have?

Managing a chronic illness like Type 1 Diabetes before the threat of an apocalypse sucked most of the time, but the rationing of food and medicine is quickly making it impossible. Fortunately, Lily’s favorite distraction, Ethan, has been hanging out with her brother more and more. Between visits, Lily finds security in being prepared for the virus and its continually reaching famine. She works in her garden, helps her chemist father create a machine to make insulin in their home and attempts to help her dad find a cure for the virus. But everything comes crashing down when her dad is deployed, and their rations are cut. When her carefully laid plans start unraveling, she’ll not only learn if she can survive, but discover if she has it in her to thrive.

He was finally about to graduate high school, escape the misery that was his home life, and take off to travel the world with his awesome girlfriend, Kamiko. Solar flares and turning into a mutant put an end to all that. Typical of his luck, he’d gotten a non-standard mutation, meaning he’d never be accepted into the Big Four clans – who were banding together to stave off impending doom. What’s more, he’s sole carer for his human mother, and she hates mutants. At least he still has the newly-mutated Kamiko by his side. But she wants to migrate north with other ‘reject’ mutants, and Dante can’t blame her. Every day they stay put is a day their lives are at risk- from gangs, normies, and even the government. Not mention the whole ‘dying from thirst and starvation thing’. And there’s Bev, his narcissistic, abusive mother. She’s an awful parent, but she’s also the only family he’s ever known. And despite everything she’s put him through, she’s never abandoned him. Could he really abandon her?

Agnes loves her home of Red Creek–its quiet, sunny mornings, its dusty roads, and its God. There, she cares tirelessly for her younger siblings and follows the town’s strict laws. What she doesn’t know is that Red Creek is a cult, controlled by a madman who calls himself a prophet. Then Agnes meets Danny, an Outsider boy, and begins to question what is and isn’t a sin. Her younger brother, Ezekiel, will die without the insulin she barters for once a month, even though medicine is considered outlawed. Is she a sinner for saving him? Is her sister, Beth, a sinner for dreaming of the world beyond Red Creek? As the Prophet grows more dangerous, Agnes realizes she must escape with Ezekiel and leave everyone else, including Beth, behind. But it isn’t safe Outside, either: A viral pandemic is burning through the population at a terrifying rate. As Agnes ventures forth, a mysterious connection grows between her and the Virus. But in a world where faith, miracles, and cruelty have long been indistinguishable, will Agnes be able to choose between saving her family and saving the world?