World War Z is a novel by Max Brooks which depicts a fictional outbreak of the Solanum virus in China during the early 21st century. It shows the social, economic, political, cultural, technological, and ecological effects of a zombie apocalypse caused by the Solanum virus - dubbed the "Zombie War".
Plot summary[]
The book is framed around various interviews with 42 different people from across the world who witnessed various stages of a zombie outbreak over several years.
The pandemic begins in China, which is covered up by the government. However, it spreads outside of China via refugees, human trafficking, and the illegal organ trade. The first major outbreak occurs in Cape Town, South Africa, leading to the virus being dubbed "African rabies." Israeli intelligence quickly figures out the threat and quarantines itself, offering citizenship to Palestinian refugees and evacuating many holy areas, triggering a civil war with the religious right.
In the USA, the CIA and White House both fail to anticipate the scale of the threat. While the military proposes rapid restructuring of U.S. society, they are largely ignored by the government due to a focus on an election and a desire to avoid mass panic. The placebo "Phalanx" is released, calming public fears, until a whistleblower exposes that it is ineffective against the Solanum virus.
The "Great Panic" begins—a period of chaos and collapse in global order. Massive traffic jams occur all over the world, and people flee to coastlines to escape the zombies via boat. The Russian military experiences several mutinies in response to the infection and government cover-ups, leading to harsh reprisals. Iran and Pakistan destroy each other in a nuclear war, and the U.S. military fails in a large battle against zombies at Yonkers, near New York City. A survivalist compound of celebrities is overrun by refugees, and communities across the USA fall. Psychological effects of the pandemic include "quislings"—people who convince themselves they are zombies despite being physically healthy—as well as "ferals"—children who grow up as lone survivors and thus lose their language and mental abilities. There is also a high rate of suicides across the world.
In South Africa, former apartheid-era intelligence officer Paul Redeker devises the "Redeker Plan," in which safe zones are established by the government to serve as bait for the government's true safe zones. Germany is largely overrun, and Ukraine begins using Cold War-era stocks of chemical weapons on refugees. Tens of millions of people across North America flee to the Canadian wilderness, hoping the harsh winter will offer safety, but these refugee communities suffer from shortages of supplies, famine, and disease outbreaks. The Indian government engages in a strategic retreat to the Himalayan mountains.
The U.S. government establishes a safe zone to the west of the Rocky Mountains and moves its capital to Hawaii. It engages in major economic restructuring along collectivist/socialist lines and begins introducing harsh crackdowns on criminals. It also implements a highly successful neighborhood watch program, airlifts supplies to survivor communities outside the main safe zones, and produces several wartime movies to boost morale.
Across Europe, people shelter in medieval castles, with the Queen refusing to leave England. The many boats and ships that flee to the oceans form a "Pacific Continent" of tens of millions of people. "Radio Free World" combats misinformation about the zombie virus from a Russian navy vessel. North Korea’s population completely disappears, likely into underground fallout bunkers. Japan rapidly collapses, with much of the population fleeing to Siberia. Cuba largely survives the outbreak, hosts millions of refugees from the United States, reforms its economy to capitalism, and becomes one of the wealthiest countries in the world. China becomes embroiled in a civil war that sees nuclear weapons used. The crew of the International Space Station continues to keep satellites operational. At a UN conference on the USS Saratoga, the U.S. government vows to reclaim the world from zombies.
The U.S. enters a state of total war, engaging in a land campaign to reclaim the entire country from both zombies and rival survivalist groups. The U.S. makes extensive use of dogs and armored underwater divers in combat to deal with the millions of zombies in the ocean. Russia experiences a religious revival and becomes a Christian theocracy. Many people in France hide in the Paris catacombs, which become a site of extremely difficult fighting for the French military. Eventually, the USA, China, and Britain are all free from zombies after extensive military campaigns.
Iceland remains a heavily infested area, and many zombies are frozen in ice in the northern regions of the world, resulting in repeated military expeditions to clean up the area. The world’s ecosystems have been severely damaged, with many animals—notably whales—hunted to extinction. Living standards have declined rapidly, and people often live in well-defended, survivalist communities powered by renewable energy.