The first episode in a new novella series by acclaimed horror writers Craig DiLouie, Joe McKinney, and Stephen Knight! As a new disease turns people into sadistic, laughing killers, in Boston, a battalion of light infantry struggles to maintain order. As the numbers of infected grow, the battalion loses control, and the soldiers find themselves fighting for their lives against the very people they once swore an oath to protect. During the ensuing collapse, the lost battalion learns the Army is still holding out in Florida, which has been cleared of the Infected. Harry Lee, its commander, decides the only hope for his men is to get there. But first they must cross more than a thousand miles of America that has been turned into a war zone, fighting a fearless, implacable and merciless enemy

Episode Two of the highly acclaimed THE RETREAT series, from three of zombie fiction’s most popular authors! With Laughter, Comes Death… Emerging from the smoking ruins of Boston, Lieutenant Colonel Harry Lee leads the First Battalion, 55th Infantry Regiment on a perilous trek to its besieged home post of Fort Drum. Along the way, the unit must battle through the legions of diseased killers lying in wait, evading clever ambushes and fighting through terrifying attacks. Lee struggles to hold the battalion together while epitomizing its motto, “Bounding Forward.”

Five ordinary people must pay the price of survival at the end of the world. A mysterious virus suddenly strikes down millions. Three days later, its victims awake with a single purpose: spread the Infection. As the world lurches toward the apocalypse, some of the Infected continue to change, transforming into horrific monsters. In one American city, a small group struggles to survive. Sarge, a tank commander hardened by years of fighting in Afghanistan. Wendy, a cop still fighting for law and order in a lawless land. Ethan, a teacher searching for his lost family. Todd, a high school student who sees second chances in the end of the world. Paul, a minister who wonders why God has forsaken his children. And Anne, their mysterious leader, who holds an almost fanatical hatred for the Infected. Together, they fight their way to a massive refugee camp where thousands have made a stand. There, what’s left of the government will ask them to accept a mission that will determine the survival of them all—a dangerous journey back onto the open road and into the very heart of Infection. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8dEWnHo958