Z-Plan-Blood-On-The-Sand

What is ‘Z Plan: Blood On The Sand’ about?

Cale was sent to Iraq with the usual thoughts any Soldier going to war might have; being lonely away from his family, not wanting to take another human’s life, and above all, the fear of never returning home. Although well trained, nothing could have prepared him for the horror he was about to face.

Cale never thought the thing that could keep him from ever seeing his wife and daughter again would be a zombie apocalypse. As he and a handful of fellow Soldiers escape their base after a massive zombie attack, becoming deserters in order to survive, he begins the long and unexpected journey home through the harsh terrain of the desert; a barren landscape now swarming with not only undead cannibals, but also the enemy he was originally sent to fight.

The newly formed group plans to travel west, find a boat and maybe, with a bit of luck, make it back to America. Cale is tested beyond his imagination and brought to the brink of insanity as he loses friends while fighting the flesh eating masses. He risks his life for weeks, focused on holding his wife and daughter in his arms again. It seems all hope is lost when he finds himself alone and adrift at sea … but is hope really lost?

Our ‘Z Plan: Blood On The Sand’ Review

Z Plan or just Blood on the Sand by Mikhail Lerma is a novel about several enlisted personnel in SWA (South West Asia) that are engaged in a zombie apocalypse. Cale, Zach, and Cacy are just three of the soldiers involved. During their deployment, there is an outbreak of some kind of flu in Africa. While disease outbreaks are that uncommon in that region of the world, this particular one is reanimating the dead. Lerma captures the whole ‘fog of war’ issue that affects all members of the military as the three friends are part of a transportation unit and are not privy to all the information and intelligence that is being disseminated by higher. This is typical of any branch of service, if you don’t have a need to know, then you don’t know.

It’s not until the disease is right outside the gates of their base that they begin to get concerned. Once the perimeter is breached, communication with higher and other units falls apart. As a zombie outbreak is probably not something that an independent think tank in the beltway has ever been contracted by the pentagon to work up a response to, it’s unlikely there is any official military doctrine or training aids to refer to.

In the confusion of not knowing what is really going on, Cale, Zach, Cacy, and a few other soldiers are slow to grasp the severity of zombies inside the wire. Taking refuge inside a MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) trailer, the survivors know that it’s only a matter of time before the infected outside get inside. This hard, cold fact is driven home when one of the injured soldiers inside the trailer turns and takes out the remaining senior NCO. The trio realizes what they’re up against at that point and makes plans to get away from the area. While one part of the survivors makes an attempt to barricade themselves inside the small PX, the three friends head for their gun truck. Sadly, things don’t go as planned and one of them is bitten. Faced with the fact that their infected friend will eventually turn, the other two bundle him along and stick to the plan to head west. There is some momentary discussion that they might be deserters but that actually isn’t something that comes into play unless they disobeyed a direct, lawful order.

What they encounter on their journey is like an episode from the Twilight Zone. Running into an insurgent camp and losing the one infected member of the party, the remaining two eventually find a makeshift refuge. But, all good things must come to an end. Inside the house they have taken shelter in, Zach gets bit leaving just Cale to carry on to the objective. From that point, it’s a trip through the seventh layer of Hell for Cale.

This is book one from Mikhail Lerma and I look forward to the next. If you’re looking for an action packed, zombie apocalyptic novel, Z Plan: Blood on the Sand fits the bill.

Where can you get ‘Z Plan: Blood On The Sand’?

Available on Amazon