A Safe Place (A Half-Dead Novella): Protector in a Postapocalyptic World

In a dystopian world ravaged by the Morpheus Strain, a weaponized epidemic turning victims into mindless, violent Reborns, Esperanza Morrison fights for survival with her children, Hope and Joshua, and their loyal pit bull, Sugar. Haunted by her husband Grant—an infected former Army Ranger who relentlessly stalks them—the family navigates a crumbling urban wasteland. A chance encounter with soldiers and scientists offers hope, but the price of sanctuary comes with disturbing revelations. Esperanza, bitten but not turned, gains heightened senses that make her a target for the group’s experiments. As motives unravel and danger escalates, Esperanza must harness her newfound abilities to protect her family and challenge a society unraveling into chaos. E.M. Lacey’s gripping novella delivers edge-of-your-seat tension, gritty action, and a resilient heroine in a haunting exploration of humanity’s will to survive.