With so many capable people, resources, and the military and federal government just an email away, danger feels dulled. Martin then has the incentive to hang out with Emma and craft inventions like jet packs, power armor, and centurion robots. It also helps them set up a barter system between them as well as a lifeline in the event that circumstances get too perilous for the group. This allows Martin and the crew to access information on projects they need to tackle in order to reinforce houses and communicate with allies like the National Guard and FEMA. In fact, a lot of society’s comforts are more durable here than in similar fiction. That’s one thing that’s unique to this zombie story–the internet works. Typical problems that zombie survivors would face, like lack of food, defenses, and waste removal, are either thought of in advance by Martin, covered by an expert in the group, or just a Google away from being solved. Joseph and Marisha Cautilli, authors of Zombies vs. Construction work, military service, mechanical engineering, medical practice, psychological training–you couldn’t imagine a better prepared group of survivors to hunker down with when the dead are at the door. Just about everyone shows up with some skill that’s applicable to this end-of-days scenario and supplies that Martin just so happened to need. In what feels like no time at all, Martin’s neighborhood is deserted and then repopulated with a tiny community he pieces together from family, friends, and strangers. In Zombie vs Robots, Martin, a dad who get into a doomsday prepper kick after hurricane Sandy convinced him climate change was to be taken seriously, has to rely on his techie daughter Emma and wife Kathy to survive a zombie infestation.
This makes the larger narrative, which incorporates tropes of both cyberpunk and zombie fiction, factor in less than the novel’s more desired focus: prepping, cooperating, and fighting. And it differentiates itself from other zombie stories with its use of technology making for highly-competent characters facing a dangerous situation rather than a cast of average characters having to earn their survival education after the apocalypse. There’s great care given to small details, highlighting the research Joe and Marisha Cautilli must have poured into this novel. Zombies vs Robots: A Cyberpunk Tale of Terror is a novel that attempts to be quite a few things: a literary tale of families within a community, a narrative about a methodical conspiracy by a mega corporation, and a survival guide for any calamitous situation imaginable.