Unwilling Survivor: The Unwanted Chronicles, Book One

By Matthew Lay

Eli Mercer never asked to survive the apocalypse.

He didn't ask for responsibility.
He didn't ask for attachments.
And he definitely didn't ask to become the kind of man someone might depend on.

But when betrayal rips through what little stability he's built, Eli is forced back into the chaos he thought he'd escaped. Supplies are running thin. The dead are everywhere. And the past has a nasty way of showing up at the worst possible moment.

Told in a sharp, irreverent first-person voice that isn't afraid to break the fourth wall-or your comfort zone-Unwilling Survivor blends grit, dark humor, and high-stakes survival into a story about what happens when a man who never wanted to live... finally finds a reason to.

The apocalypse doesn't care.

The dead don't forgive.

And Eli Mercer is running out of time.

Unwilling Survivor is the first installment in The Unwanted Chronicles.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GN92MLB2
• ISBN13: 9798247271376
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 114 Pages
• Weight: 0.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.0" x 8.0"