A William C Morris Debut Award 2022 Finalist
Sixteen-year-old trans boy Benji is on the run from the cult that raised him—the fundamentalist sect that unleashed Armageddon and decimated the world’s population. Desperately, he searches for a place where the cult can’t get their hands on him, or more importantly, on the bioweapon they infected him with.
But when cornered by monsters born from the destruction, Benji is rescued by a group of teens from the local Acheson LGBTQ+ Center, affectionately known as the ALC. The ALC’s leader, Nick, is gorgeous, autistic, and a deadly shot, and he knows Benji’s darkest secret: the cult’s bioweapon is mutating him into a monster deadly enough to wipe humanity from the earth once and for all.
Still, Nick offers Benji shelter among his ragtag group of queer teens, as long as Benji can control the monster and use its power to defend the ALC. Eager to belong, Benji accepts Nick’s terms…until he discovers the ALC’s mysterious leader has a hidden agenda, and more than a few secrets of his own.
Illustrator: Evangeline Gallagher
“Astounding and exhilarating…. This fast-paced adventure is chaotic in the best way, featuring diverse and relatable characters that readers will fall in love with.”
"This cinematically gory apocalyptic horror not only delivers high stakes, fast-paced action... it engages critically with the intertwining impacts of colonialism, capitalism, and [w]hite supremacy."
“This debut is a moving and timely tale of queer perseverance, offering hope for those fighting for the right to exist without apology.”
"...a long, sustained scream to the various strains of anti-transgender legislation multiplying around the world like, well, a virus."
"...a rousing and timely tale of tenacity and a transformative depiction of apocalypse through a queer lens."
"Hell Followed with Us is a utopian model for queer community masquerading as a dystopian YA novel."
Art by Mars Lauderbaugh
Art by Pond Sized Ocean
Art by Carolina Rodríguez Fuenmayor, Design by Jane Tibbetts
Art by Niky Motekallem, internal edge papers by Adams Carvalho
Pictured: Art by Samuel Spano