Earlier this year I picked up Enclave, the first book in this series, on a whim. I am a big (Big...Huge) fan of zombies and it sounded like something I would really enjoy. I was right (duh). When Outpost released I itched to get to it, to find out where this world would take me and see what new wonders Deuce would discover.Outpost picks up not long from where Enclave leaves off. The fabulous four, Deuce, Fade, Tegan and Stalker have arrived at Sanctuary, barely surviving the journey. They were all adults outside of the protected walls but now, inside them, they are expected to act like children. They all must adapt to the new surroundings and learn their places in it. Furthermore, Deuce is expected to act like just a girl, not the huntress she's trained her entire life to be.I loved Deuce in Enclave, I love her even more after reading Outpost. She is a breath of fresh air as YA protagonists go. She's so strong, courageous and fearless. There is almost nothing she will back down from. Almost. Her softer side shines through whenever someone shows her care or affection and whenever she encounters something new. She is so endearing when the natural family relationships grow and she stumbles through them.Fade...Oh, Fade. Fade breaks my heart regularly. He is the essence of a protector, of a soldier. I love him more after Outpost, as well. But I can't say more on him right now...I may tear up. (Intrigued? You should be!)Stalker was the one character in Enclave that I vehemently hated at first. Now, I just utterly dislike him. There are elements of his past that are beyond forgiveness and though I understand him more now, I still can't root for him. At all. In any way. Nope.When a danger threatens their new home, this rag-tag group must come together once again to defeat it. The enemy they think they know is evolving and it will change their entire 'new' way of life.The story Aguirre tells in this series is so much more than a dystopian world filled with flesh eating mutated humans. That's a huge part of it, of course, but the journey Deuce takes leads her farther and farther away from mere survival. She learns what friendship, family and love truly mean. She learns what she is capable of in order to protect these things. Enclave was more of a survival story, Outpost is more of a growing experience and I loved every bit of it.
