Cell

Cell is a 2006 apocalyptic horror novel by the American author Stephen King. It follows a New England artist trying to reunite with his young son after a mysterious signal broadcast over the global cell phone network turns most of the people who hear it into mindless, vicious animals.

The event is called the Pulse. Clayton Riddell is a struggling artist from Maine who has just landed a graphic novel deal in Boston when the signal goes out, and the people affected, known as phoners, attack anyone in view. The novel's opening is set in a city collapsing in real time, and Clay is thrown together with Thomas McCourt and fifteen-year-old Alice Maxwell as they escape the burning streets. Clay is in Boston to celebrate a graphic novel deal when the signal goes out, which is why the collapse is shown first through a city street rather than through a broadcast.

After the first day the plot becomes a journey, since Clay is determined to reach his son, and the group's survival depends on understanding the behaviour of the affected population rather than simply avoiding it.