The Dead (2010)

The Dead is a novel written by Charlie Higson. The book, published by Puffin Books in the UK on 16 September 2010, is the second book in a seven-book series, titled The Enemy. The Dead takes place in London, a year before the events in the previous book (The Enemy, released in the UK by Puffin Books on 3 September 2009), two weeks after a worldwide sickness has infected adults turning them into something related to voracious, cannibalistic zombies.

Puffin Books released the third novel in the series, titled The Fear, on 15 September 2011; the fourth novel, The Sacrifice, on 20 September 2012; the fifth novel, The Fallen, on 12 September 2013; the sixth novel, The Hunted, on 4 September 2014; and the final book, The End, on 10 November 2015. Disney Hyperion released Higson's short story companion book in the series, titled Geeks vs. Zombies, on 5 June 2012; it portrays an exclusive scene from The Fear, on World Book Day.

Plot

One year before the events in The Enemy, an unnamed user posts a video on YouTube titled "The Scared Kid", in which a boy frantically talks to the camera about how his friends Danny and Eve have been killed by "mothers and fathers" (zombies) and shows them standing outside his window. He then suffers a nervous breakdown and ends the video. The video goes viral, with people not knowing if it is real or not. Eventually the video is taken down, followed by the site itself, followed by the internet, and finally electricity entirely. This marks the point that people realize that something bad is going on, and signals the start of the apocalypse.

Two weeks into the apocalypse, two 14-year-old boys, named Jack and Ed, are trapped with a group of other schoolboys in a boarding school in Kent, where they are defending themselves from their now-zombified teachers. After escaping with the help of a rugby player named Bam, Jack and Ed rescue their French teacher's daughter, Frederique, and make their way to a nearby chapel, where a group led by a boy named Matt barricaded themselves inside a few days prior. Alarmed by the lack of a reply from inside the chapel, they break in and find that those hiding inside have either fallen unconscious or died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

The group manages to revive the survivors, and Matt appears to have suffered brain damage from the poisoning. He believes himself to be the messenger of a being called the Lamb, who he explains will come down to earth and cleanse it of "nonbelievers" (the zombies). He is convinced he must go to St Paul's Cathedral to fulfil the needs of his "god". The group splits, with Matt and some survivors he has brought into his religion attempting to go to London with Jack (who wants to find his family home), and the rest (including Ed, Bam and one of Ed's best friends, Malik) deciding to go deeper into the countryside (thinking it will be safer).

Ed's group is ambushed by older, infected teenagers, who kill half the group, seemingly including Malik. They are saved by the timely arrival of a motor coach driven by an adult named Greg Thorne, who claims he is immune to the disease. With his young son Liam, Greg has acquired the motor coach and is collecting children to transport them all to London. He and Liam want to visit Arsenal Stadium, unaware that it is an adult nest. On the bus, Ed's group meets three girls, Aleisha, Courtney and Brooke. Brooke immediately develops a crush on Ed, whilst Greg eventually catches up with Matt's group, who are all still journeying towards London.

After finding the others and picking them up, Greg explains that, before the apocalypse, he was staying with a farmer and his family, but he had to kill the father and the older children. He says a younger child, who'd gone crazy after losing his family, "didn't make it", indirectly revealing that he had killed the boy and made him into the dried meat he was seen eating. After a close call where Greg nearly leaves Jack and Frederique behind to a group of zombies, the motor coach stops for the night on the outskirts of London. Liam finds out that Greg is infected, and knowing that he cannot protect him anymore, Greg strangles and kills him.

The next morning, Ed finds Greg inexplicably wearing Liam's glasses. Jack and Ed confront him about Liam's death. This causes him to succumb to the virus, which is revealed after Jack, who gets mad at the discovery, attempts to disarm a shotgun that Greg is wielding. The arm-to-the-face maneuver that he inflicted causes Greg to crash the motor coach. Afterward, he completely succumbs and attacks the kids whilst the bus is simultaneously assaulted by several adults. Most of the group escapes and makes it to the Imperial War Museum in South London. Greg wanders off into the streets, whilst the "Bus Party" meets the museum's leader, Jordan, and his second in command DogNut (who develops a crush on Brooke). Jordan refuses to let them stay, eventually compromising and letting them stay as long as they collect food for themselves.

The group sets off, finding a Tesco truck full of non-perishable food. Whilst they are attempting to get the truck to run, Frederique is surrounded by several adults. The other kids fight off the adults and are surprised to find that Frederique is unharmed. Whilst they are driving the truck back to the museum, Jack and Bam tell Ed that they are planning on going to Jack's old house and hop out to go off on their own. Ed eventually decides to join them, kisses Brooke and catches up with the two boys, unaware that they are being followed by a now fully zombified Greg.