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The Dead
The Dead Book
Author Charlie Higson
Publication date 16 September 2010 (United Kingdom)

2011 (United States)

Published by Puffin Books
ISBN 978-0-14-138465-8
Publication Order
Preceded by
The Enemy
Followed by
The Fear

The Dead is the second book in the Enemy series and the second installment overall. It is written by Charlie Higson, and released by Puffin Books. It was officially released in the United Kingdom on September 16th, 2010, just over a year after the release of The Enemy.

The Dead is chronologically the first book in the series, set just over a year before the events of The Enemy. Two weeks after a worldwide sickness has turned adults into something related to voracious, cannibalistic zombies, best friends Ed and Jack try to make their way in a dangerous new world along with nerds, fighters and misfits.

Plot

An unnamed user posts a video on YouTube titled "Scared Kid". In the video, a young boy frantically talks to the camera about how his friends Danny and Eve have been killed by "three mothers and a father", and films four adults eating a child outside his window. He then suffers a nervous breakdown and ends the video. The video quickly goes viral, with people not knowing if it is real or not. A month later, the video is removed from YouTube, followed by YouTube itself being taken down, then the internet going out, and finally electricity entirely. This marked the moment that people realized that something was truly wrong, and the start of the apocalypse.[1]

Two weeks later, fourteen year-olds Ed Carter and Jack are trapped with a group of other schoolboys at Rowhurst Boarding School in a remote village, a few miles from London.[2] After being saved by Harry "Bam" Bamford and his friends -- Johnno, Piers, and the Sullivan brothers -- they manage to escape back to the fortified dormitory. Among those staying in the dormitory are fashion-obsessed Kwanele Nkosi, twelve year-old friends Wiki and Arthur, silent bookworm Chris Marker, six boys from Field House, and "the three nerds" from Ed's physics class. Realizing that the nineteen of them can't stay in the cramped dorms forever, the boys elect to leave the dorms first thing in the morning.[3]

The next morning, the nineteen boys manage to escape the dorm, dodging infected teachers and preparing to cross the field to reach the chapel. On their way over, Jack and Ed rescue a girl named Frédérique and her cat Dior from a flat besieged by adults, and learn that she is the daughter of the former French teacher,[4] who Jack had killed earlier that morning. Upon reaching the chapel, the group attempts to contact the group boys inside the chapel, but receive no reply. They break into the church and find that the boys hiding inside are unconscious from carbon monoxide poisoning. They quickly remove the boys, realizing that one of them has already died, and help to revive the others in the graveyard.

Among the chapel boys are Ed and Jack's friend Malik Hussein, who reveals what had happened in the chapel. Several days earlier, a boy named Archie Bishop suggested that they all say a prayer. A boy named Matt Palmer started to get really into the prayer, and he began reading from various sections of a Bible to keep everyone's spirits up. Because the church was very cold at night, and the students tried to start a fire by burning pages from prayer books and old Bibles -- but at Matt's insistence, they began to use charcoal instead. By the time the students realized they were unintentionally being poisoned, they were too late and began to die or fall unconscious from the fumes.[5]

Ed goes over to talk to Matt, who has possibly suffered brain damage from the carbon monoxide. Matt tells Ed that he had a vision in the chapel about a boy called "the Lamb" who will save the survivors from the infected, and believes that he must go to St Paul's Cathedral in London. Ed doesn't believe him, but Matt insists that they should go to St. Paul's.[6] While up in the bell tower, Jack tells Ed that he wants to go to London to see his childhood home. The group splits, with Jack, Matt and the "acolytes" attempting to go to London, and Ed and the rest leaving for the countryside.[7]

Upon reaching the Future Enterprises Zone, Ed's group attempts to enter a hardware store for new weapons and are ambushed by a large group of infected teenagers. Johnno, the Sullivan brothers, and the Field House boys are all killed, and Piers is severely wounded. The survivors are saved by the timely intervention of a coach bus, and Ed finds that it's driven by an adult named Greg Thorne, who claims he is immune to the disease.[8] Greg turns around, and by pure chance they pick up Jack and the acolytes, who are all still journeying towards London. The Rowhurst boys meet several other children on the bus -- best friends Brooke, Aleisha and Courtney, siblings Zohra and Froggie, and Greg's son Liam.[9] Brooke, Aleisha and Courtney reveal that the bus is their bus, and they were on a school trip to Spain when the disaster started. Though they were able to get back to England, they soon lost the rest of their teachers and classmates, and became stranded in the countryside when Greg and Liam saved them.[10] Later on, Greg explains that he was staying with a farmer and his family, and how he had to kill a father and the older children, and indirectly remarks that he had to kill the youngest child because of the loss of his family.[11]

While the bus stops for lunch, Jack and Frédérique step off the bus so that Dior can use the bathroom.[12] While Ed is watching them, he sees a group of sickos in the distance headed for the bus. Despite the boys' insistence and Greg's demands that they leave the area, Frédérique refuses to leave without Dior.[13] Thankfully, she is able to grab Dior and make it back in time before the adults reach them. Meanwhile, Wiki, Arthur, a boy named Justin, and several other kids debate on what they should call the infected. The other boys agree to call them zombies, but Justin insists that the infected are not zombies by definition. He then suggests that the kids from a brain trust and use their combined brainpower to study the disease. He takes out a notebook and decides to catalogue any information that they learn about the infected, but is still stumped on what to call them. Greg chimes in that he calls the infected "sickos", and Justin decides to call them sickos as well.[14] As the drive continues, Liam sees some pustules on the back of Greg's head, and faints from the fear. When the bus halts for the night on the outskirts of London, Jack and Ed talk about things, and Liam and the Brain Trust talk about what they could do to rebuild society after the disaster is over. Later, Greg strangles Liam in his sleep.[15]

The next morning, the kids begin to panic upon noticing that Liam isn't moving, and Jack realizes that he's dead. Jack and Ed confront Greg about Liam's death, and find that he is wearing Liam's glasses.[16] Their confrontation causes Greg to succumb to the disease, which is revealed after Jack attempts to disarm a shotgun that Greg is wielding. Jack's arm-to-the-face maneuver causes Greg to lose control and crash the bus, which he was driving erratically due to succumbing to the disease and out of anger towards wanting to get everyone to their destinations. Afterward, he completely succumbs to the virus and attack the kids, whilst the bus is simultaneously assaulted by several adults, notably an adult whose disfigured jaw makes him look like a Pez dispenser.[17] Most of the group escapes from the bus, but Ed insists that Kwanele stay behind to help him carry an unconscious Piers out of the bus. Kwanele abandons the boys as Greg gets closer, and Ed is forced to leave Piers behind as well. Greg then wanders off into the streets of London.

When the coach kids make it to the Imperial War Museum, they find that another group of kids has made it their base. They meet three boys playing a tabletop game by a fire, and one of the boys introduces himself as DogNut. The leader of the museum kids, a boy named Jordan Hordern, refuses to let the coach kids stay at the museum, and Jack starts to get confrontational with him after he has his group point weapons at them. After a brief scuffle between Jack and Jordan, Ed tries to calm the situation down, and Jordan appoints Ed the leader of the coach kids.[18] After Jordan finishes his game, he meets with Ed and allows the coach kids to stay in the museum under the condition that they collect food for themselves. Ed remarks that they can go back to the bus to find more food.[19] Jordan directs them to the 1940's house, and takes the older boys around to different exhibits to pick out weapons for their trip to the bus. Matt and Archie insist upon looking for a banner, with Matt saying that he doesn't need weapons as he bears the mark of The Lamb.[20]

Ed, Jack and Bam run back to the coach bus and grab a bunch of chips and cookies to bring back to the museum -- and on the trip there, they find the bottom half of Piers's body laying in the street. While the coach kids are talking and eating, Justin comes up to Jack and tells him not to eat the smoked meat from the cooler, as the Brain Trust believes that the meat used to be the farmer's youngest son.[21] The next morning, Frédérique releases Dior into the city, believing that it would be cruel to keep her locked in her carrier and she would have a better chance of surviving in the wild. DogNut, Brooke, Courtney, Aleisha, Jack, Ed, Bam, and Justin set out to go search for food.[22] They explore until they find a Tesco truck full of non-perishable food with a partially-decomposed corpse inside. Whilst they are attempting to get the truck to run, Frédérique comes under attack by several adults. They fight off the adults and are surprised to find that Frédérique 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.

Back at the museum, Matt's movement has begun to gain support from other kids. They are able to find an old banner and start to work on it, electing to the religion agnus dei, the Latin word for "Lamb of God". Matt foretells that the Lamb will look like a blond boy and will have a darker shadow (another boy, nicknamed "The Goat"), who must be sacrificed so that "The lamb has no shadow" and is capable of cleansing the earth. The acolytes elect a boy named named Harry Ryan to make the banner, as he has the best handwriting.[23] However, he accidentally misspells Agnus Dei as "Angus Day", leading to the religion being renamed again.[24] Meanwhile, Frédérique begins to hear voices and, upon going to the women's bathroom, finds several boils growing on the back of her chin.[25] While a group of the younger kids are playing "zombies" in the atrium, she attacks Froggie and bites into his arm.[26] She is then incapacitated by Jordan Hordern and locked in the Blitz Experience by several of the kids.[27]

Jack, Ed and Bam make their way to the Oval Cricket Ground. Outside the cricket ground are ambulances, army trucks and skips filled with dead bodies. They explore, finding several weapons and taking them.[28] The entire stadium is full of corpses of the diseased that were going to be burned, but the soldiers were themselves infected or killed before they had a chance.[29] They are then pursed by adults through the stadium. Jack uses a sub-machine gun he found to fend off the adults and accidentally hits a propane tank, causing it to explode and start an avalanche of bodies. Jack and Bam are buried underneath the bodies and debris,[30] and Bam shoots Jack after mistaking him for an adult.[31] Jack is badly wounded, but able to stand. Ed finds them and they leave, continuing their search for Jack's house.[32] They continue towards Jack's home but are ambushed by adults in the street. The three of them manage to kill all of the attacking adults, but a fully infected Greg comes along and attacks Bam with a meat cleaver. He then slashes Jack's chest open and cuts the side of Ed's face from forehead to chin. Greg is about to finish Ed off when Ed sees him carrying a child-sized bundle. To his horror, he realizes that Greg is carrying Liam's corpse. Ed mentions Liam's name, and Greg flees in despair. Ed helps Jack up, and realizes that Greg's cleaver split open the back of Bam's head.[33]

Ed drags a dying Jack to his home and manages to get the door open. He's able to find some canned food and tries to dress Jack's wounds with some spare materials, but to no avail. Ed decides to help Jack up to his bedroom. After setting him down in his bed, Ed finds Jack's old stuffed toy, Floppy Dog, and gives it to him. Jack, slowly dying from his wounds, apologizes to Ed for calling him a coward, and tells him he's been the bravest kid he's ever met. Ed spends the rest of the day in Jack's room and sleeps next to Jack that night.[34] The next morning, Ed wakes up and finds that Jack has died from his wounds. After grabbing some food and and a London A-Z, Ed puts as many flammable objects in Jack's room as he can and lights the pile on fire. He then steals a bike from downstairs and leaves for the museum, trying to find solace in the fact that no sickos will be able to eat Jack's body.[35]

Ed is soon ambushed by adults again. He is rescued by a group of ten boys in red uniforms, who overwhelm the sickos and give Ed an opportunity to get to them. Once safely out of danger, the leader of the boys reveals that they're from St. Hilda's, a private school in Surrey, and a few of them recognize Ed. The leader introduces himself as David King, and offers Ed an escort back to the museum. Ed informs David about Jordan, saying that he can't guarantee that the St. Hilda's boys can stay at the museum, but David says that he'll "take care of it". Along the way, David warns Ed about a fire spreading northward.[36]

At the museum, Ed confronts the infected Frédérique, who has gnawed through her own thumb to get out of her handcuffs. She reveals that she is sixteen and had been infected all along, but it just took longer for the disease to manifest. She tries to attack Ed, and he decides to banish her to the streets rather than killing her.[37][38] He then goes to hold council with David and Jordan,[39] but is interrupted by a fight breaking out among the St. Hilda's boys and the museum kids.[40] They then move to the museum roof and see that the incoming fire is quickly headed for London, and David and Ed elect to move to up north to avoid it. Jordan decides to stay in the museum with several others.[41] As the coach party packs up, Ed has a private talk with the Brain Trust about whether or not he could be catch the disease -- as he turns fifteen soon. After a brief debate about their own brainstorming, Brain Trust gives him a solid "probably" -- and are interrupted by sound of the gas tanks at the Tesco exploding.[42]

Ed and David lead their kids in the Tesco truck and attempt to cross the River Thames. They find that every other kid in South London is also trying to cross the river, and are struggling to do so due to a commotion between kids further up the bridge.[43] David's group goes up to the front to stop the commotion when a huge wave of adults comes up behind the kids.[44] Ed and several other fighters hang back to fend off the infected to protect the other kids.[45] Frédérique reappears in the group of adults and attacks Aleisha, and Ed shoots her with a pistol. Ed is helped by another boy named Kyle, as Kyle finishes Frédérique off with a garden hoe. Though the fighters initially seem to be overwhelmed, Jordan and his crew come to their rescue, having been forced to abandon the museum due to the fire and the adults.[46] Meanwhile, David clears the commotion at the front by shooting a boy that refuses to help clear the way, and a horrified Brooke orders Justin to drive on without David's group.[47]

Ed's fighters realise that they must flee, but the way back to the bridge is blocked by a horde of the adults. The kids manage to take control of a sightseeing boat that is moored by the river. They drive it downstream towards the tower of London but Matt and Archie hijack the boat in an attempt to reach St Paul's.[48] Matt accidentally crashes the boat into the bridge and it splits in half, causing a number of kids, including Aleisha, to drown.[49] Matt and what remains of his acolytes are seen disappearing under a bridge, standing on the top of half of the boat as Matt holds the Angus Day banner above his head.[50]

Jordan, Ed, Kyle and the survivors find lifeboats and make it to other North Bank, eventually hitting land at the Tower of London. Jordan puts Ed in charge of the kids who aren't in his crew, and DogNut and Kyle climb the draining to get the group into the Tower. Once inside, they find a group of about thirty kids already inhabiting the castle, who are led by a boy named Tomoki Ford. Frustrated by Tomoki's leadership, Jordan takes control with Ed as his right-hand man.[51] Of the original group from the coach, only Ed and Courtney remain, with the others dead, missing, or still with the Tesco truck.

Later, Greg finds himself in Trafalgar Square, where he salutes Nelson's Column and becomes irritated by a group of pigeons. After strangling one of the pigeons, he realizes he no longer has a shirt on, and remembers losing it in a fight over a dead boy. He stumbles to a souvenir stand (briefly impressed with himself for remembering the world "souvenir") and takes a t-shirt with Saint George's cross on it. As he dons the shirt, he vows to get revenge on those who he holds responsible for the death of his son.[52]

One year later, Ed and the others have settled into life at the Tower of London. DogNut decides to leave the Tower with a group of people, including Courtney, to search for Brooke and the other kids. A few days later, Ed, Kyle, and Jordan witness two young boys arrive at the Tower, and are shocked to see that they look identical to the Lamb and the Goat on the Angus Day banner.[53]

Casualties

Name of Character Cause of Death
Danny Killed and eaten by grown-ups before the events of the book.
Eve Killed and eaten by grown-ups before the events of the book.
The Scared Kid Presumably killed and eaten by grown-ups after uploading his video.
Adam Killed and eaten by grown-ups before the events of Chapter 1.
Jamey Killed and eaten by grown-ups before the events of Chapter 1.
Will Killed and eaten by grown-ups before the events of Chapter 1.
Ms. Jessop Died from the disease before the events of Chapter 1.
Mr. Hewitt Belly ripped open by a shard of glass, later decapitated.
Unnamed Field House boy Killed and eaten by grown-ups.
Monsieur Morel Bashed in the face with a wooden plank by Jack.
Jacob Died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Mr. Langston Beaten to death by Jack and Bam.
Ms. Warlock Beaten to death by Jack and Bam.
Unnamed Rowhurst teacher Beaten to death by Jack and Bam.
Anthony Sullivan Throat ripped open and eaten by three teenage sickos.
Damien Sullivan Mobbed and ripped apart by a group of teenage sickos.
Johnno Mobbed and ripped apart by a group of teenage sickos.
Four unnamed Field House boys Mobbed and ripped apart by a group of teenage sickos.
Two unnamed nerds Mobbed and ripped apart by a group of teenage sickos.
Liam Thorne Strangled in his sleep by Greg Thorne.
Piers Eaten alive by sickos.
Harry "Bam" Bamford Skull split open with a meat cleaver by Greg Thorne.
Jack Fatally slashed by Greg Thorne, died from blood loss in his sleep.
Unnamed boy Shot by David King.
Frédérique Morel Shot by Ed Carter during the Battle of Lambeth Bridge, finished off by Kyle.
Pez To be added.
Three unnamed acolytes Drowned in the Thames RIver.
Aleisha Drowned in the Thames RIver.


Continuity

Book Connection(s)
The Enemy The events of the book take place just over a year before the events of The Enemy.


Characters

Main Characters

  • Ed Carter - A handsome, popular boy from Rowhurst Boarding School. His face is scarred after Greg Thorne attacks him with a meat cleaver. He assumes leadership of the group after they escape the motorcoach.
  • Jack - Ed's best friend. After the boys leave Rowhurst, Jack seeks to go back to his childhood home in south London. On the way there, he dies from multiple wounds sustained when Bam shoots him and Greg slashes him. Ed carries him back to Jack's family's house, where he dies peacefully in his own bed. When Ed leaves, he burns the house so that Jack's body doesn't get eaten by the adults. Jack was easily identified by a deep-red birthmark on the side of his face.

Rowhurst School

  • Harry "Bam" Bamford – A strong, powerful, enthusiastic rugby player. Bam is much respected by everyone because he is the best fighter of the group. He is killed in a fight with Greg Thorne, who attacks him from behind with a meat cleaver.
  • Matthew Palmer – A boy who suffered carbon monoxide poisoning while hiding in the Rowhurst chapel. Following the poisoning and the emotional trauma from the disaster, Matt forms a religion about a boy known as "The Lamb", who makes things right. He is nicknamed "Mad Matt" by others in the group because of this. At the end of the novel, he hijacks the sightseeing boat but crashes it, then floats downriver on its remains, with his second in command, Archie Bishop, and four acolytes. His fate is unknown.
  • Wiki – A small boy who seems to know everything, hence his nickname. His real name is Thomas Rutherford.
  • Arthur – Wiki's best friend. Arthur is nicknamed "Jibber-Jabber" (by Greg, though the nickname sticks) because he talks constantly.
  • Chris Marker – A boy who never stops reading and believes he sees ghosts. He appears to be schizophrenic, as he mentions therapy and doctors from earlier in his life.
  • Frédérique Morel – A French girl whom the Rowhurst students find while escaping their school. Frédérique develops a romantic connection with Jack, but this is never fully established because she becomes infected, due to her mature age. The Rowhurst students expel her from the Imperial War Museum, and she later reappears at the battle on the bridge and bites Aleisha. Immediately after this, she regains control of herself long enough to let Ed shoot and kill her.
  • Justin – The last of the three nerds. He is put in charge of driving the Tesco truck. He later in the book is in charge of driving with Brooke across the busy bridge.
  • Harry Ryan - A member of "The Lamb" religion formed by Matt. He is excellent at calligraphy. He makes the banner for the religion, but misspells it as "Angus Day". This angers Matt, but others suggest that "The Lamb" influenced him to misspell the banner. At the end of the novel, it is unclear whether Harry is dead or floating downriver with Matt and his acolytes on the remains of the boat.
  • Archie Bishop – A member of "The Lamb" religion formed by Matthew. His father was a vicar and he is Matthew's right-hand man. At the end of the novel, his fate is unknown.
  • Kwanele Nkosi – A fashion-obsessed African student from Rowhurst. Kwanele is cowardly and unwilling to help out with anything for fear of ruining his clothes. Ed Carter is greatly annoyed by this behaviour.
  • Malik Hussein – A Muslim friend of Ed and Jack's. Malik is taken by sickos in the ambush at the Fez, and his fate is left unknown.
  • Phil - A small boy who joins Matt's religion and become its youngest acolyte. At the end of the novel, it is unclear if he is dead, or among those floating down the river on the remains of the boat.
  • Stanley - A small boy at the church who does not join Matt's religion initially. He attempts to leave with the majority of the group for the countryside but is presumably killed during the ambush at the Fez.
  • Piers – One of the rugby players from Rowhurst and a friend of Bam's. He is injured early in the novel, and dies when Kwanele and Ed leave him at the bus.
  • The Sullivan Brothers - Twin rugby players from Rowhurst named Damien and Anthony. Both are killed at the Fez.
  • Johnno – One of the Rowhurst rugby players who is killed during the ambush at the Fez.
  • Jacob - An asthmatic boy in the church. When Ed, Jack, and their group enter, he is already dead from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Coach party

  • Brooke – A girl student on the coach, who is best friends with Aleisha and Courtney. Brooke becomes emotionally close to Ed Carter, until Greg scars his face. At the end of the book, she is horrified by witnessing David shoot a kid on the bridge and tells Justin to keep driving. When the disease broke out, Brooke and her class were on a school trip to Spain.
  • Courtney – A girl student on the coach, who is best friends with Aleisha and Brooke. Courtney travels with Ed to the Tower of London.
  • Aleisha – A girl student on the coach, who is best friends with Brooke and Courtney. Aleisha gets bitten and later drowns, when the cruise boat sinks.
  • Liam Thorne – Greg Thorne's young son. When Greg realizes he is not immune to the disease and, because he has become infected, he cannot care for Liam, he strangles his son. Greg then carries Liam's body wherever he goes, until he later drops it from a bridge.
  • Zohra – A nine-year-old girl who was picked up by the coach with her little brother. She is described as having a big friendly smile. The siblings enjoy chatting with Arthur, Justin, and Wiki.
  • Froggie – Zohra's seven year-old brother, nicknamed for his frog-like face. The siblings enjoy chatting with Arthur, Justin, and Wiki. Froggie is bitten by Frédérique Morel, but he is fine afterward. He is seven years old and looks a bit like a frog.

Imperial War Museum kids

  • Jordan Hordern – The leader of the Imperial War Museum kids. Jordan is very interested in war and strategy, and he takes control when the survivors of the sightseeing boat arrives at the Tower of London.
  • Dognut – A boy in the Imperial War Museum group. Dognut is ratty and wiry, and deeply respects Jordan Hordern, for whom he appears to serve as second-in-command. At the end of the novel, Dognut leads a group away from the Tower of London to search for other kids who were separated from their group.

David King's group

  • David King – A posh boy from a private school in Surrey called St. Hilda's. He rescues Ed and escorts the Rowhurst students across London with his own group. He starts off as simply sanctimonious and subtly narcissistic, but shows himself to be increasingly sociopathic and violent by nature, a dark side that heavily worsened by the time of The Enemy.
  • Pod – A boy who serves as head of security for David King.
  • Andy Thomas - A boy in David's group who has a big nose, and recognizes Ed Carter, as he also played football.

Adults

  • Greg Thorne/"Saint George" – Liam Thorne's father. Greg is claims he is "immune" to the disease, and is driving the coach to get Aleisha, Brooke, and Courtney back to London. South of London, he picks up the Rowhurst students and Frédérique Morel. Later, he becomes infected, dons a shirt decorated with a Saint George's Cross, and becomes a leader for infected adults. He serves as the book's main antagonist.
  • Monsieur Morel – A French teacher at Rowhurst, and Frédérique's father. When the boys try to escape, he leads the infected teachers to attack them, and captures one of them. Jack kills him by hitting him with a plank of wood with nails sticking out, driving the nails into his skull. Frédérique is never told exactly what happened to him, but she is told that he is dead.
  • Mr. Hewitt – An English teacher at Rowhurst. He tries to help the boys in the early stages of the outbreak, until he came down with the sickness (before the beginning of the book). In the beginning, he tries to eat Jack and Ed, but slices open his stomach crawling through a window, and they escape. The boys later find his head (the adults ate his body) while escaping the school, and throw it in a trash can.
  • Mr. Langston – An elderly history teacher at Rowhurst. He pursues the boys and Frédérique to the church. As he tries to get the gate open, Jack hits his head with a piece of rebar, and kills him shortly after.
  • Ms. Warlock – An English teacher at Rowhurst. She pursues the boys and Frédérique when they go to the church. She remains outside while Mr. Langston tries to open the gate. Bam leaps over the wall and knocks her over, and kills her immediately afterward.
  • Pez – A young infected man whose cheeks have been slashed through, causing his lower jaw to hang down and rendering him unable to bite, also making him look like a living pez dispenser. He first appears with a group of adults attacking the coach after Greg turns on the children. After the kids (sans Piers) escape, he appears among the sickos attacking the scavenging group at Tesco. After they escape again, he is among the adults attacking the kids trying to cross Lambeth Bridge. He attempts to bite Ed, but cannot due to his injuries, and Kyle kills him. He has dark hair and yellow eyes.

Other characters

  • Dior - Frédérique's cat, who she carries with her in the early stages of the book. It was a gift to her father, the French teacher at Rowhurst, and she feels obligated to care for it, to the point where she nearly causes sickos to attack the group by refusing to abandon it. She later releases Dior after they reach the Imperial War museum, believing the cat will be better off on its own.
  • Kyle – A boy Ed meets during the battle on the bridge. Kyle joins Ed's trek through London and serves as his right-hand man at the Tower of London. He is described as having a square head.
  • Tomoki Ford - The unofficial leader of the Tower of London group, when Ed and the survivors from the tour boat arrive. His position is taken by Jordan, who is a more effective leader, though Tomoki is allowed to continue representing his group.
  • Small Sam - A nine-year-old boy, who first appeared in The Enemy. He arrives at the Tower of London at the end of the book. For a short while they think he is "The Lamb", the supposedly fictitious deity Matthew "Mad Matt" has been going on about.
  • The Kid - A nine year old boy who first appeared in The Enemy. He is suspected to be the companion of "The Goat".

Reception

Part of the appeal of The Dead, as with Higson's other books, stemmed from the author's inclusion of accurate geographic details (e.g., the locations of and attractions surrounding various Tesco stores; Jack, Ed, and Bam's trek from the Imperial War Museum to The Oval; the trek of the coach party, and David King's group from the Imperial War Museum to the Lambeth Bridge); descriptions of various sites and historic events such as the Great Fire of London; and references to popular culture such as the Gormenghast series).

Trivia

General

  • Brooke, Courtney, and Aleisha seem to resemble the Kanker Sisters from Ed, Edd, n' Eddy.

Cultural references

  • While Matt is telling Ed about the Lamb and the Goat, Ed likens them to Batman and Robin.
  • In Chapter 9, Chris Marker is reading Fever Crumb, the first in a series of prequels to Phillip Reeve's Mortal Engines Quartet.[54]
  • In Chapter 10, Jack quotes the Gloria Gaynor song "I Will Survive".[7] The Rowhurst boy slater sing the song to keep their spirits up.[55]
  • In Jack's room, he has the following pop culture items:[56]
    • Posters of Casino Royale, Lady Gaga, and Pulp Fiction
    • Several young adult fiction books, including Harry Potter, Alex Rider, Melvin Burgess, and Robert Muchamore.
    • An issue of Marvel Zombies with a variant cover illustrated by Kev Walker.

Gallery


Site Navigation

V - E - H The Enemy by Charlie Higson
Series The EnemyThe DeadThe FearThe SacrificeThe FallenThe HuntedThe End
Supplementary material Geeks vs Zombies

Notes and References

  1. The Dead, Prologue (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  2. The Dead, Chapter 1 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  3. The Dead, Chapter 4 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  4. The Dead, Chapter 7 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  5. The Dead, Chapter 8 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  6. The Dead, Chapter 8 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  7. 7.0 7.1 The Dead, Chapter 10 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  8. The Dead, Chapter 16 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  9. The Dead, Chapter 17 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  10. The Dead, Chapter 18 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  11. The Dead, Chapter 19 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  12. The Dead, Chapter 20 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  13. The Dead, Chapter 21 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  14. The Dead, Chapter 22 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  15. The Dead, Chapter 26 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  16. The Dead, Chapter 27 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  17. The Dead, Chapter 27 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  18. The Dead, Chapter 29 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  19. The Dead, Chapter 31 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  20. The Dead, Chapter 32 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  21. The Dead, Chapter 33 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  22. The Dead, Chapter 35 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  23. The Dead, Chapter 38 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  24. The Dead, Chapter 44 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  25. The Dead, Chapter 47 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  26. The Dead, Chapter 51 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  27. The Dead, Chapter 55 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  28. The Dead, Chapter 45 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  29. The Dead, Chapter 46 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  30. The Dead, Chapter 48 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  31. The Dead, Chapter 50 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  32. The Dead, Chapter 49 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  33. The Dead, Chapter 53 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  34. The Dead, Chapter 54 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  35. The Dead, Chapter 56 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  36. The Dead, Chapter 59 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  37. The Dead, Chapter 61 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  38. The Dead, Chapter 62 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  39. The Dead, Chapter 63 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  40. The Dead, Chapter 64 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  41. The Dead, Chapter 65 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  42. The Dead, Chapter 67 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  43. The Dead, Chapter 68 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  44. The Dead, Chapter 71 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  45. The Dead, Chapter 73 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  46. The Dead, Chapter 75 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  47. The Dead, Chapter 72 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  48. The Dead, Chapter 75 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  49. The Dead, Chapter 77 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  50. The Dead, Chapter 78 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  51. The Dead, Chapter 80 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  52. The Dead, Chapter 81 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  53. The Dead, Epilogue (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  54. The Dead, Chapter 9 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  55. The Dead, Chapter 11 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
  56. The Dead, Chapter 54 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
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