Talk

The scientist works out that some of the zombies are still capable of human emotion (to a much lesser degree obviously) which means that dome of them are having sex and procreating - the offspring are the children like Melanie.

As the story progresses the humans discover huge pod like things growing out of the ground. The pods have developed to spread the infection that turns humans to zombies. Melanie works out that the pods have to be burnt to create an ash like substance that is airborne and thus infects people. At the end of the story the only human remaining is the teacher but she becomes infected after Melanie burns the pods in order to allow her and her friends (she discovers more children like herself) to 'inherit' the earth as otherwise the humans and zombies will kill each other and there will be no survivors.

It was a really depressing read!

The teacher did not get infected and she was kept isolated in order to teach the children

I thought at the end she got covered in ash (and therefore would be infected?)

Thank you! It does sound v v depressing... I would not have expected that ending, I must admit. Out of interest, would you recommend reading it theconstantvacuumer ? (Love the name btw)

Well now I'm wondering if I should reread it to check I haven't misunderstood the ending!

It was a strange book, I was surprised that it was revealed so quickly that Melanie was a zombie. And I guess I just continued to read it to find out what happened rather than because I enjoyed the writing. All in all it was a bit bleak, I expected there to be a shred of hope for the humans and for Melanie, and I guess there was for the latter but not on the terms that I expected/was hoping for.

Think it was a commentary about how quickly the human race stomps on anything 'different' and that we are the ones who lose our humanity doing so.

Melanie tricks the soldier into setting fire to the fungus pods to infect everyone 'human' and stop the extermination of the children who are not mindless zombies.

The teacher has been placed in the mobile lab that is quarantined from the outside. This means that once she is in the sealed environment suit, she can safely teach the children. She is now the one sealed away from the outside as Melanie and the original children were.

"The teacher has been placed in the mobile lab that is quarantined from the outside. This means that once she is in the sealed environment suit, she can safely teach the children."

Until she has to eat, go to the toilet, wash, or otherwise open up the suit for any purpose. Since the ash is everywhere, she will then get infected and become a zombie herself.

Silly end to a silly YA story.

Thanks for this! I couldn't finish it either!

"it was a commentary about how quickly the human race stomps on anything 'different' and that we are the ones who lose our humanity doing so."

How so? Was it... umm... intolerant of human beings to want to exterminate zombies who are determined to chew on human flesh? Should people have tried to coexist in harmony with these savage predators for a bloodbath harmonious society where diversity is celebrated, perhaps?

It was analogous to the Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. We were the better "version" so we won.

Melanie's kind are the better version of human. So she infected the world, sadly killing all the remaining humans but leaving the way clear for the new kind.

The teacher would presumably wash and etc inside the van which was air tight with a filtration system etc.

I actually thought it was a really good explanation for zombies! Like, it's possible!

The teacher moved from trying to protect one small group of the children to being the key to ensuring they all grew up like Melanie.

Boys - The Passage by Justin Cronin did a much better and remarkably credible explanation for zombies. So did World War Z (book, not the silly film). I think you would like both books.

"It was analogous to the Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. We were the better "version" so we won."

Why Neandarthals went extinct is a hotly debated topic. It is not at all as easy as "we were the better version so we won", especially since Neandarthal DNA in ours shows that there was quite a bit of interbreeding going on.

I'm all over it, cote. Read both. Even got a preview copy of the twelve!

AFAIR, I was one of the posters (under a diff name) who harangued you to read WWZ! You liked?

Of course I was massively simplifying re human evolution. But, us absorbing symbiotes as part of our body has happened before, and humans living alongside homo s have gone extinct before. It seemed very simple and very possible! And like it could spontaneously happened rather that shady govt agencies getting involved.

Anyway, it was an interesting novel that I enjoyed, but not even in the same league as WWZ.

Oh yes, I really liked WWZ I especially loved the documentary style of it - "an oral history".

Hi guys,

Stupid question but I read half of the book a while ago and the rest recently, but I can't remember who it is that Miss Justinaue kills? It refers to it several times in the book saying she kills someone but who is it?

Thanks

she had ran over a boy in a hit and run before the zombies all happened.