R is a young man with an existential crisis--he is a zombie. He shuffles through an America destroyed by war, social collapse, and the mindless hunger of his undead comrades, but he craves something more than blood and brains. He can speak just a few grunted syllables, but his inner life is... read more
R is a zombie. He can only grunt or moan and craves human brains to get high on their memories. After eating the brains of a suicidal teen, R is overcome with feelings for his victim's girlfriend, Julie Grigio. For reasons he can't understand, R chooses to save Julie instead of eating her, and... read more
“Are my words ever actually audible, or do they just echo in my head while people stare at me, waiting? I want to change my punctuation. I long for the exclamation marks, but I'm drowning in ellipses.”R
“Is it possible to have a midlife crisis if you have no idea how old you are?”R
“My friend "M" says the irony of being a zombie is that everything is funny, but you can't smile, because your lips have rotted off.”R
“I've never liked that differentiation. She is Living and I'm Dead, but I'd like to believe we're both human. Call me an idealist.”R
“I want to scrub the moss off the space shuttle and fly Julie to the moon and colonize it, or float a capsized cruise ship to some distant island where no one will protest us, or just harness the magic that brings me into the brains of the Living and use it to bring Julie into mine, because it's warm in here, it's quiet and lovely, and in here we aren't an absurd juxtaposition, we are perfect.”R
“You should always be taking pictures, if not with a camera then with your mind. Memories you capture on purpose are always more vivid than the ones you pick up by accident.”Julie
“What's wrong with people? Were they born with parts missing or did it all fall out somewhere along the way?”Julie
“Why is it beautiful that humanity keeps coming back? So does herpes.”Nora
“I don't want to hear music. I don't want the sunrise to be pink. The world is a liar. Its ugliness is overwhelming; the scraps of beauty make it worse.”Perry
“What I'm saying is, when you have weight like that in your life, you have to start looking for the bigger picture or you are gonna sink.”Nora
“In my short life I made so many choices because I thought they were required, but my dad was right: there's no rule book for the world. It's in our heads, our collective human hive-mind. If there are rules, we're the ones making them. We can change them whenever we want to.”Perry
“Not so easy, Mr. Lennon. Even if you try.”R
“What a massive responsibility, being a moral creature.”R
“We smile, because this is how we save the world.”
“Peel off these dusty wool blankets of apathy and antipathy and cynical desiccation. I want life in all its stupid sticky rawness.”Perry
“"Feel empty. Feel... Dead." He nods"marr... iage"”R and M
“No praise, no blame, just so.”R
I want to change my punctuation. I long for exclamation marks, but I’m drowning in ellipses.Highlighted by 26 Kindle customers
Once you’ve arrived at the end of the world, it hardly matters which route you took.Highlighted by 24 Kindle customers
“There’s no benchmark for how life’s ‘supposed’ to happen, Perry. There is no ideal world for you to wait around for. The world is always just what it is now, and it’s up to you how you respond to it.”Highlighted by 24 Kindle customers
Peel off these dusty wool blankets of apathy and antipathy and cynical desiccation. I want life in all its stupid sticky rawness.Highlighted by 13 Kindle customers
I want to be part of her. Not just inside her but all around her. I want our rib cages to crack open and our hearts to migrate and merge. I want our cells to braid together like living thread.Highlighted by 12 Kindle customers
I feel the flatline of my existence disrupting, forming heartbeat hills and valleys.Highlighted by 11 Kindle customers
“All the shitty stuff people do to themselves… it can all be the same thing, you know? Just a way to drown out your own voice. To kill your memories without having to kill yourself.”Highlighted by 10 Kindle customers
There is a chasm between me and the world outside of me. A gap so wide my feelings can’t cross it. By the time my screams reach the other side, they have dwindled into groans.Highlighted by 8 Kindle customers
“What I’m trying to say is, it’s a shitty world and shit happens, but we don’t have to bathe in shit.Highlighted by 8 Kindle customers
Quod tu es, ego fui, quod ego sum, tu eris. What you are, I once was. What I am, you will become.Highlighted by 8 Kindle customers
Step One: Wanting
Step Two: Taking
Step Three: Living
There are other, untitled breaks in the text headlined with anatomical drawings of various internal organs.
Followed by The New Hunger.
The "F" word gets used, and there are references to sex. For example, zombies mimic sexual acts like a rote muscle memory. The descriptions are crass and the act lacks any emotional attachment.
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