One of my favourite stories of how the world ends
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Great Britain somewhere in the near future: Most of mankind was wiped out and changed into so-called 'hungries' which feed on the last living people they can get their hands on.
Melanie is a young girl living in a bunker. Each morning she is strapped by military men into a wheelchair and brought into a classroom with a bunch of other children. She always feels happily excited when she's being rolled of into class since she enjoys the lessons with the teacher Miss Justineau. Other than the military people Miss Justineau treats the children like human beings. During class the reader learns through a demonstration of Seargent Parks that the children are zombies chosen for the experiment of learning. While adults seem to be completely mindless, children show signs of being able to control their animalic instincts.
A break-through of the zombies in the base causes in the death of nearly every inhabitant. With the help of Seargent Parks Miss Justineau, Dr Caldwell and also Melanie manage to survive the deadly attack. Now on the run they head for the only base they know still exist. Though it has been silent for months it is their only option.
The viewpoint of the story switches between Melanie, Miss Justineau, Seargant Parks and Dr Caldwell who's a scientist at the base. Through all of these characters the reader learns why Melanie is different than the other children and how she came to exist.
This is a post-apocalyptic story I enjoyed reading years ago. There was a movie made based on the book which was hauntingly good but of course the book is way better. The ending was completely unexpected and threw me off track. It's a book I plan to read again some time soon.