Essay

     The Dead by Charlie Higson is a captivating book about survival. Young adults are becoming infected with a unknown disease. All electricity is gone, and no adult can be trusted. The adults with the disease are known as "sickos". The series follows a group of teens and how they are surviving. Sticking together is more important then anything. You will need someone to be there.
      People who have a shelter hold the most power. they decide the people without a shelters fate. They can either let the homeless stay with them, or say they can't stay. When Ed, Jack, Bam and the others are talking to Jordan the leader of a group they met at the Imperial War Museum he says " They're not staying." (197) Although eventually Jordan allowed them to stay, but they had to plead at first. before he said they could stay, Jordan didn't give a second to think about whether they could stay or not. No it's not ideal to beg for shelter, but in their situation they had to.
      Power also depends on your strength. If you were in the book you would have to fight "sickos" and sometimes other people. People who haven't been infected with the disease. Jordan is the leader of the group at the museum, he also holds the most strength even with everyone's strength combined. Jack upset Jordan by pointing at him and yelling. The element of surprise was on Jordan's side. Jordan may have looked weak because he had a blanket on him but "He was taller than Jack and moved like an athlete." (200) Jordan was twisting Jacks wrist "with an iron grip." (200) You shouldn't underestimate someone just because of their outside appearance. Everyone in the book has a different background, Jordan was probably an athlete.
      Setting aside your emotions can actually be a good thing when you have to kill people. It may be tough and you will change but you need to survive. Ed is a tough, but scared teenager who has his friends nearby. When Ed and the others were a in grocery store scavenging for food they came across a women who may or may not have been sick. The group decided to kill the women and Ed was holding the bayonet. However, when it came down to it, he totally flaked
              "[He] thought of sticking the bayonet into her, feeling it sink into her flesh, pushing it hard enough to kill her, into her brain... Could he do it? Brooke pushed past him and grunted as she swung her club at the back of the mother's head." (251-252)
       If Ed were to be alone he most likely would have died. Brooke killing the women, although violent was necessary.
      The Dead, a dystopian book about bonds. Kids are scared and don' know what to do, and honestly I wouldn't know what to do if a unknown disease started taking over and ultimately killing young adults.