Or, at the very least, they are the future in M.R. Carey’s book, The Girl With All the Gifts.
The book is about Melanie, zombie child extraordinaire. She’s being held, along with several other (albeit less extraordinary) zombie children, at a research facility in England. At the facility, they attend classes, eat grubs and occasionally get dissected, all in the name of science. Dr. Caldwell does the dissecting, and Helen Justineau does the teaching.
Below is a song I “wrote” about their adventures (please to be sung to the tune of Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All”):
I believe the zombie children are our are future
Teach them well and they may not eat your brains
Show them all the parasites they possess inside
Disguise your yummy scent to make it easier
Let the children’s laughter remind us how we used to be
Everybody searching for a jugular
Children need someone to look up to
They don’t need anyone to dissect their brains
A bloody place to be
So Melanie learned to use her teeth
Mel decided long ago, never to walk in anyone’s shadow
If she fails, if she succeeds
At least she’ll reanimate as she believes
No matter what they take from Mel
They can’t take away her strength and speed
Because the greatest hunger of all
Is happening to Melanie
She found the parasite
Inside of her
The greatest craving of all
Is easy to relieve
Learning to eat adults
It is the greatest meal of all
I believe the zombie children are our future
Teach them well and they may not eat your brains
Show them all the parasites they possess inside
Disguise your yummy scent to make it easier
Let the children’s laughter remind us how we used to be
Mel decided long ago, never to walk in anyone’s shadow
If she fails, if she succeeds
At least she’ll reanimate as she believes
No matter what they take from Mel
They can’t take away her strength and speed
Because the greatest hunger of all
Is happening to Melanie
She found the parasite
Inside of her
The greatest craving of all
Is easy to relieve
Learning to eat adults
It is the greatest meal of all
And if by chance, that special place
That you’ve been dreaming of
Leads you to zombie kids
Find your strength in teaching
Unfortunately, I had more fun writing this song than I did reading the book. The ideas were definitely there, but the writing just didn’t appeal to me at all. The science was dry as hell, characters like “the junkers” are introduced and then just forgotten and some of the writing is just flat out corny. I think it’s supposed to be a mix of sci-fi and horror, but for me, it wasn’t scary or suspenseful. In fact, the only reason I read it so quickly was because I just wanted it to be over. Two stars.