2009 novel by Charlie Higson
The Enemy is a post-apocalyptic young adult horror novel written by Charlie Higson. The book takes place in London, United Kingdom, after a worldwide sickness has infected adults, turning them into something akin to voracious, cannibalistic zombies. Puffin Books released The Enemy in the UK on 3 September 2009, Disney Hyperion in the US on 11 May 2010.[1]
The Enemy is the first book in a planned series of seven.[2] Puffin Books released the second novel in the series, titled The Dead, on 16 September 2010; the third novel, titled The Fear, on 15 September 2011; the fourth novel, The Sacrifice, on the 20 September 2012; the fifth novel, The Fallen, on 12 September 2013; the sixth novel, The Hunted, on 4 September 2014;[3] and the final book, The End, on 10 November 2015.[4] Disney Hyperion released Higson's short story companion book in the series, titled Geeks vs. Zombies, on 5 June 2012;[5] it portrays an exclusive scene from The Fear, set on World Book Day.[6]
Summary
Original, British publication
In Holloway, London, a year after a mystery disease/virus has turned anyone over fourteen and fifteen (sixteen in US version)[7] into voracious, cannibalistic, zombie-like creatures, the surviving children have formed a number of groups to better survive and combat the threat. A group in a local Waitrose supermarket, led by a boy named Arran and his second-in-command, a girl named Maxie, grows increasingly frustrated as children are kidnapped and killed by infected adults, who are becoming smarter. A scavenger party, composed of Arran, a short-fused fighter named Achilleus, a slingshot marksman named Ollie, and best friends Freak and Deke, becomes trapped by infected adults while exploring a building. During the ensuing fight, Deke is killed when his lung is punctured by a shard of glass, and Arran is bitten by a zombie he believes to be his mother. The bite sickens him, and the group barely escapes. Achilleus blames Deke's death on Freak (as it was his idea to search the building), sending Freak into depression.
Later that night, they save a boy named Jester from a large pack of zombies, prompting him to invite the group to his home, Buckingham Palace, which he claims is safe. The majority of the group likes the idea and set off through Camden to the palace, along with another group of kids from a nearby Morrisons supermarket, led by Blue and his second-in-command Whitney. A loner named Callum, stays behind on his own, afraid to leave the confines of his base.
Meanwhile, Small Sam, a young boy who was kidnapped earlier by adults (leading the rest of the Waitrose crew to believe he is dead), awakens in a zombie nesting ground at Emirates Stadium. He escapes the stadium by setting it on fire, along the way encountering a father wearing a Saint George T-shirt, who is in control of the rest of the stadium zombies. Sam flees to Waitrose, where Callum explains that the other children left for Buckingham Palace. He is unable to catch up with them, eventually heading down into the subway tunnels where he is swarmed by a group of zombies. He is saved by an apparently uninfected man named Nick, who takes him to the subway car which he and his also uninfected wife Rachel are using as a home. Due to exhaustion, Sam eventually falls asleep.
As they are making their way to the palace, the Waitrose and Morrisons children (Now called the Holloway kids after the road both shops were on) are met by a large army of zombies, led by the Saint George zombie Sam saw earlier. In the resulting fight, Arran and Maxie discover they are attracted to each other, a secret they both kept for fear of the other person not feeling the same way. The Holloway children eventually force the zombie army into a retreat, but Arran's bite causes him to go insane and chase after them. He is mistaken for a zombie by a girl named Sophie (Leader of a group of archers) and she shoots him in the chest with a bow and arrow. Despite her attempts to save him, Arran eventually dies in Maxie's arms (much to her grief).
Meanwhile, Sam wakes up inside a different train car, chained to the wall with a group of other children. Nick enters and reveals that although he believes he and Rachel are not infected, they are still cannibals, and intent on eating Sam. When he leaves, another small child (who simply refers to himself as " The Kid") enters the car via a window and helps Sam escape, along with another girl named Rhiannon (although the rest believe Nick wants to help them, and stay behind to be devoured). They are chased by Nick through the subway tunnels during which Rhiannon is shot until they end up outside and Nick corners Sam underneath a car. Just as he is about to kill Sam, the sun comes out, and Nick (who is revealed to be infected along with Rachel) rapidly accelerates in infection due to the amount of time he has spent underground. He eventually swells and bursts, which kills him instantly. Sam and the Kid escape into the streets, developing a friendship in the process.
Whilst the Holloway children continue on to the palace, Maxie develops a hatred for Sophie (who has decided to join them along with her group), blaming her for Arran's death. She is now the new leader of the Waitrose children and struggles under the pressure of having responsibility for every kid in her group. Blue attempts to help her before the group is ambushed by a pack of infected chimpanzees that have escaped a nearby zoo. They kill many small children, as well as Maxie's newly appointed right-hand man Josh, devastating her. They also encounter a small group of kids being attacked by extremely strong zombies, and fail to save all but one of them, an unnamed girl who is bandaged and taken along with them.
They eventually arrive at the palace, and are greeted by the leader of Jester's group, David. The bandaged girl is put in the sick bay, whilst the rest of the group are given a tour of the palace, where they are shown the infected royal family (who are kept in the throne room, too weak to fight back). A feast is held to celebrate their arrival, whilst Ollie goes off to search around the Palace by himself (suspecting everything's not as it seems). He eventually discovers that the rich food and activities at the place are all just an act to get them to stay at the palace. He neglects to tell the rest of the group this, fearing it would just cause more trouble. David eventually informs them that they are having trouble with a group of crazed children over in St. James Park (nicknamed "Squatters"). He explains that they have been trying to expand their garden and plant food in the park, only for the Squatters to either steal it or kick it up. He wants the Holloway children to go over and try to reason with the squatters leader, Just John, and try and make a peace agreement.
The next day, the Holloway crew head over to the park to speak with John, whilst Freak stays behind out of depression. In the park, they attempt to negotiate with the Squatters, but Achilleus ends up starting a large fight between the two groups instead. In the battle, Blue gets a shed collapsed on his head, whilst Maxie singlehandedly fights John. Just as John is about to kill her, Freak (who heard the commotion and entered the park) intervenes and is stabbed in the back in Maxie's place, killing him. Out of fury, Maxie punches John in the face and knocks him unconscious, ending the battle. Back at the palace, David declares that due to the deaths in the battle, the ownership of the park will be decided in a fight to the death between Achilleus and John. If Achilleus wins, the Palace kids will get control over the park and use it as farmland. If John wins, he will get to keep the park, as well as the freedom to take any resources needed from the palace.
Maxie and Blue begin to have second thoughts over David, and before the fight between Achilleus and John, Sophie tells Maxie that she is leaving the place due to the guilt of Arran's death. In the fight, John gets the upper hand and severely damages Achilleus's ear, before Achilleus wins and pins him in a death position. Instead of choosing to kill John, Achilleus humiliates him by kissing him on the lips (implying to the reader that Achilleus is gay). Amazed by Achilleus's fighting skills, a young Irish Squatter kid named Paddy asks him to take him on as an apprentice, which Achilleus agrees. The palace kids get control over the park, but David locks Maxie inside the medical bay with Blue, revealing he intends on taking over their groups to use as his army.
Inside the Medical bay, Maxie talks with Blue, where he unintentionally reveals he has a crush on her. They are interrupted by the bandaged girl (who is still in the medical bay), who tells them that David is a liar. She explains that David locked her inside the medical bay in case she had met him before (which she had) and revealed to them what sort of a person he is. They are freed from the medical bay by Ollie, who has gathered up support to escape the palace. They free the royals, causing chaos, and fight their way through David's forces, eventually making it out of the palace (with Paddy and a guard known as Big Nose coming along with them). The bandaged girl reveals she comes from a group of children staying at the National History Museum, and that they would be happy to let the group stay. Maxie and Blue agree with her, and they set off towards the museum.
Meanwhile, Sam and the Kid have got lost in the streets, becoming exhausted and nearly passing out. They are met by a group of people led by a boy with a scarred face, later known as Ed, who take them back to
their home in the Tower of London.
Finally, Callum has become depressed from loneliness since his friends left for the palace. He has tried to keep himself entertained, but can do nothing to help himself. Eventually, the same army from before (led by Saint George) storm the Waitrose Supermarket, and Callum lets them kill him to end his suffering. They set the supermarket on fire and burn it to the ground, with Saint George leading his army into the centre of town. In his mind, he says that he intends to kill and devour every single child in the city, stating that "He is Saint George. The city belongs to Him".
U.S. publication
Disney Hyperion, the series' American publisher, wanted to target the books at a slightly older audience. Consequently, for this publisher's series, the cutoff age for infection was raised from 14 to 16, and some of the characters were aged up accordingly. Additionally, some of the cultural references and terminology unique to the United Kingdom were changed to ones that American readers were more likely to understand.[8]
