Joe watched in horror as Carter grabbed the first thing he could to steady himself: Elaine’s arm. As he fell backwards, his head crossed the barrier between the light of the lift and the darkness beyond it. Then, the next image: his head was gone. It hadn’t simply vanished, though, because as Joe looked more closely he could see the teeth that had plunged into Carter’s shoulder. Then the two, white eyes opened just above this. Blood exploded from the wound, splattering the entrance of the lift.

Her parents had told her to stay indoors. But it was dark and scary. She could hear them, the things she thought of as zombies, even though her parents forbad her to use that word. They were outside, groaning, shuffling, sniffing at the walls. They were nearly always there, especially at night…… Her father and mother had been gone for hours now, scavenging for supplies. They were not usually gone so long and Allison had begun to feel worried.

There is nothing exceptional about Alice Southern. She is neither beautiful nor ugly and she has a simple, honest face as I would like to see on a wife of mine if I ever marry….She looks younger than her thirty five years, though perhaps it would be truer to say that she seems to belong to no particular age….The only indication that she has lived a less than contented life is to be found in her mouth which is long, thin-lipped and has been formed into a perfect downward curve, a kind of permanent smile in reverse.