Breathers

 

By S.G. Browne

Turns out zombies have always been around, but hiding. But now they are coming out of the closet and trying to co-exist with the living, or, as they call them, breathers. They even have support groups, such as Undead Anonymous, to help them cope with being undead among the living. 

One such is newly-turned zombie, Andy, who died in a car crash and who now resides in his parents' basement. Andy, despite seeing a therapist and attending his support group, is not coping well with being undead. Things take a turn for the better, however, when Andy gets to know Ray, a zombie who lives in an abandoned grainary along with two of his friends. Ray shares his food with Andy and Andy's friend, Rita. Ray claims the canned meat is venison but after eating it, both Andy and Rita start to feel better in small ways. 

Andy and Rita and other members of their support group also get to know Ray and partake of his jars of canned venison. And they start to enjoy improvements in their physical wellbeing. Andy, who was not able to speak because of damage caused by the car crash, regains his voice. Other zombies' wounds start to heal. And Rita's heart begins to beat again, although very slowly. Of course, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the meat Ray has been sharing with the other zombies is not actually venison. It is human meat, harvested from the living. And the more the zombies eat, the stronger and better and healthier they become. Now that they know the secret to the good "life" for zombies, they become just as voracious as depicted in all the zombie stories and movies. Their greed for human meat overpowers their common sense and they go on the rampage and give up trying to live in peace with the Breathers.

To back track a little, at the beginning of the story, zombie Andy wakes up and finds his parents' bodies stuffed into the family freezer and frig. He has no memory of killing his parents though. I mention this because it is a clue to how the story is going to end: in violence and death. In between, though, it is a charming and amusing story of a zombie guy who falls in love and who is trying to lead a normal life among people who view him as walking garbage. But the ending is not the happy-ever-after usually associated with love stories. It gruesome, bloody and very disappointing. The story sets the reader up for hearts and flowers and then pulls the rug out from underneath us. 

Here is a review by Kirkus Reviews.