The Last Kids on Earth. Max Brallier

      

      First published in the United States of America by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2015

      This edition published in 2019

      By Egmont UK Limited

      The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN

      Text copyright © 2015 Max Brallier

      Illustrations copyright © 2015 Douglas Holgate

      The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted.

      First e-book edition 2019

      ISBN 978 1 4052 9509 3

      Ebook ISBN 978 1 7803 1745 8

       www.egmont.co.uk

      A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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      To Alyse, for support, advice, direction, and love and love and love. You’re my cutie.

      And another thing . . . This book is sort of a love letter to a group of great friends: Mikey, Mouth, Data and Chunk. Roberta, Teeny, Samantha and Chrissy. Angus and Troy. Gordy Lachance and Chris Chambers. Scotty Smalls and Benny the Jet. Corey, Haley and Jimmy. Thanks, friends – and thanks to all who made you.

      – M.B.

      To Allyson and Angus, may we never have to enact zombie plague survival plan alpha or beta, but know that if we do I wouldn’t want to spend the apocalypse with anyone else.

      – D.H.

      THE LAST KIDS ON EARTH SERIES:

      THE LAST KIDS ON EARTH

      THE LAST KIDS ON EARTH

      and the ZOMBIE PARADE

      THE LAST KIDS ON EARTH

      and the NIGHTMARE KING

      THE LAST KIDS ON EARTH

      and the COSMIC BEYOND

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

       Copyright

       Dedication

chapter one

chapter two

       chapter three

       chapter four

       chapter five

       chapter six

       chapter seven

       chapter eight

       chapter nine

       chapter ten

       chapter eleven

       chapter twelve

       chapter thirteen

       chapter fourteen

       chapter fifteen

       chapter sixteen

       chapter seventeen

       chapter eighteen

       Acknowledgments

       About the Author

       Back series promotional page

chapter one

      That’s me.

      Not the giant monster.

      Beneath the giant monster. The kid on his back, with the splintered bat. The handsome kid, about to get eaten.

      Forty-two days ago, I was regular Jack Sullivan: thirteen years old, living an uneventful life in the uninteresting town of Wakefield. I was totally not a hero, totally not a tough guy, totally not fighting giant monsters.

      But look at me now. Battling a gargantuan beast on the roof of the local CVS pharmacy.

      Life is crazy like that.

      Right now, the whole world is crazy like that. Check the shattered windows. Check the wild vines crawling up the side of the building.

      All of these things are not normal.

      And me? I haven’t been normal, well, ever. I’ve always been different. See, I’m an orphan – I bounced all over the country, different homes, different families, before landing in this little town of Wakefield in December.

      But all that moving, it makes you tough: it makes you cool, it makes you confident, it makes you good with the girls – it makes you JACK SULLIVAN.

      Oh crud!

      INCOMING MONSTER FIST!!!

      Yikes.

      Almost got a monster fist to the skull there.

      I’m at CVS because I need an eyeglass repair kit – those little tool sets that dads buy for when their glasses break. I know, that’s a lame thing to need. But I have a walkie and that walkie is busted and to fix that walkie, I need a really really really tiny screwdriver and the only place to get a really really really tiny screwdriver is in an eyeglass repair kit.

      This was supposed to be a quick, easy trip to the pharmacy. But one thing I’ve learned about life after the Monster Apocalypse: nothing’s quick and nothing’s easy.

      This monster here is the foulest, most ferocious and just plain horrible thing I’ve encountered yet. He’s straight-up –

      KA-SLAM!

      Yikes!