The Last Kids on Earth

The story begins mid-battle, as Jack squares off against a large beast on the roof of CVS pharmacy. He goes into the abandoned CVS for supplies, but something that seems ordinary for him in this apocalyptic reality—a large creature—ambushes him. Jack nonchalantly claims that his life is “crazy” (6) and mentions that this isn’t the first time fighting for his life. After the monster nearly eats him, Jack unsheathes a weapon he calls the “Louisville Slicer” (9), which is a splintered bat he carries. He uses it against the violent creature. Jack says he avoids mindlessly killing and only retaliates for survival. But once he recognizes the sinister nature of the beast, he understands he must use more aggressive force.

When the monster grabs him again, Jack waits for the opportunity to attack, then stabs the giant in the forehead with his broken bat. The monster screams in pain and releases him. Jack scrambles to get away and eventually darts across the street to hide beneath the porch of a house. He takes out his camera—proudly calling himself a “monster photographer”—and documents the creature (which he has nicknamed “Blarg” because of the sound it makes) from a safe distance (13). The creature is over 40 feet tall and has armored skin, something Jack has never seen before. He is frightened at the formidability of this new opponent. Blarg searches the premises for Jack but fails to find him and wanders off, seemingly upset that his lunch—Jack—got away.

Jack lives in a treehouse, which used to belong to his foster brother before the apocalypse. Jack knows he is living in a dangerous world filled with zombies, dozers (rhinoceros-like “brutes” that walk on two legs); “winged wenches” (mutated pterodactyls); and “vine-thingies” (aggressive, living vines) (19). Before the apocalypse began, Jack lived with his foster family, the Robinsons, but they treated him poorly and abandoned him without warning when the monsters first appeared. Jack has been alone ever since, making fun survival games for himself. He has a surprisingly upbeat attitude and reminds himself that somewhere “someone [else] has it worse” (23).

Jack stays busy by accomplishing “Feats of Apocalyptic Success,” which are random challenges he has assigned for himself—such as stealing the hats off zombies (“Mad Hatter”)—to rack up his points like in a video game (24-25). His most important feat is to “find and rescue love interest, June Del Toro” (25). June is the former editor at the Parker Middle School Gazette, where he was the photographer. Even though she was often upset with him for being “lazy,” he had a crush on her. He knows he is a “dorky warrior” and embraces the goofy but heroic nature of his new life (31).

Quint Baker—Jack’s best friend—gave Jack a walkie talkie before the apocalypse. Jack still uses it, despite not being able to talk with anyone. Jack keeps it as a symbol of his friendship with Quint, whom he admits was his first and only friend. Unfortunately, they were separated when the disaster happened. Jack thinks Quint has gone west like many others, where it is supposedly safer. Jack regularly messages Quint on his walkie, hoping his friend may have survived and will one day respond. Then, Jack has a flashback, recalling the events of 42 days ago. It was the last day of school, when he and Quint were planning fun summer activities; Jack knew his time with the Robinsons would be dreadful.

While riding the school bus, they are confronted by the notorious school bully—Dirk Savage—who picks on Quint. Jack stands up to the bully because he doesn’t like “jerks.” Dirk is about to beat up Jack when they hear screaming outside the bus. When they look out, they see zombies for the first time, and the pure horror of the apocalypse beginning. Then, a gigantic monster grabs their bus and picks it up like a “Pringles can” (40). The door pops open from the crushing pressure and the riders tumble violently onto the pavement. Everyone is confused and scared, including Jack and Quint, who run off together amid the chaos. Jack assesses the situation and suddenly sees a face standing in the crowd: June Del Toro, his crush. A zombie is stumbling towards her but Jack gets her attention to alert her, and she evades it then runs away. For an instant, they lock eyes, then she disappears behind a door. He vows to himself to return and find her.

The boys dart away and Jack tries to ease the tension by making jokes about the situation—though Quint is serious. They plan to go to their homes and discuss how they might reconvene later. But when Jack gets to his foster home, his “family” (which he emphasizes sarcastically) has abandoned the house and taken their car. Panicked and scared for the first time, he climbs into his treehouse and accidentally knocks the walkie talkie off his table in a frenzy. It falls out and breaks—which was his only way to communicate with Quint. Feeling exhausted, lost, and fearful, he leaves the walkie unfixed and huddles up, eventually falling asleep.

His recurring nightmare ends and he wakes up in the present. The walkie is crackling with noise. Jack sprints to it. It’s Quint. They speak and Jack confirms his identity with verification questions about his favorite food: “Brussels sprout” (43). They plan to meet, and Jack is the most excited he has been since the apocalypse began. He plans a route to Quint’s home on his detailed, annotated map of the Wakefield. He explains that he doesn’t slay zombies for fun—since they used to be people and have feelings—but that he hunts monsters when necessary. They are thrilled to reconnect soon.

Jack nearly reaches Quint’s house unscathed, but while crossing a giant football field—which he knows is unsafe but is a shortcut to the side of Quint’s yard—a dozer spots him. Dozers are giant monsters that eat humans and zombies; they are large and powerful and dangerous—but Jack enjoys fighting them more than zombies. He gets trapped by a second dozer and is in trouble. Luckily, he unexpectantly gets saved by Quint, who has built a giant crossbow on his roof and shoots the dozer. Jack escapes and reaches Quint’s front door... Only to find more zombies.

Jack dashes and thrashes his way across the yard and into Quint’s home. In their happy reunion, they attempt to create a secret handshake, but fail. Quint is a socially awkward science geek, but Jack embraces his buddy with a classic fist bump. Quint has transformed his room into a lab and is classifying different types of creatures. Though impressed, Jack is bored that they aren’t playing video games instead. Jack asks him about his parents and babysitter—Quint seems sad to inform him that his parents were gone on vacation and their safety is unknown and that his babysitter was “zombified” (70). They don’t have much else to talk about, and Jack wonders if the rumors are true and they should go west, where it’s supposedly safer. He tries to convince Quint, but Quint disagrees and continues his research.

After a while, they decide to go to Jack’s treehouse because Jack claims he knows how to make his own Mountain Dew—something which intrigues Quint. When Jack asks how they’ll get there, Quint reveals a heavily armored, modified vehicle that he nicknamed after his mom, “Big Mama” (73). Jack is impressed. They rampage across Wakefield in their ride, with Jack driving as if playing a video game. They have no issues getting to the treehouse from Quint’s home. Jack has a moment of worry when they detour and go past the CVS where Blarg lives. Jack wonders where Blarg could be, but doesn’t let it ruin his great day with his buddy. When they get to the treehouse, they hang out like old times. Jack realizes he can use Quint’s brains to find June.

Quint has been doing research the whole time while Jack has been thinking about June. They establish house rules—such as not interrupting each other when using the bathroom, which is “just a bucket on the side of the tree house” (80). They need gasoline for Big Mama, so Jack goes out to find some. While walking around and daydreaming about how wonderful his new apocalyptic freedom is compared to his old life, he is interrupted by Blarg. Jack hides and watches Blarg eat a zombie for fun. Scared, Jack thinks Blarg is still looking for him, and waits the rest of the afternoon in his hideout. He finally comes out hours later and resumes his search for gas. He finds a van, smashes the window, and opens the gas cap from inside.

He sees a photo of a happy family, and thinks about how they must all now be zombies. He never had a family, and this makes him realize what he must’ve missed out on. While pouring the gas, he is surprised by a monster who suddenly sneaks up on him. Panicked, he tries to run but is trapped against the car, and the monster pins him. To his surprise, the monster doesn’t “stink like death” (87) and begins to playfully lick him. It’s a giant mutated dog who seems lovable and follows Jack all the way back to the treehouse. Quint doesn’t want to keep the dog, but Jack is convinced they should. He names the new pet Rover, and checks “Get an Awesome Pet” off his list of apocalyptic feats (89).