The Girl with All the Gifts

The Girl with All the Gifts is a science fiction novel by M. R. Carey, published in June 2014 by Orbit Books. It is based on his 2013 Edgar Award-nominated short story Iphigenia In Aulis and was written concurrently with the screenplay for the 2016 film. It deals with a dystopian future in which most of humanity is wiped out by a zombie-like fungal infection. The title is a loose translation of "Pandora". The Pandora myth appears in the story in several different ways. Plot Twenty years ago, humanity was infected by a variant of the fungus native to South America called Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, which led to the Breakdown - the end of civilization as it was before. The infected, referred to as "hungries", quickly lose their mental powers and feed on the flesh of healthy humans. The disease spreads through blood and saliva, but can also spread airborne through spores created by the fungus. In England, the few surviving uninfected humans either live in heavily guarded areas such as Beacon, or roam in packs of hostile, scavenging "junkers". The authorities in Beacon set up a remote military base for the study of a specific group of child hungries. They, unlike others, are able to retain their mental powers and only lose control when they get too close to human scent. The only way to hide the scent is to use a substance called e-blocker, which is in limited supply.