History Literature / Newsflesh

* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: The team tends to take anybody out once they've gone into viral amplification, but this is a 'verse in which [[AnyoneCanDie anybody can be zombified]].[[spoiler:.. except Shaun.]]

** '''Deadline and Blackout:''' Becks, and any other female Irwin who goes out and hunts/taunts/fights/shoots zombies for a living.
** '''San Diego 2014:''' Kelly Nakama, and Elle Riley as Indiction Rivers in ''Space Crime Continuum''. Elle also has to pull ActionGirl duty at the con once zombies become an issue.

* NeverGotToSayGoodbye: Poor Maggie has this problem a lot. In the first book, [[spoiler: Buffy dies before Maggie can tell her.]] In the second, [[spoiler:Dave died in the bombing of Oakland. Dave admitted his feelings on digital recording right before he died, but Maggie didn't get to tell him how she felt at all]]. Even in ''Blackout'', [[spoiler:Mahir gets the unfortunate task of telling her of Becks's {{heroic sacrifice}}]].

** '''San Diego 2014:''' Kelly Nakama, and Elle Riley as Indiction Rivers in ''Space Crime Continuum''. Elle also has to pull ActionGirl duty at the con once zombies become an issue.

** '''San Diego 2014:''' Kelly Nakama

** In ''San Diego 2014'', [[Lorelai Tutt]] is dealing with a pretty terrible case, bordering on a death wish, since being a bratty teenager is pretty much the only reason she survived.

** There are two characters named Rebecca - the Rymans' eldest daughter, and "Becks" Atherton, one of the After the End Times Irwins.

* ActionGirl: Becks, and any other female Irwin who goes out and hunts/taunts/fights/shoots zombies for a living.

* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: The team tends to take anybody out once they've gone into viral amplification, but this is a 'verse in which [[AnyoneCanDie anybody can be zombified]][[spoiler:... except Shaun.]]

* BottomlessMagazines: Averted. People run out of ammo, and Shaun is the first to call them out on trying to reload with zombies lurching around.

* BrickJoke: Maggie hands Shaun an envelope filled with cash, as well as a company credit card, before Shaun, Becks, [[spoiler:Mahir and Dr. Kelly Connolly]] head off to Memphis. She explains that her parents won't mind them using it, unless he used it to buy a submarine or something. Later, when they get to Memphis, [[spoiler:Mahir]] comments that calling [[spoiler:breaking into the CDC]] "fucking impossible" would require something in the way of ninjas, and wonders where one would order them. Shaun says it's the same place where you get the submarines.

** The majority of the novel highlights how [[spoiler:Dr. Kelly Connolly]]'s perceptions of [[spoiler:the CDC - the company she literally grew into -]] start to change and grow darker with each new revelation regarding the true nature of the reservoir conditions. This reaches its culmination when [[spoiler:her boss, Dr. Joseph Wynne, is revealed to be part of the conspiracy to subdue the human adaptation of reservoir conditions, and when he threatens her life. He is killed, but unfortunately not before he shoots her with a KA-loaded dart]].
** The Wall is a monument to every human casualty of Kellis-Amberlee, listing their names and their final blog posts, if any. Before [[spoiler:Georgia died in ''Feed'', she]] regarded the Wall as "the ultimate monument to truth; a universally accepted model of the world as it is, not as we want it to be." People like [[spoiler:Georgia, Buffy, Dave]] and even [[spoiler:Governor Tate]] are commemorated there, regardless of what they did when they were alive. After Shaun, Becks [[spoiler:and Mahir]] escape the Memphis CDC, Shaun calls Alaric to tell Maggie to lock down her home, and realizes that [[spoiler:Dr. Kelly Connolly]]'s death cannot be memorialized on the Wall, as [[spoiler:the world thinks that she's been DeadAllAlong, and that was ''not'' due to Kellis-Amberlee. The real Kelly ''did'' die of KA, but the clone that the rest of the world recognized as her did not]]. [[spoiler:Georgia - inside Shaun's head -]] comments on this:

** From ''Deadline'' onwards, Shaun assumes a darker version of this trope; he's steadily going [[CloudCuckooLander crazy]] - and the rest of his team knows it - yet they still choose to follow him and place their lives in his hands on various occasions.
** The Fox, one of the Brainpan members. On the surface, she acts like a ManicPixieDreamGirl (along with affectionate behavior towards The Monkey,) but she shows herself to be very competent in the field when [[spoiler:their hideout is attacked by the CDC]]. Before she met The Monkey (and when her name was Elaine), she showed manic-depressive traits; afterwards, she's arguably just manic.

* CaughtOnTape: Commonplace for the main cast. They generally don't go anywhere without recording devices on them. However, after the events of ''Deadline'', they are forced to stay off the grid, unable to post anything without exposing themselves to the [[spoiler:CDC]]. Played straight in the climax of ''Blackout''; when [[spoiler:the CDC doctor claims that the details of the conspiracy - which he just divulged in an attempt to get them to his side - will not leave the White House, Georgia II simply calls out to her team]]:

** In ''Blackout'', [[spoiler:Georgia II's new blog is titled ''Living Dead Girl'']].

* DecontaminationShower: So commonplace that the majority of the population has blonde streaks in their hair from daily bleach sprayings. Considered the normal and polite thing to do, since smelling either of bleach or the citrusy lotion to repair bleach damage to skin is an olfactory indicator one has recently been decontaminated.

'''Shaun:''' Uh...\\
(''Shaun describes Maggie's attire at length in narration'')\\
'''Becks:''' It's Shaun, Maggie, and you're a girl. He has no idea what the safe answer is, and he's going to vapor-lock until you change the subject.

* NeverGotToSayGoodbye: Poor Maggie has this problem a lot. In the first book, [[spoiler: Buffy dies before Maggie can tell her.]] In the second, [[spoiler:Dave died in the bombing of Oakland. Dave admitted his feelings on digital recording right before he died, but Maggie didn't get to tell him how she felt at all]]. Even in ''Blackout'', [[spoiler:she is only informed of Becks's HeroicSacrifice by Mahir]].

* OneSteveLimit: Subverted. In a world where George Romero's movies end up being vital to the survival of the human race, a lot of people are named after him, even girls, with female variants including Georgia, Georgette, etc. In ''Blackout'', [[spoiler:one of the EIS agents who helps Georgia II escape is named George]], and at the end, [[spoiler: the new head of the Irwins after Becks's HeroicSacrifice is named George as well - shortened to "Geo" to avoid confusion]].

* OpenTheIris: Retinal Kellis-Amberlee causes a permanent case of this in its victims, and the full zombie version causes it to happen as a living infected begins conversion into the zombie.

* PercussiveMaintenance: Invoked by Shaun when he and Alaric realize they have a piece of Buffy tech that no one knew how to work but her.

* TheReveal: In ''Blackout'', some of the chapter interludes include e-mails sent by someone named Dr. Danika Kimberley. However, she does not appear to be part of the main story [[spoiler:until Dr. Shaw reveals her true identity by speaking in her native Welsh accent, then introducing herself to Georgia II as Dr. Kimberley. It turns out "Shaw" was her mother's maiden name.]]

** Only 1 person that had been in the convention centre survived the 2014 San Diego outbreak.

* StrawCharacter: Governor Tate is ''very'' one-dimensional and spouts conservative sound bites. Then he's quickly elevated in terms of scope and becomes something...more. Kelly from ''Dealine'' is a less overt example, as she essentially exists to be kicked around and her views shot down.

* ''San Diego 2014: The Final Stand of the California Browncoats'' (scheduled for sometime in 2012)

* CharacterTics: Senator Ryman does the [[StarTrekTheNextGeneration Picard Maneuver]] in a tense moment.

* CaughtOnTape: Commonplace for the main cast. They generally don't go anywhere without recording devices on them. However, after the events of ''Deadline'', they are forced to stay off the grid, unable to post anything without exposing themselves to the [[spoiler:CDC]]. Played straight in the climax of ''Blackout''; when [[spoiler:the CDC doctor claims that the details of the conspiracy, which he just divulged - will not leave the White House, Georgia II simply calls out to her team]]:

* CodeName: More like coded email name, but used for essentially the same purpose by [[spoiler: Dr. Abbey, who wanted to share information with Shaun without giving away who she was to anyone but his team. She uses the name [=TauntedOctopus=], which Shaun figured out as a reference to the KA-infected giant octopus in her lab, as well as the t-shirt she was wearing, "Don't taunt the octopus."]]

** Shaun's in his first apartment at the end of ''FEED'' is technically illegal because its ratings are out of date.

** In ''Countdown'', Dr. Alexander Kellis, once the Rising had begun because of what his research had contributed to the disaster and the loss of his beloved husband. And a particularly rough example, Dr. Wells commited suicide by letting his converted zombie family attack him and turn him.

** In ''Deadline'', Professor Brannon, one of three scientists contacted by After The End Times to do some research for them, shoots himself afterwards - but not before giving his findings to Mahir.

*** [[spoiler:However, in ''Blackout'', [[AvertedTrope he learned that it was only made to look like a suicide]]]].

* DyingAsYourself: Rick Cousins is determined that any person he cares about who goes into amplification will die before the conversion robs them of their mind.

** Rebecca Atherton seems also to share this mindset, making sure that [[spoiler: Kelly Connolly has enough bullets that she can die remembering her own name after she has been forcibly injected with live-state KA]].
* EarnYourHappyEnding: the end of ''Blackout.'' Sure, there's still zombies out there, but [[spoiler: almost all of our main characters end on a happy note. Mahir gets back to his wife Nandini and has a child named Sanjukta, Alaric and Maggie get married, and Shaun and Georgia II are together somewhere in Canada, contacting Mahir only occasionally]].

* ForeignCussWord: Never on the actual page, but Shaun describes some of the creative swearing in Chinese Alaric does at various points in ''Deadline''.

* {{Hallucinations}}: As a symptom of the SanitySlippage began at the end of ''Feed'', Shaun Mason suffers very specific ones in ''Deadline'' when his stress level rises: [[spoiler: he goes from ''hearing'' Georgia in his head, to actually ''seeing'' her as if she were standing right there, and at times even ''feeling'' her fingers touching him: once in a crisis of confidence after hearing about how George might have survived getting infected, and again when he tries to find Buffy's wireless transmitter in their van]].

* HairOfGold: Dr. Kelly Connolly and Buffy Messonier [[spoiler: which is subverted when Buffy turns out to have been working for the bad guys, and then upheld again when it turns out she had no idea they were really the bad guys until it became obvious -- and was genuinely guilt stricken and apologetic]].

** In ''Blackout'', [[spoiler:a lot of Georgia Mason clones go through this, until the CDC finally gets it right with Subject 7c onwards]].

* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Shaun. He and Georgia were so close that [[spoiler: losing her to KA courtesy of David Tate]] literally drove him crazy.
* MadDoctor: Dr. Abbey, who is mad in practically every sense of the word; driven so by the knowledge that [[spoiler: the [=CDC=] found it cheaper to air-bomb a university campus with a majority of non-infected (including her husband) than to try containing the outbreak, and that they also are not really working toward finding a cure for Kellis-Amberlee]] She has experimented on insects, arachnids, dogs, and an octopus.

* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: The team tends to take anybody out once they've gone into viral amplification, but this is a 'verse in which [[AnyoneCanDie anybody can be zombified]][[spoiler:...except Shaun.]]

** ''Deadline'' revealed that After The End Times has the Chinese Alaric Kwong on staff. Alaric and Mahir are both Newsies and therefore infojunkies, and as an occupational hazard tend to have a better than layman knowledge on a number of subjects from the obscure to the occupational.

* BigFriendlyDog: Marigold and Maize, the sweet, lovable golden retrievers who lived next door to the Masons until the Rising, at which point the trope is subverted; they were the index case for KA having affected other mammilian species besides humans [[spoiler: and Phillip the proof, converting when zombified Marigold bit him]].

* BreakTheCutie[[BreakTheHaughty /Haughty]]: Kelly Connolly. [[spoiler: Who goes from naively believing in and defending the work the [=CDC=] is doing to discovering how much harm they've been doing in the name of amassing power (keeping the populace afraid, and refining Kellis-Amberlee to behave in worse and worse ways before putting any effort into a cure) to being betrayed by her much-respected colleague and mentor to being zombified and killed off]].

** The majority of the novel highlights how Dr. Kelly Connolly's perceptions of the CDC - the company she literally grew into - start to change and grow darker with each new revelation regarding the nature of the reservoir conditions. This reaches its culmination when [[spoiler:her boss, Dr. Joseph Wynne, is revealed to be part of the conspiracy to subdue the human adaptation of reservoir conditions, and when he threatens her life. He is killed, but unfortunately not before she gets shot with a KA-loaded dart]].

** In ''Blackout'', [[spoiler:Georgia II, to prove herself to Shaun,]] refers to this as the "one thing we never wrote down." [[spoiler:After mentioning this, she kisses him in front of Becks and Mahir.]]

** The Fox, one of the Brainpan members. On the surface, she acts like a ManicPixieDreamGirl (along with the affectionate behavior towards The Monkey,) but she shows herself to be very competent in the field when [[spoiler:their hideout is attacked by the CDC]]. Before she met The Monkey (and when her name was Elaine), she showed manic-depressive traits; afterwards, she's arguably just manic.

* CaughtOnTape: Commonplace for the main cast. They generally don't go anywhere without recording devices on them. However, after the events of ''Deadline'', they are forced to stay off the grid, unable to post anything without exposing themselves to the [[spoiler:CDC]]. Played straight in the climax of ''Blackout''; when [[spoiler:the CDC doctor claims that the details of the conspiracy will not leave the White House, Georgia II simply calls out to her team]]:

(*''Shaun, Becks and Alaric keep their hands down''*)

*** [[spoiler:This scenario is referenced in ''Blackout'', both by Georgia inside Shaun's head, and by Georgia II]]. Shaun [[spoiler:and Georgia II]] eventually realize that [[spoiler:this was what the people behind the conspiracy were aiming for. They knew that if they killed Shaun, Georgia would just accept Tate as the grand villain and let him die a martyr; she wouldn't have the will to look deeper into the conspiracy, and then she would just kill herself in despair]].

*** The rest of his team at The Brainpan: The Cat and The Fox (and The Wolf, departed). The Cat insists on only being referred to as such, but The Monkey, after finding out that [[spoiler:The Cat put a tracker on Dr. Kelly Connolly's ID unbeknownst to him]], calls her by her real name, Jane.

*** In ''Blackout'', [[spoiler:after being confronted by Shaun, and eventually rescuing Alaric's sister Alisa]], she realizes what a terrible parent she's been, and writes, "I wish I'd been a better mom when I had the chance."

** In ''Blackout'', after the team splits up, they maintain this [[spoiler:until Alaric chats with Georgia II.]]

* SanitySlippage:

* SarcasmMode: Most of the novels' characters end up conversing this way, along with the occasional [[DeadpanSnarker deadpan snarking]], often as a coping mechanism to mask their stress and anxiety. Although with a lot of moments among the After the End Times team, mostly between Shaun and Becks, they talk this way by default.

*** A little later, [[spoiler:when they are left with no other safe option but to go to Dr. Abbey]]:

* TooDumbToLive: People Georgia classifies as "Darwin Was Right", those who venture into zombie infested hot zones without preparation or training.

* VitriolicBestBuds: Shaun and Becks. The rest of his staff either avoids Shaun at his jerkiest or calls him out on it. Becks takes the insults and gives back as good as she gets.

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: The reason for the problems the convoy experienced en route to Houston? [[spoiler: Buffy stopped supplying info to her "friends", realizing their motives weren't as altruistic as they'd led her to believe]].
* YoungerThanTheyLook: Both the [[spoiler: dead Kelly]] and subject 7c were artificially aged to maturity.

** NotAZombie: The news (under order of the government) tried to pull this at the beginning of the Rising.

** OurZombiesAreDifferent: The KA virus has a form of sentience where zombies seem to get smarter as their numbers grow. Also, if the zombie is freshly converted -- it's a fast zombie. They do, however, slow down to the familiar shamble as they age.

-->'''Shaun:''' This is Shaun Mason activating security protocol Campbell. The bridge is out. The trees are coming, and I'm pretty sure my hand is evil. Now gimme some sugar, baby.
** In ''Blackout'', when Shaun and Becks are trying to gain access to a gas stop off the grid, one of the occupants asks for a password. Becks nervously replies, "There isn't one," and their leader lets them in, saying that [[spoiler:if they weren't sent by Dr. Abbey]], they would have made something up.

* RaceForYourLove: Referenced by Shaun as he described what pre-Rising airports were like. In his time, airport officials are armed with more guns than most Irwins, enough to dissuade anyone even thinking of doing this in an airport.

* TheReveal: A relatively minor one, compared to the rest of the events in the novels. In ''Blackout'', some of the chapter interludes include e-mails sent by someone named Dr. Danika Kimberley. However, she does not appear to be part of the main story [[spoiler:until Dr. Shaw reveals her true identity by speaking in her native Welsh accent, then introducing herself to Georgia II as Dr. Kimberley. It turns out "Shaw" was her mother's maiden name.]]

* SarcasmMode: Steve the bodyguard tends to operate at this level, with Georgia a close second.
** ...and Mahir a close third.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Maggie and her parents. Maggie goes so far as to threaten Kelly Connolly's life, implying that killing Kelly and disappearing the body would be the best Father's Day present she could possibly give her father.

*** Series/{{Firefly}}[=/=]Film/{{Serenity}}: The novella is "The Last Stand of the California Browncoats".

** ResidentEvil and Left4Dead (generalized as "pre-Rising video games") are both alluded to by Shaun and Becks while they're walking through a series of mazelike corridors in Portland.

** Nightmare On Elm Street: One of Maggie's film Marathons is watching the whole Franchise.

** [[spoiler: [[Music/RobZombie "Living Dead Girl"]] as a reference to Georgia II, who later calls her blog this.]]

* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler: Shaun Mason, the only one of the After The End Times founders to live to the end of ''Feed''.]]

* SurvivorGuilt: Georgia [[spoiler: after Buffy's death at the hands of the bad guys]].

* TalkingToYourself: Shaun does this a lot [[spoiler: but the truth is he's talking to George. Her voice is inside his head.]]

** The majority of the novel highlights how [[spoiler:Dr. Kelly Connolly]]'s perceptions of the CDC - the company she literally grew into - start to change and grow darker with each new revelation regarding the nature of the reservoir conditions. This reaches its culmination when [[spoiler:her boss, Dr. Joseph Wynne, is revealed to be part of the conspiracy to subdue the human adaptation of reservoir conditions, and when he threatens her life. He is killed, but unfortunately not before she gets shot with a KA-loaded dart]].
** The Wall is a monument to every human casualty of Kellis-Amberlee, listing their names and their final blog posts, if any. Before [[spoiler:Georgia died in ''Feed'']], [[spoiler:she]] regarded the Wall as "the ultimate monument to truth; a universally accepted model of the world as it is, not as we want it to be." People like [[spoiler:Georgia, Buffy, Dave]] and even [[spoiler:Governor Tate]] are commemorated there, regardless of what they did when they were alive. After Shaun, Becks [[spoiler:and Mahir]] escape the Memphis CDC, Shaun calls Alaric to tell Maggie to lock down her home, and realizes that [[spoiler:Dr. Kelly Connolly]]'s death cannot be memorialized on the Wall, as [[spoiler:the world thinks that she's been DeadAllAlong, and that was ''not'' due to Kellis-Amberlee. The real Kelly ''did'' die of KA, but the clone that the rest of the world recognized as her did not]]. [[spoiler:Georgia - inside Shaun's head -]] comments on this:

** The Fox, one of the Brainpan members. On the surface, she acts like a ManicPixieDreamGirl, but she shows herself to be very competent in the field when [[spoiler:their hideout is attacked by the CDC]]. Before she met The Monkey (and when her name was Elaine), she showed manic-depressive traits; afterwards, she's arguably just manic.

* CloningBlues: Subject 7c starts out with this, along with some understandable identity crisis issues, but starts to get over them when [[spoiler:she meets the EIS agents and hears of their plan to break her out]]. Near the end of ''Blackout'', [[spoiler:Shaun invokes this to get Georgia II to leave when he is asked by the CDC doctor to take their side. It turns out they were only pretending, however, so that Georgia II can make plans along with Dr. Shoji, Rick and Steve to rescue President Ryman's family and leave the White House alive]].

** In ''Deadline'', there's a lethal variant of this in the CDC evacuation tunnel. The sterilizing agent is affectionately called "lava."

--> [[spoiler:'''Dr. Thomas:''']] Please send someone to clean my lab, as I am about to get blood all over the walls.

** In the climax of ''Blackout'', [[spoiler:the last Shaun sees of Becks is of her dropping her guns and looking in his direction before the grenade blows.]]

*** The similarity keeps him from being convinced that [[spoiler:Georgia II isn't a hallucination, until Becks and Mahir confirm that they can see her as well.]]

--> That's apparently the only thing anyone thinks I'm doing these days. I'm "coping". There are days when I feel like I'm never going to be allowed to do anything else. I'm going to walk through my life being Shaun Mason, The Dude Who Copes.

** Shaun in particular because he's got a death wish after the events in ''Feed'' but won't give in to it until he's dug up the reasons behind what happened in Eakly, Texas, and Sacramento.

* IfYouEverDoAnythingToHurtHer: Played with. The entire house in Weed is glowering at [[spoiler: Shaun the morning after he and Becks sleep together because they're not sure if he was toying with Becks' emotions or not]].

* MaleGaze: On the trip back from Memphis to Weed, in a gas stop, Becks intentionally puts on a pair of hot pink shorts to attract the male gaze in case her face was on the news.

*** In ''Blackout'', [[spoiler:while Alaric's sister Alisa is in their care]], she realizes what a terrible parent she's been, and writes, "I wish I'd been a better mom when I had the chance."

** The Wall is a monument to every human casualty of Kellis-Amberlee, listing their names and their final blog posts, if any. Before [[spoiler:Georgia died in ''Feed'']], [[spoiler:she]] regarded the Wall as an important monument to the truth; considering that people like [[spoiler:Buffy]] and even [[spoiler:Governor Tate]] are commemorated there, regardless of what they did when they were alive. After Shaun, Becks [[spoiler:and Mahir]] escape the Memphis CDC, Shaun calls Alaric to tell Maggie to lock down her home, and realizes that [[spoiler:Dr. Kelly Connolly]]'s death cannot be memorialized on the Wall, as [[spoiler:the world thinks that she's been DeadAllAlong, and that was ''not'' due to Kellis-Amberlee]]. [[spoiler:Georgia - inside Shaun's head -]] comments on this:
--> '''[[spoiler:Imaginary!Georgia]]:''' I guess there's nothing in this world that can't lie to us. [[spoiler:I'm glad I died before I found that out]].

** In ''Blackout'', [[spoiler:Georgia II, to prove herself to Shaun,]] refers to this as the "one thing we never wrote down." [[spoiler:Before Shaun can respond, she kisses him in front of Becks and Mahir.]]

--> '''''Feed''''': "Our story begins where countless stories have ended in the last twenty-six years: with an idiot - in this case my brother Shaun - deciding it would be a good idea to poke a zombie with a stick and see what happens."\\
'''''Deadline''''': "Our story begins where countless stories have ended in the last twenty-seven years: with an idiot - in this case Rebecca "Becks" Atherton, head of the After the End Times Irwins, winner of the Golden Steve-o award for valor in the face of the undead - deciding it would be a good idea to poke a zombie with a stick and see what happens."\\

* CaughtOnTape: Commonplace for the main cast. They generally don't go anywhere without recording devices on them. However, after the events of ''Deadline'', they are forced to stay off the grid, unable to post anything without exposing themselves to the [[spoiler:CDC]].

* CloningBlues: Subject 7c starts out with this, along with some understandable identity crisis issues, but starts to get over them when [[spoiler:she meets the EIS agents and hears of their plan to break her out]].
* CloudCuckooLander: Subverted. Buffy intentionally cultivates the image of the space case ditz, but she's the TechnoWizard of the group, and tends to grab attention so that Shaun and George can stay in the background and pick up details.
** Played straight with The Fox, one of the Brainpan members. On the surface, she acts like a ManicPixieDreamGirl (without the romantic interest part), but she shows herself to be very competent in the field when [[spoiler:their hideout is attacked by the CDC]]. Before she met The Monkey (and when her name was Elaine), she showed manic-depressive traits; afterwards, she's arguably just manic.

** The Brainpan, whose members are The Monkey, The Cat, and The Fox. The Fox's real name is Elaine, and The Cat used to be called Jane. As for the Monkey, according to him, [[SarcasmMode "Mr. Monkey" was his father.]]

** Georgia's true eye color is brown, which no one takes notice of except for Rick, when they wake up in a CDC facility and George is given a pair of transparent UV blockers instead of her usual sunglasses.
*** [[spoiler: In ''Blackout,'' subject 7c's eyes are normal, as the CDC can only reintroduce Georgia Mason's original KA strain, but cannot induce specific reservoir conditions. The closest the CDC gets to replicating the original Georgia Mason's eyes is through surgical alteration, which is done on subject 8b]].

** Maybe not recommended at short ranges, but headshots ensure that the corpses will not reanimate after death.
** In ''Blackout'', headshots take on a different significance after it's revealed how [[spoiler:Georgia II was able to retain the original Georgia Mason's memories with 97% accuracy through neural snapshotting; as long as the zombie's brain is intact, a reanimated person's memories can be captured and transferred onto a clone brain]].
** The Fox intentionally avoids this against a group of CDC soldiers, so that the ones she killed previously would reanimate and distract the survivors.

* BottomlessMagazines: Averted. People run out of ammo, and Shaun is the first to call them out on trying to reload with zombies lurching around.

* BrotherSisterIncest: [[spoiler: Georgia and Shaun had a sexual relationship, revealed]] in ''Deadline''. It's [[spoiler: social incest, not genetic incest as they are not blood relations, and actually went to a geneticist to ''confirm'' they are not.]]

** AliceInWonderland: Becks: "We're all mad here."

* [[TwoLinesNoWaiting Two Lines, No Waiting]]: The entire plot of ''Blackout'', with the sole exception of the epilogue, is told from two different concurrent perspectives. Line A (the odd-numbered chapters) takes the perspective of [[spoiler: Subject 7c (Georgia II)]]. Line B (the even-numbered chapters) follows Shaun with the After the End Times team. [[spoiler:Even after these two plots merge in chapter twnety-three, the first-person perspective continues to alternate between them]].

*** [[spoiler: In ''Blackout,'' subject 7c's eyes are normal, as the CDC can only reintroduce Georgia Mason's original KA strain, but cannot control the development of reservoir conditions. The closest the CDC gets to replicating the original Georgia Mason's eyes is through surgical alteration, which is done on subject 8b]].

--> '''"Feed"''': "Our story begins where countless stories have ended in the last twenty-six years: with an idiot - in this case my brother Shaun - deciding it would be a good idea to poke a zombie with a stick and see what happens."\\
'''"Deadline"''': "Our story begins where countless stories have ended in the last twenty-seven years: with an idiot - in this case Rebecca "Becks" Atherton, head of the After the End Times Irwins, winner of the Golden Steve-o award for valor in the face of the undead - deciding it would be a good idea to poke a zombie with a stick and see what happens."\\
'''"Blackout"''': [[spoiler:"My story ended where so many stories have ended since the Rising: with a man - in this case my adoptive brother and best friend, Shaun]]..."

* CloningBlues: Several cases, given that the person cloned was subject 7c with subjects 8a to 8c still in the bottles.

*** [[spoiler:This scenario is referenced in ''Blackout'', both by Georgia inside Shaun's head, and by Georgia II]].
** In ''Deadline'', Professor Brannon, one of three scientists contacted by After The End Times to do some research for them shoots himself afterwards, but not before giving the results to Mahir.
** In ''Blackout,'' we find out that the Democratic candidate for President did this after her loss. As well as [[spoiler: Dr. Thomas after Georgia II's escape.]]

--> '''Shaun:''' It probably says something about [[spoiler: Dr. Abbey]] that she named her massive black English mastiff after her dead husband and used him for illegal medical experiments. I'm not sure ''what'' it says, exactly.

** [[spoiler: In ''Deadline'', Dave Novakowski, one of the Irwins, is killed this way, in a HeroicSacrifice to allow the rest of the crew to escape the outbreak in Oakland.]]
** [[spoiler: This is also what happens to Dr. Abbey's husband Joe in Canada, an incident which disillusions her to the supposed good intentions of the CDC.]]

*** [[spoiler:This scenario is referenced in ''Blackout'', both by Georgia inside Shaun's head, and by Georgia II.]]

** IfItBleedsItLeads: Justified, because if somebody's bleeding, there's the potential for an outbreak, and that's in the public's interest to mention first.
** IntrepidReporter: Georgia. Dedicated to the truth to the point where when Ryman wanted to send her team home, she ''became offended'' that they'd leave in the middle of the story. Takes on a different meaning in ''Blackout'' when [[spoiler:Georgia II starts a new blog, titled "Living Dead Girl"]].

* NoBisexuals: Subverted. Before Dave, Maggie had also been in love with Buffy. Confirmed in ''Blackout'' when [[spoiler:Maggie describes having taken Buffy to her room in the Agora hotel to celebrate Buffy's hiring at After the End Times]].

** DisappearedDad: Michael Mason unabashedly tries to cadge ratings from his children's successes.

* TheReveal: Relatively minor ones, compared to the rest of the events in the novels. In ''Blackout'', some of the chapter interludes include e-mails sent by someone named Dr. Danika Kimberley. However, she does not appear to be part of the main story [[spoiler:until Dr. Shaw reveals her true identity, first by speaking in her native Welsh accent, then introducing herself to Georgia II as Dr. Kimberley. It turns out "Shaw" was her mother's maiden name.]]
** One of the members of the Brainpan, The Cat, [[spoiler:was actually Alaric's ex-girlfriend, who broke up with him on an online game, in the middle of a raid, no less]].

** ...and Mahir a close third.

--> [[spoiler: Imaginary!Georgia:]] That's not a ''good'' sound.

*** Before Shaun uses a convoluted plot synopsis for a password, Maggie hosts a movie watch-along with this as the main feature.

** The Seattle CDC compound, as well as part of The White House in ''Blackout''.

** In ''Blackout'' [[spoiler: the [=EIS=] made extra sure to remove them from Clone!Georgia]]
*** The Brainpan didn't generally use them, [[spoiler:but one of their own kind of went ahead and bugged Team [=ATET=]]].

* [[TwoLinesNoWaiting Two Lines, No Waiting]]: The entire plot of ''Blackout'', with the sole exception of the epilogue, is told from two different concurrent perspectives. Line A (the odd-numbered chapters) takes the perspective of [[spoiler: Subject 7c (Georgia II)]]. Line B (the even-numbered chapters) follows Shaun with the After the End Times team. [[spoiler:Even after these two plots merge, the first-person perspective continues to alternate between them]].

--> ''''Feed'''': "Our story begins where countless stories have ended in the last twenty-six years: with an idiot - in this case my brother Shaun - deciding it would be a good idea to poke a zombie with a stick and see what happens."\\
''''Deadline'''': "Our story begins where countless stories have ended in the last twenty-seven years: with an idiot - in this case Rebecca "Becks" Atherton, head of the After the End Times Irwins, winner of the Golden Steve-o award for valor in the face of the undead - deciding it would be a good idea to poke a zombie with a stick and see what happens."\\
''''Blackout'''': [[spoiler:"My story ended where so many stories have ended since the Rising: with a man - in this case my adoptive brother and best friend, Shaun]]..."

** In ''Blackout'', [[spoiler; Georgia II]] gains access to the After the End Times website through one of the back doors that Buffy had scattered throughout the Internet, in case a team member needed access but didn't have their equipment.

* GunsAkimbo: Becks in ''Deadline'' early on, though Shaun mentions being a fan of the style later in the book.
* {{Hallucinations}}: As a symptom of the SanitySlippage began at the end of ''Feed'', Shaun Mason suffers very specific ones in ''Deadline'' when his stress level rises: [[spoiler: he goes from ''hearing'' Georgia in his head, to actually ''seeing'' her as if she were standing right there: once in a crisis of confidence after hearing about how George might have survived getting infected, and again when he tries to find Buffy's wireless transmitter in their van]].

** IntrepidReporter: Georgia. Dedicated to the truth to the point where when Ryman wanted to send her team home, she ''became offended'' that they'd leave in the middle of the story.

*** The government clamps down hard on any would-be news reporters or bloggers late in ''Deadline.''

* NightVisionGoggles: Shaun tosses off a quip about these to Steve late in ''Feed''.
* NoBisexuals: Subverted. Before Dave, Maggie had also been in love with Buffy.

*** The rest of his team at The Brainpan: The Cat and The Fox (and The Wolf, departed).

** MissingMom: Stacy Mason. [[spoiler: shot her own biological child in the head when he converted, and then poses for photos at the school he used to go to.]] And if that's not bad enough? 82% of the affection Stacy shows her adopted children is ''only in public for posed shots''.

*** [[spoiler: Georgia getting cloned--a lot-- in ''Blackout.'' The full-memory clone is the one who survives.]]

** In ''Deadline'' running through a darkened series of mazelike hallways, chased by zombies they can hear and barely see by flashlight.

* RaceForYourLove: Referenced by Shaun as he described what pre-Rising airports were like.

* BrotherSisterIncest: [[spoiler: Georgia and Shaun had a sexual relationship, revealed]] in ''Deadline''. It's [[spoiler: social incest, not genetic incest as they are not blood relations, and actually went to a genetecist to ''confirm'' they are not.]]

* BrotherSisterTeam: [[NightOfTheLivingDead George]] and [[ShaunOfTheDead Shaun]]

--> ''Feed'': "Our story begins where countless stories have ended in the last twenty-six years: with an idiot - in this case my brother Shaun - deciding it would be a good idea to poke a zombie with a stick and see what happens.\\
''Deadline'': "Our story begins where countless stories have ended in the last twenty-seven years: with an idiot - in this case Rebecca "Becks" Atherton - deciding it would be a good idea to poke a zombie with a stick and see what happens.\\
''Blackout'': [[spoiler:"My story ended where so many stories have ended since the Rising: with a man - in this case my adoptive brother and best friend, Shaun]]...

* CloningBlues: Several cases, given that the person cloned was subject 7c with subjects 8a and 8b still in the bottles.

** Shaun comments in ''Blackout'' that the villains must be learning it in an Evil Genius 101 course somewhere.

** Averted with [[spoiler:Shaun, who jumps in the way of a KA-loaded dart aimed at President Ryman, demonstrating his immunity to the virus]].

* NeverGotToSayGoodbye: Poor Maggie has this problem a lot. In the first book, [[spoiler: Buffy dies before Maggie can tell her. In the second, Dave died in the bombing of Oakland. Dave admitted his feelings on digital recording right before he died, but Maggie didn't get to tell him how she felt at all. Even in ''Blackout'', she is only informed of Becks's HeroicSacrifice by Mahir]].

** Happens again with Shaun and Becks, Alaric and Maggie, though Shaun admits he hates having to do it.

* NoBisexuals: Subverted. Before Dave, Maggie had also been in love with Buffy.