The Forest of Hands and Teeth (36 page)

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Authors: Carrie Ryan

Tags: #Science Fiction, #Horror stories, #Death & Dying, #Juvenile Fiction, #Fantasy, #General, #Orphans, #Horror tales, #zombies, #Love & Romance, #Social Issues, #Horror & Ghost Stories, #Fiction, #Fantasy & Magic, #Girls & Women

BOOK: The Forest of Hands and Teeth

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“Do you mind if I ask where you came from?” he says as we watch the waves crash on the shore.

“From the Forest,” I say. “The Forest of Hands and Teeth.”

He looks at me out of the corner of his eye. “I've always wondered if there were folks in there,” he says. “Though I've never heard it called by that name. Apt, though, I guess.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“I mean, I grew up here. On the edge of that forest. And everyone always says there ain't nothin' but Mudo past that river, beyond the fences. That's why they took out all those fenced paths that led from the forest to the town when my grandpa was a child. Too many kids thought the path led somewhere special and got into trouble. The bridge is still there, over the top of the falls, but there's a gate at the end and nothing beyond.”

I think of our gate, of how the rain masked the sound of the waterfall until we were right up on it. Of how dark the night was, how impossible it was to see past your own body. How we were so focused on the Unconsecrated and escape. I shudder to think that we were that close. That there had once been a path but that we had fallen off track in the slippery darkness.

“Folks don't like to talk about those things,” he says. He holds a hand over his eyes as he looks out over the water, surveying the world around us.

“Maybe they're right,” I tell him. I think about Cass and Harry and Jacob and how there must be a way to rescue them from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. I think about Argos and the way he dreamed of happier times, feet twitching and tail thumping in the morning, one ear flopped up. I think about Jed and the way he smiled at me the night before. The way his eyes shone as he talked about the possibility of life and a future.

And then I remember Travis pulling me against him and telling me about hope. His voice in my mind is soft, just out of reach like a spent echo. I wonder if these memories are worth holding on to. Are worth the burden. I wonder what purpose they serve.

Already the ocean is washing around the Unconsecrated on the beach, pulling them back into the water, reclaiming them. For a while I stand and watch, until the beach is clear and the man takes my hand and leads me to the lighthouse.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many people say that writing is an isolating profession. I have been phenomenally lucky to have found wonderful support and friends through the process of writing, and I am grateful to everyone who has cheered me on, offered advice and listened to my meanderings.

I owe a very special thanks to my agent, the thoughtful and hilarious Jim McCarthy, for taking a chance on me and pulling
The Forest of Hands and Teeth
from the slush pile. Also to my genius editor, Krista Marino, whose enthusiasm and dedication are astounding. Many thanks to the fantastic team at Delacorte Press, who work tirelessly to make sure every detail is correct; to Vikki Sheatsley and Jonathan Barkat for their vision, and to Beverly Horowitz, Orly Henry, and Colleen Fellingham for all of their time spent with Mary.

Diana Peterfreund and Erica Ridley offered wonderful critiques, enthusiasm and motivation. The Davis family understood when my head was in the clouds, and Jason Davis and JP offered their wealth of biological and parasitological expertise to help me fine-tune the world of the book.

I am very proud of and honored by the support of my family. More thanks than I can express to my mother, Bobby Kidd, who always believed she'd be able to buy my book in a bookstore one day; to my father, Tony Ryan, who has always indulged me in long talks about world-building; and to my sisters, Jenny Sell and Chris Warnick, who have always been my biggest fans in whatever path I have chosen. Thank you and I love you!

Finally, to John Parke Davis, for somehow talking me into going to that first zombie movie, for holding my hand and warning me about the scary parts so that I could make it through and for spending countless hours afterward debating how to survive the zombie apocalypse. And above all, for telling me to write what I love, even if that meant writing about zombies. Without you, this book would not exist.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, Carrie Ryan is a graduate of Williams College and Duke University School of Law. She lives with her writer/lawyer fiancé, two fat cats and one dumb puppy in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are not at all prepared for the zombie apocalypse. To learn more, please visit Carrie at
www.carrieryan.com
.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the
product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Delacorte Press and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

www.randomhouse.com/teens
Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools,
visit us at
www.randomhouse.com/teachers

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ryan, Carrie.
  The Forest of Hands and Teeth / Carrie Ryan. — 1
^sted.
    p. cm.
  Summary: Through twists and turns of fate, orphaned Mary seeks knowledge of
life, love, and especially what lies beyond her walled village and the surrounding
forest, where dwell the Unconsecrated, aggressive flesh-eating people who were
once dead.

eISBN: 978-0-375-89197-7

[1. Horror stories. 2. Fantasy] I. Title.
PZ7.R9478For 2009 [Fic]—dc22 2008006494

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