Malik Hussein

Malik Hussein is a minor character in The Dead and a major character in The Hunted and ''The End. ''He is one of the three characters to be bitten by sickos and live.

Background
Before the outbreak began, Malik was attending the all boys boarding school, Rowhurst, located in Kent, England. He was a practising Muslim, although not overly religious. He had three sisters, named Ameena, Nadia and Zahra. His house was located in Slough. In The Dead, it is mentioned Malik had a girlfriend that his parents didn't know about but she dumped him for an older boy who had his own car.

In The Books
During The Dead, Malik is first encountered in the church where Mad Matt has lead a group of Rowhurst boys. He is pulled out of the church after falling unconscious from carbon monoxide inhalation. Ed and Jack rescue him. He admits that he didn't believe very much in what Matt was saying but had religious beliefs and decided going to the church was as good a choice as any. He walks along with Ed and joins him on his way towards the countryside. He is attacked at The Fez and dragged to the side into a building. He is presumed dead.

During the last chapter of The Fallen, Malik saves Ella from the sickos at the Monkey Island Hotel. He tries to save Monkey Boy but he is too late and Monkey Boy bleeds out and dies. Ella mistakes him for another sicko as he is missing an ear, a few fingers, has a ripped-up nose, a blinded eye and mutilated skin from being repeatedly bitten by sickos. Ella refers to him as Scarface.

Half of The Hunted takes place from Malik and Ella's points of view. Malik saves Ella and brings her back to his farmhouse somewhere between Windsor castle and the Bracknell camp. Malik begins to show Ella how he lives, hunting down sickos with his knives and trapping animals for food. He barely talks and Ella is partially convinced that he is a sicko himself. They visit Lego Land at one point and fight some adults. Ella still wishes she could live with other kids however and it is during one of her sightings of other kids that they see the Medusa army of sickos coming to join St. George's forces. As they run, they are joined by the group of kids Ella saw. The group includes Harry, Daniel, Sonya, Louisa and Isaac from Bracknell. Malik lets them onto his farm, showing them the way past the traps, despite not trusting them. The kids hide out in the barn as Malik refuses to let anyone see inside the house. The kids get suspicious and treat Malik as subhuman because of his mangled body, even just calling him "The Predator." As the sun sets the kids become more scared. The moon rises and turns red and then the Medusa's forces are upon them. The kids fight them off from getting inside the barn until Daniel tries to run. After a moment, his head is tossed back inside. The petrol in the ground outside gets set on fire at one point. Before the sickos all break inside the barn, Malik shoves Ella inside of a port-o-potty and then the remaining kids start to fight. Ella gets out of the portable toilet the next morning to find that Malik is unconscious after Louisa and Sonya hit him over the head for the keys to the chicken coop. Harry has had his legs bitten off and dies after talking to Ella. Malik has Ella help him gather their things and leave the farm. Ella discovers that Malik had been chopping off sicko heads and collecting them. They see Isaac on the road as they leave and then go to a hiding spot underground. Malik then tells Ella his story.

Malik didn't die during the Fez attack. He was saved by a group of kids in Brockridge Park lead by a boy called Rav. The brought him to the doorstep of Dr. Chris Catell where he was treated for his wounds. As the doctor and his nurses start to go insane from the disease, Malik and a girl named Abby who was also from Brockridge Park try to escape. Malik ends up killing a boy named Tommy who the doctor was keeping on life support so he could eat him. Malik and Abby get back to Abby's camp and Malik gains some new friends. however there isn't enough food in the camp and Malik is kicked out along with Andy, Susannah and Henry, a couple other disabled kids. Malik and his friends survive for a while after stealing a car but eventually Susannah dies in a gas station explosion. They travel to Slough in search of Malik's house but only find his three sisters, Nadia, Zahra and Ameena, dead in their beds. Andy gets hurt and dies of blood poisoning, Malik gets sick as well, and Henry runs away. Malik goes crawling for help to the Slough kids in Arbour Vale. He gets abused there by the leader Tyler Keene and his girlfriend Josa. Tyler essentially makes Malik his dog. Malik eventually escapes and Tyler is killed by Golden Girl over a dispute about food. He goes south and gets caught in a trap. The trap belongs to a group of unsick men that are surviving on the farm Malik will later bring Ella to. He learns to hunt, make traps, fish and survive on his own. Eventually the men start to get sick. First Mike gets sick and attacks Roy. Tomasz shoots him. Then Brian, Tomasz, Waggers, and Roy Peachy all get sick, leaving Malik the only one left to shoot them. Starting with Roy, Malik begins collecting heads.

Ella accepts Malik's story and doesn't want to return to the other kids in west London. However Malik thinks it would be good for her and tries bringing her to a camp. They are caught up by kids hunting for adults and get separated when they mistake Malik for a sicko. Malik gets sold to Maidenhead for the Ascot races while Ella stays in Windsor. During the Ascot races Malik fights against the kids and steals a horse. He shouts that he is just a kid after defeating everyone. Ed suddenly recognises him and the two are reunited. Malik travels with everyone back to Hyde Park and fights in the last battle in ''The End. ''It can be assumed that he lives with either Ed at the Tower of London or with Ella and Small Sam in the Natural History Museum.