Brooke

Brooke is a main character in The Fear, The Dead and The Hunted. But she also appears in The Enemy, The Fallen and The End; making her one of the most prominent characters in the series. She also plays a vital role in the entire series as she is the one to warn Blue and Maxie about David lying to them and brought them to the Natural History Museum.

Before the disease

Not much is known about Brooke's life before the disease broke out but it is mentioned that she (along with her best friends; Aleisha and Courtney) was on a school trip to Bilbao, Spain when the disease started and she originally came from London. She also had a close relationship with her mother and thinks about her often during The Dead, it is mentioned that her mother died of cancer several years before the disease.

The Dead

Brooke was one of three girls who are aboard Greg's coach. She seemed to get off to a bad start with Jack, mistaking his birthmark as a scar. However, when Greg turns, like the rest of the kids, she alongside Jack and his friends fled, without Ed and an unconscious Piers, the latter was left behind by Ed after four other adults gained access to the coach and he's eaten.

Brooke makes it to the Imperial War Museum and quickly after being introduced, DogNut, a member of the Museum crew, attempts to flirt with her. He is rejected quickly.

After the fire and the battle at Lambeth Bridge, she makes it to the Natural History Museum with Justin and other kids at the end of The Dead.

The Fear

Brooke first appears in The Fear when DogNut and his group arrives to find her, at first he doesn't recognise her because her blonde hair had faded into her natural brown hair. She agrees to go with DogNut and his group back to The Tower before being attacked by Gym Bunnies at Green Park, resulting in the deaths of DogNut and Courtney. She is rescued by the Holloway Crew and taken to Buckingham Palace, later revealing her to be the girl in the bandages who warns Blue and Maxie about David being a liar and who told them about the Natural History Museum, as described in The Enemy.

The Hunted

In The Hunted, Brooke is first seen running down the steps of the Natural History Museum. She goes up to the passenger seat of the car, which is where Ed is sitting and they talk. While talking, she starts to wind up Ebenezer in the back of the car. It is hinted that Brooke has grown more mature in the past year but Ed still misses the old Brooke. Ed asks Brooke if she is a good enough fighter to go on the trip with them, to which she replies that after DogNut and Courtney died she has been learning from Lewis. After that, she tells him that she isn't the last person to come along, so she takes Ed up to where the Twisted Kids and Wormwood are. This is when Ed finds out that Trinity is also coming along.

When they are on the road, Brooke and Macca are non-stop arguing. Macca then takes one comment to far speaking about her scar to which the whole car goes silent and then everyone starts shouting at Macca for being rude. Macca simply replies with a half-hearted sorry and a laugh to show everyone that he doesn't care. After this, Brooke decides to get her own back and she plays a little game, making Macca believe that she likes him. He then states that the only reason he was rude is because that is how he flirts with girls. While everyone was concentrating on Brookes game no one (except Trinity) saw adults up ahead. Lewis finally realized and they decided to drive through them. When they were driving through them, they got stuck so Kyle jumped out of the car to make a path. After Kyle made a gap Macca grabbed Kyle and managed to pull him back in. After, the group decided to follow the smoke to an old folks home. As they were all getting out the car, Brooke and Macca were talking (still playing Brookes game) and Macca told her there was nothing to worry about as he will protect her. Just as Brooke was about to tell Macca it was all a game a father jumped down from the car roof and landed on Macca biting him in the neck during process. They managed to take Macca into the home and gave him medicine and a bed.

Days later, Brooke had not left Maccas side and she was getting sick of it. Just as she was about to leave him to rest he woke up, confused. He was talking to Brooke as if she was his mum, and he was saying how he didn't want to go to school. After he got back into reality, he told her that his real name was Billy and when he dies he wanted her to write Billy on a little stone. He told her more about himself and after that he went to sleep and never woke up. Devastated, Brooke joined the others and they were about to leave when Mr three woke up and warned them about a whole group of sickos coming there way. They were all getting ready and Trinity told Ed that they wanted to stay behind and that is what they did. Brooke was out last in the car and as she was walking she took of her bandage to shoe the world her scar. During the car ride, she didn't speak much as she was really upset about what happened to Macca.

They managed to drive to a school where they had to wait for hours just to ask if they had seen a girl named Ella. when they were waiting they were talking about what the old people at the home were saying about the disease. Later that day, they were still in the car but Lewis had fallen asleep and Kyle and Ebenezer got out the car. That just left Ed and Brooke. They started talking about what had happened in the past year and that was when they had got to what had happened to DogNut and Courtney at the Green Park. Brooke started getting upset and she was crying so Ed comforted her in his arms. Soon after, the second in command got to the car and told them that they had finished their meeting. Josa (the leader) told them that they had not heard of any of their friends names and they were all disappointed. Josa then told them that they wanted the car and Ed told her that was not going to happen. They got into an argument which lead to Lewis taking a gun and Ed holding Josa by the neck. The group managed to get out safely with the car until they met a group of sickos approaching. They all got out the car and tried to fight. They were not doing good until a girl called Sophie and her Archers rescued them and got them to safety.

A day passed and it was the games. Broke didn't really like the games because they were killing 'innocent' sickos and other children. She was having a hard time watching Ed in the arena until they all saw Ella. They rushed down to get Ella and that is where they realized that Scarface was Malik, an old friend of Ed's back in Rowhurst. After they got Ella they drove back to the old folks home to get Trinity and they then made there way back to the Natural History Museum.

The End

Brooke made a brief appearance in The End. at the end of the book they got back from their trip and helped kill St George/Greg. The last time Brooke was seen, she was talking to Ed about their future and then walking back to the car with all of her friends to reunite Sam and Ella.

Appearance

She had blonde hair in her first known appearance in The Dead but it is revealed her hair was dyed in The Fear and she naturally has brown hair.

She was described by Maxie in The Fallen as being around the same age and height as her.

In The Fear, she was also described as being thin - something Courtney was envious of - and her bones could be visible after she left Buckingham Palace in The Enemy/The Fallen. This is further explained in The Hunted when Macca complains about being sat next to Brooke because she was almost a pile of bones. We see this again from Maxie's point of view in The Sacrifice, Maxie can apparently feel Brooke's ribs through her clothing and fears if she hugged her too tightly she would snap in two.

In the attack by Green Park, she was cut by the Gym Bunnies leader and now wears a scar across her forehead which is covered in swellings and bruises.

Her age is never mentioned throughout the series but in a Twitter post by Charlie Higson, it is revealed that she was fifteen by The End which would make her around thirteen or fourteen during her first appearance in The Dead.

Personality

Brooke is commonly seen as being self-centred and rude, but she does have a softer side. She knows right from wrong, such as when David King shot one of the kids blocking the road, she told Justin to drive on without David or his group. She also has a motherly instinct and takes care of the younger kids at the Natural History Museum.

Relationships

Ed - Ed and Brooke began their relationship rather romantically interested in each other. The two shared a kiss in the back of the Tesco truck. After returning from his short journey which both Bam and Jack died as well as Ed obtaining his scar, Brooke seemed to be rather scared of his scar. As she told DogNut and Courtney when they reunited in The Fear, she had mixed emotions about him. Although when Brooke and Ed are reunited in The Fallen, she kisses him and shows him her scar, she tells him what had happened to DogNut and the others. They just stand there in each other's arms for a long time. During The Hunted, she goes with Ed to find Ella, and they consult each other multiple times. She cries after Macca dies and Ed holds her, after running away from the sickos and meeting up with Sophie's group Ed hugs her. In The End, at the end of the book, they walk away from the battle, hand in hand. It is heavily implied they began a relationship.

Aleshia - Aleshia (along with Courtney) was one of Brooke's best friends long before the sickness came and Brooke had a deep love for her. When she finds out that Aleshia didn't make it in The Fear, she is deeply upset and hugs Courtney tightly.

Courtney - Courtney, Brooke and Aleshia were all best friends for a long time before the sickness. The trio had described themselves as Brooke being the bossy dad, Aleshia being the working mum and Courtney, the moody teenager. When they finally reunite again in The Fear, Brooke is overjoyed to be with Courtney again. However, as Brooke left the Natural History Museum with DogNut's group as they head out back to the Tower, Courtney was killed and DogNut. Brooke seemed to have sunk into deep depression which is explained in her thoughts.

DogNut - At first, Brooke and DogNut's relationship started out as DogNut having a crush on Brooke and her rejecting him, but they later became somewhat friends. It isn't until DogNut is dying in her arms in The Fear when Brooke realises how much she actually loves him and later admits that they could've been more than friends.

Macca - Macca and Brooke's relationship started out as the pair mostly bickering and calling each other names during The Hunted. As a joke, Brooke proclaims she has a crush on him, which stops him from calling her names. After Macca was attacked by a sicko, Brooke never left his side and was deeply affected by his death, unable to properly tell Ed that Macca had died.

Achilleus - The relationship between Achilleus and Brooke began with the pair mostly making sarcastic remarks towards one another but they eventually find a mutual understanding between them about the loss they've both experienced and their battle scars.

Maxie - Maxie and Brooke's relationship starts as just two people talking but grows into a really good friendship with them helping each other out and Brooke giving Maxie a Katana. They have a really good friendship and can trust each other.