"We'll be all right. Something'll happen, someone will come. Something's gonna change."
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Sickos is one of the names for grown-ups that have become infected with the disease since the events of The Dead.
All of the sickos in London were killed in the final battle of The End, save for Wormwood, who was cured of the disease by a cure synthesized from Small Sam's blood.
History
The earliest known instance of a sicko is the Inmathger, a tribe in the Amazon that presumably built a natural immunity to a disease of unknown origin. In 1992, a group of researchers from Promithios Biomedical encountered the tribe, and became infected with the disease, and took it back to the mainland where it infected the rest of the human population. After it had infected the population, the disease went dormant for fourteen years.
In 2009, the disease reawakened and began the process of fully infecting the adults.[1] While many adults died before it could fully take hold, even more adults were ravaged by the disease's effects -- becoming crazed monsters with a thirst for the blood of children. Within a month of the initial outbreak, nearly every adult on the planet was dead from the disease or had turned into a sicko.
Appearance
Before the disease begins to take hold, sickos appear identical to a healthy adult. After having both their minds and bodies ravaged by the disease, the sickos become horrifying creatures covered in boils, blood, mould, mucus and pus. Due to their altered mental state, they often have injuries that they do not seem to be aware of -- for example, "Pez", a sicko in The Dead, had one of his cheeks ripped off and his jaw hanging open, and he did not seem to realize it.
How badly the disease affects a sicko's appearance appears to depend on their age and health. The elderly sickos can barely move and shuffle along the streets at night, whereas teenagers show no physical changes and only gained the lust for children's blood.
When a sicko enters the sunlight or their body becomes unable to handle the disease, they appear to literally burst open. Their skin splits open and becomes blackened and shriveled, and the boils overtake their body. These sickos have been called "bursters", as the boils on their body burst upon contact with sunlight.[2]
Behavior
Most sickos are not intelligent, as the disease has left them with basic survival instincts. Despite having become crazed, child-munching animals, the sickos have retained some of their human characteristics. They are often strong, fast or smart, but this is typically coupled with slowness, stupidity, or weakness, which makes them less dangerous to kids in small numbers. Though finding intelligence in a sicko is rare, they can become very dangerous when they possess it -- for example, a sicko in The Fear was able to wield a knife. The main prominent sicko of the series, Saint George, is intelligent enough to lead the sickos in organized attacks.
Justin had summed up that the sickos somehow needed something that is born along with children at least fourteen years old to fight the disease and live, as they had something that prevents them from getting the disease in their genes. As Justin said, "the longer they live the more the children they eat, and the more children they eat the longer they live." It should be noted that while the parasite would rather keep the children stay alive to be its next host, but the infected crave the blood of children as it brings them temporary relief from the disease. Wormwood stated that "good blood will force out bad", which foreshadowed Small Sam's blood being used to synthesize a cure for the disease.
Somehow, the sicko's disease appears to accelerate when exposed to sunlight. They grow boils at a faster rate and their skin and muscles rupture in the sunlight, so they move mainly at night. The sickos seem to mix the parasites memories with their own, like Saint George and Wormwood, making them believe that they were "fallen stars" and "walked out from the jungle and became a man".
Abilities
The sickos are often strong, fast or smart, but this is typically coupled with slowness, stupidity, or weakness. Though finding intelligence in a sicko is rare, they can become very dangerous when they possess it -- for example, a sicko in The Fear was able to wield a knife. The main sicko of the series, Saint George, is intelligent enough to lead the sickos in organized attacks.
Unique Abilities
- Shared Telepathy: Some sickos host stronger parasites and can draw crowds of other sickos together with a hive mind. In The Sacrifice, it becomes clear that people with the disease can communicate via telepathy or ultrasound. In the book, the girls hear a high-pitched whining sound being emitted by sickos.[3] In The End, another louder sound is emitted by Paul while communicating with other sickos, and Fish-Face says that she and her father nearly share a mind and can read each other's thoughts.
Terminology for Infected Adults
— The coach kids deciding upon the word "sicko" to describe diseased grown-ups; The Dead (2010) |
Generic terms
Term | Meaning and origin | First used in |
---|---|---|
Bastards | Used by Ryan Aherne's gang of hunters. | The Fear (2011) |
Brothers and sisters | Used by Wormwood when referring to other sickos. | TBA |
Crazies | Used by some kids from Brixton. | The Dead (2010) [4] |
Grown-ups | Direct reference to the sickos being adults. | The Enemy (2009) [5] |
Mothers and fathers | Universal term in reference to the sickos being the parents of the uninfected children, with "father" in reference to men and "mother" in reference to women. Originally coined by the Scared Kid. | The Enemy (2009) [6] |
Nephilim / Neph' | Originally coined by Matt Palmer, after the nephilim race from the Bible. Used by the St Paul's Cathedral kids. | The Sacrifice (2012) [7] |
Oppoes | Short for "opponents". Used by the Houses of Parliament kids. | TBA |
Sickos | Originally coined by Greg Thorne, the term came about from a desire to not refer to the infected as "zombies". Used by the Tower of London kids, Natural History Museum kids, and eventually all kids in central London. | The Dead (2010) [8] |
Strangers | A reference to "stranger danger", Used by the Buckingham Palace kids. | The Enemy (2009) [9] |
Zombies | Used by many groups, notably the IKEA kids. | The Enemy (2009) |
List of Known Sickos
Notable sickos
Name | Character notes | First appearance |
---|---|---|
Greg Thorne | Saint George | One of the most intelligent of the sickos and one of the last adults to be infected with the disease. Originally a renowned butcher from Islington, Thorne fought the disease by consuming the flesh of a child he had killed at his barn. In The Dead, he drove a large bus of children until the disease finally took hold of him. After succumbing, he donned a Saint George t-shirt and dubbed himself "Saint George". He is far more intelligent than most infected adults, even to the extent of being able to remember some words and recall some memories.
Saint George is the overarching antagonist of the series, amassing a large army of sickos with the purpose of hunting down and devouring all the children. He killed in the climax of The End, where he is decapitated by Ed Carter. |
|
Mark Wormold | Wormwood | A ex-scientist and one of the first humans to be infected by the disease. He can still speak and was held captive by the group lead by Mad Matt. Among his weird ramblings it is revealed that he knows something about the cause and history of the disease, and was probably a scientist studying it when it occurred. He mentions having three sons and a daughter who, was later revealed to be Fish-Face. | The Sacrifice (2012) [10] |
Saint George's army
Name | Character notes | First appearance |
---|---|---|
Bluetooth | A father who wears a Bluetooth earpiece, and one of Saint George's lieutenants. He seems more intelligent than most sickos, though he is not on the level of Saint George. He is decapitated by a wounded Shadowman. | The Fear (2011) |
Man U | A father wearing a Manchester University shirt, and one of Saint George's lieutenants. He seems more intelligent than most sickos, though he is not on the level of Saint George. In The End, he wields two metal rods and leads a group of sickos to attack the museum where they kill several children, including Paddy, Zohra, Froggie, and Whitney, whom he kills personally by throwing a metal rod through her back. He is killed by Small Sam. | The Fear (2011) |
One-Armed Bandit | A shirtless father with a missing arm, and one of Saint George's lieutenants. He uses a rock as a weapon and seems more intelligent than most sickos, though he is not on the level of Saint George. He and a group of sickos find Shadowman's hiding place and attack him, but they are all killed by Shadowman. | The Fear (2011) |
Sentinels | Pointers | Sickos who stand still in a chain and communicate regionally for the army. | TBA |
Spike | A father, and one of Saint George's lieutenants. He seems more intelligent than most sickos, though he is not on the level of Saint George. Originally dubbed "Mr. Ordinary" by Shadowman, as the latter couldn't find a nickname for him, he was later renamed "Spike" after Shadowman shot him with a bolt when he was angry over the death of Tom and Kate. In The End, he wields two machetes and leads a group of sickos in Hyde Park, and is killed by Maxie. | The Fear (2011) |
Stickboy | A male sicko from of Bluetooth's gang, which contains the weakest sickos. He walks with a stick, hence his name. He is knocked over by the injured Shadowman, who severs Stickboy's fingers and manages to take his stick to help him walk. | The Sacrifice (2012) |
Stumpy | A sentinel seen by Shadowman. He has only one hand, and flies buzz around the stump of the severed one, hence his nickname. | The Sacrifice (2012) |
Other sickos
Name | Character notes | First appearance |
---|---|---|
Animal Man | A sicko with cats and other animals tied to his belt. He breaks into the church and kills the expedition kids. Later, he attacks Ollie and helps him find Lettis's book. | TBA |
Cheryl Cole | One of three sickos locked up in the Tesco truck by the Natural History Museum Kids. She is described as having little hair and growths around her head. She is named after X-Factor judge Cheryl Cole. | TBA |
Chris Catell | A doctor that took in injured kids, including Tommy, Malik and Abby. He later turned into a sicko and started to eat Tommy alive while keeping him on life support. | The Hunted (2014) [11] |
Frédérique Morel | A sixteen year-old French immigrant and the daughter of the French teacher at Rowhurst. She is found by Jack and Ed, who recognise her as Monseigneur Morel's daughter, and she joins them on their way to the Imperial War Museum. Halfway through The Dead, Frédérique became infected and was expelled from the group. She later reappeared at the Battle of Lambeth Bridge and bites Aleisha -- though immediately after this, she regains control of herself long enough to let Ed shoot and kill her. | The Dead (2010) [8] |
Janey | One of two nurses assisting Dr. Chris Catell in The Hunted. She was the second to turn into a sicko and was dealt with by the doctor. Janey in particular was very whiney and cried a lot. | The Hunted (2014) [11] |
Louis Corpse | One of three sickos locked up in the Tesco truck by the Natural History Museum Kids. He is named after X-Factor judge Louis Corpse. | TBA |
Mel | One of two nurses assisting Dr. Chris Catell in The Hunted. She was the first to turn into a sicko and was dealt with by the doctor. | The Hunted (2014) [11] |
Ms. Jessop | A science teacher at Rowhurst. She died in the early weeks of the disease, and the boils on her body began to pop until there was nothing left of her except a black mess. A dog attempted to eat her remains, but became poisoned and died. | The Dead (2010) [8] |
Ms. Warlock | An English teacher at Rowhurst. She pursues the boys and Frederique when they go to the church. She remains outside while Mr. Langston tries to open the gate. Bam leaps over the wall and knocks her over, and kills her immediately afterward. | The Dead (2010) [8] |
Monsieur Morel | A French teacher at Rowhurst, and Frédérique's father. He leads the infected teachers to attack the boys, and captures one of them. Jack kills him by hitting him with a plank of wood with nails sticking out, driving the nails into his skull. Frédérique is never told exactly what happened to him, but she is told that he is dead. | The Dead (2010) [8] |
Mr. Hewitt | An English teacher at Rowhurst who tried to help the boys in the early stages of the outbreak until he came down with the sickness. In the beginning of The Dead, he tries to eat Jack and Ed, but slices open his stomach crawling through a window, and they escape. The boys later find his head while escaping the school and throw it in a trash can. | The Dead (2010) [12] |
Mr. Langston | An elderly history teacher at Rowhurst. He pursues the boys and Frédérique to the church, and was killed by Jack with a piece of rebar as he tried to get the gate open. | The Dead (2010) [8] |
Marquess of Tavistock | One of the seven royals held by David King after he took over Buckingham Palace. Before the outbreak, he was "something of a party animal". He was shot in the head one of the Buckingham Palace kids. | The Enemy (2009) [13] |
Mother with Sunglasses | An intelligent mother who led the Gym Bunnies, a particularly tough group of sickos that slowly become immune to the sun. She wore dark sunglasses and wielded a knife she took off Marco. | The Dead (2010) [8] |
Narrator Sicko | An adult man of either British or Australian ethnicity who is featured in the live-action trailers for the first four books. He does not appear in any of the books, and the canonicity of his presence is debatable. | The Enemy book trailer (2009) [14] |
Nick | A very tall adult who lived in a train at Bark train station with his wife Rachel. Nick and his wife were able to negate the effects of the disease for an entire year, longer than any known adults, by keeping children like farm animals. | The Enemy (2009) [15] |
Pez | A sicko who lost his bottom jaw in a way that he looks like a Pez dispenser. In the Battle of Lambeth Bridge, he is killed by Kyle when he attempts to bite Ed. | The Dead (2010) [8] |
Rachel | The wife of Nick. Rachel and her husband were able to negate the effects of the disease for an entire year, longer than any other known adults, by keeping children like farm animals. She is described as plump, but is considered very dangerous like her husband. | The Enemy (2009) [15] |
Seamus | An intelligent sick who has the ability to speak, wears an eye patch and does not appear to be diseased. He and three other men were locked in a cage at Promithios. | TBA |
Simon Foul | One of three sickos locked up in the Tesco truck by the Natural History Museum Kids, only described as having a liking to bite. He is named after X-Factor judge Louis Corpse. | TBA |
The Collector | A very fat father with a beard that believes children are "toys" and collects them regularly, tortures them, and eats them. He is intelligent and capable of speech, though he can only say one or two words at a time. He spends his days sleeping in an apartment basement, having knocked out the walls separating his apartment from neighboring apartments, and goes out at night, collecting anything he deems interesting. He is encountered by DogNut's crew after they leave Buckingham Palace, and eats Olivia's body after she commits suicide. The group later returns with some kids from the museum, as well as Ryan's hunters, and kills him. | The Fear (2011) [16] |
The Royal Family | A group of nine royals, ages sixteen to sixty. While none of them were "big name" royals, they were still important enough to be considered part of the Royal Family. They were found by David King's group, and were held captive in the throne room of Buckingham Palace. By the end of The Enemy, six of the original discovered nine were dead. | The Enemy (2009) [13] |
The Medusa | A tall female sicko who leads an army from the countryside to London to join up with Saint George. She has the ability to paralyse children when she looks at them or lure them closer into her herd. Her army nearly kills Ed's group in The Hunted. In The End, they arrive in London on the night of the red moon, and kill Zulficker and Yo-Yo. In the final battle, she is killed by Shadowman. | The Hunted (2014) |
Threesome | Three sickos that work together. They have two arms in total and prop up the centre body which bites people to death. They attack the church along with the Animal Man, but they were the first to notice kids in the area. | TBA |
Sightings
The Enemy | |||
1. The Enemy: | Appears | 5. The Sacrifice: | Appears |
2. The Dead: | Appears | 6. The Fallen: | Appears |
3. The Fear: | Appears | 7. The Hunted: | Appears |
4. Geeks vs. Zombies: | Appears | 8. The End: | Appears |
Trivia
- In the American release of the series, only children sixteen and over were infected with the disease.
- The sickos were prominently featured in two live-action commercials for The Enemy and The Sacrifice, both of which are available to view on YouTube.
- The trailer for The Enemy, released by Penguin Books Australia, was released a month before the release of the book. It features an adult man presenting the viewer with the events that happen in the book while he slowly turns into a sicko. By the end of the trailer, the man has completely turned and attacks the camera.[14]
- The trailer for The Sacrifice, released by the Waterstones YouTube channel in 2012, depicts many more sickos than its predecessor. While it still includes the narrator sicko from the previous trailer, it also shows many others sickos as it depicts events that happen in the actual book -- including a live-action version of Saint George and his lieutenants.[17]
Gallery
Commercials
The Enemy (Penguin Books Australia commercial)
The Sacrifice (Waterstones commercial)
V - E - H List of sickos in The Enemy | |
---|---|
The Fear | Bluetooth • Man U • One-Armed Bandit • Saint George • Spike • Stickboy • Stumpy • The Medusa |
Gym Bunnies | Mother with Sunglasses |
Unaligned sickos | Animal Man • Brian • Cheryl Cole • Chris Catell • Frédérique Morel • Janey • Louis Corpse • Mel • Mike • Monsieur Morel • Mr. Hewitt • Mr. Langston • Mr. Lewis • Madame Morel • Ms. Jessop • Ms. Warlock • Nick • Paul MacLaren • Pez • Rachel • Roy Peachy • Seamus • Simon Foul • Tomasz • The Collector • Threesome • Waggers • Wormwood |
Notes and References
- ↑ The Dead, Prologue (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
- ↑ The Enemy, Chapter 2 (Charlie Higson; 3 September 2009)
- ↑ The Sacrifice (Charlie Higson; 20 September 2012)
- ↑ The Dead, Chapter 66 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
- ↑ The Enemy, Chapter 1 (Charlie Higson; 3 September 2009)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Enemy (Charlie Higson; 3 September 2009)
- ↑ The Sacrifice (Charlie Higson; 20 September 2012)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 The Dead (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
- ↑ The Enemy, Chapter 9 (Charlie Higson; 3 September 2009)
- ↑ The Sacrifice, Prologue (Charlie Higson; 20 September 2012)
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 The Hunted, Chapter 19 (Charlie Higson; 4 September 2014)
- ↑ The Dead, Chapter 1 (Charlie Higson; 16 September 2010)
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 The Enemy, Chapter 38 (Charlie Higson; 3 September 2009)
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Penguin Books Australia. "Charlie Higson The Enemy Trailer". YouTube, Penguin Books Australia; 21 July 2009.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 The Enemy, Chapter 29 (Charlie Higson; 2 September 2009)
- ↑ The Fear, Prologue (Charlie Higson; 15 September 2011)
- ↑ Waterstones. "The Sacrifice by Charlie Higson." YouTube, Waterstones; 11 September 2012.