Deuce must learn to trust her own instincts to survive in a "zombie" infested underground world where people barely live to their teenage years. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic underground world that is ravaged by "Freaks" which are similar to zombies that devour flesh. Deuce is a young girl that has reached an age where the can choose to be a Hunter and roam the tunnels of her underground world to scavenge for food and observe the movements of the Freaks.
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On one of her first runs, she is paired with a rebellious boy named Fade. Their mission is to find out why there are so many Freaks appearing near their enclave lately. On their run, they discover a little boy inside a bus. He demands to be shown to their elders. The boy is injured by Fade hauls him over his back. As they leave, they are assaulted by starving Freaks. After they eliminate the Freaks, the little boy reveals that his enclave is overrun by Freaks.
The elders command Deuce and Fade to investigate why the Freaks don't seem to be afraid of the human Enclaves anymore which basically entails that they do a long recon mission to the little boy's old Enclave. Deuce and Fade find themselves having to run the entire way to the other Enclave as all the tunnels and paths they use are full of Freaks. They discover artifacts from the past along the way. They return to the Enclave with the unsurprising news that there are no survivors from the other Enclave.
Deuce becomes more unsettled at the way the Elders run the Enclave - almost cruelly punishing those who disobey them. One of Deuce's friends is accused of hoarding and thievery and Deuce sacrifices her safety in the Enclave by helping her friend. She and Fade plan to find their way to Topside which is the world above their underground tunnels, the world few of them have ever seen. Fade and Deuce find the Burrowers, a more gentle group of people who live in the underground. The Burrowers help the two find an opening to Topside.
Fade reveals that he was actually born on Topside and was chased to the underground by the gangs that rule Topside. Fade explains that the gangs are dangerous and "ugly", that they relentlessly recruit young men to join them and force young women to become "breeders". It's not long before the two are discovered by some gang members which Fade and Deuce kill. More gang members swarm them and they are taken prisoners.
The gang leader wants to hunt Fade in a bloodthirsty game. Deuce and another young women set themselves free and reunite with Fade when he is released for the hunting game. The three escape to where Fade grew up where he reunites with a young girl from his past who shelters them for a night. Because Fade rejects taking the girl as his lover, they leave her hideout. The gang leader finds the girl and threatens to kill the girl if they don't come out of hiding. Suddenly a massive group of Freaks attacks and everyone is distracted trying to cull the monstrosities. The Topside gang members have never seen Freaks before. After eliminating all the Freaks, the leader of the gang wants to join Fade and Deuce because he sees their superior skill at fending those things off.
Eventually, the group will find a settlement that is well fortified and contains adults, a group of people that noone has seen before.
Best part of story, including ending:
I like this story because it is an interesting dystopian which involves zombie-like creatures.
Best scene in story:
I like how Deuce and Fade have to run for hours without stop during their recon missions.
Opinion about the main character:
I like the main character's fighting spirit and how she knew who she was - a Huntress.
