Mark Reads ‘Feed’: Chapter 12

In the twelfth chapter of Feed, FUCK. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Feed.

Chapter Twelve

I don’t even want to talk about everything aside from that moment, but I’m going to anyway. This is an important chapter regardless, not only because After the End Times gains a new member (HELLO, RICK!), but because it’s crucial to understanding how the political world has changed due to zombies.

Fuck, I am so heartbroken already.

I do gauge my own reactions to Georgia’s. I intrinsically trust her cynicism, so much so that if she trusts Rick, I’m bound to trust him, too. She’s smart about the arrangement she makes with him, especially since at any time, she can simply remove him from the team. At the same time, this quickness with which he is suddenly a part of After the End Times was totally shocking to me. I understand it, though. The world that these bloggers live in is so urgent and immediate, they have to be able to make decisions like this on the go. They don’t have the luxury of waiting days to resolve things. Plus, Buffy’s fiery reaction to Rick’s presence certainly amplified the need to deal with this man as soon as possible.

Georgia’s decision to invite Rick on the team is as much pragmatic as it is brilliant, despite that I’m worried this will backfire because… well, I’ll get to that. Rick is definitely qualified, he brought a stack of news items to the team, and he’ll guarantee them a rating increase fairly immediately. Nothing about that is a bad idea! They all have more help, and given that Ryman’s nomination means After the End Times is going on the road, they’ll need that help. (Side note: If Ryman is so left-leaning as a Republican, what the hell kind of candidate will the Democrats nominate???) In every aspect, hiring Rick was a great idea. Plus, as Georgia points out, he doesn’t appear to have any prejudice towards a woman telling him what to do. I was so happy to see this addressed, especially in the context of transitioning from traditional news to the online world. That’s not to say that women don’t face sexism and misogyny online. But one of the rad things about the online world these days is that historically marginalized people have started to find ways to level the playing field. (Sometimes, that is.) I don’t think Grant is saying that the world SOLVED SEXISM in the future; she’s merely pointing out that the blogging world doesn’t have the same social biases as traditional news media did.

It’s also fascinating to me that presidential conventions are not about confirming a candidate for nomination that everyone already knows is the winner. Here, as Georgia points out, the drama has been injected back into the process. Until it’s announced, no one actually knows who was nominated. That’s a smart choice on the part of Grant, since it makes this REALLY FUCKING EXCITING. It’s nice, too, that the excitement inspires joy on the part of the Rymans. I just like them so much, and I know how meaningful it is when Ryman thanks Georgia for how her team handled the race. I know how awesome it is that Emily invites everyone to the farm to meet her daughters.

It’s also evil. It is so fucking evil.

Buffy’s voice cut me off. It was all business, and so cold I almost didn’t recognize it at first. “Georgia, there’s an outbreak at the farm.”

I froze. “What farm?”

“The Ryman farm. It’s on all the feeds, it’s everywhere. They think one of the horses went into spontaneous conversion. No one knows why, and they’re still digging in the ashes and setting the perimeter. No one knows where the… where the – Oh, God, Georgia, the girls were in there when the alarms went off, and no one knows –”

No. NOPE. NO, WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!?! NOW? NO, this has to be intentional. This has to be planned. Someone had to have timed this attack at the right time to coincide with Ryman’s nomination. There’s no way this is a coincidence.

They looked like the happiest people in the world. People who had never known what a real tragedy was. God help them, they were about to learn.

Nope. Not prepared for this. I can’t deal with how badly this hurts to read. I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO HEARBROKEN SO EARLY INTO A BOOK.

What the FUCK.

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