Mark Reads ‘Deadline’: Chapter 22 |

In the twenty-second chapter of Deadline, there is no way this book is real. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Deadline.

Chapter Twenty-Two

God, Mira Grant is so good at suspense.

Truthfully, there isn’t much that happens in chapter twenty-two, but that’s precisely why it’s such an unsettling experience. The vast nothingness here is what makes everything feel wrong. If anything, I spent most of this chapter expecting a tank or a helicopter to come swooping in, blasting the tiny van off the road. Why wouldn’t the CDC come after the team? It didn’t make sense. Before, they were willing to sabotage an election, wipe an entire city off the map, sacrifice their own scientistsâ€¦ well, you get the idea. Taking out three journalists in a van? That sounds like child’s play.

SO WHY WEREN’T THEY? Where was everyone? How could entire cities just up and disappear? Was this suddenly going to turn in an episode of The X-Files? WERE THEY ABDUCTED WHERE ARE MULDER AND SCULLY.

The only possible theory I had in the back of my mind was that somehow, the van’s location was being broadcasted on live television andâ€¦ that’s about as far as my theory got. What could the news/CDC say that would make people hide? IT MADE NO SENSE. On top of that, NO SIGNALS OF ANY SORT ANYWHERE? A universal jam? That lent more credence to the idea that there was some sort of ~conspiracy~ being acted out on the team, but it still didn’t fit entirely.

Once they got to Maggie’s house (WHICH WAS A SHOCK IN AND OF ITSELF), this became downright comical in its agony. There are security guards everywhere, there’s a confirmation that Maggie isn’t dead, and Grant takes great delight in prolonging that gut-wrenching, horrifying ending.Â IT MADE NO SENSE.

Even when the got right in front of Maggie, she slapped Shaun, scolding him for not calling. WHAT THE FUCK, YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME. Have we slipped into a parallel dimension? Is that what’s going on? IT IS THE ONLY POSSIBLE EXPLANATION.

Except it is not. I think the third video of me reading this chapter pretty much sums up my reaction to the end of chapter twenty-two: HOW CAN YOU DO THIS? These characters have been worried about what they’ve done in Memphis and how they might have royally fucked up everything, and then THE SECOND RISING COMES AND WIPES IT ALL AWAY. Hell, I don’t actually know if that’s true; could the world still care about what the CDC did? Are the CDC still interested in After the End Times or will they be distracted by the end of the world?

Of course, I have a ton of questions. How? How??? Did the storm make the live version of Kellis-Amberlee airborne, too? HOW COULD THINGS SPREAD SO FAST? We’re talking about the Second Rising happening in a matter ofâ€¦ what? 48 hours? God, what does this mean for everyone?

I’m so overwhelmed by this, y’all. It’s like Deadline has morphed into a completely different book. It’s all been reset. Where the hell do we go from here?

Vixy, you’re evil. Thanks for making me suffer on video!

Part 1