After GGB, animals could no longer be eaten because they’d been infected by a virus that was fatal to humans. The mass hysteria, the suicides, the fear. He remembers when they announced the existence of GGB. Cannibalism, another word that could cause him major problems.

They’ve all normalized cannibalism, he thinks. Change, transformation, shift: synonyms that appear to mean the same thing, though the choice of one over the other speaks to a distinct view of the world. One word to sum up and classify the unfathomable. Many people have normalized what the media insist on calling the “Transition.” But he hasn’t because he knows that transition is a word that doesn’t convey how quick and ruthless the process was. But the memories are there, they remain with him. See everything, understand, and not talk.

Act automatically, observe, breathe, and nothing more. He wishes he could anesthetize himself and live without feeling anything. Now that he’s the boss’s right-hand man, he has to monitor and train the new employees. True, the screams of a pig being skinned could petrify you, but hearing protectors were used and eventually it became just one more sound. It was a trade he’d learned at the Cypress, the meat processing plant he’d inherited from his father. He stands there smoking and breathes the still night air. He opens the window the heat is suffocating. There are words that are convenient, hygienic. His brain warns him that there are words that cover up the world. He goes to the refrigerator and pours himself cold water. While he removes his soaked shirt, he tries to clear the persistent idea that this is what they are: humans bred as animals for consumption. Assassinate him, would be the correct term, but it can’t be used. They could arrest him for it, even send him to the Municipal Slaughterhouse and process him. He doesn’t call them that when he has to explain the meat cycle to a new employee. No one calls them that, he thinks, as he lights a cigarette. When he wakes, his body is covered in a film of sweat because he knows that what awaits is another day of slaughtering humans. They burst in on the night, catch him off guard. They’re the blood, the dense smell, the automation, the absence of thought. These words appear in his head and strike him. …and its expression was so human that it filled me with horror…Ĭarcass. You will continue to receive exclusive offers in your inbox. Click below to sign up and see terms and conditions.Īlready a subscriber? Provide your email again so we can register this ebook and send you more of what you like to read. Plus, get updates on new releases, deals, recommended reads, and more from Simon & Schuster. Get a FREE ebook when you join our mailing list. Thank you for downloading this Simon & Schuster ebook.

Tender is the flesh read