The Last Days
Page 24
I swallowed, not knowing what to say, and Pearl came to my rescue again. “We don’t always get to choose what we love.”
The woman just scowled, sighing heavily as we turned together toward the blaze. It was growing hotter, its center turning blue as the beast’s fat and muscle rendered, dripping down into the bonfire’s sizzling core. Pearl’s fingers wrapped gently around my arm and drew me closer.
The worm kept burning.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
In case you haven’t noticed, all the chapter titles in The Last Days are band names. Some of them are great bands, some lame, and a few I’ve never actually heard play—I just needed their names for chapter titles, okay? But for your edification, and so that you can see that I didn’t just make them up, here’s the list of all chapter names, with a little info about each band.
Enjoy.
Chapter 1: The Fall
Prolific not-quite-punk band from Manchester, U.K. Founded 1976.
Chapter 2: Taj Mahal
Ageless bluesman. First album in 1967.
Chapter 3: Poisonblack
Finnish gothic-doom metal. (Yes, really.) Founded 2000.
Chapter 4: New Order
Surviving members of Joy Division, Manchester, U.K. Founded 1980.
Chapter 5: Garbage
Madison, Wisconsin-based mega-band. Founded 1994.
Chapter 6: Madness
London ska band. Formed 1976, but not popular until the eighties.
Chapter 7: Stray Cats
Rockabilly band from Massapequa, New York. Formed 1979.
Chapter 8: Cash Money Crew
Old-school hip-hop collective (later a label). Formed late 1970s, NYC.
Chapter 9: Fear
Los Angeles punk band. Formed 1977.
Chapter 10: The Music
Alt-rock band from Leeds, U.K. Formed 1999.
Chapter 11: Sound Dimension
Reggae session band. Formed in Jamaica in the 1970s.
Chapter 12: The Temptations
A Motown singing group—from Detroit, of course. Formed 1960.
Chapter 13: Missing Persons
L.A. electronic pop band. Formed 1980.
Chapter 14: The Replacements
Punk, then alternative, then splintered into solo acts. Formed 1979 in Minneapolis.
Chapter 15: The Need
Queercore duo from Olympia, Washington. Formed 1996.
Chapter 16: Love Bites
All-girl U.K. teen band. Formed 2005.
Chapter 17: Foreign Objects
Melodic death-metal band from West Chester, Pennsylvania. Formed 1995.
Chapter 18: Anonymous 4
Medieval vocal quartet. Formed 1986.
Chapter 19: The Impressions
Drum-oriented group from Melbourne, Australia. Formed 2002.
Chapter 20: Grievous Angels
Canadian alternative country (Northern Ontario). Formed 1986.
Chapter 21: The Runaways
Joan Jett’s first band: proto-punk and all-girl. Formed in L.A., 1975.
Chapter 22: Crowded House
Two-thirds Australian, one-third New Zealand pop band. Formed 1986.
Chapter 23: Moral Hazard
Underground band from Ottawa, Canada. Formed 2000.
Chapter 24: 10,000 Maniacs
Jamestown, New York, punk band. Formed 1981.
Chapter 25: Massive Attack
Trip-hop collective from Bristol, U.K. Formed 1991.
Chapter 26: Hunters and Collectors
Band from Melbourne, Australia. Formed 1980.
Chapter 27: Faithless
London trip-hop trio (and sometimes quartet). Formed 1995.
Chapter 28: Doctor
Indie band from Toronto, Canada. Formed 2004.
Chapter 29: The Kills
Minimalist garage duo from London and Florida. Formed roughly 2000.
Epilogue: The Cure
Post-punk band from Sussex, U.K. Formed 1976.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Thanks to Morgan Butts and her pals for “fawesome.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Texas native Scott Westerfeld has written several acclaimed novels for adults and teens, including So Yesterday, The Risen Empire, the Midnighters sequence, and the Uglies/ Pretties/Specials trilogy. His books have been named New York Times Notable Books of the Year, made the Times’s essential summer reading list, been awarded the Philip K. Dick Special Citation and the Victoria (Australia) Premier’s Prize. Scott and his wife live in New York City and Sydney, Australia.
Visit Scott’s Web site at www.scottwesterfeld.com