A young girl, Hannah, lives with her grandparents in a small town that is still standing after a massive plague has affected the globe. Though there is a cure and vaccine now, Hannah’s parents, baby brother, and dog had all died in the plague — being eaten by zombie-like people called raveners. Hannah spends most of her time working in her grandparents’ butcher shop, being drawn most to the efficiency and power of the cleaver. She lays in bed at night with her grandparents’ dog, Rosko, remembering how she hid in the attic while her family was eaten below her. At school, there is a boy named Pete who was one of the raveners during the plague that ate her family members. He follows her home from school everyday and she watches him with suspicion. Although many of the survivors in the town were once raveners, it is said that they do not remember anything of their infected time and so they can all live in the town without guilt.  Hannah watches as Pete and his friends wander around in the forest and other abandoned parts of the town. She also watches as many of the kids play tag at recess, somehow always having the ex-raveners be the chasers. One day as Hannah walks home Pete follows her all the way to her doorstep and says that he remembers her from his hometown. Soon after, when they are playing tag, Hannah gets knocked down by Pete and he tells her that he remembers what her family tasted like. She realizes that all the raveners do remember eating people, but they pretend not to so that they could better adapt back into society. Hannah begins to carry the cleaver around in her backpack and takes longer routes back from school. One day, while walking near the abandoned buildings Pete follows her and tackles her, and reiterates to her the process of killing her family. She struggles with him and eventually gets the cleaver from her backpack and kills Pete, letting the cleaver do its work. She drags the body back to the butcher shop and is met by her grandmother. Hannah tells her grandmother what has happened and the two agree to make the meat from Pete’s body into pies and sausages for those who were once raveners.