Fuzzy Mud

Searchers find the body of a bearded man who lived in the woods and was killed by the mud. The teens’ rescuers all develop the rash and powdery residue, which turns out to be their skin after the mutated ergonyms ate “‘the good parts’” (152). In two weeks, 15,000 people in Heath Cliff are infected. Many don’t seek help soon enough because the microorganism destroys the part of their cells that sends pain messages to the brain.

Since no cure yet exists, doctors treat Tamaya’s rash by keeping her clean: cutting off her hair and constantly sponging her with rubbing alcohol. Tamaya’s vision remains poor, but she recognizes the individual nurses by their voices. Tamaya’s mother and father visit her but are later restricted to phone calls as the outbreak worsens. Everyone stays calm around Tamaya, but she learns from Monica that the world is panicked. People call the mutated organisms “frankengerms” and use Tamaya’s name for the “fuzzy mud.” Hospitals fill up, and schools become makeshift health centers staffed by doctors and nurses wearing hazmat suits. The president quarantines Heath Cliff, and the National Guard enforces the order. Tamaya doesn’t complain. When she’s afraid, she contemplates Woodridge’s 10 virtues. She hopes to get better and regain her vision but prepares herself for the worst, hoping to live with “courage, patience, and grace” (155). She hears that Marshall is doing well but Chad is in bad shape.

Miss Marple (or “Missy” for short), the search dog that found Tamaya, is extremely sick: She’s deaf, blind, has lost all her fur, and is covered in blisters. As she sleeps in veterinarian Dr. Robert Crumbly’s office, she joyfully dreams of being healthy and finding Tamaya. Dr. Crumbly has seen many animals with the rash, which is more painful for them than for humans, since animals don’t bathe. Dr. Crumbly can do nothing to help the animals, and in the last two weeks, he has had to humanely euthanize over 20 pets. He compassionately wishes he could comfort Missy with the human touch, but he must wear gloves.

When his pet land turtle, Maurice, doesn’t get sick after getting stuck in a puddle of fuzzy mud, Dr. Crumbly discovers that Maurice has a unique enzyme in his skin cells that other animals don’t possess. Dr. Crumbly tells Missy she’s a good dog as he injects her with turtle enzymes.

To Tamaya’s joy, Miss Marple fully recovers. Tamaya is the first human to receive the experimental turtle enzyme treatment. Doctors and nurses monitor her closely, often asking annoying, basic questions. Tamaya’s favorite nurse, Ronda, explains that the doctors are testing her to make sure she doesn’t have any strange side effects. While all the nurses are upbeat, Tamaya especially likes Ronda because she’s genuine. Tamaya wonders how long it took for Missy to recover, but doctors reply vaguely. Chad, alarmingly, was moved to a different part of the hospital.

Tamaya has a strange dream about talking with a restless man named Fitzy who visits her hospital room. Fitzy offers to buy her whatever she wants because he’ll be rich. Tamaya can’t think of anything she wants except to recover. Fitzy doesn’t want anything either, even though he’ll be wealthy. He likes solving science problems. Tamaya shares that she likes reading and writing and wants to be a writer. Fitzy sadly explains that he wanted to help people, not harm them, and wants everyone to recover. Tamaya asks for a replacement school sweater. When Tamaya next opens her eyes, things are still blurry, but she can see light and color. Tremblingly, she tells Ronda she can see. Both are overjoyed. Tamaya phones her mother with the good news.

The snow that falls two days later is beautiful to Tamaya, even though her vision isn’t perfect. Marshall improves rapidly with the turtle enzyme injections. Tamaya can’t get information about Chad and is afraid to press. With a pair of glasses, Tamaya can see perfectly and discovers that her doctor is handsome. Tamaya gossips about him with Monica, who is less fearful now that the mud is snow-covered and is thankful that Tamaya is better. The girls laugh and cry together over the phone.

In December, Tamaya and her doctor watch a breaking news story. Dr. Peter Smythe from the CDC is on location at Woodridge. He digs through the snow and grabs a handful of fuzzy mud, holding over a billion frankengerms. He announces that they can’t survive in below freezing temperatures and are all dead. The “crisis is over” (170). Tamaya is skeptical: She questions whether the microorganisms can hibernate or whether, if even one were alive, the mud would return. Dr. Smythe declares that the organisms are dead and can’t return when it gets warm, and they’ll “continue to monitor the situation” for mutations. A single equation returns to 2 x 1 = 2.

Over 60,000 people receive Dr. Crumbly’s turtle enzyme cure. The disease is named the Dhilwaddi Blister Rash after Tamaya. The quarantine is cancelled, and Tamaya and Marshall are released from the hospital. Tamaya must still wear glasses, but Monica gives her new, “très chic” green ones for Christmas. Tamaya’s hair is growing back. She has a pockmark on her face, but Summer says the imperfection makes her more attractive.

Tamaya and Marshall visit the hospital. Tamaya gifts jars of her mother’s jam to her caregivers. Ronda gives Tamaya a new school sweater from “Fitzy.” A card reads, “For a girl of extraordinary virtue and valor” (173). Tamaya is surprised, believing she dreamed the encounter with Fitzy.

Tamaya visits Chad, who was moved to a burn ward because of his skin damage. Chad wears glasses, and, to Tamaya’s relief, is glad to see her. Doctors transplanted skin from his butt to his face, and Chad jokes that she can call him “Buttface.” Nothing makes Chad angry anymore, and he thinks the world looks nicer. He hopes it lasts. Tamaya agrees. Marshall delivers a tray of lasagna, and Tamaya wishes Chad a happy birthday. Chad, looking like Frankenstein’s monster with his scarred face and reaching arms, hugs a nervous Marshall and thanks him. Chad moves to hug Tamaya, uttering the same, but now non-threatening phrase he used when beating up Marshall: “You’re next, Tamaya.”

Tamaya testifies in the Heath Cliff Disaster Hearings. She tells Senators Halting, Wright, and Foote that there was mud all through the woods when she searched for Chad, though she didn’t notice it the first time she was there because she was frightened. Senator Haltings notes that Tamaya was faced with a “Hobson’s choice” and forced to pick one of two bad options: walking home alone or entering the woods. Senator Wright thanks Tamaya, saying her choice to break the rules and enter the woods helped save the world. Tamaya protests that she made everyone sick, but Senator Wright says it’s not her fault; people would’ve gotten ill anyway. Tamaya, Marshall, and Chad called attention to the mud, which prompted the quarantine and contained the outbreak instead of having it spread uncontrollably around the world. Senator Haltings calls Tamaya “a very brave young lady” (177), but Tamaya replies that she was scared, not brave, and that Marshall was the brave one. She’s unsure whether having the disease named after her is an honor.

When fewer people were in the world, they lived without Biolene, electricity, or nuclear power, and the environment was cleaner. The world’s population reached one billion in the 1800s, doubled in the 1950s, and doubled again in the 1990s. In 2011, seven billion people used the earth’s energy and resources. One equation reflects this doubling: 2 x 7,000,000,000 = 14,000,000,000. The product of a second equation, 2 x 14, 000,000,000 =, is left blank. As the population increases, so does the need for resources.

Faced with their own Hobson’s choice, the Senate Committee agrees to support Biolene, gaining a new clean energy source but risking another disaster. Fitzman has new safety controls in place, like sampling the ergonyms’ storage tanks to ensure that none could survive in oxygen. Biolene runs more vehicles, and SunRay Farm opens new facilities in cold or barren locations, where mutated ergonyms can’t survive.

Tamaya receives praise for her self-assured Senate Committee testimony. Back home, she, Chad, and Marshall return to the woods to climb Chad’s tallest tree. The climb is exciting, and the view from the top is beautiful. Tamaya hopes everything stays the same when the snow melts.

The novel’s back matter includes Tamaya’s two-page journal entry on “How to Blow Up a Balloon,” written as a “late assignment” while she was in the hospital.