72 pages • 2 hours read
Michael GrantGone
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2008A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 17-21Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 17 Summary: “169 Hours, 18 Minutes”
A girl named Dahra and her boyfriend Elwood run the hospital. Cookie, who was pinned under the crucifix, screams for pain medication. Dahra worries she doesn’t have enough supplies or experience. Mary brings in a toddler who complains of stomach pain. Dahra inspects the toddler, admitting when she looks up stomach pain in the medical book, the culprit can be anything from constipation to cancer.
Bette bursts into the hospital, words slurred and one side of her body limp, a giant, swollen bump on her head. Dahra, Elwood, and Mary try to help, but before Dahra can research her symptoms, Bette says for them to take care of her brother and passes away.
After Bette’s funeral, Sam blames himself for not staying with her after he walked her home. Astrid comforts him by saying he couldn’t predict Bette had internal bleeding. She says Orc is a murderer, and Edilio agrees that they can’t let this crime go. If they do, will their new society have justice? Sam protests that he can’t simply confront Caine, and Edilio huffs.
Sam admits to Astrid that he’s afraid. He’s regretful and sad about Bette and his stepfather, but he also loves the rush from his light power, so he doubts he’d be better than Caine. Astrid says he pushed his superpower away, so he’s not corruptible and has her on his side. They share their first kiss.
Chapter 18 Summary: “164 Hours, 32 Minutes”
Albert returns to McDonald’s after Bette’s funeral, his mind reeling. He knows the bigger problems are for people like Sam, Astrid, and Caine, such as how and why the FAYZ formed and Orc’s crime, but he believes able kids need to work or they won’t survive. Albert goes to the library and finds encyclopedias to help express his ideas. He looks up the word “work” to find “activities necessary for the survival of society” (198). Albert believes this is the key information. A stay cat appears in the library, and Albert calls to it. But the cat attacks him multiple times, then teleports away. Albert thinks he’s “crazy” until he holds up a book, and the cat teleports but gets stuck in the book. The cat dies, and Albert takes the book-cat as evidence to Astrid’s house. Astrid inspects the cat, accepting his story but offering no answers.
In the desert, Lana enjoys food, water, and books in the cabin. She and Patrick hear a creepy voice call for them to come outside, but Lana doubts it’s real. Lana suddenly has to pee, and she races to the outhouse while Patrick guards. When finished, she sees a coyote as large as a wolf. Patrick didn’t hear the beast coming, and he doesn’t fight it. The coyote yips, and dark shadows race toward Lana. She rushes at the shadows, surprising the coyote, and disperses the darkness. A snake flies over her. Lana and Patrick make it to the cabin.
Chapter 19 Summary: “132 Hours, 46 Minutes”
On day eight of the FAYZ, Sam, Quinn, and a Coates Academy girl perform their assigned neighborhood search. Under Caine’s rule, search teams check homes to find children and pets, food and supplies like diapers and medicine, turn off appliances, and other helpful tasks. Once inside Sam’s neighbor’s house, they smell a rotten stench, finding a little boy’s corpse. Sam summons his courage and puts the body in a garbage bag.
Sam marches to his house, tears in his eyes, wishing he had remembered his neighbor had a toddler. Sam finds his home ransacked. Someone stole his mother’s laptop and the metal box in her closet with her will and Sam’s birth certificate inside. The blinding light sphere remains, with the curtain ripped down. Sam thinks Caine is responsible for the theft, certain Caine knows about his supernatural power.
Sam talked to Caine about Bette’s murder a few days ago, too; Caine didn’t reprimand Orc, arguing that he was only doing his job.
Sam bikes to Astrid’s house for assistance but runs into “Mother Mary” (216) and her littles walking to the beach. Twins Anna and Emma, also babysitters, chat with him. Anna and Sam went on a date a few years ago. Emma tells him to wish them a happy birthday. Suddenly panicked, Sam confirms with Anna they’re turning 15. In a blink, Emma disappears. Anna screams her twin’s name and holds Sam’s hand, fearing death. Sam comforts Anna until she vanishes.
Chapter 20 Summary: “131 Hours, 3 Minutes”
Drake reports about Emma and Anna “poofing.” Caine interrogates him, but Drake explains Sam held her hands and Anna just vanished. Computer Jack rushes into the room with Connie Temple’s laptop. Diana searches through the contents, stating Connie knew about Caine’s powers based on her journaling. They break into Connie’s safe box, which holds Sam’s birth certificate. He and Caine have the same birthday, three minutes apart. Diana jokes that Caine and Sam are fraternal twins separated at birth. Caine retorts that’s impossible. Drake teases Caine that he will blink out in five days, and Caine mentally shoots force to pin him down.
Sam bikes over to Astrid’s house, and she calms him down. He has five days before he vanishes. Sam describes an egg analogy for the barrier; he believes those outside who are trying to help them cannot break in, so those inside must hatch out like a baby chick. Astrid supports his egg theory and his decision to find a barrier hole so they can escape his fate.
Sam also complains about Quinn, who is hanging out with Caine’s crew more often. Astrid says Quinn is jealous of his supernatural capabilities and courage. She encourages Sam to be a leader again, her instinct telling her he’s a born hero.
Chapter 21 Summary: “129 Hours, 34 Minutes”
Sam, Astrid, and Little Pete go to the grocery store, where Diana, Drake, and others ambush them. Diana ties Sam’s hands with Mylar balloons, which are reflective, so his powers would fry his own palms, and blindfold him. They restrain Astrid and Pete too. Caine’s cronies prop Sam into a grocery cart and wheel him through town. Howard asks for Quinn’s help since Quinn betrayed Sam. Sam doesn’t believe Quinn when he shouts that he didn’t know he’d be kidnapped.
They arrive at the school gym. Caine discusses his adoptive parents and Sam’s mother. Sam is uninterested. He levitates Sam, smashing him against the gym floor, then the basketball hoop. Caine explains Diana’s power ratings and that he is the only level four.
Diana stops Caine from harming Sam further. She tells Sam that Drake is “sick in the head” (248) and will hurt Astrid, maybe kill her, unless Sam answers Caine’s questions. Caine explains Taegan Smith is Sam’s father and asks about his background. Sam barely knew his dad and doesn’t care about the past, stating they should focus on fixing or escaping the FAYZ. Sam pleads for Astrid’s and Pete’s release.
Drake rushes in, yelling that Astrid and Pete disappeared, though she’s not close to 15. Diana says Pete must be the powerful one. Caine orders Drake to grab a gun to shoot Astrid and Pete. Sam charges Caine, breaking his nose.
Chapters 17-21 Analysis
This section foregrounds the novel’s key premise: kids being left to fend for themselves and the trying consequences that test whether they can mature to survive. One example is Dahra, the “doctor,” who has no experience with medical care and is tasked with matters of health, life, and death. The stressful job is taxing, especially after Bette dies. Dahra couldn’t do anything to save Bette because she doesn’t have the proper knowledge, staff, or supplies, and she’s not a doctor with years of medical training. She’s just a kid in an unpredictable situation.
Closely linked to responsibility and maturity is accountability. Each child must learn to be accountable for themselves, so Albert’s idea of work is essential because they cannot survive if people don’t work. The society won’t function if the kids don’t at least help with food sources, keep their homes and themselves clean, cook, and do other daily tasks. Showing a logical insight and philosophy well beyond his age, Albert raises ideas of power structures and the societal necessities to keep them alive, which go beyond determining the FAYZ’s cause. Albert is optimistic and practical. The youngest of six, he knows that even the little kids can work. Albert believes those able must contribute to creating a successful, functional society,
The justice system’s failings and subversions of tropes become apparent in this section, as no one is held accountable for Bette’s death. Astrid says Orc is a murderer. Sam becomes even more upset over the death when Caine doesn’t reprimand Orc for killing Bette. Sam’s moral compass points to justice, fairness, and a high value for life—classic superhero qualities that Sam exhibits—but he still doesn’t take action against the killing, which subverts the trope.
Sam’s self-reflection and discussion with Astrid about justice for Bette’s death display complex characterization. He admits that he’s scared of fighting Caine and that he can’t live up to everyone’s expectations of being the “anti-Caine” because he wouldn’t be “any better than him” (193). Sam doesn’t want to be consumed by the “thrill” of his power, another subversion of classic superhero tropes. Usually, the heroes overcome fear or aversion to leadership and claim their roles as protectors to save the world, but Sam is afraid he may be corrupted. Astrid assures him that he isn’t like Caine, but Sam is still leery of making mistakes, especially since he can’t control his power, so he opts for inaction. Their romance deepens through trust, honesty, and their layered emotional connection.
The worldbuilding is further enriched when Sam and Astrid discuss others trying to get to them from outside. Grant uses an excellent analogy of an egg. The symbolic egg is like the FAYZ wall; Sam thinks they need to break through on their own like a baby chick. If an outside force tries to crack the wall, they could hurt those inside. Thus, the kids are akin to the chick and must find their own way out, which hearkens to the themes of Overcoming Fear in the Face of Adversity and Survival, Leadership, and Responsibility. Ultimately, only they can rescue themselves, but in-fighting, immaturity, and fear make this challenge more difficult. The wall itself symbolizes control and containment, mirroring Caine’s motivation to suppress them. They’re all trying to survive in an enclosed world, so the wall can also symbolize protection, isolation, and independence.
When Diana reads the power levels, her use of the term “bars” adds another element to worldbuilding that will be familiar to many young adult readers as something similar to how cell phone service was quantified when Grant first published the novel. Pete and Sam appear to be the only other level fours equal to Caine. As a “two bar” level, Astrid has an interesting power that is a foil to her core character trait of wisdom. Trusting her instincts and intuition over her reason and analytical brain is a striking contrast that pushes her to trust in what cannot be explained. Astrid’s power reflects the need to have faith in even the things we cannot understand, such as Sam’s power or God.
