Under the Dome

Former army captain and Iraq War veteran Dale Barbara has been living in Chester’s Mill for just a few months. He has been working as a short-order cook for Rose Twitchell at her café, Sweetbriar Rose, but after an incident at the local bar, Dipper’s, Barbara—or Barbie, as he is known to friends and foes alike—thinks he should leave the small town. Barbie craves the peace and quiet associated with small towns, but getting on the wrong side of Junior, the son of the town’s Second Selectman, Big Jim Rennie, has ruined it. However, as he tries to leave town, he witnesses the strange accidents that accompany the lowering of some invisible force field around the town: he sees the woodchuck cut in two; he witnesses the airplane crashing, full throttle, into something that nobody can detect; he gapes at the body parts and twisted metal littering the field and wonders at the fire caused by the wreckage somehow staying on the far side of the field. A man in a Sea Dogs cap (known in the early chapters simply as Sea Dogs) jumps out of his car to help in the aftermath of the crash, but as the man comes running toward Barbie, he suddenly crashes into the invisible wall. Barbie hears the sound of the man’s nose breaking.

Twenty-one-year-old Junior Rennie suffers from debilitating headaches—he does not yet know that they are caused by a malignant brain tumor—especially when under stress. And he has been under stress since the confrontation with Dale Barbara in Dipper’s parking lot. He decides that he will confront his best friend’s ex-girlfriend, Angie McCain, regarding the accusations that she cheated on Frank DeLesseps with none other than that drifter Barbie. He tells himself to rein in his notorious temper, but when she opens the door wearing nothing but a robe, he swiftly loses control and beats her to death. He is so preoccupied with enacting revenge (though he wishes that Barbie had been his victim) and then handling the aftermath that he does not register the sounds of a plane crashing.

Only when the town’s emergency whistle sounds and the emergency generators start running does Junior realizes something is amiss. He is terrified of what might happen to him should anyone discover his murderous act. He thinks that he can either flee The Mill or turn himself in to the authorities. Or, as a desperate solution, he can die by suicide.

The town of Chester’s Mill is shaped like a boot, according to the masthead of the local newspaper, the Democrat. However, the narrator informs the reader that, really, the shape is more like that of a dirty athletic sock. The surrounding communities of Motton, Harlow, TR-90 (unincorporated), and Tarker’s Mill have smaller populations than The Mill, but larger geographical areas. The Mill is a seasonal town, with only about 2,000 year-round residents. Once the Dome—for that is what the invisible force field will eventually be called—descends, all the roads into and out of town are closed off. Several townspeople, caught near the point of impact, are instantly killed.

Meanwhile, Barbie and Sea Dogs try to make sense of the situation and the crash. Barbie approaches the invisible barrier and feels something akin to an electric shock—though its effects are momentary. The local police have been called, but Barbie believes that someone should get in touch with the Air National Guard. A no-fly zone should be issued over the town before another accident occurs.

Howard “Duke” Perkins, Chester’s Mill chief of police, was off duty when the Dome went down, and the plane crashed. He is called to the scene and tenderly kisses his wife, Brenda, before he departs. She will not see him alive again.

Barbie continues to investigate the mysterious force that has blocked The Mill from the outside world. He hears the police sirens approaching, but ahead of them—and worse for Barbie—he also sees Big Jim Rennie’s black Hummer headed his way. He decides to walk the perimeter of the Dome to see how far it extends—and to avoid a confrontation with Junior’s father.

Meanwhile, Junior Rennie returns home, sick with a pounding headache. Though he is still contemplating suicide, he ultimately decides that Angie’s death is really Barbie’s fault, and he cannot abide letting Barbie “win” (62). Thus, he takes some migraine medicine and goes to sleep. When he awakes, his headache has dissipated and the house, surprisingly, is “still empty” (62).

Big Jim Rennie is a car salesman, Second Selectman on the town council, and evangelical Christian. Because of his religious identity, he refuses to use “foul language” (65) and thus coins terms such as “clustermug” to describe difficult situations or “cotton-pickers” to describe people who cross him—like Dale Barbara. Rennie is still furious over Barbie’s altercation with his son, Junior, and wants to believe that Barbie has something to do with the mysterious situation at the town’s border, perhaps even with the plane crash. When Barbie urges Ernie Calvert, the retired grocer, to call the Air National Guard, Rennie intervenes to stop him. But when the impenetrability of the force field becomes clear, Rennie changes his mind and tells the chief of police to call Homeland Security.

As the police investigate further, they discover that the Dome is barely permeable—a bit of mist comes through as the firefighters attempt to douse the fire from the plane crash on the other side of the boundary. When Chief Perkins moves forward to inspect the Dome more closely, his pacemaker explodes, killing him instantly. Officer Peter Randolph, Big Jim Rennie’s man on the force, is instated as chief.

Meanwhile, Eric “Rusty” Everett, a physician’s assistant, is caring for Benny Drake, who has injured himself while skateboarding. He is called away from his patient to attend to Chief Perkins at the scene, along with nurse Dougie Twitchell (known as Twitch to most). On their way to the scene, they catch sight of a news helicopter overhead, which also crashes into the invisible border, causing more chaos and death. Barbie keeps looking for a break in the barrier, but he suspects that there is none. The town is now cut off from the rest of the world.

Barbie walks back to town and heads to Sweetbriar Rose. It is packed with people watching the news reports on what has happened in Chester’s Mill: two air crashes and multiple fatalities, presumably caused by an invisible wall, have brought CNN to the area. Barbie notes that Angie McCain has not shown up for her shift and that Rose is swamped. He offers to go back to work, and Rose agrees with relief. The editor of the town newspaper, Julia Shumway, remarks that The Mill “doesn’t want to let you go, Mr. Barbara” (89). He also learns that a no-fly zone has been established around the town, while the National Threat Advisory has been elevated.

After the restaurant closes, Barbie and Rose discuss the situation while James McMurtry’s song “Talkin’ at the Texaco” plays in the background. Barbie advises Rose to check her propane supply and to stock up on food for the restaurant first thing in the morning; he has a strong suspicion that the Dome situation will not be quickly or easily resolved.

Junior realizes that the power in The Mill has been cut. This is a relief to him, because it means his father is probably out handling the problem and gives him time to figure out what he might do with Angie’s body. He returns to the McCain home, finding the door still unlocked and nobody home. He starts to clean up the crime scene but is interrupted by the arrival of Angie’s best friend, Dodee Sanders. Having just found out that her mother died in the plane crash earlier in the day, she is in distress and seeking comfort from her best friend. Instead of finding her friend, however, Dodee runs straight into the murderous hands of Junior Rennie, who kills her. He stuffs both bodies in the kitchen pantry.

First Selectman Andy Sanders is at the Bowie Funeral Home, mourning the sudden loss of his wife. He grieves that he has not only lost the woman he loves but also the woman who took care of the finances—and financial misdeeds—of his drugstore and the town itself. He knows that she and Big Jim Rennie dodged the consequences of an audit some time ago, but he also knows that Rennie depends upon him to get elected. Sanders is friendly and mild-mannered; his support for the blustery and blunt car salesman gets him votes. Rennie urges Sanders to pull himself together, to get back to work “for the good of the town”—a constant refrain of Selectman Rennie. In his grief and confusion, Sanders has not even thought about whether Dodee knows about her mother.

Julia Shumway returns to her apartment located above the offices of the Democrat. She delivered the news to a slightly stoned Dodee that her mother was dead, and she is troubled that she left the girl to her own devices, even though Dodee insisted. She turns her attention to the newspaper, which she will have to produce by herself because there is no chance of getting it to the printer out of town. She is interrupted by a phone call from Colonel James Cox of the US Army: he wants her to locate Dale Barbara, who is not answering his cell phone. Colonel Cox wants Barbie to come to the Dome—now the official name—to discuss the future of the town. Julia insists on coming along.

Big Jim Rennie has called an emergency meeting of the town’s leaders to discuss the situation. Andy Sanders is there, as is Third Selectman Andrea Grinnell—who happens to be addicted to OxyContin—along with the new chief of police, Pete Randolph. Rennie realizes that he must act fast if he is to stay in charge of the situation. He declares that all alcohol sales be suspended and debates whether to close the grocery stores. He also decides to appoint a posse of new acting police officers, including his son, Junior, and his friends Frank DeLesseps and Mel Searles. The vote, as usual, goes Rennie’s way.

Barbie and Julia head for the Dome to speak with Cox, with the local gospel station broadcasting loudly from the WCIK tower. They arrive to find a cadre of soldiers guarding the perimeter, backs turned to them; the soldiers have been given orders not to speak to the townspeople inside the Dome. Barbie notices that a red X has been painted on the Dome and shortly finds out, from his call with Cox, that the army has been launching missiles at the Dome, all to no avail. He also learns that the Dome reaches upward of 47,000 feet and is virtually impenetrable. Cox denies that the US military or government has anything to do with the Dome, though Barbie does not necessarily believe him. Cox also claims that the powers that be are still in the dark about what, exactly, the Dome is and what, specifically, caused it to encompass The Mill. Cox then reinstates Barbie’s military status and orders him to search for the power source—likely a generator somewhere inside the town—that is driving the Dome. On their way back to town, Barbie advises Julia to stock up on supplies. He does not think his mission will succeed.

Reverend Piper Libby, of the local Congregational Church, contemplates the situation. She prays, not because she believes in God—in fact, she refers to God as “Not-There” or “The Great Maybe” (157). Still, she prays for the residents of The Mill before the president is to address the situation. Her beloved dog, Clover, senses her anxiety.

The other preacher in town, Lester Coggins, reacts to the situation differently. He fervently believes that this disaster has been visited on the town because of his sins and flagellates himself in his search for answers as to what to do. A vision comes to him: God tells him to look for “the blinded one who has gone mad. When you see him, you must tell your congregation what Rennie has been up to out here, and your part in it” (162).

Brenda Perkins is half-heartedly listening to the president’s speech, deep in mourning for her departed husband. She wants to communicate with him so badly that she opens his computer, hoping to find something meaningful. What she stumbles across is meaningful, indeed, though not in the way she was hoping. She finds a folder labeled “VADER”—Chief Perkins’s nickname for Big Jim Rennie—with multiple files on Rennie’s illegal activities, including the misallocation of town funds and the “MANUFACTURE AND SALE OF ILLEGAL DRUGS” (166).

Rusty Everett arrives home after a long day attending to the injured and deceased victims of the Dome. His wife, part-time police officer Linda Everett, has left him a note saying not to wake her but to walk their dog, Audrey. While Rusty sighs at this—he is tired, after all—he knows that she has had an equally stressful day, so he moves to put the leash on the dog. However, the usually calm and obedient dog bolts from him, whining and barking, and leads him to his two daughters’ room: His youngest, Janelle, is in the throes of a seizure. She cries out about stopping Halloween and the Great Pumpkin. Rusty prays that she come out of the episode without harm—the one prayer of the day that is answered.

Thirteen-year-old Joseph McClatchey, known as Scarecrow Joe—he stands over six feet tall and weighs 150 pounds—is considered one of the most intelligent kids in town. He is also politically motivated, though not always with a clear focus, and he decides, “[a]s Dome Day became Day Two” (179), to organize a protest. He has no doubt that the government is behind the Dome and believes that, having already cut off the town’s cell service, those in power will go after the internet next.

Meanwhile, Chief Randolph swears in the new officers: Junior, Frank, and Mel, along with Carter Thibodeaux and his girlfriend, Georgia Roux. He instructs them to be tough, though he balks at Rennie’s suggestion that they carry guns. At Sweetbriar Rose, Julia Shumway discusses her plans to cover how the locals are responding to the situation and informs Barbie that Brenda Perkins is in possession of a full set of keys to all the important buildings in town (hospital, schools, town hall), courtesy of her late husband.

Special Deputy Junior Rennie takes it upon himself to harass “Sloppy” Sam Verdreaux, who attempts to violate the new no-alcohol rule. Junior is feeling great, certain he has gotten away with murder, and fantasizes that he will put more bodies in the pantry if anyone should cross him, like Officer Jackie Wettington or the newspaper editor, Julia Shumway. Julie and Barbie witness the arrest of Sam and question the charges. Barbie notes that Junior does not look well.

Various groups in town decide to gather at the Dome, advocating different causes: Scarecrow Joe organizes a protest against the government; Pastor Coggins organizes a prayer meeting; and Romeo Burpee, proprietor of the local department store, organizes a cookout. Rommie, as he is known, recognizes the profit potential from the gatherings. At the hospital, Twitch informs Rusty that the propane tanks needed to run the generator are mostly missing, along with the fertilizer used on the hospital grounds.

That afternoon, the demonstrations, prayers, and cookout all commence in the dairy field that marks the edge of town where the Dome cuts off access. The day is bright, and the various groups respect each other’s intentions and space, for the most part. The son of the dairy farmer, Rory Dinsmore, decides that he knows what to do about the Dome. He grabs his father’s hunting rifle, rides impulsively into the crowd on an ATV, and jumps off right at the barrier. He shoots at the Dome with expert aim, and the bullet bounces back, passing through his left eye and into his brain. He does not die instantaneously, but the injury is severe. Reverend Coggins believes that this is the sign from God—the blinded child—telling him to reveal the illegal activities of Big Jim Rennie and his cohort, including himself.