Gone

Sam worries about the preschoolers and little ones in houses or daycare, but they head to Quinn’s residence. They discover Quinn’s parents have also vanished. Quinn breaks down crying but believes God is in control and must have taken the older people for some greater reason.

At Astrid’s house, no one is home. Astrid explains that her four-year-old brother, Pete, has autism. They search the house, but the boy isn’t there. Astrid believes Pete may be at the local resort, where her mother plays tennis, or at the nuclear power plant, where her dad works as an engineer.

In a scene shift, a 14-year-old girl named Lana Arwen Lazar rides in a pickup truck with her Grandpa Luke, a Chumash rancher. Lana and her yellow Labrador dog, Patrick, went to live with Grandpa Luke at his ranch after she stole alcohol for a friend. Lana’s parents hoped she’d learn to make smarter choices there. Lana chats with her grandpa—until he vanishes. The truck hits a tree, then rolls repeatedly. Lana is severely injured, with a broken arm bone that almost pokes through her skin. She crawls from the broken truck into the desert outside of Perdido Beach, where Sam and the others live. Lana goes in and out of consciousness while vultures circle above and her dog guards her.

Sam, Astrid, and Quinn pass many anxious kids as they walk to the plaza, and Sam comforts them and tells them to meet at the plaza. When some cry, he feels bad he can’t offer more help.

They stop at Sam’s house, and Sam reflects on his father leaving when he was a young child, then his stepdad abandoning Sam and his mother about a year ago. His stepdad “fled” after an unexplained incident, and Sam’s mom moved them to Perdido Beach, where she works as the night nurse at Coates Academy. His mother trusted him to stay home alone at night while she worked. On the night of a severe thunderstorm, the storm cut the power, and he was left to face his fear: the dark. Enclosed in darkness, Sam cried for his mother. But then a light appeared.

He secretly checks his room and finds the impossible: A glowing ball of light is still in his closet since the night of the storm. He contemplates telling Quinn and Astrid, but he doubts they’ll believe his extraordinary power.

Astrid shows him his mother’s open laptop. Sam reads the typed note about his mom wanting to tell someone about something that “happened again last night,” though she fears others will think she’s “crazy” or “on drugs” and needs “proof” (32). The note has codes like “CA,” “S,” “T,” and “G” for people and places. Sam finds a folder labeled “Journal,” but it’s password protected. 

At the plaza, the kids look to Sam for guidance since he is known as “School Bus Sam” (37) after saving fellow students when the bus driver had a heart attack a few years ago. Sam recalls taking the bus’s steering wheel and driving them to safety rather than over a cliff. Afterward, Sam became quiet and humble, though many believe he’s a leader.

Before Sam can design a plan, a fire starts in an apartment building. Someone states there is no 911 or firefighters, and phones don’t work anyway, but Sam urges them to find hoses, hydrants, and fireproof gear, as everything is their responsibility now. Quinn and Edilio Escobar, another boy in their class, rush to get supplies.

Someone yells “Mommy” from the apartment. Astrid gives Sam a wet cloth to breathe through, and he dashes up the burning building. When he finally reaches the girl through the flames, the five-year-old shrieks and shoots fire at him from her palms. He instinctively blinds her with his light power. Sam worries he may have killed her and carries her out the window to a ladder. Others spray water at the flames while Sam reaches the ground and passes out from low oxygen.

When he wakes, Sam sees they put out the fire, but the little girl didn’t survive. He stares at her body, knowing he isn’t the only one with weird abilities.

After the traumatic fire, Sam and the other kids huddle in the plaza or their homes. Quinn is distraught. Most of them look to Sam for leadership, asking about the adults’ whereabouts. Sam encourages them to be patient and take care of themselves until the adults return. He feels a knot in his stomach because he’s just as scared as the others.

Astrid searches for Pete and returns after about an hour with no luck. Quinn and Sam help her search, and they head to Clifftop, the resort where her mother plays tennis and brings Pete along often. Quinn remains stressed and shaking. Orc, a bully, has set up a shelter at an intersection with his followers; they have a blockade and weapons like bats and hammers they stole from stores. After tension and banter, Orc’s group lets Sam, Astrid, and Quinn pass. Sam says they’re not looking for a fight, just for Astrid’s brother. Howard, Orc’s second in command, orders them to bring something back that will please Orc.

Sam, Quinn, and Astrid walk to Cliffside, which sits on an oceanside cliff. They notice the ocean’s waves are strangely flat and quiet. The horizon is also higher.

They search the resort, starting with the outdoor tennis courts. Though they can’t find Pete, a translucent, milky barrier extends from the tennis courts into the sky. Sam throws tennis balls at the wall, but they bounce right back. Quinn smashes a chair against the wall repeatedly. When Sam touches it, the wall burns him. Astrid develops a theory about the mysteries, and she tells them not to touch the impermeable barrier anymore.

The chapter transitions to Albert Hillsborough, who enters the town’s McDonald’s. The youngest of six siblings, Albert grew up being bossed around and caring for his mother who uses a wheelchair. The family supported her by taking care of chores like cooking, which Albert secretly enjoyed. Now, he searches McDonald’s for ingredients, finding patties, fries, buns, vegetables, and more. He thinks of the food as “inventory.” When two kids walk in, Albert says the restaurant is open and puts on a chef’s hat to get to work.