Summary
Three months later, Jonathan Fitzman is subpoenaed to testify at the Senate hearing on the disaster. His lawyer advises him to call it “the situation,” and not refer to it as a disaster. She repeatedly tells the committee there is no connection between the situation and Biolene. Fitzman says he never wanted to create something that would hurt people. He also says the odds of an ergie mutating to not disintegrate in oxygen are a trillion to one. The senators press him on the possibility that his fuel alternative isn’t as safe as he thought.
At the school, parents arrive before the usual end of the day, having been asked to pick up their kids. A police officer keeps watch. When Marshall’s father arrives, Thaxton calls for Marshall over the PA system. Marshall’s father panics as time passes. Eventually Thaxton comes out to his car, not with Marshall but with a cop.
In the forest, Tamaya feeds Chad her sack lunch. Tamaya says she didn’t know the mud would make him blind; she also says he shouldn’t have beaten up Marshall. Chad admits that the whole time he has been in the woods, he has been thinking that no one cares he is missing. Not even his parents. Chad is gruff to Tamaya as he eats each component of her lunch: a sandwich, juice box, sliced fruit. In an accusatory tone, he asks if her family has dinner together every night and if her mother reads her bedtime stories. He mutters, “No one knows, no one cares.”
Later in the afternoon, Marshall wanders aimlessly through the forest, banging sticks against trees for no reason. He considers how he left the school not to look for Tamaya and Chad, but because he wanted to get away from everyone. He laments being too cowardly to stick up for himself. He throws rocks at nothing. When he sees Tamaya’s sweater, however, his self-pity shifts to concern. Her sock and shoe are next to the sweater and mud puddle. He realizes this is really bad.
Tamaya leads Chad back the way she came. They hold a six-foot branch between them. Chad says he knows he is mean, but he doesn’t know why; he just is. He says he could hit her with the stick, knowing it’s illogical because she’d run away and leave him there, but it’s just the kind of dumb stuff he does. He says his brother and sister are perfect; he’s the only bad one. He says his parents only care about how much money he is costing them. To get away, he spends time in the woods, nailing boards to a tree to get a higher and higher vantage point.
They come upon an area where they have to jump over the mud. Tamaya goes first, but the rock she leaps from falls away and she tumbles into the mud. She can feel it warm on her face. Chad extends the stick for her to grab onto, but she doesn’t catch it and it cracks her in the side of the head. At that moment, Marshall comes upon Tamaya and Chad. To him, it looks as though Tamaya is trapped in a ditch and Chad is beating her with a stick. He hurries down the hill to them.
Tamaya quickly explains that Chad is blind and is trying to help her. Marshall reassesses the situation. Although Tamaya warns him not to touch the mud, Marshall lets his foot sink into it as he tries to pull her out. He needs Chad’s help, but Chad says he can’t jump over it to reach them. Only after Marshall calls Chad a “thumb-sucking coward” does he jump across and assist. They pull Tamaya out, everyone getting more covered in mud as they do.
Marshall uses his sweater and shirt to wipe the mud from Tamaya’s eyes. He promises to get her home. She wipes the inside of her mouth and ears, looking forward to a bath at home. As they stagger out of the woods, Chad explains that he hated Marshall since he learned they have the same birthday. While Marshall was talking about the lasagna—his favorite—that his mother made him, Chad was comparing his own birthday, which involved his father telling him there’s no reason to celebrate the day he was born. Chad says it doesn’t excuse his behavior, but that’s the reason. Tamaya stops walking due to the pain in her foot. She closes her eyes and opens them to see blackness and blurry shapes.
Marshall walks between Tamaya and Chad, guiding them. Tamaya tells Marshall to look out for the white tree with boards nailed to it. Chad says he has multiple trees, as he is always looking for a higher one. He is surprised that they don’t make fun of him for it; rather, they are impressed. He invites them to go up with him sometime. Tamaya finds it funny that he talks about being able to see for miles when he can’t see inches in front of him.
Eventually a man’s voice calls out and dogs run up, licking Tamaya’s hand. She worries about the mud infecting them. She learns the dog is called Miss Marple. The rescuers are relieved to have found the missing children. They call for stretchers to carry them out.
Analysis
The themes of infectious disease and hubris arise again with Fitzman’s Senate testimony. Although Fitzman’s lawyer attempts to shift blame away from SunRay by euphemistically referring to the outbreak of a hitherto unknown infectious disease in Heath Cliff as a “situation,” not a disaster, Fitzman’s guilt is palpable. No longer blinded by his excessive self-confidence, Fitzman shows some humility and remorse as he explains that he never intended to hurt anyone (even as his lawyer insists there is no connection between Biolene and what happened). Simultaneously, Fitzman reveals his incompetence as he fails to understand that an oxygen-resistant ergie mutation is more plausible than he predicted.
In the woods, Chad is initially resentful toward Tamaya as she tries to share her food with him. But as he eats, Chad reveals that he is not as tough as he appears. Under the bully persona, Chad suffers the emotional wound of believing that his family doesn’t care about him and wouldn’t have even noticed he was missing. With this unexpected instance of vulnerability, Sachar shows how Chad’s bad attitude is influenced by a lack of support from his parents.
Realizing he can trust her, Chad grows more comfortable around Tamaya and confesses more of his secrets. As she leads him out of the forest, Chad admits that, as foolish as it would be, he has entertained the option of hitting her and running off. Building on the theme of bullying, Chad says he knows he is mean; he just doesn’t know why he acts the way he does. To get away from everyone, he climbs trees in the forest, finding a place where he can be isolated both physically and emotionally from the people who trigger his anger.
In an instance of dramatic irony, the point of view switches to Marshall as he comes upon Tamaya and Chad struggling to find their way out of the increasingly muddy forest. Sachar injects tension into the narrative by depicting Marshall’s not-unreasonable belief that Chad must be harming Tamaya, not helping her. Luckily, Tamaya explains the situation before Marshall attacks Chad. Quickly reassessing the scenario and realizing that cooperation is needed, Marshall overcomes his fear of Chad and takes control. When Marshall notices that Chad is frightened, Marshall spurs Chad into action by calling him a “thumb-sucking coward”—the same taunt Chad earlier used on him. The reverse-psychology tactic works, and Chad and Marshall pull Tamaya out of the mud.
The former enemies continue to overcome their differences as Marshall assists Chad out of the forest. Covered in mud, Tamaya also needs Marshall’s help. Chad continues to confess what’s behind his cruel behavior, admitting that, although it’s no excuse, he resents Marshall because he seems to have loving parents. In this instance of situational irony, it turns out that the seemingly more powerful bully envies his victim. The atmosphere of good faith between the students grows as Chad discloses that he likes to climb the highest trees he can find. Rather than tease him in a moment of vulnerability, Tamaya and Marshall express awe and admiration.
