The Dead and the Gone

The “corpse gray” snow still covers the streets on December 5, yet Kevin shows up at Alex’s apartment building to go body shopping. As they are walking, a tree branch covered in ice falls on top of Kevin, killing him instantly. Alex screams for help but no one comes. He tries lifting the branch off his friend, but he is too weak. Instead, Alex digs into the snow around Kevin, tunneling him out from under the branch. Alex screams at God to wake Kevin up, but he is gone. Alex searches his friend’s body for some form of ID to learn where he lives but finds only the gun, which he takes, along with Kevin’s watch. He walks a little further and takes a diamond ring off of a dead woman’s finger. Alex takes the watch to Father Mulrooney and lets him be the one to comfort the Daleys about their son’s death.

The next day, Father Mulrooney announces a death at the school. Alex expects it to be Kevin’s, but Father Mulrooney explains that Mr. Kim, the science teacher, has died. Alex takes Kevin’s gun to Harvey the following day and asks for a sled big enough to carry a person, and Harvey tells him to come tomorrow to see what’s he’s able to find. Alex returns the next day and finds that Harvey has obtained a sled perfect for carrying Bri. He then returns to the apartment building and goes into his basement apartment to find his and his sisters’ baptism and birth certificates. As he does so, he reflects on the pride that he knows Papi would feel about him earning Mr. Flynn’s respect—thereby obtaining their passes out of New York—and about him being a man in such a difficult situation.

On December 9, Alex takes Julie to the food line. When Julie asks where Kevin is, he tells her that he’s dead without going into the details. The news saddens her, but she says that she would still rather be alive, and Alex agrees. A couple days later, Alex sends Julie to apartment 11F to see if there’s anything usable in order to talk to Bri privately. He tells Bri that New York is not safe for girls like Julie and that they are leaving on the convoy the next day. Bri tells him that she does not want to leave because Mami and Papi will come back. She is also scared and knows that she’s holding Alex and Julie back, but Alex reassures her, and they both look forward to telling Julie about their departure when she returns to the apartment.

December 12—the date of the children’s convoy appointment—finally arrives. Before the kids begin their journey, they each say a silent prayer and then head downstairs into the snowy streets. They have two backpacks of personal belongings, which Julie carries while Alex pulls Bri in the sled. At one point, Julie slips and gets snow into her boots, making her cold and miserable. Additionally, being out in the dirty air causes Bri to cough and have trouble breathing. This makes Alex wonder if he’s made a mistake. Eventually, the kids must leave the street and get on the sidewalk, forcing Alex to carry Bri instead of pulling her. He falls twice, the second time hitting his face on the sidewalk, causing a bloody nose.

They eventually make it to the Port Authority only to find it deserted. A police officer tells them that the convoy has been cancelled due to a flu quarantine and to try again in two weeks. If New York is still under quarantine at that time, they should come every two weeks until the convoys begin again. Alex realizes that by the time the next convoy is set to leave, he will be 18 and therefore unable to ride out with his sisters, as the convoy is for women and children only; he decides he will stay behind after getting his sisters on the convoy and out of New York.

The next day, Alex and Julie return to school but find it has also closed for quarantine. He knows that there is very little food left in his apartment, so they decide to boil their remaining macaroni, despite it having bugs in it. As Julie tells him about the process for boiling water, he learns just how much work she does and realizes he’s as dependent on his sisters as they are of him. Over the following days, the kids spend much of their time sleeping, which is just as well because it helps them conserve energy. There is very little left for Alex to barter with for food, and officials suspend the food line indefinitely.

As he and Julie walk home from the (absent) food line, Alex decides to go to Harvey to see what he can trade. Julie mentions that she doesn’t think Bri will survive much longer and that she (Julie) isn’t afraid to die—just to die alone, which Alex assures her won’t happen. Alex drops Julie off at home, grabs a few items, and sets out for Harvey’s shop. When he arrives, the door is locked, so Alex breaks the window and unlocks the door. He finds that Harvey has died very recently, but instead of praying for Harvey’s soul, he prays to find food. He does, so he hides the supplies under his coat and takes a shard of glass for protection on his walk home, knowing that if he finds food so precious, others will too.