Chapters 1 & 2 Summary

The novel opens in the wake of a terrible summer storm that's knocked down trees and turned the sky ghostly grey. The novel's teenage narrator, Ellie, used to love storms, but that was before the war. Now, everything's different. Ellie and her crew (Lee, Homer, Kevin, and Fi) are hiding in Hell, a small city in Australia, during the war with the unnamed enemy. The crew has been abandoned by Colonel Finley, who was meant to send a helicopter to pick them up, but now they are on their own in the wilderness, surrounded by the enemy. The teenagers had been hired as guides for the Kiwi soldiers, but untrained, they had accomplished more for the army than any professional soldier could have done. This knowledge adds to Ellie's frustration over being abandoned.

After sulking for a week, Lee, a member of Ellie's...