Chapter 6 Summary

The thing that the residents have all feared occurs this day - rain. It is a downpour, a torrential rain soaking into the earth. Contrary to what the residents all thought, the news of the day is good after all. Mr. Perry announces on the school's PA system that workers at the nuclear plant have capped the leak and that the air is safe. Ten days after the accident, the principal instructs the kids to throw their masks away. Some do, but Nyle cannot throw it away. Muncie is elated but does not remove her mask until her parents tell her it is okay to do so.

After the bus drops the girls off at their stop, they walked up the hill together. Muncie falls into a mud puddle, and Nyle offers her hand. When Muncie asks Nyle to come up to the...