Summary

In Chapter Eight, it is springtime on the island and Z has started to crawl. H considers a plan to return to the mainland to rescue others. The narrator hears talk of ceasefire and recovery on the radio, but details are not provided to the reader. The narrator takes up running to help her regain fitness.

In Chapter Nine, the narrator tells the others that she wants to return to the mainland with Z to search for R. The narrator recounts the discussions about what she should do and compares writing about these discussions to her old job taking minutes at meetings. H agrees to take her back on the boat. They sail to the mainland together. On the mainland, they walk for a long time without seeing anybody. They pass through the same checkpoint that the narrator and O passed through...