Summary

In Chapter 8, “In Mann Gulch,” in December 2019, Charity had the feeling “something [was] looming around the corner” (187). Despite her intuition, she was surprised when Duane Caneva called her. They had had an antagonistic relationship since 2018. When he called her regarding the pandemic, however, his tone was different. He confessed to working “without the White House’s permission, to coordinate some kind of pandemic response” (190, Lewis’s italics). Surprised by his altered demeanor and illicit activity, Charity agreed to help.

Charity was experiencing difficulties with her boss, Sonia Angell. Sonia warned Charity against using the word pandemic or outlining the viral spread on her office whiteboard. Sonia also closed Charity out of office meetings. Duane’s call, therefore, energized Charity (196).

Charity began studying historical documents in order to aid Duane’s project. Considering Neville Chamberlain’s and Winston Churchill’s divergent approaches to the...