Summary

Billie and Friday discuss the war, and how not only people but books have found refuge from the MORE regime in Wreck City. Billie remembers sheltering from bombs in the British library, and looks through Friday's collection of old, saved books. Together, they find more common ground than anyone would have suspected, especially considering that Friday is a former employee of the World Bank. Friday's critique of capitalism is especially scathing because of his experience with it: he refuses to live in Tech City because "'I'd rather not be here at all than hand it all over to an unelected global business'" (166). Billie has had these thoughts herself, and their relationship deepens; she almost touches his hand, but at the last moment, decides not to.

Billie then explores the Dead Forest. Immediately, she senses that something is off, but she is on a...