Dust

Donald examines his bruised body and contemplates his death. He hears a knock on the door—Charlotte appears, hugs him, and gestures for him to follow her out of the cell, where Darcy is keeping watch. They return to the armory, where Charlotte explains that they flew another drone and saw a clean, healthy Earth far from the silo. Darcy isn’t sure what to do, but he dislikes being kept in the dark.

Donald shows Darcy Anna’s research and explains that other silos have been shut down for finding out too much. Some silos, like Silo 40, had a bloodless revolution and went dark without explanation. Donald, the original silo architect, designed many possible ways to remote-terminate the silos, but with Silo 40, neither cutting gas lines nor demolishing slabs of concrete worked because Anna had hacked the remote detonation codes. In the process, she realized that all the silos except one are set to be destroyed; her hacking spared them. Since the women were cryogenically frozen without consent, except for emergencies, Anna rigged it so Donald would wake up instead of her father to continue her work. Donald eventually realized that Silo 1 itself was also set for destruction. He also learned that Anna switched out the nanobots set to flood Silo 17 to ones that extend and repair human life. The survivors of Silo 17 thus have helpful nanotech in their bodies. Donald decides to contact Juliette, and Darcy agrees to hide them and keep them safe.

Juliette and Raph hunt for batteries and radios and find Father Wendel, Silo 18’s priest, crying in a holding cell and surrounded by scattered pages of books. Wendel has lost his congregation and has nothing. He despairs because he led his people into Silo 17 to discover the truth and believes he has damned them. Juliette, feeling guilty for the pain she has caused, tells him that people need his guidance. Wendel blesses her quest to take revenge on Silo 1 for harming them.

At the lower farms, the heat is on full blast. This will harm the crops, but a deputy explains that he is using the heat to push survivors out and force them to spread out to prevent further violence. Silo 18’s refugees have taken all the food and are spreading rumors that death is inevitable. Juliette tells the deputy to try turning off the lights to get the crowds to move.

Jimmy continues to hunt for Elise with no luck. Eventually, Shaw catches up to him and tells him that Elise has been kidnapped. Shaw has also found Puppy and put him somewhere safe; he asks Jimmy to make sure Elise knows he’d never eat her dog. Jimmy takes Shaw and grabs a rifle he’s stashed nearby.

Elise, meanwhile, is taken out of her coveralls, dressed in new clothes, and forced to attend a church service. A woman is put on a table in the middle of the room; a priest recites scripture, takes a knife, and cuts out the birth control implant in her leg. She bleeds and screams throughout the procedure. Jimmy appears in the doorway and shoots at the ceiling. He retrieves Elise from Rash, who protests that she is his wife but backs down when Jimmy aims the rifle at him.

As Juliette and Raph climb the stairs, Juliette is overwhelmed by signs of violence around her. To keep going, she thinks about the other silos, filled with people living their lives. She and Raph find a little food on some upper farms, but most has already been scavenged—people are hoarding extra, not caring if they waste it. On Level 34, they discover that some religious fanatics have infiltrated Jimmy’s living quarters and are burning every book they can. Juliette tries to smother the flames, but the priest in charge of the burning attacks her; his clothes catch on fire as they fight. She and Raph escape and seal off the burning room; the people inside scream but eventually fall silent.

Donald and Charlotte hide in the drone lift. They have been awake for hours, aware that the search for them has grown desperate. Darcy opens their hiding spot and calls all clear, allowing them to relax slightly.

Later that night, Charlotte tries to call Silo 17 but gets only static. Donald reveals that he walked outside once to die by suicide. Charlotte wants to leave in a drone, but Donald has only a few days to live. He contemplates the destruction of the past, and Charlotte notes the corruption of their leaders: “They wanted to make sure the only pockets of people who survived were in their pockets” (406). Donald suddenly decides to find a way to get outside.

Donald gathers supplies and suits so they can die outside of the silo. Darcy returns with food and questions Donald; he still only barely believes that they are in the silos because of the US’s act of self-destruction. Darcy attempts to stop them from leaving and destroying the servers that control the silos. Charlotte and Donald pull guns on him to get him to cooperate, but then Donald changes his mind. He gives his suit to Darcy, takes Darcy’s ID, and leaves in the elevator, giving them half an hour to get out of the silo.

As Juliette considers the ruin the priest has caused, she remembers that the servers are laid out exactly like the silos and sees that she can use them to draw a map. The red wires connecting the servers remind her of something Charlotte told her—Silo 1’s map showed red lines converging. She realizes that the giant digger she found was intended to dig much farther; now, if there is enough fuel, they can use it to escape.

Jimmy, Elise, and the other kids find Juliette and Raph. Seeing them settles Juliette’s emotions; she realizes she wants to live. She decides to hold a town hall to decide the fate of the survivors and arranges for it to be on Level 34, in the server room, so that everyone can see the servers that have been hidden for so long. Juliette cuts the wires and tips over the servers while Raph invites Silo 18’s survivors to come to Level 34 for food. In Jimmy’s burned quarters, they find a still-stocked pantry.

People, desperate and dirty, arrive and use the servers to heat the food. As she sets up the town hall, Juliette prepares outside suits, wondering how many people will want to use them.

Juliette tells them the truth about Silo 18’s demise—that Silo 1 triggered its destruction remotely. This means that Silo 17 will always live in fear of the same thing happening. Instead, they should try to go beyond the 50 silos to a new place—Seed—which is where the giant diggers point to. They do not have enough fuel for these machines, however. Juliette holds up a suit and tells everyone that they will walk outside to get there.

Many people work on the suits, but some leave to claim territory in the silo. Food supplies dwindle. At the silo entrance, in the sheriff’s office, Juliette and a team begin to clean out the gray corpses of those who died in the destruction of Silo 17 in the second novel of the series. Bizarrely, the bodies are well preserved for having been dead for years. Juliette’s father points out that the kids in Silo 17 have a high proportion of twin births and are extremely healthy and that Juliette’s scars have started to fade. She and her father suspect that something is in the air and decide to leave as fast as possible.

Charlotte, against her will, puts on the suit and helps Darcy do the same. The elevator doors open, and two men stare at them in shock. Panicking, Charlotte and Darcy head for the drone lift as soldiers approach to arrest them. Darcy fends them off with his gun and sends Charlotte into the lift alone; he finally remembers who he is. Charlotte lowers herself down onto the ground outside. She looks at the devastation, remembers what it used to be, and then walks, crying.

Donald goes to Level 62 and prepares the bomb that will take down the entire silo. He takes the bomb to the reactor room and easily gets in using Darcy’s ID, but before he can activate it, Thurman shoots him in the chest. Donald cries at his failure but then manages to lift his pistol enough to shoot the bomb. Outside, Charlotte hears an explosion and falls as the ground shakes. The silo collapses.

Juliette leads the survivors through desert-like sand and poisoned air; beyond silo territory, however, the environment changes completely—it is vibrant and living. Stumbling through the wall of dust, the survivors stay in their suits and march to the designated place, over a hill and into a forested valley. After Juliette’s father takes off his helmet and successfully breathes, others do the same, laughing with delight. Juliette and her father see a tower in the distance, the “seed of a new beginning” (457).

The tower is filled with more supplies than they can possibly use, so Juliette cautions them to only take the necessities. They get the tower functioning through solar panels and discover a working elevator. While many survivors want to stay at the tower, Elise convinces them to keep going toward water. As they debate next steps, Charlotte appears in her suit. Juliette helps her out of it, and they shake hands.

They start a fire; Raph is hesitant to burn wood, struggling to see it as anything but precious. Juliette and Elise snuggle by the fire and talk about the stars, naming constellations after Puppy and Lukas. Courtnee joins them, and they discuss the vastness of the world. When Courtnee wonders if they will make it, Juliette answers, “I think we can make any damn thing we like” (468).