Starters

Callie escapes and goes back to the hotel to check on Tyler. She’s told Tyler and Florina checked out of the hotel that morning with an Ender. She is furious and goes to Blake’s ranch to meet with his grandfather. She demands to be taken to the Old Man, but Senator Harrison says he’ll die if he does. Callie pulls out her gun, and when Senator Harrison doesn’t comply with her demands, she shoots him. Blake pushes his grandfather out of the way so that only his arm is injured. Callie demands that Senator Harrison get up and take her to the Old Man. They get in the car and drive towards downtown, but the senator swerves and purposefully causes an accident. Senator Harrison helps Blake out of the car and leaves Callie with her injuries as a marshal approaches her.

Callie awakens in what appears to be a hospital room. She isn’t doing well, and because she’s so out of it, she answers the doctor’s questions honestly. She realizes she’s strapped down, and Beatty is there in the dingy infirmary beside the doctor recording her responses. Beatty, full of disdain for Callie’s lies, holds her in the incarceration ward in Institution 37 because she has been reported as having shot a senator.

Callie wakes up on a concrete floor in a jumpsuit. The living conditions are extremely poor. She only gets three seconds of dirty water at a time, and her food is black sludge. She argues with Beatty that she deserves a trial and basic human rights, but Beatty says she won’t survive long anyway. Callie remembers her mother’s death that started with a big dandelion spore in the sky. They race to get away from it and think they’re safe when a single spore lands on her mother’s arm. Her mom died a week later, and her father was taken away too. He messaged them regularly, and his last message was a code, “When hawks cry, time to fly” (255), which meant she and Tyler needed to run.

Callie gets to go outside for exercise for 20 minutes. Everyone else gets an hour. She sees Sara and tells her about what happened. Sara says she’ll ask around about Tyler. They talk about Blake, the best place to hide, and Prime coming to scope them out. Callie tries to warn Sara about the dangers of Prime. Sara gives her a hardened piece of the Supertruffle Callie gave her a few days before and they become friends. Sara and hope for Tyler keeps Callie going, despite the abysmal living conditions. She dreams of escaping. Sara hasn’t heard anything about Tyler.

The Old Man arrives in his heli. Callie asks Sara if her heart condition would be bothered by being punched. When Sara says no, Callie hits her twice hard in the face. Sara cries and doesn’t understand. The bully girl beats up Callie, knocks out her tooth, and Callie lets her. She doesn’t want to be taken by Prime either. The guards break up the fight.

Sara and Callie are in the infirmary, having their wounds tended to. Sara is still determined to see Prime and is angry with Callie. Both are badly beaten up and swollen. Beatty forces Callie to go out with a number to see if Prime wants her but leaves Sara there. The numbers are called as the Old Man chooses the candidates, and despite her rough appearance, he picks Callie. Callie pretends to have to use the bathroom and runs to hide in the laundry room.

Sara finds her and wants to turn her in, because if they do, they get a reward. Sara is still angry from Callie’s betrayal. Callie explains the truth to her as best she can, about how she went to Prime, about her brother, and about permanency. Sara mostly understands and helps her make a disguise like one of the institution’s workers. She plans to escape by riding on the bottom of one of Prime’s transports leaving with the chosen kids for Prime Destinations. They think the guards won’t check because it might insult the Old Man. Sara says the guard working wouldn’t check anyway, since he can’t bend. But once Callie is in position, Sara warns her that the guard they thought would be there isn’t working.

Callie barely manages to hold on until they’re through the gates and hides behind a tree. Sara scales a ladder to escape, and they taze her. Callie realizes she’s creating a diversion for Callie to escape. They taze her again, too close, and Sara’s body goes slack.