The City of Ember

The next day, Lina finds Granny sick in bed. She tells Captain Fleery she cannot work that day and fetches Dr. Tower. Dr. Tower has no medicine for Granny’s fever, so Lina makes soup, sits with Granny, and calms her throughout the day. She tells Granny they found the important thing Granny sought. She keeps Poppy content, at one point allowing her to use the green colored pencil to draw while Lina uses the blue one. Lina draws her imagined city skyline and fills in a blue sky above it, noting to herself how odd a blue sky would be, though “beautiful” (136). That night, Granny calls to Lina, and Lina traverses the dark apartment to sit with Granny. Eventually Granny tells Lina to go back to sleep. In the morning, Lina finds Granny “very pale and very still, all the life gone out of her” (139).

Lina does not go to work; instead, Mrs. Murdo tends to Poppy and Lina in her apartment: “The day had a strange but comforting feel to it, like a rest between the end of one time and the beginning of another” (141). Next morning, as Lina leaves for work, Mrs. Murdo says it makes sense for the two girls to come live with her; she has a spare room and the time to care for Poppy. Lina runs messages in a daze, thinking how alone she is now and how responsible for Poppy. She calms when she thinks of Mrs. Murdo’s help.

Late in the day, Lina comes across Lizzie leaving the Supply Depot with a grocery bag. Lizzie is distracted. She trips and her groceries fall to the ground revealing cans of peaches and applesauce—amazing rarities in Ember. She gives the peaches to Lina, thanking her for her help, and hurries off. Mrs. Murdo, Lina, and Poppy eat the peaches that night, but Lina does not believe Lizzie’s lie about finding them at the store. She finds Lizzie the next day to demand the truth. Lizzie claims that her boyfriend, Looper Windly, finds treasures in back storerooms presumed empty. Lina recalls that Looper sent a message to Mayor Cole about a delivery on her first morning of work.

Lina thinks their greed is wrong, but Lizzie rationalizes that too many would fight over the food if others knew it existed. She suggests Lina go in on the finds, even offering a bite of pineapple: “I’ll ask Looper to find some good stuff for you, too” (151). Lina is tempted, but also incensed that Lizzie and Looper “finished off all” of the creamed corn, asparagus, and cranberry sauce (153). Uncomfortable at the very thought of wanting things the way she initially coveted the pencils, Lina tells Lizzie she wants nothing.

A week after he and Lina tried the door in Tunnel 351, Doon tries it again and is shocked to feel a key in it. He eases his way into the room beyond. It is well lit and stocked with food, light bulbs, and supplies. He is even more shocked to find Mayor Cole himself asleep in a chair in the middle of all the plenty. He runs to find Lina, who spent the day delivering messages from fearful Emberites about staying home instead of visiting or working. Doon tells Lina what he found in the room; Lina tells Doon what she learned about Lizzie’s boyfriend Looper, and the two of them deduce that Looper uses the hatch to get rare supplies down to the locked room in the Pipeworks. They debate whom to tell and decide on the guards. Lina wants to get back to the Instructions then, but Doon doubts they mean anything. Lina also shares that Granny died, and Doon exhibits genuine sympathy. In the Gathering Hall, they tell a guard about the mayor’s crimes. The guard writes a note: “Mayor stealing. Secret room” (165). He indicates action will be taken soon, and Lina and Doon leave.