Lena and Alex make their way through the dark forest of the Wilds. Alex always seems to know which way to go, guided by a flashlight and blue markings on trees. In a clearing along an abandoned road, they see an old truck, house, and debris. Lena is astounded by everything she sees. She realizes that a 50-year-old event now known as the “Blitz” was actually a deadly bombing that killed thousands of Invalids in the Wilds, and not the benign clearing of land that government-authorized history books claim it to be. With the suddenness of these new realizations, she feels lost and unsure of where she belongs.

Alex brings her to a small trailer park filled with tents and ramshackle homes where his friends and family live; they are all asleep. He then shows her his own trailer, complete with a large book collection. Lena does not know what poetry is since it was banned after the cure was introduced. Alex recites love poems for Lena, seemingly confessing his love for her in doing so. Lena is afraid of uttering the word “love” and is overwhelmed by her own feelings. They sit under the open roof, viewing the stars, and Lena falls asleep in Alex’s arms.