105 pages • 3 hours read
Dry
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BetaPart 4, Chapters 30-36Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 4: “Bug-Out”
Part 4, Chapter 30 Summary: “Kelton”
Day Six: Thursday, June 9th
On their way again to the bug-out the next day, Garrett confesses to Kelton that he revealed Kelton’s secrets to Henry. Kelton decides he needs to get back at Henry and get him out of the way since he is clearly dangerous. However, he cannot act now because Alyssa seems to trust Henry. As they drive, there is a thick haze, and the kids listen on the radio for news of fires. Henry convinces them not to open the last box of water. Eventually they reach the forest and head toward the bug-out. Alyssa, still angry at Kelton, ignores his presence. When they reach the bug-out, Kelton welcomes them in.
Part 4, Chapter 31 Summary: “Jacqui”
It immediately becomes clear that the bug-out has been ransacked. Since it was locked, Kelton knows that there couldn’t have been a break in and realizes that his brother was living in the bug-out for the last few months, so no water is left.
Part 4, Chapter 32 Summary: “Alyssa”
Alyssa is now glad that Henry convinced the group not to drink any more water. Kelton is distraught that Brady ruined their supply, and they all head back to the truck. When they open the last box of water, however, they find it full of brochures rather than cans. Alyssa then realizes that Henry knew all along that the box contained no water, and now he’s missing.
Part 4, Chapter 33 Summary: “Henry”
Henry sneaks away, planning to return to Charity’s encampment. Soon, however, he is tackled to the ground.
Part 4, Chapter 34 Summary: “Kelton”
Kelton tackles Henry and begins strangling him, but Alyssa gets him to stop. Jacqui and Garrett arrive, and then Jacqui pulls her gun on Henry. Alyssa tries to convince her to put the gun away while Henry begs for his life. Garrett wants Jacqui to shoot Henry, but instead she shoots into the sky and storms off. Alyssa wants to know why Henry lied. While she’s disgusted with him, she still doesn’t want Kelton to kill him.
Part 4, Chapter 35 Summary: “Alyssa”
They take Henry back to the bug-out and tie him up so that he can’t do anything suspicious. Kelton plans to go to the San Gabriel Reservoir nearby; he’s convinced that water will be there, and it’s closer than Charity’s camp. The group gathers the remaining supplies from the bug-out. Jacqui even gives the gun back to Kelton, not trusting herself with it anymore. Before they leave, Jacqui manages to crack a joke that makes everyone laugh.
Part 4, Chapter 36 Summary: “Kelton”
Kelton takes some of Brady’s comics to remember him by. He sees that Alyssa has been watching him, and Alyssa says that she’s sorry for Brady’s death. Suddenly, Kelton begins pouring his emotions out. He apologizes to Alyssa for spying on her when he was younger, saying that he did it only once and was so disgusted with himself that he stopped. Alyssa surprises him by asking what he saw. He says that he saw her singing and dancing. Alyssa then slaps Kelton, saying that they’ll never be even. Kelton accepts this, thinking, “The worst part about doing something inexcusable is that you can never take it back. It’s like breaking glass. It can’t unbreak” (324). Alyssa then surprises him again by kissing him on the cheek.
Part 4, Chapters 30-36 Analysis
In contrast to the mutual aid exemplified by Charity’s encampment, this section of the novel is filled with selfishness and betrayal, particularly Henry’s. When Alyssa realizes that his supply of water—which he used to manipulate his way into the group in the first place—is nothing but brochures, she thinks, “The sight of the pamphlets hits me like radiation. That is to say, I feel the sudden blast of this terrible truth, yet I know the full ramification of it hasn’t settled in yet. But it will” (311-312). Despite any previous anger at Henry and all she has experienced in the Tap-Out until this point, Alyssa has still been an essentially trusting and kind person, especially to those in her group. Henry’s betrayal of the group represents the opposite of Alyssa’s normal nature, and it forces her to confront the risks of trusting others.
Since the group left the McCracken house, much of the novel has been spent on the move. To these kids, the McCracken bug-out is a destination that promises water and therefore hope. Even when their journey is tough, this hope gives them the drive to push forward. When they open the bug-out and realize that Kelton’s brother, Brady, exhausted the water supply, they momentarily lose this hope. They pick up hope again only when Kelton gives the group another destination to aim for—the San Gabriel Reservoir. He tells the group, “It will be way down from its usual level—but there’ll still be some water there” (318). The promise of a new place to find water makes the group lighthearted again. Jacqui even cracks a joke, and Alyssa thinks, “It sets me off giggling, which gets everyone else laughing. And it occurs to me that even in these do-or-die moments, there’s still space for us to laugh. I guess that means we still have some fight left in us” (320). Here, Alyssa notices the difference that lightheartedness can make when facing a danger such as dehydration. What she doesn’t specifically note, however, is that hope in the novel is associated with action and movement toward a goal. If the characters think that they’ll be able to find water, they can suffer the pains of dehydration a little longer.
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