the day after
- The Eagle stops by Miles's and the Colonel's room and tells them they need to get to the gym but tells them that they're not in trouble.
- Miles and the Colonel walk to the gym, where the rest of the students are sitting on bleachers.
- The Eagle walks to the podium and asks if everyone is here. Miles says that Alaska isn't, and then the Eagle drops the bomb: "Alaska Young was in a terrible accident […] And she was killed. Alaska has passed away" (thedayafter.25).
- The gym is silent.
- Miles runs outside and tries to throw up. He tells himself that she's just being Alaska, that she's playing a trick, but then he returns to the gym and he sees people's reactions—the Colonel is lying on his side, screaming "I'm so sorry" (thedayafter.34).
- Making his way to the Eagle, Miles tells him that it might be a prank. But the Eagle says it wasn't. He says she was on the highway south of downtown and she hit a police cruiser that was on the scene of a jackknifed truck; she was intoxicated, and she died instantly (thedayafter.38).
- Lots of things run through Miles's brain: Alaska's face, her mouth, her death, and the fact that he will never know her last words.
- Walking to their room, the Colonel falls down, Miles picks him up, and they hug, consoling one another as best they can.