Downriver
- Todd hears birds and running water and feels light and soft sheets. And silence. He wakes up in a small bright room. Viola is asleep in a chair next to him.
- Viola sees him wake up and gives him a huge hug; she says that they didn't know if he'd wake up.
- She explains that they're in a settlement called Carbonel Downs. She stops talking when Todd looks down at the foot of his bed and realizes that Manchee isn't there; Todd remembers the poor dog's last moments.
- A large man named Doctor Snow walks into the room. He's here to check on Todd's health, and has an accent similar to Viola's.
- Doctor Snow explains that Todd has been passed out for five days—he was so ill that he wasn't even giving off Noise. Sickness this bad is rare.
- The doctor assures him that he'll be safe where he is, and that they will defend themselves against this army. Todd is skeptical, as always.
- Todd insists that they can't stay. The doctor tells him he must stay until he is well, though, and that the elders of the down want to talk to him.
- The doctor's little son, Jacob, appears in the door, looking for his father. Before he leaves, Doctor Snow says that the elders will meet with Todd soon about defending their city.
- Todd is left alone with Viola.