Legend

June watches Day leave in the middle of the night, and she follows him. She watches as he breaks into a house marked with an X, and “it’s all [she] need[s] to know” (141). June is angry that the boy she likes so much is also her brother’s killer, but she starts to wonder if Day did kill Metias. She then reminds herself that she can’t make excuses for her brother’s killer and wonders if the streets have turned her into a “simpleminded girl” (141). She speaks into her microphone and reports that she has found Day, and when she reports the location of the house she saw Day disappear into, Thomas remarks that “that’s the special plague case we’re meant to investigate tomorrow morning” (142). Thomas says that soldiers will be at the house tomorrow, and June says she wants backup there for when Day “shows up to protect his family” (142). She stresses that no one in the house is to be hurt, but Day will be captured.

That night, Day dreams about bringing June home to meet his family. But when he looks from June to his family, “John and Mom are still there, but Eden’s gone” (143). In the dream, June tells Day that Eden has died, which causes Day to wake up. He hears a distant siren, and he recognizes it as a “military medic truck,” which is used to “transport special plague cases to the labs” (144). Tess also awakens at the sound, and June, already awake, admits that she followed Day to his family’s house last night. She asks if Day is saving up his money for a plague cure, and when he admits that he is, she states that “[Day’s] too late [...]. Because today the plague patrol is coming for [his] family. They’re taking them away” (145).

Day begins to panic, and June lies and says she “overheard some guards talking about today’s sweep” (146). She encourages Day to go to his family to help evacuate them, and she feels a “surprising pang of guilt” because Day seems to trust her, and she is actively using that trust to trap him. As Day takes off, June encourages Tess to stay back and wait for them. June follows Day and Thomas reports that the soldiers are on their way to the house. June “want[s] to scream at [Day],” and she “want[s] to hate him for confusing [her] so much” (148). She reminds herself that she can’t have any sympathy for the boy who killed her brother.

Day rushes to his family’s home and bursts in. His mother is stunned to discover that her son is alive after all, and Day reveals that his real name is Daniel. He explains that there’s no time, that the plague patrol is on their way, and that “they’re coming for Eden” (151). Day hides his mother and his brothers under the porch, and as he prepares to face off against the plague patrol, they arrive with June. Day doesn’t understand why the Girl is with the soldiers, but then he realizes that “they’ve sent her to hunt [him] down” (155). The soldiers find Day’s family, and they are dragged out of their hiding place. Day uses his slingshot to fire at the soldiers, and June speaks to him and urges him to turn himself in, promising that “no one will get hurt” (156). When Day still refuses to come out, Commander Jameson steps forward and orders Thomas to execute Day’s mother. Day watches as “the captain lifts his gun and points it at [Day’s] mother. Then he shoots her in the head” (157).

June is horrified because “No one’s supposed to get hurt” (158). Day attacks the soldiers, receives a bullet wound to his leg, and is captured. They “cuff him, blindfold and gag him” (159), and haul him away. John is also taken away, and Commander Jameson and Thomas are pleased that Day has finally been captured. June, however, is disgusted and “can’t bring [her]self to look at Thomas” or “ask him how he can bear to follow orders so blindly” (159-60). June looks at the body of Day’s mother and expects to feel some satisfaction about avenging her brother’s death, but “the feeling doesn’t come” (160). Instead, June is sickened by the carnage and has to remind herself that she should be relieved that Day has been captured.