39 pages • 1 hour read
William ForstchenOne Second After
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2009A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 8-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 8 Summary: “Day 35”
By the 35th day post-blackout, Black Mountain has made minor progress. A working telephone line between the police station and Swannanoa was installed. More than 100 vehicles were restored, and a tractor is being used as a fire engine. The Edsel car radio picks up broadcasts from Voice of America, so news from the outside world trickles in. The US secretary of state is now in charge, overseas countries are sending relief to the coast, and three emergency restructuring centers were set up off the eastern seaboard at Charleston, Wilmington, and Norfolk.
Though the news provides a glimmer of hope, the local situation remains dire. Kellor warns the town council that a new epidemic is on the horizon. Most diabetics will die soon without insulin, mental patients could lapse into psychosis, and hardcore drug addicts and alcoholics will go into withdrawal. Deranged behavior among the general population will also increase. John concludes, “‘If we have people going off the deep end, or if they definitely have a prior record of severe mental disorder, indeed, we’ll have to lock them up, for everyone’s protection’” (225).
The town council turns its attention to the most serious problem facing Black Mountain: the growing food shortage. An argument breaks out when someone suggests increasing food rations for critical personnel like soldiers, police, and firefighters. Everyone eventually agrees, but they decide to distribute the extra food in secret to avoid rioting among the general population. Reports of starving, wild dogs prompt another member to propose killing all the town’s dogs for food. John vehemently refuses to shoot his golden retrievers; he believes this crosses a line that no civilized society should consider.
On the way home, John watches soldiers escort a band of refugees across the border; a woman who breaks out of line almost gets shot. Washington tells John that border security needs to be strengthened because there are rumors that a gang called the Posse is taking over the interstate highway: “‘They’re sort of like an urban legend among the refugee bands on the road. Some say they’re a thousand strong and well armed. They’re moving like ancient barbarians out there’” (247). They are led by a Satan worshipper who claims God has abandoned the living. Washington urges John to figure out a tactical plan to deal with the gang before they arrive in Black Mountain.
Chapter 9 Summary: “Day 63”
John is startled in the middle of the night by the sound of his dogs barking wildly; intruders have broken into the house. He runs outside and exchanges gunfire with the thieves, shooting one and wounding the other. John’s dog, Zach, is mortally wounded. Without hesitation, John kills the second thief but does not have the heart to kill his dog. Grandma Jen does it instead, and they give the dead animal to a neighbor for food.
Later that morning, John goes to the police station to talk to Charlie about some troubling new developments. Don, who has been flying recon missions for the town, spotted the Posse moving toward Black Mountain. The gang consists of at least one thousand members, and Don witnessed gang members butchering human bodies and cooking them for food.
John and Charlie drive to the college to alert Washington that his student army needs to be ready for battle the following morning. The news does not surprise Washington. He speculates that the gang is made up of prison escapees who banded together to take whatever they want: “‘And those barbarians, for they are barbarians, know only one thing now. Find food and gorge and take and inflict pain as they never dreamed possible before this happened’” (270). During the conversation, it is revealed that Dan Hunt, the college president, is refusing food so the students can eat.
As Washington prepares his troops, John and Charlie mobilize the rest of the town’s militia. Once the soldiers have their assigned positions, John goes home to evacuate his family. Grandma Jen gives him the upsetting news that Elizabeth is pregnant. Ben wants to marry her, and John overcomes his shock to give the young couple his blessing. There is no time to plan a wedding, however, as the family must evacuate immediately. John debates what to bring with them: “He scanned his office. What to take? The portrait of Mary of course […] He then checked the loads in the Glock and the shotgun and shouted for his family to get moving” (290)
Chapters 8-9 Analysis
The fragile level of regional civilization Black Mountain has successfully maintained is under threat from internal and external forces. Kellor predicts that inhabitants who depend on various substances will begin to experience withdrawal symptoms. The more severe cases of addiction or mental illness might become a danger to others and may need to be locked up for the safety of the community.
The risk of psychosis is not the only internal threat facing the town; starvation looms large. When the police chief suggests slaughtering and eating pets, the council reacts with revulsion. Such an act suggests the very sort of barbarism that they are trying to quell. The importance of pets is a strong motif throughout the novel, making it all the more devastating when one of John’s golden retrievers is shot by a looter and fed to the neighbors.
External threats are represented by a large biker gang, the Posse. Its members are prison escapees, meaning they expressed contempt for civilized authority even before the EMP attack. Now, the legal system that once contained them no longer exists, so they are free to cause chaos.
Additionally, the Posse focuses attention on yet another consequence of the breakdown of civilization: the breakdown of social and spiritual order. Without much hope, pseudo-religious demagogues are capable of flourishing. People flock to the charismatic gang leader’s side because they no longer trust the tenets of traditional religion, and he is able to exploit their fears.
