Shift

Mission rushes down to Supply. He waits there for several minutes to speak to the woman, Joyce, whom Wyck told him to speak to. Joyce tells him that someone already picked up the order. Mission asks where it was going in the hopes of catching up to Cam, and she tells him six levels down. As Mission rushes downstairs, he hears an explosion down below and sees the railing torn apart. Mission rushes toward the damage, realizing that the explosion happened on the level where Cam was headed. Mission reaches the landing and finds the door to level 116 blown apart. Above him, a woman screams that a porter caused the explosion.

Mission rushes downstairs toward the lower dispatch on level 120. As he runs, he can feel a crowd rushing after him. Because of the missing railing, a man falls to his death. Smoke is everywhere, and Mission realizes that it’s rising from below.

Donald was given a copy of the notes Victor made on Donald’s report separate from the report. He has studied them relentlessly but can’t figure out what Victor believed was the solution to the turmoil inside Silo 18. Donald has also studied Victor’s many reports on human behavior, trying to find a connection to what happened. In Victor’s computer files, he has found that one file Victor accessed often is a list of the silos ranked in order for an unknown purpose. Additionally, Donald has searched all the files for Charlotte but can’t find her.

Donald has gotten into the habit of taking a walk through the armory to strengthen his muscles and has begun doing jumping jacks and push-ups as well. On the third day, Donald discovers a small garage door hidden behind tarp-covered drones. Donald gets a flashlight and discovers another door. Through it is a hallway that leads to dorm rooms, bathrooms, and a remote pilot room filled with a dozen stations. It reminds him of the place from which Charlotte flew drones during the war. At the same time, Donald remembers the pills he once took and connects them to his ability to remember.

Donald meets with Thurman and Dr. Sneed, informing them that he knows why he can remember, but he wants to see Charlotte before he tells them. Thurman takes Donald to a smaller storage room marked “Emergency Personnel.” Inside a cryopod with only a number on it, he sees Charlotte. As he gazes at his sister, Donald tells Thurman that he had a prescription for a drug called Propra that he obtained through Charlotte’s doctor under her name and insurance. He tells Thurman he did it this way because Helen worried that if word got out that he was taking the drug, it might impact his election. Thurman thanks him for the information and adds that Victor might have been more interested in Donald’s memories than in his report.

Donald asks what will happen to Silo 18, and Thurman says that Victor wanted to reset the silos by reducing the population and wiping people’s memories. They enter the cafeteria and collect trays of food. Donald gestures to the screen and asks why the other silos have screens. Thurman says it’s to keep them afraid of what’s outside. They take their trays to the elevator and ride down to the armory. As Thurman and Anna talk, Donald returns to his study of Victor’s notes and has a breakthrough. Donald realizes the problem is that someone in Silo 18 remembers. He says they need to identify that person and remove them.

Mission continues making his way to Lower Dispatch, convinced now that the package Cam was delivering was the bomb. Mission arrives at Lower Dispatch as his coworkers put out a fire. The farmers raided Lower Dispatch and burned the beans that Roker was growing there. Several people were killed, including Roker. While the other porters discuss revenge, Mission tells them what happened upstairs. Mission expresses the opinion that IT is behind the unrest. He explains about the job seekers. Mission decides that he needs to go back up top.

Mission tries to get a message to his friends by first calling Central Dispatch, but no one answers. He finally gets an answer from one of the way stations and learns that some kind of fight occurred at Central and that people are looking for both Mission and Cam because of the bombing. Mission convinces this porter to send a message arranging to meet his friends at the school through the mayor’s computer. Mission convinces two other porters, Joel and Lyn, to help him get a change of clothes so that he can sneak up to the top. Joel shows him numerous white coveralls that IT recently ordered. Mission has a better idea and pulls out a black body bag.

Mission hides inside the body bag and has his friends carry him up to the top, just like he and Cam carried the dead body up the day before. They emerge from Lower Dispatch and begin to make their way up the central stairs. As Mission is carried, he reflects on how he hates being a burden and on the day two years ago when he tried to hang himself because he felt like a burden to those around him.

Donald locates the person in Silo 18 who has memories of the past by searching for a person who (like himself) avoids doctors and doesn’t trust the water. He gives the name to Thurman and accompanies him to the comm room to call the head of IT in Silo 18. They attempt to speak to Wyck, but Wyck’s shadow, Rodny, answers the call. At first, Rodny is emotional, but Thurman runs him through the questions generally asked during the Rite of Initiation, focusing the boy’s mind on the words in The Order and the silo’s purpose. With just a few questions, they convince Rodny of the right thing to do.

Anna joins Donald in bed, and this time he gives in to her touch, no longer angry at Helen for living her life without him. The next morning, Anna is gone when he wakes. He knows he has little time before Thurman comes for him, so Donald quickly makes his bed and hurries down the hall, puts on a containment suit, and climbs into the launch ramp for the drones. Donald wants to die near his wife’s resting place.

The ride takes a long time, and Donald’s flashlight keeps going out. When he arrives at the top, he’s in a launch bay. He climbs to the top of a steep slope and out the doors. He orients himself and walks to where he knows Silo 2 is located. He remembers the tents and the ATVs—and the vitality that existed here once. It’s all gone now, but he locates the tower for Silo 2. He sits beside it and takes off one glove so that he can remove his helmet.

Thurman and a couple of Security men grab Donald and pull him back to Silo 1. Donald fights but can’t get away. Inside the launch bay, Dr. Sneed and Erskine wait with a syringe that immediately puts Donald to sleep. As his consciousness fades, he hopes they never wake him.

The journey upward is long and difficult for Mission, Joel, and Lyn, so they’re relieved when they finally reach Central Dispatch. However, they’re shocked to discover the place apparently empty. When they open the door to one of the bunk rooms, they find dozens of dead bodies: their friends and coworkers. Mission decides to make a run for it now that they’re close to the school.

Because he’s wearing a white coverall, the people Mission encounters are afraid of him and back away when he approaches. He arrives at the school and finds Frankie and Allie in Mrs. Crowe’s classroom. Mrs. Crowe asks if Mission got her message to Rodny, and when she learns he did, she announces that everything will be okay. However, when Mission tells her about the note Rodny slipped to him, Mrs. Crowe’s confidence seems to waver slightly.

Allie (Mission’s childhood sweetheart) pulls him aside and tells him that his brother, Riley, was killed during a fight at the farms. Rodny arrives with a group from Security. Rodny enters the room alone and confronts Mrs. Crowe, accusing her of creating dissension. When Rodny aims a gun at Mrs. Crowe, Mission jumps in front of it and a bullet goes through him into Mrs. Crowe. When Mission falls, Rodny shoots Mrs. Crowe a second time. Allie falls to her knees beside Mission and puts pressure on his wound.

Mission returns home from the farm and washes his hands, contemplating the roast he can smell cooking in the kitchen and the precious candles Allie has lit on the table. He guesses at the reason, fear filling him because their ticket is up. However, Allie assures him that the pregnancy happened a month earlier, when their ticket was still in effect. They start their celebratory dinner and discuss baby names. Allie wants to name the baby Allison if it’s a girl, according to her family’s tradition. Mission suggests the name Cam for a boy but can’t recall why the name is familiar. In addition, Mission is embarrassed that he can’t remember when his birthday is.