The Roar

Ellie’s pursuers force her from the lower shadows into the clouds above. The chase intensifies, but Ellie deftly eludes them. She descends into the shadows again, beneath the pillars supporting London’s “second level” (built to keep the rich above the flooding). Exhausted, she lands the fighter to take a rest, but she soon hears the engines of pursuing fighters. The chase continues, but she is hit by laser fire, and her fighter plummets toward the water below.

As children, Ellie and her twin brother, Mika, fight constantly, but her disappearance has shaken him deeply. He is the only one who believes she is still alive. As Ellie flies through lower London, Mika wakes up in the dead of night, sensing her presence. He hears muffled voices outside their apartment. When he sees a police pod hovering outside his window, he wakes his parents, but by the time they look, the pod is gone. His mother, Asha, tucks him into bed, but just then, Ellie’s fighter plunges into the water, and Mika feels “a crushing blow to his chest” (30), forcing the air from his lungs. Asha calls an ambulance.

Gorman watches from a police boat as crews dredge the river Thames for Ellie’s and Puck’s bodies. He reflects on his position as Minister of Youth Development, a Cabinet position that allows him to live a comfortable life above the squalor of The Shadows. Ironically, he “hate[s] children and [doesn’t] understand them” (36).

A salvage boat locates the Pod Fighter and hauls it to the surface. Gorman is surprised to see Ellie still alive in the half-flooded cockpit. He orders the police to shoot both Ellie and the monkey. Inside the cockpit, Ellie focuses intently on the windshield, and it is blown outward from the Pod Fighter, showering the police with water and debris. In the confusion, Ellie leaps into the water, clinging to the side of the boat, and Puck attacks the police chief. When Gorman orders the police to shoot Puck, Ellie boards the boat and uses psychic power to disarm them. Gorman, however, threatens to kill Ellie’s family unless she surrenders. She complies, and Gorman loads her and Puck into coffins for the trip back to the space station. When Gorman threatens to kidnap more children, Ellie is filled with rage. The anger inside of her intensifies into a “Roar,” and Gorman’s nose begins to bleed and his head to pound. The police quickly close the lid of the coffin, severing Ellie’s link to her captor.

At the hospital, Asha and David (Mika’s parents) are relieved to find their son is fine despite “some incoherent mumble about water in the engine” (49). The doctor suggests Mika see a therapist to deal with Ellie’s “death.” He also urges them to register Mika’s “mutation” (webbed feet) with Reception before they leave.

Mika relates a recurring dream to Helen, his therapist: He’s lying on a bed surrounded by people with televisions for heads. They threaten to eat him. Helen then bemoans the invention of “Everlife,” a pill to prolong life. She claims that “all the worst people got the most important jobs in the Northern Government after The Plague and now they never get replaced because they stay alive for so long” (55).

Mika arrives at his “refugee school” to find an unexpected surprise: balloons, streamers, and cupcakes festooning the usually drab classroom. Their teacher, Mrs. Fowler, informs them they have a guest speaker: a representative from the Youth Development Foundation (YDF). When she enters, however, she reminds Mika of one of the “Telly Heads” from his dream. She tells them about “Fit Mix,” a “formula to promote adolescent growth” (66) that will be provided for them every morning. Mika asks what’s in it, but she is vague on details. Although touted as a healthy alternative to “Fab food,” the standard diet of London’s poor, Mika refuses to drink it. The headmaster intervenes, threatening to fine his family if he doesn’t drink it, but Mika throws the mixture in his face. He is dragged out of the classroom.