1)
Some additional settings to this novel are presented in chapters 14-20. First, there is the cavern where the human underground lives; it is musty, dirty and makeshift; everything is improvised, with people seemingly keeping on the move and attempting to remain productive and on their guard. Meyer's description of the cave manages to sell just how desperate the human resistance is, as they are forced to live in terrible conditions just to stay alive. The claustrophobia of the caves adds to both Wanderers' and the human characters' paranoia.
Next, several chapters in this section take place in the hot spring cavern that provides the human resistance with resources and power. For much of this section of the book, Wanderer is trapped there, held prisoner by Jared, as they attempt to keep her under control and isolate her from the rest of the group. This solitary location helps to convey Wanderer's loneliness during that section, as she even fears that she will forget how to talk, given how little she gets to do it during that near-week that she is trapped there.
After that, there is the room that Jeb leads Wanderer to after Jared leaves, Jeb having decided that Wanderer is safe enough to allow into the general population. Even though the conditions are better here (there is at least some structure, some furniture, and some semblance of walls and excavation), it still feels extremely desperate, rooms consisting of halls and darkness.
2) The most important character in this section is Jared , Melanie's former boyfriend, who starts to catch Wanderer's eye as well. He is effectively the main character of this section of the novel, as much of the conflict stems from his dilemma as to whether or not to trust this girl, who one was his lover but now is an alien creature. Much of this section is dedicated to his insistence that Wanderer should not be trusted and should be placed under heavy guard, which he does in silence for several days.
Jeb, an older man who is Melanie's uncle, provides the greatest amount of support for Wanderer, believing that she can fit in with the rest of the humans, as she is acting differently from the rest of the souls. Jamie, Melanie's brother, is also supportive of her inclusion, simply wishing to see his sister again. He desperately wants to prove himself a man, and so he keeps confronting Jared about not being kept in the loop.
3)
Considering Wanderer and Melanie as the protagonist of this section, their conflict is to stay alive while the humans determine what to do with them. At this point, they have reached a basic agreement with each other to cooperate, and so much of the conflict happens between camps of the human characters. Jared is distrustful of her, as is Kyle to an extent, but Jeb is friendly to her and thinks that she means no harm. The doctor is also nice to her, but only so he can cut her apart to see what she is made of. Jamie is torn and betrayed by what to feel about Wanderer, nonetheless wanting to see her desperately.
4) Melanie and Wanderer are brought to the human camp by Jared, and the debate begins about what to do with them. Over the course of these chapters, Wanderer manages to convey that she and Melanie have an arrangement, and that they escaped from the Seekers. They are imprisoned anyway, though she throws herself in front of Jared in order to protect him from a fight with Kyle. Eventually, Jeb breaks up the fight and shows her the hot spring cavern, which is the heart of their settlement. As the debate continues about what to do about Wanderer, Jared elects to keep her sequestered from the general population in the hot spring cave, which he does in silence for nearly a week.
Soon, Ian tells of a Seeker dressed in black that he sees nearby, who Wanderer admits is looking for her. Jared refuses to believe that she is an enemy of the Seekers and presses her for information, which she does not have. Eventually, he goes off on a raid, and Jeb tells her that she is fit to interact with everyone else, so she will be freed while Jared is gone. She is introduced to a room with a bed, and a hall-like room containing other human resistance members and food stores.
5)
My overall feeling as I read this part of the book was a generalized feeling of tension - no longer was the emphasis of the book on the conflict between Wanderer and Melanie, as they were pretty much working together. The conflict now became the gradual integration of Wanderer into the ranks of the human resistance. I was puzzled as to whether or not family members would react this way to one of their own coming back, but then I realized just how strange it must be for these characters to see the same face looking back at them, when they know there is something else inside.
6) While I obviously have not been the recipient of an alien parasite that fights for my body, I have felt the way Wanderer has felt at times in this section, where other members of their family seem to fight over them like pieces of meat. Often, parental arguments or sibling rivalries seem to be about the same kinds of power struggles that occur within this book. Jared, Jamie, Jeb and others constantly fight over either punishing or gaining Melanie or Wanderer's favor, which feels like many family reunions when cousins or aunts talk about you as if you are not there. In this way, the protagonist of the novel is tossed around unceremoniously by the plot a bit, without her being extremely proactive.
7)
My biggest question is the near-instantaneous adoration that Wanderer has for Jared. Almost right away, even as Jared is treating her in a hostile manner, she starts to become infatuated with him, which Melanie notices and disapproves of. I thought it strange how, other than some sort of consciousness bleedthrough of happy memories Melanie has of Jared, Wanderer could find herself falling for someone that fast at all, much less someone threatening her life. This was something that perplexed me a little bit, and I was not sure how to react.
Some positive moments where I stopped and thought revolved around the character of Jared. It is very clear that his hostile and unfriendly actions come from a sense of betrayal and confusion. Melanie was his girlfriend, someone he cared about very much, and yet suddenly he had to guard himself from her. This internal tension is evident in his actions, though he feels that being so distant to her is necessary to stay alive and not let her get too close to him emotionally.
8)
Many of the chapters in this section have the same sort of cadence or plot structure; Melanie and Wanderer are questioned or fought over by some combination of Jared, Jeb, the doc, Kyle, or Jamie, and the same arguments are phrased over and over again, regarding her allegiance. There are enough twists to not make it completely repetitive (the question of the Seeker, the long stretch of captivity in the hot spring cavern), but that part of the book tends to drag somewhat. Wanderer, in fact, is barely a character in these sections, as she merely maintains her damsel-in-distress schtick.
I would have empathized much more with her had she decided to take a more proactive role in either proving herself loyal to them or escaping such a hostile, unfriendly environment. Instead, both Melanie and Wanderer take their undeserved forty lashes without a word of resistance. Granted, this may have been to help prove that she would not hurt them, but it comes across more as a simple refusal to act, as other characters speak for her more often than she does (e.g. Jeb, Jamie). On an unrelated note, the prevalence of "J" names all at once often confused me sometimes, as I was not sure who was speaking.
