I Am Legend: Chapter 16 Summary & Analysis

It’s four in the afternoon, and Ruth lies asleep in Neville’s bed. Neville sits in his living room, trying to understand what’s happened. It’s possible that Ruth is infected with the vampiris germ; however, Neville is willing to take the risk, since he hasn’t seen a human being in years. Neville still knows nothing about Ruth—he brought her back to his house, but she refused to speak to him, or to eat any food he gave her.

Ruth emerges from the bedroom, and Neville begins to ask her some questions. Ruth explains that she lived with her husband in Inglewood until recently. Her husband died last week, and before that, her two children died. Ruth has spent the last week wandering through Los Angeles. Suddenly, Neville stands up and gets a handful of garlic from his cabinet, and Ruth becomes revolted by the smell. Neville realizes that Ruth has been infected with the vampiris germ. In the last two years, Neville has learned that garlic is an allergen for the vampires; injecting it into their veins does nothing, but exposing them to the odor creates nausea.

Ruth insists that she isn’t infected at all; rather, she just has a weak stomach. Unconvinced, Neville asks to take a sample of Ruth’s blood. Ruth cries out, “Leave me alone!” Neville offers Ruth whiskey in order to calm her down. Suddenly, he realizes that he doesn’t care whether Ruth is infected or not. He tells Ruth that he can’t let her go out to the vampires at night: “You don’t know what they’d do to you.”