They Both Die at the End: Rufus Emeterio, 1:05 a.m. Summary & Analysis

Rufus is in the middle of beating Peck, who stole his girlfriend, when Death-Cast calls. Mateo’s friends, Tagoe and Malcolm, stare with terrified looks. Rufus thinks of his parents and sister, who died in the Hudson River. He vows not to vomit. Rufus doesn’t pick up and Death-Cast calls again. Peck also looks terrified—He might get a call too. Malcolm tosses out the possibility that Peck might have a weapon and kill Rufus. He rifles through Peck’s backpack, dumping out some comic books, but there’s no gun. Tagoe rushes forward, answers the phone, and hands it to Rufus. A man named Victor tells Rufus that he’s is going to die in the next 24 hours.

When Rufus corrects him that he only has 23 hours, Victor apologizes. Rufus tries to control his temper; he knows Victor is just doing his job, though he can’t fathom why anyone would work for Death-Cast. Victor runs through the forecast, classes and festivals, and restaurants with Decker discounts. Rufus interrupts and asks how heralds know who’s going to die. Victor insists he doesn’t know, but Rufus thinks this is silly. Rufus snaps that he’s 17 and will never get married or have kids. He asks if this makes Victor mad and asks Victor to be a person. Victor clears his throat and says that an hour ago, he informed a woman that her four-year-old daughter is going to die. She cried, but Victor still had to dispatch a cop in case the woman kills her daughter—which, he says, isn’t the most disgusting thing he’s done as a herald.

When the call is over, Rufus prays that he doesn’t drown like his parents and Olivia. He walks back to Peck, slams him against the wall, and informs Peck that he didn’t win—Aimee didn’t break up with Rufus because of Peck. He destroys Peck’s phone for good measure and tells him to leave. Malcolm asks Rufus about Peck’s gang connections, but Rufus insists that Peck is the “gang reject” and can’t contact anyone anyway. Tagoe points out that Death-Cast can’t call Peck either. Rufus can’t stop shaking. He knows he could’ve killed Peck and he knows that he’d never be able to live with himself if he had—he already feels bad enough for surviving when his family didn’t. Rufus heads for his bike and tells Malcolm and Tagoe they can’t come with him, but they follow him home anyway. They’re Plutos—they stick together.