Unwind: Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis

Ariana tells Connor that he’s smart enough to survive to age 18. Connor isn’t sure about this, but Ariana makes him feel more confident. She begins to cry, which makes Connor feel momentarily invincible, but soon he once again feels like a kid marked for unwinding in one week. He focuses on the traffic rushing below them and thinks that being in such a dangerous spot makes him feel alive. Ariana suggests that they run away, since she’s fed up with life too. Connor latches on, as kicking-AWOL alone is terrifying. He asks Ariana to go with him and kisses her. She agrees.

Connor gets home and greets his dad, who’s watching the news. The clappers blew up an Old Navy. Connor makes a joke about this, but Connor’s dad doesn’t laugh. Connor thinks that his parents don’t know he knows he’s being unwound. A few weeks ago, Connor found three tickets to the Bahamas. More sleuthing revealed the Unwind order for Connor, which they scheduled for the day before leaving for the Bahamas. Connor managed to control his anger and has spent the last few weeks being especially kind and doing well in school, so they feel horrible. It hasn’t made him feel any better, and now he feels sorry for them.

At two a.m., Connor gets up and packs. He heads to Ariana’s house and dials her number. He hears it ring inside and thinks she was supposed to leave her phone on vibrate. He sneaks around to the front porch and Ariana opens the door. She’s wearing pajamas and says that it’s a bad time—her sister’s getting married, and she has to go to school. Connor points out that running away is the only way to save his life, since he’s going to be unwound. Ariana points out that she’s not going to be unwound and closes the door.

Connor knows that being cautious is the only way to survive to 18, at which point they can’t unwind him. He heads down to a rest stop by the interstate, thinking that he could sneak into a semitruck. He waits until he sees a few cop cars arrive and circle the lot. He dives under a truck, notices a trucker leaving the door to his sleeping compartment open, and races across the lot and into the truck. There’s not much space to hide, and the trucker returns for a jacket and catches Connor. Connor begs for help, and inexplicably the trucker grabs a deck of cards and begins doing tricks. He tells Connor that after an accident, the arm—which came from an unwound kid who knew card tricks—was grafted on at the elbow.

The trucker introduces himself as Josias Aldridge and agrees to let Connor ride with him until morning. Connor nods and wakes to shouting police. He thinks that Josias ratted him out, but the Juvey-cops point their weapons at Connor’s classmate, Andy Jameson, in another truck. Andy catches Connor’s eye and his look of despair turns to triumph. He leads the cops away from Connor and Connor cries as Josias begins to drive away. Connor wakes up from a good dream about his dad caring for him when his phone rings. It’s his dad. A voice tells Connor to get out of the truck, and Connor crawls out to see Juvey-cops and his dad. Connor’s dad calls him “son,” which fills Connor with rage.

Connor bolts across the interstate. Juvey-cops shoot tranquilizer bullets at him as he climbs over the median. A Cadillac almost hits him, but it swerves and stops. Connor sees a terrified kid dressed in white in the backseat. He reaches in through the window and opens the door.