Dread Nation

As Jane and Katherine head home to see the breach in the wall, one of Katherine’s many suitors pulls up in a wagon and offers her a ride. He begins to rant about how Black enfranchisement is “why that horde is taking out the East” (412). Jane realizes that there is a single pack of shamblers destroying the cities in the East. He leaves them at the wall, and Jane and Katherine begin to investigate. The sheriff appears and shows them there were multiple breaches the previous night and insists that Katherine stay at home until the town is secure once again. He invites Katherine to dinner, which she accepts. As he rides away, Jane and Katherine begin to inspect the bodies of the shamblers from the night before, and they find Mr. Spencer among the dead. Jane theorizes that the sheriff and his men might have taken “a few malcontents out there to the fringe to teach them a lesson and something went wrong” (418-419). They realize that the number of people in Summerland is attracting the shamblers, and Katherine resolves to go to the sheriff and convince him to act to “consolidate everyone in a few defensible buildings” (419) and keep the townspeople safe.