After The First Death

Miro returns to the bus, feeling like he’s failing at his job to gain Kate’s trust. The memory of Kate’s exposed flesh still startles him, and he dislikes that Kate might be angry with him. As he contemplates his reaction, one of the children waves to him. Not sounding angry, Kate tells him to wave back. Miro does, uncomfortably, and then turns away, reveling in the knowledge that Kate spoke to him without anger. He ignores the bus and focuses on the memory of her skin with “a stirring inside him that he had never known before” (106).

Artkin summons Miro to the van, where he explains the three demands they have made in exchange for the safe return of the bus. Miro continues to ask questions, and Artkin explains that the reclamation of their homeland is many missions away but that this mission is a step in the right direction. Artkin does not believe they can fail because Americans will not allow children to die, but on the chance that the demands are not met by 9 o’clock the next morning, Artkin must kill the children to send a message. Miro returns to the bus, feeling “proud to have been taken into Artkin’s confidence” (115).

Back on the bus, Kate starts the process of appealing to Miro. She needs to make him see her as human and desirable so it will be difficult for him to kill her when the time comes. She asks why Miro and the others hijacked the bus, and Miro tells her about the constant war going on, even though most people are unaware of it. He describes the special school he attended, where he learned to kill and infiltrate society. Miro tells her his job in America was to bomb places, and Kate remembers explosions she saw on the news where innocent people died.

Kate asks if Miro feels anything for the dead. Miro doesn’t, seeing them only as casualties in war. He quotes from his schooling that all people are soldiers. Kate counters that the children know nothing of the war, yet one of them died. The section ends with them at odds over the differences in their views.