Shatter Me

When Adam tells James that all of them have to leave and run for their lives, he is not scared but excited about the adventure. James immediately bonds with Kenji, and he is happy that he won’t have to be alone anymore. Kenji says that it will take them at least a couple of hours to get to his hiding place, so Adam suggests that they drive there in the tank. They are still talking when they hear something approaching, and Adam orders everyone to run into James’s room, where there’s a hidden exit. They all run out of the building just as something explodes very close to them. All they can hear are gunshots and footsteps, and they run away as fast as they can.

They pass by children who are playing outside, and Juliette tries not to think why there are only orphaned children and elderly people around, and why they live “on illegal land with soldiers who are not supposed to be here” (255). She looks at Adam, who is running, holding James tight in his arms. Kenji’s injured leg keeps them from running fast, so he asks them to leave him behind. Adam says that he won’t allow it and suggests that Kenji and James stay in a deserted building, while he tries to find a car because their chasers are after him and Juliette and not them. Before leaving, he tells Kenji to take care of his brother and promises James that he will be back soon to get him.

Adam and Juliette run through crowded streets. They don’t see a car anywhere, but bullets continuously fly past them. Juliette realizes that they are aimed at Adam and not her, so she tries to stay as close to him to cover him with her body. Although their situation is dire, Adam doesn’t offer Juliette any words of encouragement and doesn’t give her any orders. They both know that they can die any minute or that their chasers might find Kenji and James, yet they hold on for a chance to survive.

Adam and Juliette run into an old warehouse and try to find a fire escape. As they duck behind an abandoned desk, Adam hears one of the soldiers call him by the name and tell him that if he gives them Juliette, they will pretend they lost him. Adam uses the moment to shoot at them and run. Adam knocks everything over as he runs trying to create obstacles for their chasers. The building is more massive than they expected and when they finally find a door, it’s so rusted that they cannot open it. After a few tries, Adam finally manages to open the door, and they run into the street. There they finally see “three cars to choose from” (261), but suddenly they hear someone say that it’s about time.

Adam is shot, and his blood is everywhere on the ground. Juliette wants to run to him, but someone is holding her back and then drags her away, so she doesn’t see what happens to Adam. The person holding her is touching her face with his bare hands, and nothing happens. It’s Warner, and he takes her to a building that looks like a school. He tells Juliette how much he missed her, and she is terrified to see a genuine delight in his eyes. He tells Juliette that Adam is dead and backs her into a corner. He tells her how incredible it is that he is immune to her touch and that he has realized it after trying to stop her from jumping out of the window the day she and Adam escaped.

Juliette is stunned by how tender and sincere he is, “like a feral dog, crazed and wild, thirsty for chaos, simultaneously aching for recognition and acceptance” (263). Warner tells Juliette that they can really be together, and as his hands reach for her, she is shocked by “his gentle hands, his earnest eyes” (263). Warner keeps saying that he wants Juliette to choose him, to be with him. He tries to convince her that they would be perfect for each other and for the first time Juliette notices “just how attractive his voice is” (264). When Warner pushes her to the wall, Juliette notices a gun in his inside jacket pocket. She decides to give in to his touches and to use this as a chance to grab the gun.

Warner’s hands travel all over Juliette’s body, and he promises her that he will be very good to her. Although all she can think of is Adam and his blood everywhere, Juliette pulls Warner close to her and kisses him passionately, already trying to undo the first of his buttons. Juliette notices that Warner “tastes like peppermint, smells like gardenias” (266), and the electric charge between them surprises her. Warner perceives Juliette reaching for his buttons as encouragement and lifts her up against the wall. She uses the moment to quickly wrap her hands around the gun and shoot, and “this time the blood is not Adam’s” (267).

Juliette immediately runs away and begins to look for Adam. She already has a plan: to find Adam and then steal a car, get James and Kenji, learn how to operate the car, and drive all of them to a safe place. Juliette tries to move as quietly as possible, but she cannot see Adam anywhere. When she runs to a side street to hide from a soldier passing by, she notices Adam’s blood on the pavement. She tries to follow the blood stains, and they take her to “an old steel structure with an older rusted door that looks like it’s never been opened” (270). Juliette assumes that they must have taken him inside, but she can’t find a way to get in. She is so frustrated that she accidentally punches the door, but instead of feeling pain, her fist breaks through “12 inches of steel like it’s made of butter” (271).

Juliette cannot believe what just happened, but she is glad to make her way inside. The building she’s in is huge, and she tries to hear if there’s any indication that Adam is there. She strains her ears and hears heavy breathing. Juliette follows it and finds Adam “hanging from bound wrists, shirtless, bloodied and bruised everywhere” (272). As Juliette looks closer, she notices that he is hanging on a conveyor belt. She then realizes that the building thought to be a warehouse is actually a slaughterhouse. Juliette runs up to Adam, and he slightly lifts his head. He cannot believe she found him, but there is no time to explain because Juliette needs to get him off the conveyor belt as soon as possible. Adam tells her to take a knife from an inside pocket of his pants to cut the bindings. Juliette follows his instructions, and soon they both stagger to the door.

Adam tells Juliette that all the soldiers left because Warner wanted to torture him himself. They put him in this building because they were sure that the walls are so thick no one would be able to break in. That’s why Adam is amazed when he sees what Juliette did to the door. They run out and find a car: it’s unlocked, the keys are in the ignition, and there are even groceries on the backseat. When Adam asks about Warner, Juliette tells him what happened and he is in awe of what she has done, but she isn’t sure if Warner is really dead.