Wool

Early in the morning, Mayor Jahns knits while looking out at the newly clear view on the screen in the cafeteria. Bodies of former cleaners lie on the hill. Jahns chooses her needle carefully so that the knitting doesn’t unravel.

Deputy Marnes brings Jahns several files on candidates to replace Holston as sheriff. Jahns offers Marnes the job but he declines, saying he’s been deputy for a long time and plans to be one until he dies. Their top pick for mayor is a woman named Juliette who works in Mechanical, in the “down deep,” as the lowest levels are known in the silo. Juliette helped Holston and Marnes on a murder case in Mechanical a few years ago, and they found her “sharp as a tack” (46). Hearing Marnes praise Juliette, Jahns finds herself jealous. Jahns and Marnes, both elderly, agree that whoever they choose is likely to outlast them.

Marnes and Jahns watch as a tornado of dust starts to dirty the camera to the outside again. They decide to go down to Mechanical to talk to Juliette. Jahns has not been that deep in a long time. Marnes leaves his shadow, or trainee, with instructions for his absence, reminding her that people get rowdy after a cleaning.