Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of kidnapping, trauma, death, child death, and mental illness.

Avery convinces her father to offer a large reward for information about Max. She sees the news footage of Lucas, Scarlett, and Kristen revealing their unique memories and is jealous of the way Scarlett and Lucas stand close together. She gets bolt cutters from the garage, intent on breaking into the locked RV on Ryan’s property; she wants to peruse the collected information about The Leaving.

When she arrives, Lucas is already there; together they study the notes compiled by Lucas’s father about each abductee. Avery is attracted to Lucas but becomes convinced by his comments that he and Scarlett are a couple. Looking through the RV, they discover a 1960s or 70s paperback book called The Leaving, by Daniel Orlean, about a futuristic society in which all small children are sent away to forget their sad childhoods during “The Leaving” (141).

Scarlett visits Dr. Sashor. He tells her that her memories might be present, but her brain cannot retrieve them. He also suggests that because of “source errors,” the returned abductees will not be able to help the police find Max—the “memories” coming back to them may come from news or media, not their lived experiences.