Chapter Eight

Susie deteriorates after her desert ordeal, becoming reclusive and volatile. When the screen offers an ornamental vase for a banishment, the group escorts Susie to the perimeter despite her panic. A car arrives from the desert; an ordinary-seeming couple collects her. With numbers uneven, Evan voluntarily leaves that night. The next day the forgotten vase is found broken.

A few days later, the group trades two residents for a Persian rug: Mia and Marcus. Mia departs furiously, taking rewards and house items; no one escorts her. Marcus’s exit devastates Jacintha, who withdraws.

Life contracts to ten: Lily with Ryan, Jacintha with Carlos, Sam with Becca, Tom with Vanessa, Andrew with Candice. While Sam and Jacintha work on doors, Tom spearheads a rough but large shed project with Sam and Ryan’s help. The boys congregate there; the girls gather on the patio. Lily tries to comfort Jacintha, who grieves Marcus and rejects pressure toward Carlos.

Alone on chores, Lily checks a Personal Task—use the outdoor shower for pajamas—and instead finds Ryan and Vanessa having sex under the shower. Shaken, she hides until Andrew’s whistle calls a Communal Task: every resident must kiss each other for a barbecue. Lily initially refuses, but agrees after Sam urges respect for comfort and Andrew pushes the reward.

On the lawn at dusk, Andrew plays showman; his ease makes the male–male kisses tolerable for others. Candice’s sensual turn electrifies the group. Ryan’s kiss with Lily reveals to him that Lily knows about Vanessa. Lily subtly provokes Sam with a lingering kiss when it is his turn.

Last, Lily moves through the circle, delivers light kisses, then shares a deep, unignorable kiss with Sam, drawing silent attention. Afterward, Lily waits for Sam in the orchard, but he does not come. That night, Ryan tries to talk; Lily refuses. At dawn, distant bushfires creep closer.