In Nona’s early months in the refugee city, most people are not suspicious of Nona because they assume trauma explains Nona’s odd innocence. Nona dislikes being seen as merely pretty and foolish, so after learning enough to go outside and talk to strangers, Nona seeks a way to be useful.

Nona is noticed watching children at a nearby school. The teacher Joli visits Nona’s apartment and tries to persuade Pyrrha and Camilla to let Nona attend, only to learn that Nona is nearly nineteen and cannot read or write. Nona gives away the apartment details, alarming Camilla and Pyrrha, and Pyrrha deflects Joli’s suspicion by flirting; afterward, Camilla and Pyrrha forbid school because it is dangerous.

Later, Pyrrha tells Nona that Palamedes has argued successfully for a trial: Nona may attend half days if Nona rehearses safe answers first. At school, Nona becomes a Teacher’s Aide in name, but Nona mainly enjoys games, markers, and looking after Noodle, the six-legged dog belonging to the science teacher known as the Angel. Nona’s gift for languages is explained away as the result of many resettlements, and the teachers stop trying to educate Nona directly.

After a week, a group of children led by Hot Sauce claims Nona as a friend. They initially value Nona because Nona is older, lives in the forbidden Building, and might obtain drugs or show them sinister hidden rooms, but Nona cannot fulfill these expectations. Hot Sauce protects Nona’s status because Nona speaks to the Angel and cares for Noodle, placing Nona at the edge of the group.

The children teach Nona slang, idleness, survival habits, and the geography of ruined spaces around the city. In an abandoned office building, they watch the road and feel deep underground tremors they call the Convoy. Nona is disappointed to learn from Pyrrha that a convoy is only vehicles in a line, but Nona still feels wonder whenever the underground rumbling passes beneath them.

During one gathering, Honesty says that when the children leave school, they will join up to kill zombies and necromancers. The children argue about necromancers, hidden spies, barracks, and whether necromancers may still be present. Hot Sauce solemnly says the necromancers will come back and that Varun the Eater is here for them, then avoids saying whether Hot Sauce will join. When Nona says Nona loves being there, Hot Sauce calls Nona sweet, and Nona feels fully accepted into the group, adding school friendship to Nona’s love for Camilla, Pyrrha, and Palamedes.