Summary of chapter 8

They get to Corrie’s just before the sun comes up. And as Ellie peddles the bike, She can’t
bring herself to think about the lawnmower and the soldiers. Ellie can’t wrap her head
around the fact that she probably just killed three people and that Robyn and Lee are
missing. When they got inside Corrie’s home, Corrie makes coffee, and Fiona sits staring.
Homer wanders around, gathering food and silverware. The kitchen feels empty without Lee
and Robyn, but they slowly begin talking, and they are soon all talking over one another.
Homer stands up and throws a glass mug against the fireplace, shattering it. “Greek
custom,” he says, telling them to speak one at a time. Ellie takes a deep breath and tells
Homer and Fiona what she saw at the Showground with Corrie and Kevin. As she gets to the
part about the lawnmower and the soldiers, Ellie begins to have trouble. She just can’t
believe she has killed people. She feels “permanently damaged,” like she will “never be
normal again.”
As Ellie tells the lawnmower story, she nervously shreds a cereal box. Homer puts his hand
on Ellie’s, calming her, and Corrie stands behind her, placing her arms around Ellie. Fiona sits
stunned, unable to believe what she is hearing. Kevin stands alone and quiet. Homer tells
them all not to feel bad. “This is war now,” he says, “and normal rules don’t apply.” Ellie
asks Homer what happened on the way to Fiona’s, and Homer says it wasn’t as exciting as
their experience. They did see some overturned police cruisers and ambulances, and the
shops in town have clearly been looted. And blood, Fiona says, lots of blood. But no bodies.
In town, Fi heard a noise, so they snuck into a public men’s room. They hid in the janitor’s
closet in the back, and three soldiers came in to use the bathroom. They spoke a language
neither of them recognized, and while they don’t know what language it was, Homer says it
definitely wasn’t Greek. Once Homer and Fiona arrived at Fiona’s, Fiona saw a few people in
the park nearby. Homer didn’t see them, but Fi swore they weren’t soldiers and yelled to
them.

Quote:
“This is war now.” –Homer said this, and I found it cool on how he said that line.