Chapter 12 Summary, Analysis, and Key Takeaways
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
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The chapter opens with the group walking south on a broken, overgrown road shortly after burying J.C. The air turns stale and ominous, and by early evening they enter a landscape completely razed by a forest fire from the previous summer. Blackened tree trunks stand short and bare, the ground is dark with carbonized branches and ash, and the orange sun silhouettes dead trees as far as they can see.
With no deadfall for a fire, the walkers bundle up in layers and endure one of their coldest nights of the trek. The next morning, Nangohns sits on the scorched ground while her father Evan kneels behind her, using a fish spine to work the knots from her long hair. He braids her hair into three sections, reminding himself of the unity of body, mind, and spirit that each cluster represents—a ritual he learned from his mother. He ties the braid with a strip of deer hide and taps her shoulder, and she squeezes his fingers in return.
They break camp and continue south through the barren terrain, passing streams and small lakes whose reflections of the blue sky are the only colour in the disfigured landscape. They spend a second night among the charred trees near a small lake. The next day, while resting, they hear a sharp caw and look up to see two crows flying southeast. Cal greets them in Anishinaabemowin, and the group takes the crows as a hopeful sign, deciding to follow their direction.
They climb a long hill in the spread formation they adopted before entering the city. From the summit, they see a broad valley with recovering greenery in the distance—maple, ash, and birch trees bearing the scars of the fire but showing signs of life. The highway lies before them, and the forest gradually returns to its lush, shaded state.
As they walk, Nangohns spots a strange gleam ahead. Investigating, Evan finds a cellphone lodged in the fork of a maple tree, positioned to reflect light toward the road. The phone has a blue case with a white leaf logo—it is Izzy's phone, which Evan had helped him pack before he left. The tree fork is carved, indicating the phone was deliberately placed as a marker. Tyler suggests it was left to be seen, and Evan points into the thick forest behind the tree, wondering if Izzy and Kevin wanted them to go that way.
They enter the woods in single file. Soon Nangohns spots a faded red nylon shirt wrapped around a pine tree at shoulder height. Evan recognizes it as the shirt he had lent to Izzy. He brings it to his face, smells it, and sinks to the ground, weeping. Cal and Tyler kneel beside him, and Nangohns and Amber place their hands on their shoulders. The group mourns Isaiah and Kevin, who had no final farewell.
Evan weighs the possibilities: either Izzy was marking a trail, or someone else got hold of their friends' belongings. He decides the trail-marker explanation is the only one that doesn't make his stomach churn. They continue in a straight line from the phone to the shirt, finding a T-shirt wrapped around an oak branch, then strips of faded green cloth tied to branches at roughly shoulder level. The markers continue until the forest opens into a wide glade, where the trail seems to end.
Nangohns suddenly holds up her hand and shushes the group. She hears high-pitched voices—children talking, and speaking Anishinaabemowin. She can make out the word