Legend

The day before Day is scheduled to be executed, June agrees to go to a movie with Thomas to “make sure [she] keep[s] Thomas feeling good about their relationship. No need for him to get suspicious” (276). A hurricane is bearing down on Los Angeles, and as they watch the movie, Thomas asks June where she went last night. June invents an excuse about not being able to sleep and going to the rooftop. Thomas explains that he came looking for her because he wanted to tell her that, per Commander Jameson’s request, “[they’re] moving up Day’s execution time” (279), and he will now be executed that evening. June panics inwardly, wondering if she can still pull off the rescue attempt now that she only has eight hours to save Day’s life. June wonders if Commander Jameson suspects that June will try to rescue Day, and she spends the rest of the movie trying to figure out a new plan.

Day learns that his execution time has been moved up, and he wonders if June will still be able to help him escape. He wonders, “What could have hurt her so badly that she, with all her privileges, would turn against the Republic?” (282). After hours of waiting, June appears in his cell with Commander Jameson and asks Day if he has any last requests. At June’s silent urging, Day requests to see John one more time. They bring him to John’s cell, and Day says goodbye to his brother. John tells Day to “make them work for it” and to “scare them [...] All the way until the end” (286). Day is led toward the firing squad with June and his guards, but as they approach, Thomas intercepts and tells June that she’s “under investigation” and to “follow [him]” (287).

June reveals to the reader that John is already hiding in the ventilation shaft of his cell, awaiting her signal. Thomas explains that “Commander Jameson asked [him] to detain [June]” (288) and question her. June reluctantly goes along with his request, and she follows Thomas into the basement where the weapons are stored. Thomas explains that “an electro-bomb’s gone missing” (289) and again questions June about her whereabouts last night. June plays dumb, and just as Thomas implies that June might have been planning to help Day, “an explosion rocks the entire corridor” (290). June realizes that the Patriot attack has begun, and she scrambles to escape from Thomas. She heads for the firing squad, where John and Day are trying to fight off their guards, whose guns aren’t working because of the electro-bomb. John tells June and Day to escape without him, and he starts running “back toward the firing squad yard” (293) to create a distraction. The Patriots lead June and Day to their motorcycles, and the two are taken away from Batalla Hall.

Day awakens to find himself on a strange roof next to June. June explains that Patriots rescued them and brought them to the city’s outskirts. She points to a Jumbo-Tron, which reports, “DANIEL ALTAN WING EXECUTED TODAY BY FIRING SQUAD” (296). However, the news footage shows a young man who looks almost exactly like Day being executed. Day realizes that “The boy is John” (297), and he begins to yell at June, who assures him that John decided to switch places with Day. June is injured, and as Day tends to her wounds, she admits that “it didn’t go according to [her] plan” and that she “wanted to get both [Day and John] out” (298). She tells Day that he has to run because sooner or later, the Republic will realize that they executed the wrong boy. Day grieves his brother but remembers that he still has to help Eden. He asks June why she threw everything away for him, and she confesses that “[he] [was] right [...]. About all of it” (299). The two embrace, and Day begins to cry.

Despite the Republic’s frequent news headlines reporting Day’s execution, June states that “the whispers have started in the streets and dark alleys, rumors that Day has cheated death once again” (301). June and Day camp out in an old rail yard among dilapidated train cars. Day explains that he wants to go to Vegas to “find Tess and make sure she’s safe with the Patriots” (302) before finding Eden near the warfront, where he has been taken by the generals. June insists on coming with him, and when Day calls her a fool for wanting to stay with someone like him, June replies that “[they’re] both fools” (303). They kiss, and June tells Day that it “feels like [they’re] the same person born into two different worlds” (304). June asks why Day chose his street name and replies, “Each day means everything’s possible again” (304). This reminds June of Metias, and she sits close to Day and watches the rain fall until dawn.