Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses the source text's depiction of child death, abandonment, mutilation, and abuse, as well as attempted sexual assault.

The novel opens with a shocking revelation. Connor, from whose point-of-view the chapter is told, is trying to figure out how to survive until he is 18: “He still can’t believe that his life is being stolen from him at sixteen” (3). Connor and his friend Ariana sit near speeding cars, and “For Connor it’s not about stupidity, or even rebellion—it’s about feeling life” (4). Ariana suggests she run away with him. Connor feels relieved because he’s scared of being alone. Unfortunately, Ariana’s parents don’t like Connor. He imagines them saying, “We always knew he’d be an Unwind” (5).

He heads home, happy to know Ariana will run away with him. “Connor wonders how he can call the place he lives home, when he is about to be evicted—not just from the place he sleeps, but from the hearts of those who are supposed to love him” (5). His parents don’t know he knows. He found a signed Unwind order, which means that he will be killed so that his body parts can be given to those in need.