53 pages • 1 hour read
Neal ShustermanA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
On the Sulphur Queen, the McGill’s chief officer, Pinhead, asks the McGill what to do with the 14 barrels of brine on the ship’s deck. The McGill orders him to open them, revealing Nick, Lief, and another Afterlight. Nick recognizes the McGill, who declares himself their king and orders Pinhead to take Nick and Lief below deck, disappointed to find only three Afterlights in the barrels. (The McGill’s goal is to find 1,000 Afterlights in accordance with the fortune he read in a fortune cookie. When he collects them all, he can get his life back.) Below deck, Pinhead leads Nick and Lief past the rest of the ship’s crew, all of whom are ugly with mismatched features and crooked teeth. Nick and Lief break free and start running, hoping to escape. They open a door and fall into one of the McGill’s treasure hordes. When Pinhead catches them, he orders his crewmates to apprehend them.
Allie runs to Battery Park, where she sees the McGill’s ship. She boards the Staten Island Ferry with the living, careful not to sink into the deck. The ferry leaves the dock and heads to Staten Island. When Allie leans over the rail, she has nothing solid to hold on to and falls through the ferry itself, landing in the engine room, where she sees one of the pilots on break.
By Neal Shusterman