This Is Where It Ends: Chapter 9 Summary & Analysis

Autumn hesitates to answer her brother’s call. She’s surprised that the people around her don’t point her out right away. In a flashback, Autumn remembers the first anniversary of their Mom’s death. To distract her from their Dad’s alcoholic stupor, Tyler takes Autumn to a diner and later to a ballet performance of Othello. It’s the first time she’s “felt safe” since their mother died. Autumn had hoped that Tyler’s return to school this semester would begin a new era of safety and security for them. At the front of the room, Tyler suddenly shoots a kid who previously made fun of him in gym class.

Moving down the row, Tyler yanks a sophomore out of her seat; it’s Nyah, Asha’s younger sister. The younger girl calls to her sister for help and Asha tries to run to her, but other students tackle her to keep her safe. Still addressing Autumn, Tyler says that “it’s a terrifying idea” to “lose everything you care about.” Autumn knows she should do something to save Nyah and ensure that she has a future: the vibrant and messy high school life that they all took for granted before today.

Tomás recalls the long years during which his Abuelo taught him and his brothers all the tasks of running a farm, including picking locks. He never included Sylvia in these classes because she was “the apple of his eye” with a “bright future ahead of her,” but Sylvia was always angry about her exclusion and followed them to the fields anyway. Tomás thinks about Sylvia’s competence and facility in caring for their Mamá and the fearless attitude that defined her until last summer. It makes sense that Abuelo believes Sylvia could succeed, while he never has much faith in Tomás’s own plans to go to college.

Right now Tomás is trying to pick the padlocks on the auditorium, but the lock is strong and the paperclip snaps. He hopes Fareed is having better luck. Tomás admires his friend, who has overcome the stigma of being the only Muslim student in school to charm students and teachers alike, while also praying several times a day and remaining “confident in his traditions.” Tomás doesn’t even remember the words to the Spanish prayers he grew up with, and with his Mamá sick and Sylvia so distant, his family seems like it’s about to fracture.

Watching Nyah struggle in Tyler’s grasp, Sylvia is frozen in fear. Then she springs forward to join the group pinning Asha down. She knows it’s no use trying to protect the younger girl from Tyler, who “clearly doesn’t care about anything anymore.” She sees Autumn crawling down the aisle as Tyler threatens to continue killing people unless she reveals herself. Then he shoots Nyah and kills her.

Claire hears sirens in the distance and, exhausted, falls to the road. Chris tells her to get up and start running before her muscles cramp; thinking of Matt, she gets to her feet even though she has to retch several times. A line of police cars passes them and the last one stops and opens the door for them. Claire is anxious to return to the school and heartened to see that the police are taking care of the situation. But the officer sternly warns them not to try any kind of “heroic mission” or interfere in the operations.

On her blog, Mei Jameson posts that her father (Mr. Jameson) isn’t returning any of her texts, and that she hears sirens passing by outside. Anonymous commenters extend sympathy and prayers, but others accuse her of making up an emergency for attention and say that they “wouldn’t miss [her] at all” if she vanished from the blogosphere.