Seventeen months after evacuations began, General Giles opens a press conference by warning that the footage about to be shown is disturbing. Video reveals familiar Colorado mountain towns now showing barren highways, skeletal vegetation, discolored waterways, and animal carcasses. Giles declares that toxic contamination has rendered large zones uninhabitable, possibly for months or years. Governor Clark states that multiple agencies are protecting evacuees, that he has not requested federal aid on principle, and that scientists cannot predict how long decontamination will take. He announces that the Council for Displaced Coloradans will offer relocation packages to those displaced from uninhabitable zones. When a reporter asks what triggered the initial evacuation, a woman with a gold lapel pin and a nearby man in a dark suit exchange a look; the man murmurs something into his sleeve. The communications director immediately ends the conference, and officials are escorted from the room.

Watching footage of the devastated mountains, Grandin resolves to leave camp, return to Feathermore, and find his father before it is too late.

Writing in the Camp Rogers Gazette, Harmony reports that the press conference ignited immediate unrest. Protesters occupied Incident Command headquarters, fights broke out, and arrests were made. Officials refused all interview requests, and the camp was locked down with a dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed through Halloween.