Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre

The chapter begins with Roosevelt’s account of the Bauman incident, in which Bauman discovered the corpse of his friend. His friend showed recent signs of having been bitten in the throat. Nearby tracks suggested that the assailant snuck up on Bauman’s friend and caught him unaware.

In the early hours of October 13, Kate leaves to search for Vincent while everyone else is still asleep. Dan catches up to her and gives her a javelin, accompanying her on her search. They follow Scout’s path to the ridge where another Bigfoot had been waiting. In a concealed clearing, they find piles of bone fragments and ash, collecting the different animals the Bigfoots have hunted over the past few days. Among the mounds is one of Vincent’s hiking poles. Kate identifies the clearing as the creatures’ lair.

The Bigfoots emerge, confronting them. Kate identifies each of them by their body type and their assumed function: the Twins, Consort (Alpha’s mate), Scout, Gray (an older male), Granny Dowager (an older female), Princess (an adolescent female), Juno (a pregnant female), a young male she’ll later call Goldenboy, and Alpha. Just before the Bigfoots can grab them, Mostar arrives with a flame-tipped spear, which she uses to push the Bigfoots back. She threatens them, using language that mixes Bosnian with the creatures’ guttural noises. This gives the Hollands a chance to escape.

Kate, Dan, and Mostar reach the Perkins-Forster residence. Mostar concludes that the Bigfoots are afraid of fire, which can help influence their defense planning. She scolds and slaps Kate for her recklessness and then orders Dan, Carmen, and Palomino to craft more stakes. She leads Kate outside to show her that the Bigfoots returned Vincent’s head, leaving it on the slope near the Boothe residence. They resolve not to tell Bobbi what they have found.

Mostar takes Kate to her workshop and teaches her how to make a spear using bamboo, knives, and wire. She communicates her hope that Kate will teach the others how to make their own spears, but doesn’t elaborate on why she won’t teach them herself. Kate records the steps that Mostar teaches her in her journal.

After they finish their tutorial, Mostar compliments Kate and encourages her to rest. She assures Kate that they’ll bury Vincent’s head later, though this doesn’t stop Kate from feeling shocked over the nature of Vincent’s death.

Palomino visits Mostar’s house, carrying a yoga mat and gesturing at the horizon to point out the time. Mostar asks Kate to retrieve a towel from her closet upstairs. There, Kate finds pictures of Mostar in her youth. Though Kate doesn’t recognize the locations in the photos, they lead her to thoughts of the war and ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia in the 1990s, which she vaguely remembers from her childhood. This gives her a clearer sense of Mostar’s wartime experiences.

Kate brings down the towel, which Mostar uses to lead Palomino in Muslim prayer. Though Kate can’t understand most of the prayer, she catches one moment when Mostar prays for Vincent.

Kate is pleased to discover that her garden is sprouting. Carmen, Palomino, Mostar, and Dan join in her excitement, expressing curiosity about the process that led to the sprouting. Carmen suggests other seeds they can plant, making Kate excited about her garden’s future. She rushes to Reinhardt’s house for her shift to watch over him. She relieves Effie, who thanks her for helping give Palomino something to do to distract her from her fears. Kate resolves to look through Reinhardt’s bookshelves for texts to boost her knowledge of gardening.

Kate is disappointed to see that most of the texts are on philosophy, sociology, and anthropology. While reading through a book on Southern Africa, she finds a section on Zulu warrior women, who arm themselves with an “Iklwa,” a sword/spear hybrid best used in close-quarters combat. The comparison between these warriors and Roman legionnaires fascinates Kate, making her wonder if this pattern indicates an essential human impulse.

Kate falls asleep during her shift and later discovers that Reinhardt has gotten up. She helps him eat and then reflects on how quickly her priorities have changed over the last two weeks. When Reinhardt tries to dismiss her, he explains that he has had nervous spells ever since he was young and should have explained this sooner. He claims that he has spent his adulthood looking for substitutes for the care and protection he experienced in his youth. Kate offers to let him stay with her and Dan so that he has someone to watch over him. Reinhardt declines and offers to find something to help her with her garden. He bids her good night, calling her “Hannah.” Kate thinks again about the future of their lives in Greenloop.

The chapter opens with an excerpt from Golda’s Daughter: My Life in the IDF by Lieutenant Colonel Hannah Reinhardt Roth. Hannah narrates her attempt to convince her family that Israel is justified in its right to pursue conflict with the Arab League. She emphasizes the need to use intellect to support her arguments, rather than emotion or passion, which she calls the “language of animals” (219). Hannah’s brother, Alex, argues against the need for hostility, suggesting that they rely on the UN to resolve the conflict. Hannah retorts that they can’t depend on other nations, including the US, for help because they’re in decline. Alex reminds her that they’re American Jews. Their father supports Alex’s arguments, urging them to interrogate the desire for hostility to better understand themselves.

Hannah’s father asks whether war can ever be justified, criticizing Hannah’s violent impulses. She clarifies that she doesn’t condone war wholesale, but maintains the urgent threat that the Arabs pose to Israel. She makes this argument emotionally, prompting the two men to dismiss her entirely. Hannah accuses them of intellectual cowardice and criticizes her father for failing to make a difference in their historical situation, and predicts that Alex will fail similarly, allowing himself to be killed. She walks out on her family.

The novel returns to Kate’s journal at an entry dated October 15. The morning after her shift at Reinhardt’s, Kate happily monitors the continued progress of her garden. She enthusiastically tells Dan about her plans to secure the sprouts with tomato cages. Dan goes to harvest more bamboo. Kate catches up with Effie, who heard positive news on the radio, including word that emergency services will soon begin relief in areas near Rainier. Effie proposes constructing a giant “HELP” sign to catch people’s attention.

As Kate and Palomino proceed to the garden, they hear a scream coming from Reinhardt’s house. Kate and Dan learn that one of the Bigfoots infiltrated the house and killed Reinhardt. Kate imagines that either the creature caught Reinhardt unaware or Reinhardt was conscious of his impending death and accepted it with terror. Looking at the footprints the creature left behind, Kate realizes that it was calm the entire time it was inside the house.