Character Analysis
Other Kids
We meet a few other unwinds on Connor and Risa's journey across half the U.S. There's Hayden, the collateral damage in a bitter custody battle. His parents would rather no one have him: "Each would rather see Hayden unwound than allow the other parent to have custody" (2.19.90). Yikes, that's harsh. There's also Zachary, also known as "Emby," or M.B., for mouth breather. He has a reason for this. It's called asthma. And it's this asthma that clues off the Admiral that Emby received an organ from his son, Harlan¸ causing Emby to be shipped off the Harlan reunion (more on that in our Symbols section).
Finally, there's poor Dalton¸ who plays in the Unwind band with Risa and perishes in the bombing, as well as Alexis, a young mother who isn't set to be unwound and carries her baby, Chase, to school with her.
Other Adults
Most of the bad adults in the book, like Connor's parents or the numerous doctors and guards involved in unwinding children, remain nameless, almost making us think that all adults make up one big unnamed bad guy.
That's not quite true, though. We do meet a few good guys and gals over the age of eighteen. First is Josias Aldridge, a truck driver who literally "got dealt a new hand" (1.1.93) from an Unwind. Like the Admiral, he helps Connor as a way of paying it forward. Then there's Pastor Dan, who suffers a crisis of faith, thinking God wouldn't want children unwound and telling Lev to run away from this tithing.
Hannah Steinberg is a teacher and reluctant savior who leads by example, even though she'd be immediately arrested if she ever took credit for leading a couple of AWOLs to safety. Hannah leads Connor and Risa to Sonia, an antique shop owner who almost seems old enough to have lived through "the first Prohibition" (2.19.61). Speaking of prohibition, she treats these ungrateful kids (they call her Dragon Lady even though she's saving their lives) as contraband, funneling them through a secret underground railroad to safety. Why? She never reveals her secrets.