The Host

Wanderer gets fresh clothes and then goes to take a bath. After she’s done bathing, Kyle sneaks up behind her, pretending to be his brother. Melanie tells Wanderer to stay quiet and pick up a rock. Melanie tries to take over their body but cannot, so Wanderer throws rocks to distract him. Nevertheless, he runs for her and catches her sneaker, which she kicks off. Wanderer runs and nearly gets away, but he throws a rock that brings her down. Kyle then tries to drown her in the stream; she fights him, but he drags her to a steam geyser to boil her alive. Wanderer hangs on to him desperately, determined to drag him into the pool with her. He jumps to try to dislodge her, which causes the rock to crumble beneath him. His head hits the ground, and he goes limp. 

Wanderer carefully pulls herself away and then realizes the ground beneath Kyle is still crumbling. Wanderer feels conflicted, but Melanie tells her to leave him. Wanderer tries to save Kyle anyway, but she cannot drag him. As the ground continues to crumble, Wanderer holds on to him and calls for help.

Ian arrives and manages to drag Kyle back from the edge. He asks Wanderer what she was doing with Kyle, and Wanderer lies badly, knowing Kyle will be sent away if she tells the truth. Guessing what really happened, Ian is furious. He runs into Jeb while carrying Wanderer toward the hospital area and tells Jeb that Kyle is unconscious in the bathing room. Jeb goes to get help to move Kyle, and Doc looks Wanderer over.

Ian asks Jared if he can trust him to protect Wanderer if Ian leaves to find her a place to stay. Jared is furious about the question but agrees. Ian leans down and presses a kiss to Wanderer’s forehead and then leaves. Kyle is brought in unconscious, and Jeb pours water on his face to rouse him. The first thing he does when he wakes is look around: “‘It didn’t fall!’ he complained” (347).

Jared lunges and hits Kyle’s face, knocking him unconscious again. However, Jared also refers to Wanderer as “it,” and she calls him out for it this time. She informs him that she is a female, and Wes asks how the souls procreate. Wanderer explains that a “Mother” willingly divides herself into 1 million different souls. The process is excruciating.

Wanderer is exhausted and almost sleeps, but then Walter wakes up again. She reaches to comfort him. Doc gives him an overdose, and Walter dies. Wanderer begins sobbing, and Doc gives her some morphine so that she can sleep. 

When Wanderer wakes, she looks up at the stars. Ian tries to rouse her, explaining that she’s been brought outside for Walter’s funeral. Wanderer is allowed to throw sand onto the grave and says a few words, as do the others. Then Doc tells her he has to give her morphine again to render her unconscious: He cannot let her know how to get in and out of the caves. Wanderer feels betrayed by both Ian and Doc.

Wanderer feels sick when she wakes up. Ian apologizes again for knocking her out with morphine. Wanderer asks where she is, and Ian tells her she’s in her room, which was formerly his and Kyle’s. Kyle is being held in the hospital before he faces a tribunal. 

Ian leaves but returns later with food, which Wanderer tries to eat. Wanderer thanks him for his kindness, and when he responds politely, she notices that there seems to be “something more than just courtesy in the words” (361). Ian then helps her get up to walk to the tribunal. Melanie tells Wanderer that she thinks Ian likes her too much. 

The tribunal is in the game room, and Kyle is guarded by Jared and Jeb. Jeb asks who will testify against Kyle, and Ian rises against Wanderer’s protests and speaks about how Kyle attempted murder in violation of Jeb’s rules. When someone says that Wanderer is not one of them, Jared defends her. He says that she saved Kyle even though he tried to kill her. Then he asks if she will speak against him now. Wanderer tries to lie that Kyle is innocent, but she is not successful.

Maggie and Sharon both argue that because Kyle did not try to kill a human, he should not be banished. Maggie calls for a vote, and more than half vote to let Kyle stay without punishment. Jeb says that he will honor the majority but that if anyone else attempts to hurt Wanderer, they will not get a tribunal—only a burial.

The community splits into teams to play soccer. Jared helps Wanderer to the side of the field; her leg is so injured that walking is difficult. Wanderer and Jared talk, and Jared admits that Jamie is better now that Wanderer is there. He also seems to believe that Melanie is still inside her. They speak about the Seeker, and Jared tells her that the Seeker must have had to return the helicopter because she’s now driving the highways again. Jared asks what Melanie is thinking, and Wanderer asks Melanie what she wants to say. Melanie wants to know why Jared suddenly believes them. Jared attributes his change of heart to many things without specifying what, and he apologizes.

After playing soccer for a while, everyone stops for a snack break. Kyle approaches Wanderer and states that he still thinks what he did was right; however, she saved his life, so he will not try to kill her again. Wanderer responds to him:

I didn’t let you fall because…because I’m not like you. I’m not saying that I’m not…like humans. Because there are others here who would do the same. There are kind and good people here. People like your brother, and Jeb, and Doc…I’m saying that I’m not like you personally (376).

While Kyle says he will not try to kill her again, Wanderer is skeptical.

Ian and Kyle seem to make peace during the game. After the game ends, Jared asks if Wanderer is hungry, but Ian breaks in and says he will help Wanderer instead. Ian carries Wanderer, but Jared insists on walking with them. Both Jared and Ian promise that Wanderer will be safe and that Kyle will not hurt her again. Jared is irritated when he realizes that Ian has brought her to Ian’s room: He asks where Ian will sleep, and Ian is not sure.

Ian puts Wanderer down on one of the two mattresses, and Wanderer tells him that he should sleep in the cave also. Melanie believes that Ian will get the wrong idea about the invitation, which puzzles Wanderer at first. Meanwhile, Wanderer overhears Jared and Ian speaking in the hallway. At first, the conversation is about other threats to Wanderer, and then Jared tells Ian that Melanie’s body does not belong to Wanderer and that he should keep his hands off it. Jared tells Ian that Melanie and her body are his. Ian responds by speaking about Wanderer’s perspective and what it must be like to be in her position. Ian tells him that Wanderer does not respond to physical contact in a human way anyway, and Jared replies that she does, telling Ian about his kissing “experiment.”

This makes Ian jealous, though he also sympathizes with the position Jared put Wanderer in. Ian storms into the room and is surprised to see Wanderer awake. They wait to make sure Jared is gone, and then Ian asks Wanderer what she thinks.

Wanderer does not know what to think. She is bewildered and impressed that Ian can look at things from her perspective when no one else can. She tells Ian that she is just now understanding he cares for her but that it seems impossible. Ian touches her arm and asks her how it feels. Wanderer tells him that Melanie says “bad” and that she herself does not know. Ian asks Melanie if he can be alone with Wanderer, and Melanie tells him no.

Wanderer tells Ian that he is attracted not to her but to Melanie, who is beautiful. Ian disagrees, insisting Wanderer is beautiful because of how she speaks and acts. Ian kisses her, and Melanie yells to Wanderer that it is bad. Afterward, Melanie wants to punch Ian but cannot break through. Wanderer herself is confused about how she feels, but Ian is willing to be patient since they have all the time in the world in the caves. 

Jamie interrupts and says that Jared invited Wanderer to join them in their cave again. Jamie wants her to stay in their room so it will be “like before,” which bothers Wanderer. Wanderer agrees to go back to their cave, but she feels torn.