The Girl Who Owned a City

On the night of the move, the children have careful instructions to pack and move completely silently. Once at the high school, they meet in the basement, and Lisa explains that Glenbard is her city and that they all must follow her rules if they want to stay. Among those rules is one stipulating that Glenbard must continue to look deserted from the outside; everything must remain dark and silent inside, and if anyone needs to come or go, they must do so at night and only if necessary.

Lisa and Jill split the old classrooms into “apartments” with basic amenities for each family. They set up a cafeteria with scheduled meal times, and they establish a makeshift “hospital” that Jill will run in the old nurse’s room. Lisa plans for the younger children to take classes from those who are older, so that their days will be split between coursework and renovating the high school; Craig will be in charge of education, while Charlie will take over the militia.

At night, Glenbard’s council makes plans for the city in a secret tower room. These meetings sometimes get contentious, and after Craig storms off during one such conversation, the others ask Lisa why she continually refers to Glenbard as her city. Lisa defends herself, arguing that she came up with the idea and the location, and that no one is being forced to stay. The others drop the matter; however, Lisa later rethinks her position and accepts that she does need the others’ help. Still, she retains her belief that she must maintain control over the city in order to ensure it is run effectively.

On January 16, the citizens of Glenbard have a big rooftop celebration with fireworks, announcing their city to the rest of Glen Ellyn. 

Over the next year, the city receives hundreds of requests from children to join. Every applicant undergoes rigorous questioning, and if no one can vouch for them—or if they know them and say they’re untrustworthy—they're turned away. Still, by the following April, the city of Glenbard has grown from 35 to more than 500.

For the newer citizens, Lisa is a scarce, mysterious figure. Many question her ability or right to own a city; others question her contribution to the city, given that they never see her.

Glenbard’s defense systems prove to be strong: In its first year, there are eight attacks, all stopped within 10 minutes. Only Tom’s gang attempts twice, and flees the second time after Tom is burned with hot oil. Despite their success, Craig and Charlie warn Lisa that she’s growing too complacent and that Tom will almost certainly try again.

Worrying they’re right, Lisa goes out one night to inspect the sentries on the rooftop. She realizes something’s wrong with the dogs and decides to go down below and check things out herself. She discovers the dogs have been poisoned, and then Tom Logan’s gang, which has swelled to 200 members, ambushes her. In the struggle, someone shoots Lisa, and to Tom’s anguish she appears to be dead. Nevertheless, he bluffs to the sentries stationed above, claiming that he has Lisa hostage and ordering them to open Glenbard. Once inside, he bluffs again, telling Craig they have Lisa down below and will kill her if he doesn’t cooperate. Feeling he has no choice, Craig tells everyone that the city now belongs to Tom Logan.