Under the Dome

Big Jim Rennie has called another emergency meeting, and he and Andy Sanders are discussing their side business, the meth lab. Rennie has decided that they should shut down the lab, so that they can reroute the propane and other resources back to the town and the infrastructure problem it faces from the Dome’s presence. Rennie catches sight of Barbie talking with Brenda Perkins and Third Selectman Andrea Grinnell and decides to investigate. He is taken by surprise when Barbie hands him the letter from the president, declaring martial law and appointing Barbie to lead. Barbie’s rank has been elevated to that of colonel. Rennie dismisses the letter as a possible fake, while knowing that it is almost certainly legitimate. He has no intention of relinquishing control. After the meeting, Rennie confronts Andrea Grinnell. If the missile strike does not puncture the Dome, he wants to know if she is on his side or on Barbie’s. He threatens to take away the OxyContin prescription to which she has become addicted. She acquiesces to his authority, though she calls him out on what is essentially blackmail.

Meanwhile, Julia hires Scarecrow Joe, Norrie, and Benny to help her distribute the latest edition of the Democrat, which can no longer be delivered electronically. The paper informs the citizens of The Mill about the military’s planned missile strike and orders for evacuation. Junior Rennie has his own troubles, as his headaches continue unabated. His only relief is to sit in the dark pantry with what he calls “his girlfriends” (271). The smell from the bodies is getting stronger, but he feels at peace in the dark.

Junior’s friends, Frank, Mel, Carter, and Carter’s girlfriend, Georgie, pay a visit to Sammy Bushey. They are intoxicated and looking for trouble. After some taunts and threats, the three men rape Sammy in turns, as Georgia eggs them on. At the same time, Rusty’s daughter Janelle has another episode, but rather than a seizure, she has a terrible nightmare, during which she shouts, “He has a golden baseball, Daddy” and “It’s a bad baseball” (286). Shortly thereafter, Reverend Coggins confronts Big Jim Rennie about their illegal activities, saying that God has given him a sign. They must come clean, or the Dome will never be lifted. In Rennie’s rage at potentially exposure, he bludgeons Coggins to death—with the commemorative baseball, encased in gold, given to him by Bill “Spaceman” Lee. Junior stumbles upon the scene, helping his father to finish the deed. He assures his father that he has a place to stash the body and a plan to frame Barbie for all the murders.

Carolyn Sturges and Thurston Marshall are rudely awakened by the sound of the police shouting about an evacuation. They are visiting from Boston and have been holed up in a cabin near Chester Pond, wrapped up in their sexual affair, and completely unaware of the Dome and the ensuing crises. Thurston is a professor, and Carolyn is a graduate student some 30 or so years younger than him. Junior and Frank burst into the cabin, catching them naked in bed. Junior and Frank proceed to abuse the couple verbally and physically, taking no mind of their rights. After the nominal cops leave the cabin, they encounter two children on the road, Alice and Aiden Appleton, who have essentially been orphaned by the Dome, which prevented their mother from returning from a grocery trip. The two have had virtually nothing to eat in the last two days, and the cops will bring them back to the station.

Linda Everett and Jackie Wettington are discussing the new cops. Jackie points out that the new recruits outnumber the veteran officers and that, contrary to orders, some of them are carrying firearms—their own personal guns. Chief Randolph has ordered them to check on Reverend Coggins because his parishioners have been asking about his whereabouts. At the church, they see no sign of him but find evidence of his self-flagellation. They then decide to check the gospel radio station and discover that the broadcast is automated and the reverend is still missing. They both feel that something is off about the radio station. When they leave, the Chef steps out, clutching a gun. Formerly known as Phil Bushey, Sammy’s husband now prefers to be called Chef. He is responsible for cooking the meth that Big Jim Rennie and the others distribute. He himself is fully addicted to his own product and paranoid as a result.

Andrea Grinnell goes to the hospital to visit Rusty Everett. She wants his advice about how to get off OxyContin as quickly as possible. She no longer wants to be a part of Rennie’s plans; she will no longer be a target of easy blackmail. He tries to convince her to taper off, with his help in monitoring her decreasing dosage, but she insists on quitting all at once.

Julia Shumway introduces Joe, Norrie, and Benny to Barbie at Sweetbriar Rose. Joe has had an idea to video the missile strike on his computer, livestreaming it to the television at Dipper’s. Barbie takes them to the sight where the military has marked the strike spot with a giant red X. Rennie and Randolph intervene and try to shut down the operation, but Barbie instructs Julia to “turn the camera on me” (337). Barbie proceeds to tell the watching townspeople that he has been elevated to colonel, that he has been commissioned to be in charge, and that he has sanctioned the filming of the strike. If they are unable to view the action, it will be because Rennie cuts off the feed. Knowing he has been backed into a corner, Rennie allows the filming to go forward. Thus, the crowd at Dipper’s, roughly 800, gets to witness, live, the failure of not one but two missile strikes.

Barbie realizes that the failure of the missiles means trouble for the town, not to mention for him personally. His challenge to Big Jim Rennie’s authority will almost certainly not go unanswered. The missile strikes have caused small fires to break out, and Julia suggests Barbie requisition the help of Brenda Perkins in rounding up some firefighters, Rommie Burpee among them. She recognizes that there needs to be another group to counterbalance the growing (and untrained) police force.

Sammy deals with the aftermath of her rape. She is physically injured, traumatized, and enraged. Her baby, Little Walter, has also suffered a minor injury, as his ill-constructed cradle collapsed in the middle of the night. She must get them both to the health center, but her car tires were slashed by the drunken perpetrators as they left. She decides to walk, even though she is bleeding profusely. The day is unseasonably warm, and Sammy soon collapses on the side of the road. Reverend Piper Libby spies the woman and child on her way to check on a parishioner and takes them to the hospital. While they are in capable hands, Rusty takes a break on a bench near town hall and the police department. He watches as Rennie and his officers conspire, then spots Barbie heading into the town hall. Curious, he follows Barbie and finds that Barbie is after the Geiger counter. Together, they also decide to check on the town’s propane supply. Tanks are missing, and one of the remaining tanks bears the stamp of the hospital. They now have confirmation that someone has been misappropriating propane.

Meanwhile, Carolyn and Thurston have been tasked with the charge of the young children, Alice and Aiden Appleton; they will all be housed at the Congregational Church. Rennie has called for another meeting, this time with the entire town in attendance. In the meantime, he has directed Junior to search Barbie’s apartment for something that can be used to frame Barbie in the murders of Angie, Dodee, and Coggins; he wants the evidence in hand before the meeting. Junior finds Barbie’s dog tags, irrefutable personal property. When Piper learns that Sammy has been violently raped, she works herself into a fury, demanding that Sammy reveal the people behind the heinous act. Rusty’s daughter Judy and the little Appleton boy both have seizures, crying out about “pink stars falling” (389).