As Mayor Jahns and Deputy Marnes climb back toward the upper levels, they move quickly and openly affectionate, sharing water and talking through what awaits them at home. Jahns worries that returning to familiar surroundings may restore old distance between them, but she also feels newly hopeful. She thinks their trip has succeeded because they secured Juliette as sheriff, imagines Juliette as part of the silo’s future leadership, and renews her own political ambitions for the coming election.

During the climb, Jahns also reflects on what may have kept Marnes from ever seeking promotion. She suspects Marnes stayed deputy because becoming sheriff under her would have made their feelings impossible to act on, and this thought deepens both her tenderness and her sadness. As they near the nursery level, Jahns decides they should stop, partly because she urgently needs the restroom and partly because she wants to see Juliette’s father.

At the nursery, a nurse lets them in and goes to fetch Dr Nichols. Jahns heads to the bathroom, where she struggles in the dark and is struck by intense pain, weakness, and exhaustion. Afterward, she can barely stand and returns to the waiting room wondering if she has pushed herself too hard to finish the climb that day.

Once Jahns sits beside Marnes, her condition rapidly worsens. Marnes realizes something is terribly wrong and shouts for help. Nurses and Dr Nichols rush in, turn up the lights, and begin examining Jahns, noting blood and checking her body as Marnes panics and tries to keep her conscious.

Jahns asks for water, and Marnes gives her a drink from his canteen, but she cannot swallow. As her strength fades, Jahns tells Marnes that she has loved him for as long as she can remember. Then, seeing the canteen in his hand, Jahns understands the cause of her collapse: the poisoned water she drank was meant for Marnes, not for her.