Luke tells Jen’s dad that he’s Jen’s friend, a fellow third child, and asks what happened to Jen. Jen’s dad arrives home and points a gun at Luke, demanding to know who he is. He types into the chat room asking if anyone knows about Jen, but no one replies. Worried, Luke goes over to Jen’s house and disables the alarm. For over a week, his signals to Jen’s house go unanswered. The day of the rally, Luke sneaks the radio on, but nothing is ever reported. Luke explains that his social status makes the world more dangerous for him. Later, Jen sneaks into Luke’s house and apologizes. She and Luke argue because he’s too afraid to participate. She plans to take one of her parents’ cars, pick up Luke and several other shadow children, and drive to the president’s house. However, the articles from independent journalists detail the evils of the Population Law.Īs the rally approaches, Jen works tirelessly to make sure her fellow shadow children are on board with the plan. Luke worries that his existence is taking food from other people. The books, Luke finds, are government propaganda which detail the drought and famine that resulted in the implementation of the Population Law. Jen sends Luke home with books from the government as well as some articles. ![]() The rally won’t be for a few months, and she is working hard to get everything organized. Luke believes this is a terrible idea, and he’s terrified to attend, but Jen is confident in her plan. Jen is planning a rally for shadow children to protest the Population Law in front of the president’s house. Jen introduces him to her online chatroom inhabited by other shadow children. She explains that she has a forged shopping pass that indicates she’s her mother’s niece. Jen doesn’t respond on the first safe day, as she went into town with her mother to go shopping. Before Luke leaves, they work out a system to signal to one another using their back porch lights so Luke knows when it’s safe to visit. Jen’s family has government connections and money to bribe people to look the other way. Luke is amazed at Jen’s lifestyle, as she uses the phone and computer and knows people outside her immediate family. Jen calls her dad to tell him to turn off the security alarm, claiming to have set it off by accident. Jen introduces him to the term “shadow children” and explains that there is nothing wrong with being a third child. Inside, Luke follows sounds to the computer room and finds a girl around his age chatting on the internet, Jen. Luke decides to visit the house and breaks in. Luke is sure he saw all four members of the family leave earlier that day, and he begins to wonder if there is another third child next door. One day, Luke looks through the vents to double-check that everyone has left the houses around his, and he catches sight of a face in the window next door. Over time, he watches as houses are built and wealthy Barons move in. Luke’s only view of the outside world is through the vents at the top of his attic walls he keeps this view a secret. Without the hogs, the family faces new financial strain, and Mother takes a factory job, leaving Luke alone in the attic for most of the day. ![]() Soon after, the government sends the family to get rid of their hogs because they will smell too bad for the new families moving in nearby. Luke begins eating at the bottom step of the stairs that lead to the attic, which is also Luke’s hidden bedroom. ![]() Eventually, his parents forbid him from eating at the kitchen table because they don’t want it to seem suspicious that the shades are always down. ![]() Now that Luke is confined to his house, he loses more of his freedoms. Luke’s life changes when the government begins to level the forest for a housing development for Barons, who are the privileged elite of society. Due to the remoteness of his home, he has the freedom to go outside. Luke has grown up on his family property in the middle of the woods, since he must stay hidden or the Population Police will come for him and his family because having more than two children is prohibited by law. Luke Garner is a 12-year-old boy and the illegal third child of his farmer parents. Content Warning: Among the Hidden contains depictions of violence and child death.
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