
Jeffrey is proud of his abundant garden, but when hungry waifs turn up at the hotel, he finds himself at war. The Questers on their way to the Sparticle Project discover a bucolic village run on communal principals. Reese 'sees' Muna again and with the help of Tamsin, one of the village kids, Kat figures out that the wormhole events are occurring at points where leylines intersect. Some of the Questers, however, have been caught red-handed stealing food and are made to stand trial in the children's court where the issue is whether stealing to survive is justified.
When a group of children on a school visit to some caves return to the surface, every single person over 15 has disappeared. Opportunistic gangs roam the streets as Sadiq leads his newly-formed tribe to the safety of the City Hotel. After discovering her mum and sister missing, young scientist Kat takes charge of Liam, the boy next door. They too try to gain entry to the City Hotel, but only Liam gets in, leaving Kat to fend for herself.
Callum has formed a biker gang and has designs on the City Hotel as the gang's new hang out. He befriends Kat as she might be useful to his success. However, Kat is on her own mission to find out what has caused the disappearance of all the adults and encounters Reese at the City Library. Reese insists she can see the adults and feels she has found an ally in Kat. Meanwhile, inside the hotel, Holly is left wondering where her parents are.