Chap­ter XXX begins with the group caught in a fran­tic search for Sam­son, who has been unex­pect­ed­ly left behind at the Tut­tle Ter­race Trail­er Park. The mood is heavy with wor­ry and urgency as the group real­izes, despite their thor­ough search, that Sam­son is miss­ing and not on the bus. As pan­ic spreads among the group, Lill, Fish, and the oth­ers strong­ly insist that they need to turn back and search for him, no mat­ter the risks. Lester, how­ev­er, feels cor­nered by the sit­u­a­tion, fear­ing that their actions could lead to seri­ous legal con­se­quences for him and his role in tak­ing care of the chil­dren. Despite the dread that weighs on him, Lester final­ly acqui­esces, and the group begins the tense jour­ney back to the trail­er park.

Lill, ever the lev­el-head­ed fig­ure in moments of cri­sis, takes on a mater­nal role, urg­ing every­one to remain calm and focus on their task of retriev­ing Sam­son. She con­fronts Lester, chal­leng­ing his reluc­tance to return to the scene, espe­cial­ly after learn­ing that the police had been called in response to the esca­lat­ing sit­u­a­tion. Lill’s calm, deter­mined demeanor con­vinces Lester, and with pres­sure mount­ing from the urgency of the moment, he final­ly agrees to turn the bus around and head back. The sky out­side dark­ens omi­nous­ly, and the weath­er shifts as dark clouds gath­er, fore­shad­ow­ing the storm that is not only brew­ing in the sky but also with­in the group. The sense of unease is pal­pa­ble, as the trail­er park now seems like a place filled with unknown dan­gers, and the group is unsure of what they will face when they arrive.

Upon reach­ing the trail­er park, the fam­i­ly quick­ly dis­em­barks and heads toward Carlene’s trail­er. Car­lene, stand­ing defi­ant­ly in the door­way, greets them with a smug expres­sion, inform­ing them that the police are on their way and that Sam­son is locked up inside. Her cru­el sat­is­fac­tion at their dis­tress is evi­dent, and she rev­els in the group’s des­per­a­tion, which only esca­lates the ten­sion in the air. Lill, along with the oth­ers, demands that Car­lene release Sam­son, but she only inten­si­fies the sit­u­a­tion, taunt­ing them with hints about Samson’s abil­i­ty to hide well. Carlene’s obsti­nate demeanor becomes an obsta­cle, and with each pass­ing moment, the group’s patience wears thin­ner, as they are left with no choice but to con­front her to get to Sam­son.

In an emo­tion­al surge, Fish, dri­ven by his pro­tec­tive instincts and anger, uses his pow­ers to force­ful­ly push Car­lene aside, allow­ing the group to enter the trail­er. This moment of raw emo­tion is a phys­i­cal man­i­fes­ta­tion of the urgency and des­per­a­tion felt by the fam­i­ly, as they move for­ward to find Sam­son. Once inside the trail­er, the group begins to search every pos­si­ble hid­ing place, scour­ing under beds, behind fur­ni­ture, inside clos­ets, and even the oven, yet Sam­son is nowhere to be found. The ris­ing dis­tress among the group is ampli­fied by the tick­ing clock, know­ing that the police could arrive at any moment, and time is run­ning out. Fish’s emo­tion­al state only seems to wors­en the sit­u­a­tion, his fury seem­ing to stir the wind out­side, adding to the feel­ing of chaos that per­me­ates their fran­tic search.

As the ten­sion con­tin­ues to rise, the nar­ra­tor has a sud­den realization—a pos­si­ble way to extract the nec­es­sary infor­ma­tion from Car­lene. They believe that by using a pen, they can get her to reveal where Sam­son is hid­ing, a plan that offers a glim­mer of hope in the midst of the uncer­tain­ty. The chap­ter ends on this crit­i­cal note, with the group fac­ing both the immi­nent arrival of the author­i­ties and the daunt­ing task of find­ing Sam­son. The uncer­tain­ty sur­round­ing Samson’s fate and the poten­tial con­se­quences of their actions leaves read­ers hang­ing in sus­pense, eager­ly await­ing what will hap­pen next. The antic­i­pa­tion builds, as the group must find a way to out­smart Car­lene, nav­i­gate the impend­ing con­fronta­tion with the police, and ulti­mate­ly reunite with Sam­son before it’s too late.