The leaders of this village, Mary, Ben, and Wilmer, reluctantly agree to take in the refugees for 6 months, theoretically long enough to teach them to survive independently.

Tick Hassler, a former hauler of carts in Ember, organizes a series of projects intended to improve their quality of life and chances for the future, but which tend to be more grandiose than practical.

Torren, an unhappy boy from Sparks, destroys a large amount of tomatoes in a furious rage, and then decides to accuse an Emberite (Doon) of the act to further build hatred between the two people.

After the people from Ember are deliberately inflicted with itchy rashes by an unknown person, at a time of extreme heat, angry Emberites start to gather in the town square.

Ben, who voted to order them to leave, brings the "Terrible Weapon", which is a machine gun built before the "Disaster", from the town hall basement.

The explosion starts a fire, which engulfs a large tree in front of the town hall and threatens to destroy numerous buildings.

This turns around the spiral of resentment, and with everyone thinking more clearly and less parochially, it is discovered that Tick Hassler perpetrated the vandalism against the Emberites to gain support, and the tomato incident is resolved.