Story so far
Rickson first confronts Juliette as a teenage boy, striking her with a wrench and receiving a knife wound in his leg. He identifies his father as Rick the plumber and wants her noisy machines gone. Despite that hostility, he helps support Solo on the stairs and manages the younger boys. His caution persists when newcomers arrive: Elise reports that he believes they want the silo, and Jimmy understands his fear of being assigned a job instead of caring for his family.
Rickson supports Hannah when she refuses an implant and receives treatment from Juliette’s father after a scuffle. He has taught Elise frightening stories about strangers, warnings about farm wire, and beliefs about God and prayer. His accounts of birth-control pills include the claim that his father cut a poisoned pill from his mother so he could be born; those remain his claims. Miles says Rickson used to be a twin, and Juliette’s father later says he thinks he had a brother his father would not discuss.
When refugees strip the farms, Rickson regards those living and working with him as family and fears renewed fighting over food and women like the violence among their parents. He shares a tomato equally with Hannah and Miles, initially favors hiding, and later celebrates toppling a server with Miles. He minds the baby while Hannah helps prepare the meeting. Outside, he puts his arm around Hannah beneath the sky and argues that the possibility of other arrivals is another reason to leave the warehouse. Years later, Elise calls his name when she notices movement in the woods before discovering the newcomers.
Role
A survivor concerned with protecting the people he regards as family.
Relationships
Elise — Rickson helped teach Elise beliefs and caution, though she questions his distrust of strangers.
Juliette — Rickson initially attacks Juliette but later travels with the escaping survivors.
Sources — 42 recorded facts, by chapter
Chapter 74
- Rickson is the teenage boy who attacks Juliette with a wrench and receives a knife wound in his leg.
- Rickson identifies his father as Rick the plumber.
- Rickson tells Juliette to leave and take her noisy machines with her.
- Rickson attempts to stop the two younger boys from fighting over an object as they pack.
Chapter 77
- Rickson supports Solo while climbing the stairs.
- Rickson does not understand Juliette’s reference to level fifty-six.
Chapter 79
- Rickson tells one of the boys to settle down while Juliette prepares to leave.
Chapter 198
- Rickson heads down the staircase with the others ahead of Jimmy and Elise.
- Elise reports Rickson’s belief that the newcomers want their silo rather than to rescue them.
Chapter 199
- Rickson eats fish caught as the floodwater retreats.
Chapter 203
- Juliette imagines Rickson and Hannah sharing a private kiss and talking about another child.
Chapter 211
- Rickson uses a flashlight to inspect the generator-room wall where the digging sounds originate.
- Rickson hurries after Jimmy toward the arriving visitors.
Chapter 214
- Rickson gathers the twins before the group leaves.
- Rickson asks why the doctor cannot come to their silo instead.
- Jimmy understands that Rickson fears being assigned a color and a job instead of caring for his family.
Chapter 215
- Miles says Rickson used to be a twin.
- Rickson supports Hannah when she refuses an implant.
- Rickson does not know what a chit is.
Chapter 220
- Rickson is injured in the scuffle and receives treatment from Juliette’s father.
Chapter 221
- Rickson used to reassure Elise that the youngest children were safest when fetching food.
Chapter 235
- Rickson used frightening stories about strangers to make Elise and the twins behave.
- Rickson claims his father removed a poisoned pill from his mother’s hip so that he could be born.
- Rickson says men once forced women to have babies by cutting pills out of their flesh.
- Rickson says people born without a pill in their hip will never have one.
- Rickson has warned Elise not to touch the black and yellow farm wire.
Chapter 242
- Rickson finds little food while searching the depleted farm plots.
- Rickson regards the people who live and work with him as family.
- Rickson predicts that the newcomers will fight over food and women as their parents did.
- Rickson believes his group will have to fight back to survive.
- Rickson recalls that adults left the children alone during the earlier fighting.
- Rickson shares a tomato equally with Hannah and Miles.
Chapter 243
- Rickson helped teach Elise about God and night prayers.
- Rickson dislikes it when Elise cries.
- Elise can read better than Rickson.
Chapter 251
- Rickson initially supports hiding again to survive the violence.
- Rickson celebrates toppling a server with Miles.
Chapter 252
- Rickson looks after the baby while Hannah helps prepare the Town Hall.
Chapter 253
- According to Juliette’s father, Rickson thinks he had a brother, but his father refused to discuss it.
Chapter 255
- Rickson puts his arm around Hannah as he looks at the sky outside.
Chapter 256
- Rickson argues that the possibility of other people arriving is another reason to leave the warehouse.
Chapter 262
- Elise calls out Rickson’s name while trying to identify movement in the woods.