Story so far
Juliette first heard Solo running below her on the stairs, then found him behind a floor hatch. Bearded and wearing gray overalls, he tried to keep her away with a knife, cut her hand, and apologized. He initially said he needed no name. He reported thirty-four years alone and believed he would turn fifty the next month; his father, he said, had hidden him in secret rooms when fighting began. He survived by concentrating on a few hours at a time, talking to objects and gradually venturing farther out. He was unsure whether anyone else remained, sometimes attributing missing food and moved objects to rats or his own actions.
Solo had spent years reading stored reference books and described their knowledge as a backup of the past. He recalled a brief, unsatisfactory call from Silo One over a wire and believed separation between silos protected them from shared disaster. He wanted Juliette to stay. He enjoyed their repair projects, proposed another drainage pump, and regarded two years of pumping as a short wait. He brought her bread and cucumbers and helped prepare her underwater work, fastening her suit and weights, securing a rope, starting the compressor, and feeding down her air hose and electrical wire. When her air stopped, he did not answer her calls.
Juliette found Solo bleeding from a head injury. He told her his name was Jimmy and said he did not think he had ever been alone. He remembered one male attacker whom he thought was his own age, and insisted that unexplained changes to objects and lights had not been his doing. His wound and difficulty walking made the climb hard; the person who had injured him later helped support him. Food and water revived him temporarily, and Juliette entrusted him with leading the children toward food on level fifty-six. He subsequently helped her reach the Neighboring Silo Suit Lab, made an overlapping heat-tape blanket sealed with a torch, and helped her dress in a suit again. He chose to use Jimmy because he would no longer be alone. Now sharing Elise’s optimism, he reaches for his radio to tell Juliette that the water is falling.
Appearance
A man who believes he is nearly fifty, with dark, shaggy hair and a thick, unkempt beard flecked with gray. He wears baggy gray overalls and oversized boots; he recently suffered a deep, swollen head wound.
Role
A survivor and Juliette’s repair partner who has helped guide the children toward food. He now shares their hope for the future as the water falls.
Relationships
Juliette — Juliette became his repair partner, found him injured after her dive, and entrusted him with guiding the children; he helped prepare her suit and blanket.
Elise — He shares Elise’s optimism about their future.
Sources — 87 recorded facts, by chapter
Chapter 44
- An unidentified runner’s footsteps sound on the stairwell below Juliette.
Chapter 46
- Solo has a thick, unkempt beard and wears gray overalls.
- Solo has dark, shaggy hair hanging over his face.
- Solo tries to drive Juliette’s hands away from the floor hatch with a knife.
- Solo apologizes after cutting Juliette’s hand.
- Solo initially says he has no name because he has no need of one.
- Solo indicates that he has been alone for years.
- Solo accepts Juliette’s explanation that she came from another silo without apparent surprise.
- Solo puts the knife down and asks whether the outside is safe.
Chapter 48
- Solo is unsure whether any other survivors remain in the silo.
- Solo suspects rats when tomatoes disappear.
- Solo sometimes mistakes his own movements of objects and use of grow lights for evidence of other people.
- Solo initially thought he himself had left the knife in the door.
- Solo says he has been alone for thirty-four years.
- Solo believes he will turn fifty next month.
- Solo talks to objects and whistles to occupy himself.
- Solo says he survived by trying to last a few hours at a time.
- Solo uses abandoned apartment bathrooms until their smell becomes unbearable.
- Solo credits fear with helping him survive the fighting.
- Solo says his father hid him in the secret rooms at the beginning of the fighting.
- Solo says he ventured out increasingly often and farther as time passed.
- Solo estimates that he has not found a body in about twenty years.
- Solo says the stored records contain everything that ever happened.
- Solo explains that silos originally stored surplus grain aboveground for bad times.
- Solo believes people were placed in the underground silos as seeds to survive bad times.
- Solo fears prolonged isolation underground has damaged people beyond recovery.
Chapter 50
- Solo says he has been reading the reference books from front to back even though he thinks they were not meant to be read that way.
- Solo describes the stored knowledge as a backup of everything known about the past.
- Solo says that Silo One called him a long time ago to check in.
- Solo says his conversation with Silo One was short because he did not know all the procedures and the callers were unhappy.
- Solo says he spoke to the other silo through a wire.
- Solo guesses that Juliette came from silo sixteen or eighteen.
- Solo rejects the idea of passages linking the silos because he believes separation protects them from a shared disaster.
- Solo wants Juliette to stay with him rather than return to the people who sent her away.
Chapter 56
- Solo has wild hair and a beard flecked with gray.
- Solo proposes adding another pump to speed up the drainage.
- Solo greets the prospect of two years of pumping as a short wait.
- Solo drinks floodwater after brushing aside its greasy surface film.
- Solo wears oversized boots and baggy gray overalls.
- Solo calls their repair work projects and says he loves doing it.
- Solo complains that Juliette spends too much time making calls.
Chapter 59
- Solo habitually turns lights to full brightness and leaves them on.
- Solo blocks the server room with a filing cabinet every night.
- Solo has been experimenting with bread recipes using flour tins that supported his canned-goods shelves.
- Solo brings Juliette freshly baked bread and sliced cucumbers.
- Juliette assigns Solo to monitor the air compressor while she works underwater.
- Solo says that he is not worried about the plan.
Chapter 62
- Solo helps zip and fasten Juliette’s suit.
- Solo lowers a rope weighted with a large wrench to the bottom of the stairwell.
- Solo is lucid and energetic while helping prepare the dive.
- Solo is responsible for feeding Juliette’s tubing and electrical wire down without snags.
- Solo starts the portable air compressor using the procedure Juliette taught him.
- Solo secures exercise weights below Juliette’s knees with heavy Velcro.
- Solo ties the electrical wire around Juliette’s wrist.
Chapter 64
- Solo stays above the flood and manages Juliette’s air hose and electrical wires.
- Solo tells Juliette to slow her descent before confirming that she can continue.
- Solo does not answer Juliette’s requests for help when her fresh air stops.
Chapter 65
- Juliette calls Solo over the radio and asks whether he can hear her.
Chapter 66
- Juliette has told Solo not to turn off the compressor when refueling it.
Chapter 68
- Solo is addressed by Juliette in the transmission heard by Walker and Shirly.
Chapter 69
- Juliette finds Solo lying on the landing with his eyes closed and blood on his face.
- Solo responds to Juliette shaking him by opening an eye and coughing blood.
- Solo continues bleeding from a head injury when Juliette reaches him.
- Solo tells Juliette that his name is Jimmy.
- Jimmy says he does not think he was ever alone.
Chapter 72
- Solo’s large wrench is missing.
- Solo has a deep cut and substantial swelling on his head.
- Solo regains consciousness after water touches his head wound.
- Solo thinks there was one attacker and remembers the attacker as male and his own age.
- Solo insists that the moving objects and lights were not his doing and that he is not crazy.
Chapter 74
- Solo has a bleeding head wound and difficulty walking after being attacked.
- Juliette hopes Solo’s injury is only a concussion.
- Solo rarely ventures into his silo’s down deep and knows it less well than Juliette.
- Solo insists that everyone else in his silo should be dead.
- Solo remembers thinking that his attacker was like himself.
- Solo stays at the farm entrance, holding the door open while Juliette fetches water.
Chapter 77
- Solo is supported on the climb by the person who injured him.
- Solo improves after fruit and water but weakens again during the climb.
- Juliette entrusts Solo with guiding the children to food on level fifty-six.
Chapter 79
- Solo reports that it is two in the morning on Friday.
- Solo says Juliette’s dive took place on Thursday.
- Solo helps the exhausted Juliette reach the Suit Lab.
- Solo makes a blanket by overlapping strips of heat tape and sealing the joins with a torch.
- Solo helps Juliette put on her suit again.
- Solo decides to use the name Jimmy again because he will no longer be alone.
Chapter 83
- Solo reaches for his radio to share the news of the falling water with Juliette.
- Solo shares Elise’s optimism about their future.