Part 2 Summary
Rufus arrives at Mateo’s home, and they are initially both wary of each other. However, Mateo eventually does agree to leave his house, and the boys set out to visit Mateo’s father in the hospital. Mateo leaves notes on his neighbors’ doors informing them of his situation and letting them know that they do not need to bring him meals or help fix his broken stove.
On their way to the subway station, they encounter a dead bird, which Mateo insists upon burying, noting that he hopes someone would do the same for them. Rufus is a bit perplexed by this, but it makes him realize that Mateo is a kind person, and he sets aside his remaining reservations about his new friend.
When the subway tram pulls up, Rufus notices that one of the cars is hosting an impromptu party. He excitedly boards that car, while Mateo panics and enters the next car down. Rufus is annoyed, but he decides to be a good last friend and continue escorting Mateo rather than abandoning him for a more exciting crowd.
When the boys arrive at the hospital, the attendant initially attempts to turn them away because they are there before standard visiting hours begin. However, Rufus informs the attendant that they are deckers, and the man allows them to enter. Mateo goes into his father’s room and holds his hand, while Rufus waits outside. After singing his father a song and writing him a note expressing his love and gratitude, Mateo reluctantly leaves with Rufus.
After leaving the hospital, Rufus and Mateo encounter a homeless man digging through the trash. Mateo asks Rufus to empty his wallet and they give the man everything they have. The man gives Mateo a big hug and thanks him profusely. When Rufus questions this act of generosity, Mateo explains that he did it because the man seemed like he needed it. When Rufus implies that maybe this will be good karma, Mateo shakes his head, saying that you shouldn’t do good things for the sake of racking up “good person points.“
Rufus brings Mateo to a twenty-four-hour diner, where they begin talking about their lives. Rufus explains that he wanted to be a photographer and travel the world taking pictures of exotic locations. Mateo says that he wanted to be an architect, and he privately thinks that he also would have liked to perform music publicly.
After leaving the diner, Rufus escorts Mateo to visit Mateo’s best friend, Lidia, and her daughter, Penny. Lidia lost her boyfriend, Christian, who was also Penny’s father, about a year ago, and she is now a single mother. Rufus waits downstairs and tries to contact Malcolm and Tagoe, who have not called or texted him since he fled Pluto.
Mateo helps Lidia with some household chores and plays with Penny. He also leaves an envelope with four hundred dollars on the counter. He does not tell Lidia that he is a decker, knowing that she would insist on staying with him. He does not want to risk dying in front of Lidia or Penny. However, after he gives an impassioned speech about how good a mother Lidia is and how proud Christian would be of her, Lidia begins to grow suspicious. Mateo makes a quick exit, practically running out of the building.
Rufus helps calm down Mateo outside of the building, and while Mateo maintains that not telling Lidia about his impending death is the right choice, he still doesn’t feel good about it. When Rufus tells him that he was unable to get into contact with his...
(This entire section contains 1458 words.)
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friends, Mateo suggests that he post pictures to Instagram chronicling his End Day so they can remember him after he is gone. Rufus normally only posts black and white photos, so Mateo suggests that he post these photos in color to create a contrast when his friends look back at these memories. Rufus likes the idea, and he has Mateo take a picture of him outside of Lidia‘s building.
Aimee calls Rufus and reveals that Malcolm and Tagoe were arrested while trying to distract the cops during Rufus’s escape. Peck told the cops that they were involved in his assault, which only made things worse. Rufus is furious, and he asks Aimee if she finally broke up with Peck. However, she says that it is complicated. This enrages Rufus further, and he blocks her phone number.
Mateo is alarmed upon hearing that the police are after Rufus, and he runs away while Rufus is on the phone. However, Rufus uses his bike to catch up to Mateo, and he agrees to tell Mateo everything about what happened. A reluctant Mateo hears him out after Rufus promises that he did not murder anybody.
Rufus explains that he decided to attack Peck because he was feeling lost in life and needed to take it out on someone. However, he insists that his actions towards Peck do not reflect the person that he is and that it was a “glitch.” Rufus then tells Mateo about how he lost his family.
Four months ago, Rufus’s entire family—except for him—received their Death-Cast notices on the same morning. Both of his parents wanted to leave Rufus behind so as to not put him in danger, but Rufus insisted on staying with his family, so, on his sister’s suggestion, they decided to drive out to a cabin in Albany where the family had vacationed. During the drive, the car went off the road and into the Hudson river, and only Rufus was able to get out alive.
Mateo reassures Rufus that he doesn’t need to go into further detail if it is too painful. The boys decide that since Mateo has gotten to visit both his father and Lidia, they should now do something new and exciting. They decide to visit a Make a Memory center, where deckers can enjoy exhilarating virtual reality experiences in relative safety.
At the Make a Memory center, Rufus and Mateo decide to try virtual skydiving. However, they both end up feeling underwhelmed with the experience, as it lacked any real sense of risk or excitement.
The next stop is the cemetery where Mateo’s mother is buried. The boys take the subway, but there is an outage while they are en route, which scares both of them. Rufus helps talk Mateo through it, and he encourages Mateo to take a quick nap since he seems exhausted. After Rufus stealthily takes a photo of Mateo’s sleeping face, the train comes back online, and the ride resumes.
As they enter the cemetery, Rufus and Mateo discuss their respective views on the afterlife. Rufus believes that there are two afterlives, with the first one starting after people get their Death-Cast call. He believes that people are technically already dead at this point and that the remaining time on earth represents their chance to live life without consequences. The second afterlife begins after that, during which people can manifest their own vision of paradise. Mateo explains that he views the afterlife as a sort of movie theater, where you can watch the details of your own life play out. He hopes that his mother will be able to invite him into her own movie theater, as she died before he was born and he never really got to know her.
When they reach Mateo’s mother’s grave, Mateo and Rufus are both startled to find that the gravediggers have begun digging Mateo’s grave as well. Rufus asks them to step away for a few minutes so that Mateo can say goodbye to his mother in peace. After telling his mother he will likely see her soon, Mateo jumps down into his own grave, and Rufus joins him. They talk about fate, with Mateo wondering if there isn’t some sort of cosmic force that led him and Rufus to meet. Rufus denies this, instead believing that their meeting was purely the result of their both deciding to download Last Friend. Rufus then stands up and helps Mateo out of the grave so they can continue their day.
Meanwhile, Delilah Grey, a young reporter, receives a call from Death-Cast. However, Delilah assumes the call is a prank, since her ex-fiance, Victor, works for Death-Cast and is likely just trying to punish her for calling off their engagement.
At work that morning, Delilah learns that actor and writer Howie Maldonaldo has received a call from Death-Cast, and her magazine has secured his final interview. She convinces her boss, Sandy, to let her participate, as Delilah is a big fan of Howie’s work.
