Code Orange

Mitty has been in the basement since Tuesday night. It is now Friday. After checking his skin one last time, he sleeps. And sleeps. And sleeps. When the terrorists come down, they look carefully at his skin with a flashlight. They are overjoyed to discover that Mitty has the telltale sign of smallpox—the beginnings of pustules that look like freckles all over his body. The terrorist laughs when he says, “‘You will die[…]and then your people will die […] we will dance in the streets’” (177). Mitty silently vows that they will never be able to dance in the streets of New York.

Mitty has fooled the terrorists by pretending to be sick with smallpox, sleeping a lot, vomiting, not eating, and of course, covering himself in small dots, which he made using the dust from the coal box. When the kidnappers come back down to help the seemingly weakened Mitty back into bed, Mitty suddenly surprises them by fighting back and rushing upstairs. The kidnappers grab him but not before he pulls the door shut, locking them all downstairs. He smiles at them and says, “‘Fooled you, didn’t I?’” (180).