his friends even though they outnumbered him. Dale could have had Junior arrested for assault, but Dale was an outsider and Junior's father was Big Jim. Junior murders Angie McCain early in the story, and Angie's friend Dodee Sanders a short time later when she stops by the McCain house. He later molests the corpses of the two women, referring to them as his "girlfriends" in his delusional state. He slowly becomes more delusional as the novel progresses and his tumor becomes more debilitating. Eventually Junior comes to the false conclusion that Barbara has poisoned him and sets out to kill him. He later murders special deputies Stacey Moggins, Rupe Libby, and Mickey Wardlaw by shooting them, before being killed himself by Jackie Wettington. Eric "Rusty" Everett – A kind-hearted physician assistant at Cathy Russell Hospital. Rusty is married to Linda Everett, a police officer, and has two young daughters, Janelle and Judy. His children are the first of many to experience seizures and prophetic visions from the device that generates the Dome. After the town's doctor dies, Rusty tends to those that are ruined in the chaos that erupts after the Dome's arrival, maintaining a cool, optimistic attitude in a time of stress. Rusty is arrested for threatening Big Jim, but escapes and helps the other survivors. One of the 26 survivors of the Dome. Joseph "Scarecrow Joe" McClatchey – A 13-year-old student at Chester's Mill Middle School. Joe is a dedicated skateboarder along with his two friends, Norrie Calvert and Benny Drake. Mature and intelligent beyond his years, Joe is one of the first in town to seek answers for the cause of the Dome rather than try to establish a semblance of order. He organizes a protest at the Dome's wall—assisted by Norrie and Benny—and manages to rally the town before an incident calls the entire protest off. He later becomes a valuable ally of Dale Barbara, assisting him in providing a video feed during the incident early in the book where the government sends a missile to try to destroy the Dome. Afterward, he continues to make an effort to find answers to the Dome with his friends, and is among the group that finds the alien generator in the town's back fields. One of the 26 survivors of the Dome. Minor characters The novel contains an expansive cast of minor characters while maintaining a rather