Burning Bright
The Salamander is stopped in front of Montag's house. Montag can hardly believe that this is happening to him. He watches as Mildred runs out of the house with a packed suitcase and jumps in the car, speeding off. Montag realizes that Mildred had put in the alarm that he was keeping books.
Captain Beatty tells Montag that he has to burn his books and his own house down not the usual way with a match and kerosene, but with a fire thrower. After Montag is finished burning his own house down and his books, Captain Beatty tells him that he is under arrest. Montag stares at his smoldering house as Captain Beatty asks him why he really kept the books. Then, when Faber yells "Montag, get out of there!" in his ear, Montag tilts his head slightly, listening. Captain Beatty notices and slaps Montag hard enough that Montag falls and the seashell falls out of his ear. Captain Beatty picks up the seashell and listens to Faber calling Montag's name. Captain Beatty tells Montag that he will later trace the seashell to the other culprit. When Montag, still holding the flamethrower, flicks off the safety and points the flamethrower at Captain Beatty. Captain Beatty taunts him, asking what type of quotes will Montag tell him as he is about to die. All Montag says is "We never burned right." then he pulls the trigger.
The other two firemen there stare in disbelief. Montag points the flame thrower at them and tells them to turn around. Montag hits the two other firefighters on the head killing them. Montag turns and sees the Hound stalk toward him swiftly across his lawn. The Hound pounces on him and Montag lets loose a burst of flame from the flame thrower. The Hound has enough time to stab and inject a paralyzing liquid into Montag's leg before being obliterated.
Montag slowly stands, realizing that one of his legs is paralyzed. He stumbles away into the night. Then, he realizes that if he is going to die, he may as well go down for something big. Montag returns and gets four books that had not been burned and starts to hobble away again.
Montag stumbles along in the night as his leg gradually gains back its feeling. Montag pulls out a seashell from his pocket and puts it to his ear listening. Montag hears that the police are looking for someone running on foot and so he slows his pace.
Montag goes into a gas station to clean his hands and face. When he enters the gas station he hears on the radio that war has been declared. He does not feel fazed because too much has been going on in his own life.
As Montag is walking along the street trying to remain unnoticed, he sees a car coming. Montag starts to cross the street, but fearing the car is the police he breaks into a run. The car speeds up. Montag drops a book, and slows down, but then, thinking better of it Montag speeds back up and starts sprinting across. Then, Montag falls down, and he thinks that he is done, that he is over with, but the car swerves around him and he is still alive. Montag sits up slowly and realizes that the people in the car were not police officers, but they were teenagers out for a ride. It was teenagers who had just tried to kill him. Montag goes back, picks up his book and continues on.
Montag stops at Mrs. Blacks house, a wife of one of the firemen, and he hides a book in her house. After, he goes and phones in the alarm, to make sure that Mr. Black and Mrs. Black will be "caught with books in their house."
Montag goes to Faber's house where he makes plans to follow the river to the outskirts of the city and then follow the railroad tracks to see if he can find a group of homeless professors.
Montag and Faber watch the news on the small television, staring in dismay as they bring in a new Hound from another district to track Montag down.As the new reporter goes on saying "-nose so sensitive the Mechanical Hound can remember and identify ten thousand odor indexes on ten thousand men without resetting!" Montag and Faber both look at everything that Montag has touched, knowing that the Hound will track Montag's scent right to Faber. Montag tells Faber to burn the spread of the bed that he touched, the chair in the living room, the throw-rug in the parlor, and to wipe down all of the furniture and doorknobs. Then, to turn on the sprinklers on high to kill Montag's scent in Faber's house.
Montag runs off, but every now and then he looks in people's windows to watch on their parlor walls the chase and to see if Faber was caught. Montag is relieved when Faber is not, but then has to remind himself that he is not watching a fictional show on television, that this is his own life that is being played out. Montag, horrified, hears the annoucer on the news tell everyone in the district to open their doors and look outisde to catch Montag because he will be the only one out at this hour. Montag makes it to the river just in time right before everyone looks out their doors.
Montag makes it to the river, and he is far enough away from the shore, that the Hound cannot pick up his scent since he washed in the river. Montag floats away until he feels the shore. Montag walks out of the river and then his foot strikes metal. Montag finds the railroad tracks, Montag follows these and before long he finds a camp of professors who are waiting for him. Montag sits with them and watches on their portable television how when the news company figures out that the Hound lost the trail, they find a random, innocent person on the street to poise as Montag, and they have the Hound kill him.
In the morning, Montag and the professors start walking when faster than they can be sure that they saw, they see the fighter jets drop a bomb on the whole city. Montag watches as the whole city seems to rise in the air, thrown up. Then he watches as it all crashes back down. Montag and the professors all go to the city to see if there are any survivors. Montag then remembers the quote he was so desperatly trying to memorize on the train. Montag decides to save the quote for when he reaches the city.