Tomorrow, When The War Began | Chapter 20 Questions

1. Why is Ellie nervous about being paired with Fi?

She is hesitant and scared. Ellie tells us that she herself is scared, but Fi is really really scared. Ellie is afraid that she may freeze up when the time is most dire and she needs her the most.

2. What is true courage according to Ellie?

'I guess true courage is when you're really scared but you still do it.'

3. Were her concerns about Fi realised? Explain.

I don't quite understand the question, but I think I'm meant to talk about if Ellie's fear of Fi being inactive affecting the mission. Throughout the 'mission' they're on, Fi is able to act with confidence and determination, this means the concerns go unneeded, I guess?

4. What is a clue that Fi’s relationship with Homer is becoming serious?

Over the walkie-talkie, they say those three words to each other. That itself is something huge to a relationship, however, in front of the others, it is an even larger step in their relationship. Another part is just before this is the pure relief we read about when Fi heard Homer's voice, as well as how her eyes glistened, in this context, it seemed she almost saw him when she heard his voice.

5. What problems do Fi and Ellie encounter on their mission to bring the tanker to the appropriate place under the bridge? How do they deal with these problems?

• The tankers seem to be without breaks. They deal with this by taking the risk of injury and/or explosions. Later on, however, they are thankful to discover the tanker has air breaks, even if they don't know how to completely use them, having breaks is a better sign in itself.

• Being unable to tell whether the fence had alarms or not was a problem, however, when the fence was cut they were thankful to know it had absolutely no alarms attached to it. This problem was solved by pure and utter luck. Another problem they encountered with the fence was cutting the appropriately sized hole in the wire fence. This was solved by contorting their bodies to fit and cutting the hole bigger.

• Operating the tanker seemed to be a problem for Ellie. She had never operated one before, and at the same time, she was using air brakes for the first time. This should have been a recipe for disaster, as she had explosion material in the back. But, like always, they still manage to get out of it.

• Patrols operating in the area were a known risk to their plan. However, they worked around this by having Fi check for patrols before moving the tanker. This proved for the best, as she was able to spot one early on. This problem was solved by stopping the tanker, giving the illusion that it was just another abandoned vehicle, and having the girls climb a tree to stay out of sight.

• Almost exploding was a problem too. Ellie was able to lose steering and the ability to break, after turning off the engine. She thought she would glide down the hill and slow down, however, she almost crashed into tree's, Fi and the gutter. This problem was solved by her turning the engine back on and guiding the tanker back.