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Summary
A little after midnight, eighteen-year-old Mateo Torrez is reading a popular blog called CountDowners. The blog is written by people called Deckers, who’ve been notified they will die sometime in the next twenty-four by a mysterious organization called Death-Cast. No one knows how or what time exactly they will die, but Death-Cast never makes a mistake. Suddenly, Mateo’s phone rings, and it is Death-Cast. A death cast employee, or herald, named Andrea, informs him that he will soon meet an untimely death. At first, she gets Mateo’s name wrong, which gives him false hope, but she quickly corrects herself. When Mateo hangs up, he begins to reflect on the fact that he’s going to die alone since his mother died in childbirth and his father is in the hospital. He regrets that he never got a chance to be braver and live his life more fully. He decides to visit his father in the hospital and then go see his best friend, Lidia, and her infant daughter, Penny. But first, he writes notes to neighbors, including one about not needing the broken stove in his apartment to be repaired anymore. He tries to leave the apartment around 1:00 AM but ends up going back to his bedroom in fear.
Meanwhile, seventeen-year-old Rufus Emeterio also gets a call from Death-Cast. He does not answer right away because he is in the middle of beating up Peck, his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend. Rufus knows immediately who is calling because he recognizes the ringtone. His best friends and foster brothers, Malcolm and Tagoe, encourage him to answer the phone. Rufus finally gets off of Peck, but instructs Malcolm and Tagoe to watch him as Rufus takes the call. A herald named Victor tells Rufus he will die today and provides him with information about living his End Day to the fullest. Rufus is hostile to Victor, who then tells him an upsetting story about having to call the mother of a four-year-old girl who is about to die earlier that night. Rufus stops arguing with Victor and finishes the call. He decides to let Peck go before texting Aimee. He then heads back to his foster home with Malcolm and Tagoe to have his own funeral.
Back at Mateo’s apartment, it is now 1:52 AM. Mateo finishes cleaning and is trying to decide on the inscription for his headstone. He decides not to tell Lidia it is his End Day. Instead, he turns to the Last Friend app to find someone to keep him company. He completes his profile with a happy picture of himself that shows the person he wishes he was. Unfortunately, the first people to connect with Mateo are not good fits. Wendy Mae wants to lose her virginity to a Decker, and Philly B. is also looking for sex. Other potential Last Friends are likewise off-putting to Mateo, so he starts playing a video game until he realizes he’s wasting time. In a rage, Mateo thinks of all the things he’s never done and will never do. He finally calms down and tries Last Friend one more time.
The story switches to Rufus’s point of view as he reflects on his life and relationships and prepares to host his own funeral. Rufus, Malcolm, and Tagoe all live at a foster home together. Aimee used to live with them, too, before moving in with an aunt and breaking up with Rufus. The tight-knit group calls themselves the Plutos. Rufus’s funeral finally occurs at 1:59 AM, with his foster parents and Malcolm and Tagoe all in attendance to say goodbye. Suddenly, Aimee shows up, but she’s brought Peck who wants to confront Rufus about the beating. Aimee calms him down and goes to talk to Rufus privately. Peck pretends to be patiently waiting, but he has secretly asked a friend to alert the police about where Rufus is. He wants Rufus arrested for beating him up. Malcolm and Tagoe distract the police so Rufus can escape on his bike and Rufus flees without finishing his funeral. As he pedals away, Rufus sees graffiti that advertises the Last Friend app. He makes a profile, and at 3:14 AM, he and Mateo connect. Even though they are both scared of the potential of one of them having to watch the other die, they decide to meet.
Analysis
In the hours immediately after learning he’s going to die, Mateo engages in a lot of introspection as he evaluates his life. He’s not proud of or happy with the conclusions he draws, establishing a foundation for dynamic change throughout the story. Mateo believes his mother’s death when she gave birth to him marked him for an early death as well, an assertion that reveals the guilt Mateo has always carried for his mother’s death. Mateo frequently has thoughts that reveal he believes his life is somehow not as valuable, including absurdly feeling like he’s wasting the Death-Cast herald’s time. After the call, Mateo continues this line of thinking as he reflects on how only his father and Lidia know him enough to actually miss him. Mateo’s ruminations on all the missed chances and time spent playing video games instead of making friends and having meaningful experiences reveal his regret over never fulfilling his potential or living his life to the fullest. His private mourning over the person he’ll never get to be is a lonely and tragic metaphorical funeral.
Despite his regrets, Mateo’s anxiety initially prevents him from living what’s left of his life. He spends time cleaning his room, writing notes to his neighbors, and even feeling obligated to read the stories of other Deckers on Countdowners instead of leaving his apartment. Ironically, as his actions contradict what he says he wants, they confirm what he requests to have engraved on his headstone: that he always put others before himself. Mateo’s fears make it difficult to think of himself first. When he turns to Last Friend to find someone to share his End Day with, it is clear that Mateo’s resolve to be brave is rising and that he intends to transform himself. He wants to spend his End Day in a way that is more representative of who he wishes he was. He chooses a profile picture that depicts who he wants to be: a fun, carefree, and spontaneous person. Though he is initially discouraged by the Last Friend responders who just want sex, his longing for connection drives him to continue trying. When he connects with Rufus, it’s clear that Rufus is an action-oriented person who doesn’t waste time, setting Rufus up as a foil for Mateo.
The introduction to Rufus, as he’s beating Peck, shows the contradictions in his character. First, he shows anger and impulsivity, which stems from his parents' and sister’s untimely death four months earlier. Letting Peck go after the call, however, reveals he is not solely defined by violence. And his eventual cooperation with Victor shows he is capable of self-control and compassion. Mateo does not want his End Day to include killing someone, and he ultimately prioritizes spending time with the most important people in his life: his foster siblings, the Plutos, and their foster parents. Like Mateo, Rufus feels the pressure of trying to pack all the living he wants to do into the hours he has left. However, Rufus is more resolved to get started as soon as he has his funeral.
Rufus’s time back at the house and his funeral illustrate the closeness of his relationships and his vulnerability. He reveals his sentimental nature when he holds Aimee’s blanket while reflecting on his friendship with Malcolm and Tagoe. In a parallel to the way Mateo cleans his apartment so his father won’t come home to a mess, Rufus makes jokes and plays Rock, Paper, Scissors with his foster family so their last memories of him are positive. However, his fractured relationship with Aimee reveals how Rufus’s unresolved grief causes him to be reactive and emotional. Rufus does not handle the breakup well, and is launched into a spiral of self-doubt and fatalism that leads to him attacking Peck. Since the Death-Cast notification, Rufus feels exposed and raw by the love his foster parents and siblings show him. The juxtaposition of Rufus’s survivor’s guilt from not dying with his family and the guilt of leaving his foster family behind cause Rufus significant mental anguish. The tangle of guilt, longing, and anxiety about how to finish life with dignity and authenticity is what ultimately brings Rufus and Mateo together.
