<P> The Giver becomes impatient and bolder, having never previously met resistance with any species . It attempts to trap the family during a blizzard by disabling their vehicles and phone lines . Jack leaves on foot to ask a neighbor to drive his wife and son away from the house, while Heather and Toby remain at the house armed with gasoline cans and guns . Although they barricaded the house, the Giver is able to break in . It appears in two separate forms, each riding a corpse from the ranch's family plot . Heather discovers that bullets do not damage the Giver riding Eduardo's corpse, so she sets the house on fire, hoping the flames will destroy the creature . She shoots at the second corpse, damaging it, and realizes the Givers cannot move easily without their mounts . The first Giver has walked its corpse through the fire, and although it continues to pursue them, Heather sees that the fire has consumed part of it, allowing her some hope . Toby traps the Giver in his mind by tricking it into thinking he accepts its offer, while actually immobilizing the Giver and allowing him, his mother, and Falstaff to escape the house . </P> <P> Jack is picked up by a snowplow driver, Harlan Moffit, and sees the house on fire when they pull in the driveway . Heather and Toby are carrying gas cans up the back stairs, and Harlan assists the family when Jack tells him of an alien invasion . Toby states that he cannot continue to hold the Giver captive for long, and that the Giver is actually in the caretaker's house . They carry the gasoline cans to the caretaker's house and see a third entity, riding another corpse, held immobile by Toby's imagination . The main body of the Giver is further back in the house and is a massive being which sprouted off the three smaller extensions of itself . Toby continues to hold the being's will in place, and the adults pour gasoline and set the building on fire . </P> <P> After the authorities have taken everyone's statement, Toby tells his father that, at the very end, the Giver sprouted off a few small worms that tried to escape by boring into the wood . He is not sure if any of them survived, and Jack says that they will leave that to the scientists and authorities to handle . A few weeks later, the family moves back to Los Angeles . </P> <Ul> <Li> Jack McGarvey . Thirty - two - year - old police officer married to Heather McGarvey, and father of Toby McGarvey . </Li> <Li> Heather McGarvey . The wife of Jack McGarvey and mother of Toby McGarvey </Li> <Li> Toby McGarvey . The eight - year - old son of Jack and Heather McGarvey </Li> <Li> Falstaff . A golden retriever adopted by the McGarveys </Li> <Li> Eduardo Fernandez . A lonely man in his 70s, owner of the Quartermass Ranch and father of Jack's late partner </Li> <Li> The Giver / The Traveler . An alien being that desires control of anything that it wishes, living or dead . It does not understand the concept of death and believes that everything in existence is there only for its own use </Li> <Li> Travis Potter . The veterinarian of the town of Eagle's Roost </Li> <Li> Paul Youngblood . Attorney responsible for Eduardo's estate and neighbor of the McGarveys </Li> <Li> Harlan Moffit . A snowplow driver who rescues Jack McGarvey and assists the family in their battle with the Giver </Li> <Li> Anson Oliver . A movie director who shot Jack McGarvey at Arkadian Station </Li> </Ul>

In a lonely corner of montana dean koontz