Derrick Morris

"'This ain't on you,' Derrick said as if reading my mind, though he kept his eyes on the lake. … 'Not every situation requires blame. … We've never had a storm that bad.' "Derrick Morris is one of the Fire Lake sophomores. He is described as being skyscraper-tall with dark skin.

Early Life
Derrick hung out mostly with Ethan Fletcher's crowd in high school. He joined his friends to drive around Fire Lake and vandalize it when the country was in a state of emergency.

In the Program
Derrick originally runs with Ethan's crew when the Program begins, ordering people around and helping enforce martial law. He is burned by Noah Livingston when he stays in a cabin too close to the Ski Lodge boundary. He also runs a snatch-and-bag crew at the southern reset point, kidnapping people who reset and marching them to jail. After Toby Albertsson leads a raid on Starlight's Edge summer camp, burning everyone there alive, Derrick decides he wants out and convinces Min Wilder to open the blast door in the silo so he can join her. After they escape, he and Min round up people to begin making their way to Noah's house, resulting in the Life-Trading Team. He survives the rest of the Program.

Chrysalis
After the events of the Program, Derrick helps run Home Town alongside Min. He stays loyal to her leadership throughout the book, wins all of the games he is subjected to, and survives to organize the final battle against Sophia. When they land on Mars, Derrick and Rose Valenti are elected to be in charge, and Derrick often swings by Min's isolated cabin to keep her updated on the events of Livingston Colony.