Luke jolted awake from a vivid nightmare of being held in the Institute’s immersion tank under the Stasi Lights. Disoriented in the pitch-black boxcar, he felt hemmed in by toppled cartons and wondered if his telekinesis had knocked them over during his distress. The train decelerated and clicked over switches, while Luke’s physical condition worsened with thirst, hunger, ear pain, and a need to urinate.

When the boxcar door slid partially open under moonlight, a truck backed up and two workers, Billy and Duane, entered with a battery light and earbud music. They laid a ramp and loaded Kohler-labeled crates, indicating this was an intermediate stop rather than the end of the line. Luke, concealed behind machinery and boxes, fought the urge to reveal himself for food as the men ate doughnuts.

The workers discussed a local inquiry: someone said his brother-in-law from Massachusetts had called in the night about a missing kid who might have hopped a freight, possibly disembarking at Richmond, a junction point, before heading west. This confirmed to Luke that his escape had been detected and that watchers might be posted at current and upcoming stops. After being urged to finish in twenty minutes, the crew departed, and a railman slid the boxcar door mostly shut, leaving it slightly ajar. The train soon pulled out and accelerated.

Luke worried the Institute had squeezed information from Maureen or Avery and concluded he might have outsmarted himself by choosing the train. Weighing risks, he chose to remain hidden. He relieved himself by urinating into the empty tank of a rototiller, then tried to distract himself from hunger by focusing on his physical pains.

Thoughts of the Institute cafeteria’s drinks and breakfast returned unbidden, conflicting with his determination not to go back. Opening his eyes, he noticed crumbs on the floor in the gap between the newly loaded crates and equipment—remnants from the workers’ doughnuts. He crawled over and ate them, picking up a larger piece by hand and licking up the smallest crumbs to stave off starvation.