Luke Ellis, exhausted and parched, rides in a Southway Express boxcar through the night, unable to sleep. As pre-dawn light grows, he peers out and sees second-growth pines, small towns, and fields, then a river he longs to drink from, reflecting on his thirst and the risk of polluted water. The air shifts to salt and the surroundings to warehouses, cranes, and boarded factories, signaling approach to a coastal city and active yards near an airport.

The train slows and stops in a busy rail yard filled with trucks, workers, and the sounds and smells of engines and diesel. Luke retreats deeper into the boxcar, listening to men speaking Spanish and English as cars are coupled and decoupled. A crew of four workers—two Black and two white men—arrives to unload the boxcar, joking with each other while setting a ramp from their truck.

From his hiding place between a rototiller and a lawn tractor, Luke watches them reverse the previous loading process, stacking crates and moving them to the truck. He grows faint as dots swim in his vision from dehydration, thinking of the Institute’s Back Half movies Avery Dixon had mentioned. One worker briefly checks outside when the door jerks but finds no one and urges the crew to hurry because the stationmaster says the train is running late.

The crew removes all but two of the large Kohler crates, then decides to depart without unloading the smaller engine cartons near Luke’s hiding spot. As the truck prepares to leave, one white worker, called Mattie, announces he will stay behind briefly, joking crudely about needing the restroom while the others drive off.

After a short quiet, Mattie climbs back into the boxcar. He reveals he noticed Luke earlier when he sat on the outboard motor cartons and addresses him directly: he has seen Luke and tells him to come out. The scene ends with Luke discovered, cornered inside the boxcar by the lone worker.