Hunger causes Josh and Joey to become solely focused on finding food. They occasionally get a bowl of broth at a soup kitchen but are allowed only one meal. Josh resorts to searching garbage cans, competing with rats and other desperate people for discarded food. Joey goes begging door to door.

At a small farmhouse in Nebraska, an elderly woman invites them inside. She tells them to take a bath and provides them with a comfortable bed for the night. In the morning, she feeds them a good breakfast and suggests that the boys “write something to Mama” (52) to let her know they’re okay. Josh politely declines to write home to his parents because he has nothing to say to them, but he suggests that Joey could write. Joey writes a letter saying that he and Josh are in Nebraska doing fine and doesn’t mention the hardships they’ve experienced.

They reluctantly leave the house in the early afternoon. Josh laments, “We wished we could stay with her, but we knew the rules: one night, one meal. Two meals at most” (53).

While hitchhiking, the boys accept a ride from a truck driver named Lonnie, who’s headed to New Orleans. Lonnie is friendly—and interested in the boys’ welfare.