Chapter 4 provides an introduction to the guides. Guides are typically young men who dress like the people they transport. If caught, they can blend in. The chapter opens with an ominous revelation: the guides are usually paid in advance. Therefore, when things go bad they have little reason to stick with their charges. Chapter 4 also discusses the tactics used by Coyotes to get walkers to make better progress. The use of drugs is common, including cocaine and ephedrine.

Several stories of guides abandoning their charge are presented, intercut with a letter from the guide of the Wellton 26. He goes by the code name Mendez. In his letter, he says that he is sorry for the pain he caused, but everyone needs to understand that he was raised in poverty. It is unclear at this point who exactly the letter is for, or who it is presented to, but it is a signal that Mendez will bear the responsibility for whatever befalls the walkers. 

Chapter 5 begins with a more in-depth description of the wretched state of the 26 walkers. The survivors are in the hospital. Most cannot speak. All of them are in shock.