The kid escapes from the ferry crossing massacre with Toadvine. The kid has an arrow wound in his leg but manages to travel for several days until he and Toadvine reach Alamo Mucho. There, they reunite with Tobin. They shelter in a well and frighten off Native Americans with the kid’s pistol. The next day, they see the distant shape of Holden and Cloyce’s brother running across the landscape, both of them naked and Holden wearing “a wig of dried river mud” and “bedraped with meat like some medieval penitent” (193). 

Holden uses his charisma to convince Toadvine to sell his hat. When he asks for the kid’s pistol, Tobin tells the kid to kill Holden. The kid refuses. Instead, he sets out west with Tobin. They head to California; Toadvine cannot join them because he is “subject to arrest” in California (195). As they travel, the kid and Tobin meet Brown. After they update Brown on events, he touches the necklace of “dried ears” (196). Brown is told that Glanton is dead, so he does not need to fear revenge. The kid and Tobin begin traveling again and see more ruined caravans. When they stop to drink, Holden appears with a rifle and two horses, now wearing the clothes that belonged to Toadvine and Brown; he shoots at them.