In this chap­ter of “Blood Merid­i­an,” Toad­vine and the Kid engage in a des­per­ate and haz­ardous flight from the Yumas along a riv­er, endur­ing phys­i­cal pain and dire cir­cum­stances. The Kid has been injured, an arrow lodged in his leg, yet this does not deter them from con­tin­u­ing their escape. They tra­verse des­o­late land­scapes of sand dunes and scant veg­e­ta­tion, all while deal­ing with their dwin­dling water sup­ply and the con­stant threat from their pur­suers.

As they nav­i­gate this treach­er­ous ter­rain, their inter­ac­tions reveal a sense of frus­tra­tion and uncer­tain­ty about their next steps. Toad­vine queries the Kid about his abil­i­ty to walk and their lim­it­ed water. With lit­tle choice but to move for­ward, they even­tu­al­ly encounter the Yumas, who begin to launch arrows at them. This prompts them to take up defen­sive posi­tions, using what­ev­er they can to pro­tect them­selves. The Kid dis­plays brav­ery and skill as he fires back, tak­ing down one of the attack­ers, which tem­porar­i­ly dis­rupts the onslaught.

They reach a well called Alamo Mucho, where they find the expriest Tobin, alone and unarmed. They quench their thirst in the scant remain­ing water, while watch­ing the unfold­ing chaos of their sit­u­a­tion as the Yumas regroup. The expriest engages the Kid in con­ver­sa­tion about resources and ammu­ni­tion, while the ongo­ing threat from the Yumas looms heavy in the back­ground.

As night falls, they find them­selves sur­round­ed by the sil­hou­ettes of their ene­mies, endur­ing a tense vig­il that stretch­es into the dark­ness. The chap­ter cul­mi­nates in the reap­pear­ance of the Judge and an imbe­cile, both resem­bling fig­ures of exile and pow­er amid the des­o­la­tion. The Judge’s exchange with Toad­vine regard­ing trade—particularly for Toad­vine’s hat—illustrates a stark inter­play of sur­vival and mate­ri­al­ism, under­scor­ing the bru­tal­i­ty and moral ambi­gu­i­ty of their cir­cum­stances.

The ten­sion is pal­pa­ble as they nav­i­gate both the phys­i­cal dan­gers of the desert and the psy­cho­log­i­cal threats posed by each oth­er, cul­mi­nat­ing in a land­scape rife with con­flict and des­per­a­tion. Ulti­mate­ly, the chap­ter paints a grim pic­ture of sur­vival among the damned, set against the unfor­giv­ing back­drop of the Amer­i­can West.