In Chap­ter XXII, the char­ac­ters expe­ri­ence a mix of anx­i­ety and uncer­tain­ty after sneak­ing aboard Lester’s bus, believ­ing they would head to Sali­na. As they recount the jour­ney, Lill, one of the com­pan­ions, reacts with notice­able silence, leav­ing an air of ten­sion among the group. Reflect­ing on their predica­ment, the chil­dren express their fears, espe­cial­ly as Bob­bi’s tat­too omi­nous­ly repeats, “We’re dead.”

Lill even­tu­al­ly resigns her­self to their cir­cum­stances, lament­ing her loss­es, includ­ing her job and car. She asserts her author­i­ty by out­lin­ing a plan to head east towards Lin­coln, seek­ing a motel to ensure their safe­ty on the high­ways at night. Lill intends to call their par­ents to inform them of their safe­ty. The nar­ra­tor feels a heavy respon­si­bil­i­ty for the adults and acknowl­edges that get­ting to Pop­pa might have to wait until morn­ing, even though it weighs heav­i­ly on them.

As time pass­es, Lill and the chil­dren solid­i­fy their alliance, promis­ing to call home once they find a safe place. They notice Lill count­ing her cash and deduce that it should be enough to secure motel rooms, which Lester prompt­ly offers to arrange. Despite his reluc­tance to join them in a room, he takes Lill’s cash and secures their accom­mo­da­tions at the “Lin­coln Sleepy 10,” a seclud­ed motel.

The atmos­phere in the motel is filled with relief for the chil­dren as they find it near­ly emp­ty. How­ev­er, the nar­ra­tor har­bors appre­hen­sion about being spot­ted after their image appeared on TV. A brief moment of ten­sion aris­es when they ques­tion if Lester will aban­don them, to which he insists he won’t leave.

Upon arriv­ing at the sec­ond floor, Fish eyes the closed swim­ming pool, a sym­bol of child­hood free­dom that elic­its mixed emo­tions. Lill com­mands the group, pro­pelling them onwards, but secret­ly, the nar­ra­tor con­fides in Bob­bi and Fish about their intent not to call home, lead­ing to whis­pered exchanges about the plan they’ve devised to keep their secret from Lill. Amidst the humor and ten­sion, the chap­ter con­cludes as they approach their rooms, empha­siz­ing the pre­car­i­ous bal­ance of their deci­sion to jour­ney in the shad­ows.