The day the Englishwoman died the detention center received new prisoners. Jim eyed her mess tin and tennis shoes. Jim noticed the allied prisoners had better shoes than the Japanese and that dead bodies left the center with bare feet. At the new arrivals, Jim anxiously and hopefully waited to be picked to leave. He licked his fingers and wiped the soot from his face but was passed over again. Basie was chosen to leave and immediately put his arms around the two boys who had just lost their mother. Jim called out to Basie who had already lost interest in him. Jim realised that soon, he would die from some kind of disease like most of the other prisoners. The new woman arrivals took over the cooking of the rice and Jim knew he would not get his fair share again.
The driver of the truck spread the map across the truck, shrugging hopelessly at the maze of streets. Jim could see that neither the driver or Sergeant Uchida knew where Woosung was. The driver sat in his cabin as Sergeant Uchida launched a tirade of abuse at him. Unimpressed, the driver was pointed randomly to a cobbled street with a disused tramline. Jim took advantage of the situation, shouting out the directions, and ignoring blows from Sergeant Uchida, worked his way to the side of the truck. The sergeant, tired of Jim, seized him with both hand and threw him into the truck. Jim ignored the stench of the truck and his bloody mouth as he steadied himself against the pitching roof, just happy to be on his way to his parents again.
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