- In the morning, Mickey looks pretty bad but says he feels fine.
- The Cray boys and Tuna talk about Derek's chances of surviving—Mickey thinks he could last for at least a week without starving because of having so much body fat.
- Everyone is worried that Derek will do something foolish and die before having the chance to starve.
- Even though Mickey doesn't like him, he is worried that Derek might die.
- They all walk to Sickler's and Raven is there telling the crew that today they will find Derek.
- Big surprise—Link is there too, still looking angry.
- Walking by, Mickey tells Wahoo the airboat is the most important thing to Link.
- Thunder rumbles, threatening a storm, and we learn that tree islands—like the one Derek is on—attract lightning bolts, and so do airboats.
- Mickey and Wahoo walk toward Sickler's and Tuna stands staring through a fence, but doesn't answer when Wahoo calls out to her.
- Tuna runs away fast as lightning past Wahoo, looking terrified.
- In the little shop, Tuna's dad comes in asking about her, and Sickler says again he hasn't seen her.
- The man doesn't believe him and has been drinking (Sickler can tell because he stinks of beer).
- Mickey comes up behind him and tells him he'll take him to Tuna if he gets in the car.
- The man's name is Jared Gordon and he doesn't believe either Sickler or Mickey.
- Pulling out his gun, Jared tells them they had better tell him where the girl is or they'll get shot.
- The narrator thinks this is a good time to let us know that Link's airboat is the most important thing in his life. He is a simple and peaceful person, though still big enough to win a fight if he needs to. Link has searched for people lost in the wilderness before, and figures they will find Derek tired and hungry. He can't remember the last person who died from an alligator or snake bite, so it isn't common. Link is very intent on finding Derek because he wants his boat back in one piece.
- Outside, Link tries to get the other airboat driver to hurry, when Tuna bolts up and asks him for help.
- They hop in a parked airboat and take off, with Wahoo following.
- Just when they begin to go, Link feels a sharp biting pain and sees Jared with a gun, though it isn't until later that he realizes he's been shot.
- Wahoo tries to stop the bleeding and patches Link up just as he starts to fell dizzy and sleepy; Wahoo reassures Link that he will survive.
- We are told that Wahoo knows how to clean puncture wounds from working with animals.
- As he cleans the wound, Wahoo finds a shard of the bullet and says that it may have hit a bone.
- Tuna blames herself for what has happened, but Wahoo is preoccupied with worrying about Link's life.
- Calming himself down, Wahoo asks Tuna why she called her dad, and she tells him because she has a hamster that needs to be fed.
- We find out that Wahoo doesn't know how to drive an airboat and doesn't feel good about teaching himself since they can flip over easily.
- Then his mind shifts to his dad, and Wahoo wonders what in the world Mickey might be doing to stop Tuna's dad, since that is his personality.
- Wahoo asks Tuna if she thinks her dad was trying to shoot her. Ouch, that's a tough question. She chooses to think her dad was not trying to shoot her.
- Then another airboat is on its way right behind them.