- There's still fighting in and around Baghdad, and bombing at night. You wouldn't know it from watching TV though, which is still saying the war is over. Marla wonders if they're covering stuff up.
- Jonesy pretends to be a TV announcer and interviews people in their squad using his flashlight as a microphone, making everyone laugh.
- Marla and Barbara ask Birdy if he'd like to come shopping with them. They're going with chaplains to visit a mosque and then plan to stop at a market. Birdy agrees.
- They reach the Shiite mosque and get a tour, which is a little over Birdy's head. He can't keep up with the names and dates.
- They head back to Baghdad and meet with some Marines who let them come along toward the area where the market is.
- On their way, a Humvee across the avenue blows up.
- The men run over and pull bodies out of the flaming car.
- Birdy looks for a sniper but he can't find anyone in sight to shoot.
- It was an IED (improvised explosive device), which can be set off from far away with something like a cell phone. There are two American casualties and one Iraqi.
- They return to base and tell everyone else what happened. Marla asks Birdy if he's okay and he says he doesn't think there's an okay anymore.
- The chapter ends with Birdy's letter to his father. He tells him he knows they have their differences, but he wants his dad to know that doesn't mean he doesn't respect him.