- Katriana has already left for school when Alex wakes up, so Alex spends another day in zombie-mode until his schoolteacher finally returns home late that night.
- She immediately gets back to planning, deciding she'll give Alex some money and food and then set him off for the train to Moscow.
- After an emotional goodbye, Alex leaves for the station. It's a madhouse here, and there are "people [...] sprawled everywhere" (2.10).
- Turns out that the train hasn't been by in days. Yikes. After buying his ticket, Alex sits down to chill until the train rolls in… whenever that may be.
- Unfortunately, Alex has unknowingly sat in the middle of a group of homeless boys who are huddled together. They curse at him, but Alex settles in and falls asleep.
- He's woken by the sound of a train arriving. Huzzah. The only bad part is that someone stole the backpack right off his back while he was sleeping, leaving him foodless. That's ice cold.
- Alex forces his way onto the train, which isn't very easy since this thing is more crowded than a music festival.
- Finally, the train starts moving. Things are going great. Well… until the train inexplicably stops, that is.
- Suddenly, a group of soldiers barge in and demand that everyone leave—the army needs this train for official business. The passengers have no choice, emerging from the train in the middle of the woods.
- It turns out that most of the passengers are planning to walk the rest of the way to Moscow. Whoa. Alex sees a family heading that way and follows them.
- After a long walk, Alex huddles up against a "half-destroyed wall" (2.45) to stay warm. It's getting colder and colder out here.
- He wakes up shivering harder than a snowman. Luckily, the family he was following has left a fire burning, so Alex is able to warm himself up a tad.
- Still, he's dead tired (emphasis on the dead). He takes a break in the middle of the day, but a woman pushes him to keep moving.
- That night, he and his fellow travelers huddle up in a decrepit old church for warmth.