Here, there is a strange tenderness in the way death is described. That's a motif that will be drawn in more as we progress through the novel. This strange tenderness calls attention to the fact that death is a big deal, and it's something that transcends whatever is happening on the streets of Texas border towns. Life seems to be cheap here, but that doesn't mean that life actually is cheap.

Llewelyn returns with water for the one surviving Mexican drug dealer, who was afraid of being eaten by a lion or a wolf. But it's not animals he should have been fearing—it's other humans, who are much more ruthless.

Llewelyn underestimates the violent lengths the drug dealers are willing to go to in order to catch him. Immediately after this, they shoot at him and his wife. And this is just a warm-up for Chigurh.