- While the dead boy is lying on the ground, kids surround some of the soldiers, asking for candy. One of the other soldiers tells Robin that you get used to killing.
- Robin's letter to his uncle comes next. He tells Richie about watching the boy die and says he's dealing with it by keeping the memory outside himself.
- A medical truck arrives and starts treating Iraqi civilians.
- Captain Coles gives the unit orders to leave for An Najaf, where they will be helping a medical unit. They get in the car.
- Robin offers to relieve Marla of squad gun duty, but regrets it as soon as he takes the gun. It's scary and after awhile, his legs ache.
- As they approach the town, they hear all sorts of guns firing. They pull off the road half a mile from the town to spend the night.
- In the morning, they roll into town. They get shot at by a few people in shadows but shoot back and kill them.
- They meet up with a soldier who leads them to a makeshift hospital inside a café. It's filled with civilians who were wounded by shrapnel and flying debris.
- Robin's squad takes a prisoner with them in their car, an old man. Jonesy gets their translator, who is riding with them, to ask the man what he had done.
- The man answers that he's been good all his life, but has an AK-47 in his house that he bought years ago. They try to tell him that he'll be okay, but he doesn't believe them.
- The leave the man at a command station. Their orders are to go to a mining area next.
- The soldiers are all bothered by the fact that they're leaving each place so fast. They can't get anything established anywhere.
- En route, the Humvee slips into mud that smells like human waste. The soldiers can't get it out, so nearby Iraqis bring over a rope, tie it to the vehicle and their mule, and have their mule pull it out of the mud. They stay the night at the next station and shower.
- The chapter ends with two letters from Robin. The first is to his mom and dad.
- He emphasizes that he isn't in much danger and that the war should be over soon.
- He tells them how everyone calls him Birdy. We might as well start calling him Birdy too.
- Birdy's letter to his uncle is next. He says that the war is over—that he's just ridden into Baghdad and the Iraqi 5th Corps have surrendered.