Soon after Felix and Yuli arrive at the town, planes fly over and drop bombs. Yuli guides Dom and the cart into the town square, where they all lie flat. Fortunately, they are uninjured by the bombing. Felix grows furious with the planes and wishes that he had rockets to shoot down the Nazi bombers. Yuli explains that the planes were British and American, and that the Allies bombed the entire town because it is a hub of Nazi activity.

They head down the street toward Nazi headquarters, where Yuli takes a Nazi jacket, hat, and gun and walks toward a Nazi flag. She tells Felix to wait by the cart and look for food. Upon deciding where to go, Felix faces a quandary. He states, “I tried to decide which is riskier. Searching for food in an upstairs flat where the floor might give way, or in a basement flat where the ceiling might collapse” (120). Felix notices motion in one of the damaged homes and realizes that he has seen the face of a child. When he goes into the house to determine if there is someone injured who needs help, he recognizes a hiding place for children.