As Jonas bikes further and further away from the community, the landscape starts changing. The roads are rougher, filled with ruts and stones. At one point, Jonas hits a stone and the bicycle turns over. Gabriel is fine, but Jonas has twisted an ankle. Yet Jonas is undaunted, and the little duo continues to travel. Since the search-planes aren't coming by anymore, Jonas starts to travel in daylight. The landscape becomes more and more rural. Jonas even sees a bird pass by overhead, the first he's ever seen in real life. As they move into forest-like territory, they see more and more animals. Jonas is happy about this, a fact only slightly dampened by their impending starvation. Jonas then begins running out of food then gets a brilliant idea of making a net out of Gabriel's blanket to catch fish with the success of catching two fish from a stream, which they eat raw. He tries to conjure up memories of food, but they're dim and fleeting.
Jonas takes a moment to ponder the fact that, had he stayed in the community, he would definitely not be starving right now. He made a choice, he realizes, and it was the wrong one. But if he stayed in the community, Gabriel would have died. Jonas also would have starved in other ways, starved for color and emotion. Then Jonas encounters hills for the first time. He's all excited to see hills at first, but when he's on a bike and he has a sprained ankle, it’s not as beautiful. Then it starts raining. Now they're starving and wet and freezing. Gabriel, understandably, starts crying. Jonas does, too, but not for himself. He's not worried about saving himself anymore; he's just concerned about saving Gabriel.