Summary

Tom and Christine hitchhike from San Francisco to Denver. Christine is tired of hitching rides. They decide to take a bus the rest of the way. Tom gets into an unpleasant exchange with a soldier named Henning who’s waiting for the same bus to depart. He notices that Tom and Christine are dirty and that they reek. They’re disguising themselves as Barefoot People, dirty street people, to throw off anyone trying to track them. Tom and Christine, like the Barefoot People, wear bullseyes on their foreheads so that the Creator can recognize them. They haven’t showered in a week and when they board the bus, other passengers mutter about their odor. They have been fighting the sexual tension between them. Tom’s mission is to deliver Christine to Boston where friends of Gilchrest will take her in.

Tom...