Summary

Over the following two weeks, Aksionov has difficulty sleeping, and he is unsure what he should do about Semyonich, if anything. At night, he walks restlessly around the camp. One night, as he is walking, he sees Semyonich covertly digging a hole near one of the prison walls. Aksionov tries to pretend that he saw nothing, but Semyonich grabs him. Semyonich explains that he digs the hole at night, puts the dirt in his shoes, and then empties it out on the road each day when the prisoners are sent to work. Semyonich says that if Aksionov keeps the hole a secret, then they can both escape. Semyonich adds that if Aksionov tells the guards about the hole, “they’ll flog the life out of me, but I will kill you first” (9). Aksionov responds that he does not wish to escape. He also...