Chapter 4 Summary

Back in the gulag, it is another weary, bone-chilling night. The prisoners are stomping their feet in the snow, trying to keep warm as they engage in muted conversation with the guards standing around nearby. As a large group of workers moves forward to the cage, Dmitri tells an amusing story about polar bears. This helps to lighten the mood. Shurik squeezes to the rear of the cage, which will take the prisoners down more than two kilometers below the earth's surface to the coal mine.

Once underground, Shurik explains how his team of seven members has rigged a light for their work area. This is against the rules. He explains how hard the work is. Short-handled picks are issued, that must be swung horizontally against the face of the wall, shattering the coal. It peppers their skins. They have no goggles with...