Matthias, Percy, and Alia are friends living at the Neidler School. Matthias, Percy, and Alia are third children living with fake identity papers. They are taken out of their beds one night by the Population Police. They are told there is a new ruler in the country and that they are going to be working for their country. But are loaded onto trucks and overhear one of the guards say "the little ones" won't last long in the camps. The friends manage to get on the same truck where they are all strapped in. Matthias breaks his own strap. He finds a nail and begins trying to break through the straps of the others. When he can’t break them out and he notices there near the camp, he drops the nail through a hole in the truck, causing a flat tire.
