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History: The Devil's Highway is notorious for taking the lives of those who dare to cross it for hundreds of years. Many immigrants trail through The Devil's Highway as part of their immigration journey. People are warned of Gods, deadly animals and bugs, dangerous plants, the lack of water, and arduous weather conditions. The chances of survival are slim. There is a reason why the nickname to this desert is something along the lines of, "The Grave of the Unknown." It is also said to be haunted by ghosts.

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Five men who break away from the group are trailing the desert while dehydrated and near dead due to the heat. They arrive at Vidrios Drag where they attempt to find Border Patrol for help as they see no other option. They try to get help for themselves and send for the others they have left behind. Mike or Agent F. realizes the gravity of the situation, thinking about how many bodies there can be with just that one group alone.

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Border Patrol agents are mostly known to lack human decency. They are ignorant and not well-liked by the communities that are nearby. Border Patrol has had stories told about them abusing and harassing the immigrants they hold captive. It is also true that they will occasionally leave corpses to rot in the desert simply because they do not want to do the paperwork.

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Dragging is a concept used by Border Patrol to see if anyone has crossed the ground and is still walking nearby. Many specific factors go into indicating where the people who "cut the drag" may be. Agent Mike F. finds five people and we are told about the tragic fates of 14 people and their painful ways of passing as well as how their corpses are examined and sent back to Mexico

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Many people in Veracruz suffer from poverty and just barely make ends meet. So, In this chapter, the character of Don Moi is introduced. Don Moi is an Americanized coyote contact who is well-respected among people. He sets up the journey for the rest of the people in this chapter who are looking to make money in El Norte. All those people include The Bautista Boys, Reymundo Barreda Sr., Reymundo Barreda Jr., Nahum Landa, Reyno Bartolo Hernandez, Enrique Landeros Garcia, and Mario Castillo Fernandez.

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This chapter details the hierarchy in the coyote community, specifically the family that Don Moi is a part of. The coyotes have gained full control of the border and know of its many holes. It would be near impossible being a lone coyote as they get killed by those who are a part of a crime syndicate.

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The guia who leads the Wellton 26 is introduced in this chapter. His name is Antonio Lopez Ramos, aka Jesus, aka Mendez. Guias are at the bottom of the smuggling operation as they have the most difficult job. They are also seen just as expendable as the pollos. Many stories have been told of guias abandoning their pollos never to return.

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This chapter gives background to who Jesus is. He was suffering from poverty, working in a tile factory. He comes across Rodrigo Maradona who tells him about the life he could be living. He introduces him to the gangster world. Jesus loves the lifestyle and sees himself as important and a rebel. He did not know what he was getting himself into.

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Mendez and Maradona are waiting for their pollos in a run-down border motel. Finally they arrive and attempt to lead the group, but end up getting caught. That was their last group before the Yuma 14. Don Moi is on a bus to Sonoita with 26 recruits for the following border crossing.

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Mendez's Saturday morning begins with him hungover and feeling awful from the night before. Maradona, his partner, is nowhere in sight. So, Santos and Lauro, who Mendez sees as useless, are sent to be Mendez's replacement guia partners. When the border is reached, everyone leaves the bus with Pepsi and anything else they may have. Mendez is worried because they arrived at the Devil's Highway early, so they may succumb to the heat sooner.

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The group begins to trail across the Devil's Highway in this chapter. At 11:30 pm, a mysterious light shines upon the group, and this scares Mendez. Mendez and his group run to avoid what they believe to be La Migra. This causes them to be off-track. Border Patrol discovers that Mendez from then on was leading them in the wrong direction by following their tracks. This occurs following their rescue. When day rolls around, the group is off track about to be baked in the heat.

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On the 20th of May, the group find themselves lost under the belligerent sun. The heat will prove itself unforgiving for 12 of the group members as it takes their lives away. The author details a story of two white couples who also share the same fate as those 12 who've passed. There are six stages to hyperthermia: heat stress, heat fatigue, heat syncope, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. All in that order, those 12 succumb to the sun.

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Mendez is lost and directionless; the group begins to get fed up with him. Every step in the wrong direction is one step closer to death. Santos finally has enough of Mendez and his stubbornness, so he decides to head back with some other members of the group. They are never heard from again.

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The group's men are discussed in this chapter. Their reasons for making their way to the U.S. are revealed as well as their full names. Don Moi exploited all of them; he charged none of them the same amount of money. And the entrance fee into the U.S. had to be paid off by years of labor as soon as they crossed the border. This chapter finds it's place in this book because the author wanted to illustrate the lives of each man and display that they were just as human as everyone else too.

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The men finally realize that Mendez is full of it and is completely lost. So, the men begin to call him out on it. Different accounts exist of what happened. But Lauro and Mendez ended up with the men's money and promised to come back with vans and water. The men knew they were being abandoned, so they tread on with whatever strength they had left in them

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Mike F notices a recent sign when he was out cutting the drag. In result, this lead him to finding the group. Rescue helicopters take these men in, but unfortunately, most of them don't survive. Some die just in time to see that they were being rescued. Lauro had passed away under a bush, but Mendez survives.

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The men now reside in the hospital. It is extremely taxing to the border towns. Authorities proceed to question the men, but they don't rat out Don Moi, El Negro, or the Cercas family. They are aware of the consequences that would come with doing so. They instead throw Mendez under the bus and snitch on him. The officers make their way to Mendez's bed.

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Rita Vargas attempts to help the surviving men by keeping them in the United States and supporting them against Rooster Boy. Mendez wrote a letter to the judge that was seen as insincere and with poor substance. Nobody wants to hear his excuses. They are looking to prosecute Mendez to the fullest. The bodies of the dead are being transported to Tucson. Finally at peace.

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Mendez has to face the consequences for the part he played in the entire Yuma 14 situation. He tries to place the blame on the Border Patrol and refuses to rat anyone out due to the consequences that will come with doing so. Eventually, he ends up pleading guilty so he at least has a chance of life after 16 years (minimum). 14 dead bodies have been returned back to Veracruz where they are being paraded. Lots of money was invested into the event. It made Rita Vargas think what if they spent all that money to help the community, so future tragedies are avoided.

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The men are all allowed to stay in the US and given jobs at a meat packing plant. Relations between Mexico and the US are better than they were before up until 9/11. Then, the U.S. reinforced their security and grew weary of Mexico. The border is now riddled with all sorts of tragedy and crime.

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The death of the Yuma 14 made the border patrol in the area make changed to the Devil's Highway. The built towers and more water stations. Not everybody was happy or excited about it, and some people vandalized those buildings. Many of those same people believe that those undocumented immigrants cost taxpayers $55k+ but in this chapter we see they do more good than harm to the economy.

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The author reveals many things in this chapter, from the name of Mike F (Dave Fagan) to the fact being undocumented isn't even a federal crime, but the same as a speeding ticket. We learned that Don Moi also faced the wrath of the families whose men died. Reymundo Sr.'s nephew took the same journey as him and became very successful. He hopes to make relations between the U.S. and Mexico better someday. The author also explains to us his relationship and feelings towards the border, and then leaves us on a hopeful ending.