It is the evening of August 6. After 12 hours of post-bomb suffering, a Japanese naval launch moves slowly down the seven rivers of Hiroshima, stopping at strategic spots. A young naval officer in a neat uniform announces that there is hope and that the people should be patient because help — a naval hospital ship — is coming. The survivors breathe easier knowing help is on the way.
Father Kleinsorge and Mr. Tanimoto join forces to evacuate the priests from Asano Park to the Novitiate in the hills. Responding to Kleinsorge's call for help, six priests return carrying litters for the two injured priests to the Novitiate. The priests enlist Mr. Tanimoto to take them by boat upstream to a clear road. Father Kleinsorge also requests that the priests send back a handcart for Mrs. Nakamura and her children.
Meanwhile, Mr. Tanimoto rescues two groups of people. Their wounds are ghastly and "suppurated and smelly." The minister must remind himself "these are human beings." Horrified, he must sit down to get his bearings. He makes three trips upstream in his boat with weakened survivors and he also rescues two young girls who have horrible, raw burns. They have been up to their necks in salt water, so the pain must be excruciating; the younger girl, who is in shock, dies.
The suffering continues. Dr. Fujii and Miss Sasaki are each alone and in great pain. In the Red Cross Hospital, a worn-out Dr. Sasaki "moves aimlessly." Blood, vomit, dust, and plaster are everywhere, and there is no one to carry out the dead. At 3 p.m., he has worked 19 hours straight and cannot dress another wound.
