While Lennie listens happily to the story, George pulls Carlson's Luger and unsnaps the safety. George explains to Lennie that everyone will be nice to him on their place and there won't be any trouble or theft. When Lennie says he thought George would be mad, George tells him he never was and the important thing he wants Lennie to know is that he is not mad now. Then George brings up the gun to Lennie's neck and pulls the trigger. Lennie falls forward on the sand, and George throws the gun away from him into an old pile of ashes.
The men hear the shot and run up, Slim's voice calling to George. They burst into the clearing, Curley in the lead. The men assume Lennie had Carlson's gun and George numbly agrees. Slim touches George's elbow and says they should go for a drink. Then, as he helps George up, he says to him that he had to do what he did. Slim leads George up to the trail and on toward the highway, leaving Carlson to wonder — along with Curley — "Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin' them two guys?"
