Given his paramilitary background, Domingo leads the search party. He forges an uneasy alliance with Feliciano because, in order to find his son, he needs the Makapili’s knowledge of the locations of any Japanese camps. Although he cannot forget Nina and his life in the hills, he wants to be a part of his son’s life, unlike the tense relationship with his own father. Domingo recalls how he was a bastard, the unwanted product of an affair between his father, a Spanish barrister, and a local servant girl, and how he was given up to foster care. Domingo and Feliciano walk for miles until they spot their friends, all but Carlito, badly beaten and barely alive, in one of the Japanese encampments. Feliciano proposes a bold plan—he will lead Domingo into the camp at gunpoint and claim he has apprehended the notorious guerilla leader. Domingo goes along with the plan although he still does not entirely trust Feliciano.

The Japanese fall for the ruse. Feliciano opens fire and kills six soldiers. In the ensuing chaos, Domingo leads his son, Alejandro, and Roman to freedom. They return to the safety of the cellar, but that safety is short-lived.