Chapter thirteen is the start of the Joad's adventure to California. They have already packed up and are on their way. Al, driving the truck, checks on everything, the gas, the brakes, the engine temperature; he listens for anything that could go wrong. Needing to get out of the truck and refill it, the Joad's family stops at a servicing station. The owner of the service station comes out immediately asking if they have money to pay; this aggravates them. "Tom dropped angrily to the ground and moved toward the fat man. 'We're payin' our way,' he said fiercely. 'You got no call to give us a goin'-over. We ain't asked you for nothin.'"
The man then goes on to talk about the country and the people that stop by his servicing station. He talks of the hard times and the big companies and the traveling people. He says that he does not know what the country is coming to. Then Tom blows up at him again, talking of the terrible times of the country, yelling at the man saying he is soon next to go. The man is shaken by Tom's explosion, and he tells Tom that he is right. Then he goes to get some water with the rest of his family. When this happens, the dog that goes along with the Joad's gets down off the truck and wanders onto the highway. The dog is then run mercilessly over by a car. Saddened, the Joad family continues on their way with Tom as the driver.
As night approaches, the family pulls over and asks to camp near another family. The couple agree and the Joad's start to unload. As they do this, Grampa gets down and immediately starts sobbing. He complains of not feeling very good, and Sairy, the new wife they meet, lies him down on her mattress in her tent. Granma gets the preacher to come and pray for Grampa, but he is unsure of what to pray for. After much struggling, Grampa dies; the preacher said he died of a stroke, "a quick stroke." They bury Grampa themselves at a private funeral service, and they leave a note with him telling who he was and how he died. The heart-broken and tired families decide to travel together helping each other along. With their camp fire meeting finished, the families fall asleep.
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