The workers complete the foundation pit and are happy about the success. Pashkin tells them that it will have to be at least four times bigger in order to make room for pregnant women, though, and he convinces management to give the order. Voschev, who followed the peasant claiming ownership of the empty coffins, returns to the worksite to announce that Kozlov and Safronov are dead. The workers steal Nastya's empty coffins and bury the men in them. She doesn’t understand why someone who is not alive is given preference. "It's the way things are done," Chiklin explains to her. "The dead are all special — they're important people."