What Is The Messenger Doing now in the novel

The messenger is with a man and his son and they are still running from the area where they know the Nazis are hiding.  The run into a large corn field and they tear off corn from the plants, tear off the outside leaves on the plant and then sitting down on the ground they eat the kernels f the corn.  They savor the fresh, sweet taste of the corn and they are refreshed.  Cheryl Freier