“We all know they’re guilty,” Talya spat, “and there’s not a single thing the Judge is gonna do about it.” “So, where does this put us?” I asked, “Back to the sixties, back to legalized racism?” I was getting annoyed with her outbursts, but the fact of the matter was that I empathized. Rodney didn’t do anything but resist arrest, while drunk, and everything spun out of control. Drunk people resist arrest all the time, but they went too far, it was all caught on camera, and now the cops themselves were getting off scot-free. “No, but I know that the end result won’t be pretty at all.” “What makes you say that?” “You’re aware that your dad brought me back from Korea, but before he shot my handler, I was used to control other people through fear.” She looked down at her own hands, then her eyes glazed over. They were no longer focused on anything in the room. “I hated it.” Her hands clenched into fists, eyes misty and distant. She blinked, suddenly shaking her head. “I’m actually happy he took me here. One day, you’ll understand.” “I hope you don’t plan on making that happen soon,” I cautioned. I may have had a few beers, but I was far from being able to not understand what she was talking about. “Heh…No, no. I promised to keep your ass safe. If you fuck that up, it’s on you.” She got up and angled towards the kitchen. “Need another?” she nodded toward the nearly-gone Miller in my hand. “Naaah…I need to sleep. Time for bed anyway, my schedule changed after Tony was fired.” I heard the fridge clang open and knew she was going for the last of the vodka. “Don’t stay up too late, Talya.” ====================== Another week passed before the verdict was given. All four policemen indicted in the abuse of Rodney King were let off, and I had barely gotten home from work when the radio reported that fires were started. My home was just outside of Van Nuys, and the smoke already hung thick in the air. “TALYA!” I called out, “Talya where the fuck are you?” I tore through the house to see her sitting in front of the TV set, ammo boxes piled around her. “Finally. I was loading all these clips and waiting for you.” At her feet were three distinct piles: loose 7.62x39 ammo, stripper clips, and one more to the right where the clips had been filled. That pile spilled into the ammo boxes. “Grab some ammo and help me. There’s a long way to go.” “What makes you think-“ “The last time I saw fires started in the middle of the day,” she interrupted, as she tossed another loaded clip into the far-right pile, “I went through more ammunition than you have in your house, not just MY caliber.” She held a beer out from the half-empty pack. “Now start loading.” We kept loading. When we ran out of clips, we stowed the rest of the loose ammo and moved to other calibers. Another empty six-pack later, and all the ammo that could be loaded into something was loaded. The news was never turned off, the fires burned, and I was very conscious of the fact that I was a white guy. “I, uh…” I stuttered, “I don’t think I’m going to work tomorrow.” Talya, turning from the window, cocked an eyebrow. “You never miss work.” “I never had to drive through riots in order to get to work, either.” I got up to grab a beer, tossing my empty into the trash as I walked by. “And yet, there it is. I’m not risking that shit to get to that minimum wage bullshit they call a job.” “You’ll get fired…” “Better than winding up dead.” I returned to the chair I just vacated, landing heavily. The final mag for my dad’s 1911 was loaded and sitting next to the empty service pistol. I stared at the two pieces and saw how they would fit together like some kind of deadly jigsaw puzzle. “I don’t know how you two did it.” “Do what?” she asked, scanning the outside while idly tapping on the stock of the 10/22 she had leaned against the wall next to her. “War.” I slid the magazine into the pistol grip, heard a click, and racked the slide. After checking that there was a round in the chamber, I flicked on the safety and turned the chair to face the door. Nothing was going to come in that door and live. “We…just took one day at a time.” She paused her idle tapping and looked at the stock, her eyebrows knitting together. “When it was time to move, we moved. When it was time to stay, we stayed.” She looked back at me, her eyes blazing. “Right now, we stay.” -------------------- The next morning found us tiredly looking at the news and watching out of the window. More fires had been started, their presence indicated by billowing towers of black smoke on the horizon. “Hey, Duke,” she started, “you look absolutely beat. Call in, let them know you literally can’t make it, then get some sleep. I’ll take watch.” I nodded, my brain working to catch up with her. “Yeah…sounds good.” Ten minutes later, I was sleeping in the chair. I may have agreed to her having first watch, but I wasn’t going to leave her alone if she needed me. The phone ringing was what roused me. I jolted, seeing an empty chair where Talya was last, and quickly spun around. She came back from the kitchen at that moment, coffee cup in one hand, one eyebrow higher than the other, staring right at me. The phone rang again, and she returned to her window perch next to the smaller squirrel gun. At the next ring, I picked up. “Yeah?” I mumbled into the receiver. My voice cracked, neck hurt, and I was busy rubbing the sleep from my eyes with the other hand. “Hey, Duke, I heard you couldn’t make it to work.” I knew this voice. “Yeah, true. I’m not…wait, aren’t you at work?” The voice belonged to Jimmy Kim, a buddy of mine from work, but he would have been on shift at this time. Phone calls are not allowed on the production floor. “Nope, I couldn’t make it. Someone, uh, someone torched my aunt’s store.” His voice fell. “Dude, I’m so sorry.” I gestured to Talya for some coffee. I was going to need it. “Thanks, man. And, look, we can’t un-burn it, but I got an idea. You still got all those guns of yours?” I met Talya’s eyes and squinted a bit. I don’t recall talking too much about my guns with him at work, and we only had gone out drinking a handful of times. “I might have one or two laying around. Who told you I had a lot?” I could hear the suspicion sneak into my own voice. “Dude, you did. You were bitching about how the Terminator couldn’t have fired that many bullets without reloading.” “Right, right…and that I had the same kind of shotgun. Anyway, why? What are you planning?” “My aunt lost her store, but I’m not about to let anyone else take my family’s stuff. I can get to your place in twenty minutes, going around all the bullshit. But then I’m heading to take care of my cousin’s place. Can I borrow a few guns for that?” Talya placed the coffee in front of me then went back to her window. Instead of watching the skyline, she was watching me. “If you think you’re taking any of my guns, you’re in for a rude awakening.” Her lips curled slightly at that. Then, sipping from her cup, she turned back to the world outside. “What about if you came with? That way you can make sure I’m not just shooting anyone that moves.” “You’re not borrowing these just to look scary, are you?” “No. I don’t know how much the English-speaking news tells you, but the Korean radio has already asked for everyone that can help to protect the places that can’t protect themselves.” I could tell he meant business and was probably getting desperate. “Just start driving. I’ll have coffee for you when you get here.” I hung up without much coming from the other side. “Talya? What was that you said about going and staying?” “That we did what we had to when we had to. I take it we have to go do something?” “Yeah. We’re going to help out a friend.” “How long do we have?” I stood and stretched before answering. “About twenty minutes. How do you want to go?” She sat, reclined, blonde hair in a ponytail, one leg kicked up. Her chin rested on her fist in a pose of consideration. “I’ll go quietly, on your back. I don’t want surprises, but I’ll be around if you need me.” “Excellent. Now, let’s get packed.” ========================== Jimmy arrived not more than 5 minutes after Talya and I finished with packing up, knocking on my door as my second pot of coffee finished brewing. The gurgling noises matched the TV showing a man twitching in the street, blood pooling around his head. Frankly, it looked like hell. Before opening the door, I looked back to Talya. “How do you want to play this? Hide? Girlfriend? Something else?” “He’ll have to know eventually. Let’s see how he reacts.” With that, she sat back and lazily looked over the coffee table, hand draped across the 10/22 barrel that leaned across her lap. Shrugging, I opened the door to see Jimmy, wearing a khaki vest, blue shirt, bucket hat, aviators, combat boots, and cut-off military pants. “Hey, man. How was your drive?” Sliding inside the door, he took off the aviators and glanced around. “Dude, it sucks. Angry motherfuckers everywhere. You said something about coffee?” His eyes fell on Talya, who was staring at him. “You never mentioned a wife.” “I’m not his wife.” “Or a girlfr-” “I'm not that either. Best to not hurt your brain over it.” “...Dude, is she gonna help or something?” he asked, looking around for some relief. “Keep your shirt on, dude. She's cool, she's a better shot than me, and she's coming with. Here, have a mug, and tell me what the fuck.” He had barely made any progress into the apartment, still somewhat blocking the door. Jimmy finally saw the coffee and stiffly walked past the tiny area I called the living room into the kitchen. “There ya go. NOW...what the FUCK?” “Look...shit. Okay.” He stopped mixing in his sugar and placed his hands on the counter. “So last night my Aunt calls Mom, says that a bunch of niggers are screaming outside her store and trying to break in. Then Mom heard my Aunt screaming to come pick her up. She drives off, comes back 30 minutes later, and my Aunt is just crying.” By this point he finished mixing his coffee and had started pacing back and forth, staring at the floor, using his free hand to add emphasis to his story. “Just fucking bawling. Mom wasn't much better cuz she had to drive, but when she got back she just broke DOWN, dude. Finally, they tell me my Aunt’s store burned when the niggers broke in. And bro,” he stopped, finally meeting my eyes, “they ain't gonna get my cousin’s. He's got nothing else.” I had never seen a grown man angered to the point of tears, but Jimmy changed that. “Okay, dude. Chill.” I kicked back in the recliner and looked over to Talya. Her eyes glowed as she leaned forward, the intensity of her gaze matching Jimmy’s. Instead of anger, however, her eyes had that unmistakable gleam of excitement and possibly even hunger. “How do you want to tell him?” “Oh...heh...same way you learned.” She stood and stretched, took a loaded clip out of her shirt pocket and tossed it back on the couch, then looked back to me. “Ready when you are.” “Guys?” Jimmy was starting to look more confused, but still kept his coffee close. “Just, have a seat,” I said, gesturing to the recently vacated couch. Talya had already moved to my side, cocking one hip out and crossing her arms. “Try to not lose your shit,” I added as he slowly sat down, “and use the coaster.” In a jerky, mechanical motion, he hesitantly placed the mug on the small table while warily watching us. “Talya, if you would be so kind?” I stretched my hand out to the side opposite Talya as she slipped gracefully into a fall that would have her land in my lap. If she were a normal girl she probably would have broken the recliner. If she were a normal girl she probably would have broken my dick with the way she was leaning her ass into the fall. If she were a normal girl she wouldn’t have caused a quick flash of light and disappeared, leaving only a Russian rifle in my lap, the muzzle resting in my outstretched palm. For all his earlier action, Jimmy sat still and quiet for some time before calmly mumbling “dokkaebi.” Shaking his head, he starts giggling as he reaches for the coffee. When he sits back with the mug, still chuckling, his gaze isn't focused on anything in the same room. “I don’t believe it…they were legends…stories.” He started looking around the room, then pinched himself a few times. “You okay? Hey, over here,” I snapped my fingers, catching his attention. “Jimmy, you good?” “Yeah…kinda. I…you sure you’re not fucking with me and you two are magicians? Some ‘disappearing woman’ act from Copperfield or something? Where’d she go, anyway?” “She’s right here,” I indicated the SKS in my hands, turning it over and locking the bolt back. “Here, have a look.” He cautiously reached for the inert wood and metal, pausing a moment to place the coffee back on the coaster. I leaned forward and handed over the empty gun, watching his eyes fill with wonder, doubt, and curiosity, but remain free of fear. Whatever “dokkaebi” meant, he wasn’t actually afraid of it. “It’s cold…you sure this is her?” “What, you expected her to be hot to the touch? She’s a gun.” As I sat back I moved his coffee a bit, giving the appearance that it was for him to have more room to maneuver a weapon. “I have to ask, what’s a ‘dokkaebi’?” “They’re like boogeymen, little trickster demon things that fuck with people. Sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re bad,” he was turning the rifle every which way, inspecting the little dents in the wood and dings in the metal, running his fingers along the barrel, “sometimes they’re just assholes, but they were never REAL.” Apparently finished with his inspection, he placed the butt against the ground and stood it upright. “I’m lost. This doesn’t make sense. I told you what the fuck, so at LEAST tell me-“ Another flash, replacing the weapon in front of him with a girl in old Army fatigues. Standing about 5 and a half feet tall, long blonde hair in a loose ponytail behind her, arms crossed and face angled down to meet his, leaning on her right hip with an impatient pose, she finished his sentence for him: “-what the fuck, right?” Since he hadn’t had a chance to move his hand, it was still near her waist. I chuckled as he snatched it back and pushed himself as far away from Talya as the couch would allow. “WHAT THE-“ he practically screamed, now looking at her as if she really was a demon. With that, she laughed and began heading back into the kitchen for her own mug of coffee. “Okay man. I’ll level with you, because we don’t exactly have time for you to slowly figure shit out.” Jimmy is still staring at the shadow behind me, but he manages to locate his coffee and refocus on me. “Basically, she’s a gun, my dad brought her back from Korea, and she’s most likely the reason he even survived that hellhole. She stays with me when we’re out there, no matter what. So far so good?” He slowly nodded an affirmative, and I pushed forward. “Good. Now, we’ve got a dozen guns and a shitload of ammo. Only people you trust are allowed to use anything, and all this shit comes BACK to me when we get out of this. Does anyone know where you are right now?” “Uh…” he faltered, “yeah, Mom knows I went to go get help. I told her I’d come back with help.” “What kind of help did you tell her?” I pressed. “Dude,” he held his free hand up in a gesture of surrender, “I only said I would come back with help. I never said what kind because my family is a bunch of assholes about keeping every last word of your promise.” “So they don’t know you’re coming back with a white dude.” “…no,” he finally admitted. “Okay, since you’re probably NOT the first person to think about grabbing guns, would it make sense to call someone and let them know you’re showing up with some white people and some guns? I don’t exactly want to get shot when I’m just helping out a buddy.” “Yeah…yeah, that would probably be a good idea…” he mumbled into his coffee. After taking his last swig, he asked, “Do you mind if I use your phone?” I laughed, “Yeah, sure, go ahead. It isn’t like you’re asking me to do dangerous shit with you in return. OW!” I felt Talya hit the back of my head in admonishment and loudly protested my innocence over a joke. Ten minutes found us packed up, 8 guns and most of the ammo cans in the trunk, Talya safely hidden between my legs and below the window level of the passenger side, and both Jimmy and myself armed with pistols; me with my dad’s service Remington 1911 and he with my personal Colt 1911. As we left the residential district, I told him to make it look like we were only out for errands. “If you drive like a jackass,” I warned, “you’re gonna get a lot of eyes on you.” “How the hell am I supposed to NOT drive like I got a magical rifle riding shotgun?” he asked, incredulous. “I dunno, fly casual.” I could feel his gaze boring into the back of my head as we sat at a stoplight when I said that. “You and fuckin Star Wars…” “Don’t blame me for liking awesome cinema, blame yourself for having shit taste.” With that, he turned into the flow of traffic and began the worst time I ever spent downtown. ---------------------------------- Jimmy started to loosen up by the time we neared Koreatown. Previously, while winding through the strange grid that the city planners had concocted years before we were born, Jimmy’s haphazard driving drew a few unwanted stares, but the passing looks were less concerning than the looming haze of smoke and pillars of black soot blotting out the sky. Jimmy visibly relaxed in his seat when the signs and billboards had changed from English or Spanish to the moon-runes of his ancestors. “About time you loosened up. I was starting to think I was being driven by some sort of Jim Henson muppet.” “How the hell are you so calm about all this?” “Oh, you think I’m calm?” I was holding Talya by her barrel as it hid near the bottom of the car with my right hand, keeping the muzzle pointed out towards the street, while my left hand was nervously crossed in front, brandishing Dad’s Remington and keeping its muzzle pointed straight through the door at whatever I was looking at. “This is not calm,” I said, glancing over my shoulder. Jimmy, despite himself and his anxiety, was doing well with his simple task of “drive to the store.” He even managed to come to a “full and complete stop for 5 full seconds before turning right at a red traffic light.” He probably spent three of those required five seconds staring at the guns in my hands when checking to see that he was clear to turn. “Oh, good. Because here I was thinking I was taking the Iceman along with me to keep my family safe.” “Iceman? From the Bulls or from Top Gun?” “Does it matter?” The streets looked…empty. Eerily empty. “Well, one is real and plays basketball –“ “JESUS CHRIST! ARE YOU SERIOUS?” My nerves must have been getting to me, because when I jumped I was held in place by the seatbelt. “What the HELL, man? Of course I’m not serious! I’m trying to keep it together just like you! And in case you haven’t noticed…” I released Talya and waved my free hand around, indicating our surroundings, “I don’t fucking speak Korean, I’m probably gonna be shot at, and from what I can see, those fucking niggers have invented THE OLD WEST IN FUCKING LOS ANGELES! I’m just trying to keep it together, same as you!” We glared at each other, timid in our bravado, until the light turned green. When he started moving, I tiredly looked back to my side of the car and asked, “How long until we get wherever the hell it is that we’re going?” “About…a few minutes. Nothing big, maybe 5 max. Why, you have somewhere more important to be?” “Yeah, well, I don’t plan on being dead.” I was still scanning the empty streets because they were so off-putting. The occasional looter skittered across my view as Jimmy gunned it to our destination. “Your family knows I’m coming, right? What did you say?” “Well,” he laughs, “they know that I’m bringing a white guy with a few guns, but they also know that I’m bringing help.” “Are they…uhm, will they shoot at me?” There was no hope, I couldn’t hide the quaver in my voice. “I don’t want to be shot at by the guys I’m there to help.” “They shouldn’t,” he shrugged. “We’re in my car, I’m driving, and I’m bringing help.” “Shouldn’t.” “Yeah, exactly.” ----------------------------------- We pulled into an alley, dodged a few dumpsters, and finally parked in what looked like a loading area. We sat, still and silent, after turning off the engine. I could hear people talking and joking, but there was also a tension in the air. I looked back to Jimmy and saw him looking sullen, staring into the dashboard. “Hey. You good?” “Yeah…” he said, but it didn’t sound like he had conviction in himself. He sounded flat, almost. “What’s wrong? What’s going on upstairs?” “It’s just…I’m scared, man.” When he turned, he turned slowly. His eyes were wide open, but he was sunken, almost hollow. “It just hit me what I’m doing.” “Well, I’m going on only a few hours of shit sleep, so it’ll hit me later. But right NOW, you’re the one guy that’s making sure I don’t get shot, so DON’T lose your shit right now.” “Yeah…yeah, I guess I am. Okay. Okay. All right, time to have you meet the folks.” “Heh, don’t make it sound like I’m your girlfriend or anything.” “Aw, fuck you, Duke.” “I love you too, sweetie. You and your soft knees.” “Keep talking, see how funny it is when one of them kicks you in the balls.” I was laughing now, the tension of the moment gone. “Ooh, she’s feisty, too!” As I got out of the car I strapped Talya to my back and, after a moment’s thought, put the 1911 in my waistband and covered it with my shirt. “So, who’s first? Parents? Got a hot sister or cousin somewhere?” “My aunt, because it’s her store you’re standing behind.” Jimmy stretched and also stuffed the pistol he was carrying into his waistband, but he left the shirt where it was. This was his town, after all. “She speaks pretty bad English, but she also knows what you’re saying.” [And if she says anything screwy, I’ll let you know,] came Talya’s voice in my head. I had actually forgotten she could do that, because she was normally walking around. “Oh yeah,” I paused outside the door, “how are we going to explain Talya?” Jimmy stopped, handle in his grip, and turned back to me. “We’ll just say she’s a friend of yours that offered to help.” Turning back to the door, he said, “that is, if she decides to show up.” The next few hours were a blur of introductions, questioning looks, a few stares, and more muzzle sweeps than I would normally have felt comfortable with. Jimmy essentially chaperoned me all around the store, acted as translator, and eventually selected his core group of trusted buddies. Oddly enough, only one was older and didn’t speak English. Talya translated that he was too pissed that looters destroyed his store, so he intended to do everything he could to stop it from happening to any others. The old guy’s name was Min-Ho, and as long as he maintained that he would watch for other looters, he was fine in my book. Naturally, we had nothing better to do than stand on a roof and wait. A few smokes were passed around, Jimmy struck up a random conversation about where I had gotten all these guns (unbelievably, at the gun store), and another shop owner even an offered sandwich from a local corner store in gratitude. It dawned on me that the situation might have even looked comical: just a bunch of dudes sitting on a rooftop, overlooking a small strip mall, having a smoke and enjoying a sandwich…with guns. Then we heard gunshots. -------------------------------------------- An immediate scramble to find cover ensued, bodies pressing themselves behind sheet metal signs and two-foot-tall brick walls. Glancing around, I noticed that most of my allies had their weapons barely in their hands, let alone ready to fire. Another realization dawned on me as I took stock of the situation. “Jimmy! Where the FUCK are you?” “Over here, Duke!” came his voice, off to my left. “Okay, dude! Now, make sure everyone is scanning for threats! Identify the threat, and shoot ONLY if they're gonna loot! We don't want to murder anyone, but looters are fair game! You got that?” If nobody else was going to take charge, I guess I had to. They were using my guns, after all. “I got you!” Jimmy translated to everyone in Korean, just as we heard three more gunshots come from somewhere up the street. Someone nearby said something that sounded like “ah shibbile,” so I directed my thoughts to Talya to ask for a translation. [Roughly ‘aw fuck’ but it has a lot of uses.] [Kinda hard to disagree with him. You see anything I can't?] Her eyes, such as they were, saw better and farther when she was a gun. [Yeah, some black dude was trying to break through a front window. He's limping away now.] [Thank fuck.] Then, switching to verbal communication, I called back out. “Hey Jimmy, I'm gonna move to keep eyes down the street.” I backed out, keeping low, and shuffled around to the south. Keeping Talya pointed down the street, I slowly rose to get her muzzle above the short rooftop wall and began my scan of the street. Nothing stood out to me at first, but then I noticed a small group of blacks two blocks away. They were moving slowly, with a purpose it seemed, and made a beeline for a standalone liquor store. “Don't do it, guys, come on…” I pleaded, lining up the closest one in Talya’s sights. [You're higher up than they are, so aim at their knees.] Aim sufficiently shifted, I continued to silently plead while keeping the apparent leader’s lower body in my sight. When he picked up a large rock, I knew I had no choice. BLAM! Talya barked, her bullet arced downward and found its mark in his torso. The big ringleader dropped the rock and fell where he stood while his two accomplices scattered and hid. Rock-man tried to follow them, but the shock to his system kept him from making any coordinated movement. He slipped, landed on his face again, tried to crawl, then lay still. In the place where he first fell was a small pool of red, another one growing around his immobile form. Threat elimated, I began to search for his buddies to see what they were doing. Just as I spotted one, it seemed as if he was holding up a hand in - POP POP POP “SON OF A BITCH!” I screamed, ducking behind my scant cover. [Put me on him! I can get him!] [Are you insane?! YOU might be fine, but I can still get hit!] [It's a handgun, and not a good one. He probably doesn't know where you are, either. Quick!] Grumbling about lucky shots and how bad that would be for me, I popped back out of cover and aimed back at the shooter. He poked his head out from behind a car and looked like he was yelling at his quickly bleeding buddy, who remained unresponsive. I had just gotten her sighted back on the gunman when I heard another gunshot. I watched as he sat down, seeming to give up, before he fell over, lifeless, another puddle of dark red forming around his head. From the corner behind the car, the last of the trio sprang up and began running for all he was worth back the way he came. I decided he was not worth my effort and looked around. [Talya, was that you?] [No...that was faster than you had me on target, I would have hit the car at best.] Putting her stock down, I looked to my right and saw Min-Ho calmly eject the spent shell and load a new one in my Grand-dad’s old squirrel gun. He brought the scope back up to his eye and, apparently satisfied that neither of the thugs were getting up, lowered the rifle and pointedly spat at them. For what seemed an eternity, but probably no more than a few scant minutes, we all sat silently and waited for /something/ more to happen. I could only hear Talya in my head, the rest of the world muted and dull behind an annoying ringing sensation. When I called out for Jimmy, even my own voice was muted, but at least I could hear. Sadly, he had to shout to basically be heard, even standing 3 feet away from me. [Am I going deaf?] [You are only temporarily deaf. You’ll be fine in a bit.] [How long is ‘a bit’?] [Everyone is different. Just don’t decide to shoot with the barrel close to your ears and you’ll be fine.] Eventually, finally, everyone started to calm down. The danger was past, and so we went back to hanging out on a rooftop, but I noticed that more people were keeping an eye out on the street. I also seemed to pick up a new nickname of sorts, because the old man called me “Duke-ja” and everyone ran with it. “Jimmy, what does that thing Min-Ho called me mean?” I had just lit my fifth smoke since…earlier, trying to calm me down. Staring into the street helped some, but seeing the car and the surrounding, uh, evidence, did nothing to help my condition. “What, ‘Duke-ja’? It’s kinda like…uh…kinda like he called you an adult,” he shrugged. “Bro, I’m 25. I’m clearly an adult.” “No, not like that. Like he called you an adult Korean. It’s like he just adopted you, called you a grown-ass man, and called you that in front of all of us.” I mulled it over behind the burning ember of the cigarette. “So, what he means, is that I’m an honorary Korean?” I kept scanning the street for movement, and aside from a few Koreans actually shopping and treating it as just another life event, little else was happening on this side of the block. “Basically, yeah. Just don’t do anything that would make me beat the shit out of you,” he added, almost laughing. “Like what?” “Like trying to get with my sister, for one.” “Wait, that would revoke my Korean status?” This was getting interesting. “Probably not according to the old man, but I would still have to beat the shit out of you. She’s my sister.” “I can understand. Anyway, we have another problem.” “Yeah? We have food, and more than enough people now.” He gestures widely around, indicating all the other guys on the roof with rifles and high morale. “No, man. It’s gonna be dark soon, and all the fires tend to happen at night. We can’t go home. We need to be able to sleep and be able to shoot back at night, so there need to be shifts.” “That sounds reasonable, but who goes on shift and how many shifts will there be?” “That depends on how many people are staying here tonight. Take a quick count so we can plan. They don’t need to stay, but my guns do.” I flicked the butt over the edge of the roof and watched it throw sparks as it hit in the middle of the street. Silently, I prayed it was not an omen. 30 minutes, two cigarettes, and a much-needed piss later, Jimmy and 7 others were gathered around me in the ground level of the store. All but one of the guys that used my guns decided to stay behind, the one that went home had a pregnant wife at home. None of us blamed him, and once I found out about his situation I even said he could choose to stay home afterward. Instead, he laughed and told us he would see us all in the morning. “Okay fellas, that makes nine of us, ten guns, and about twelve hours until morning. How do you want to do this?” [There’s ten of us if you count me,] piped Talya into my head. [I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that. Besides, you would make ten bodies and nine guns.] Nobody else answered. After another moment of everyone looking around, I continued. “Anyone?” A younger guy named Pete Kim spoke up. “Well, we were kinda hoping you would tell us.” “Wait, what? Why?” Shock and surprise must have been easy to read on my face as I glanced around. All I saw were pairs of eyes staring back at me, most of them tired. “You got us guns, set us up on the roof, and proved that you’ll fight for us, Duke-ja,” Pete continued. “That means a lot to me, and to the rest of us.” “You all feel this way?” I asked, looking at them. Their immediate responses of “yes, yeah, of course” proved it, if nothing else. [Heh, look at that,] she chided, [you made squad leader.] [You’re not helping,] I retorted. To the rest, I explained my best plan. “Okay, then. Three on a shift makes sense, and if there's three shifts that means each one is four hours long. Everyone with me so far?” I was greeted with more assent. “Now that’s settled, I’ll take first shift. Who else wants to go first?” Pete and another guy named Blaine volunteered, the second shift claimed by Jimmy, his cousin Aaron, and their friend Tom. The last shift was left to Min-Ho, Eric, and Ji-yun. Planning done, I wished them a good night and excused myself to get coffee. I hoped it would keep me going until midnight to wake up the next shift. Thankfully, nothing of note occurred that shift. I also found where the guys were sleeping rather easily, considering that 6 guys could only get to sleep in so many places. Only after Jimmy and his buddies went back upstairs did I claim a spot on the wall next to the stocked store items, and only after I laid my head against some blankets I turned into a pillow did I try to sleep. Within seconds I was blissfully unconscious. That bliss, however, was extremely short-lived. Brief sounds of nightlife and the occasional shout filtered their way into my dreams. Darkness reigned eternal, hiding the faces and figures of my phantoms. What forms I thought I could see would inevitably shift and change into something that could not resemble anything in my waking life, but the Sandman cared nothing for reality. Fitfully I tossed around in the corner where I decided would be least comfortable. The shouts that I heard in my dreams became louder, more persistent, until I at last woke to find everyone had already abandoned the sleeping area and had run outside. “Duke! There you are! I’ve been calling your name for 5 minutes!” Jimmy screamed at me from across the store. “Well why didn’t you come get me?” “Do you know how hard it is to find someone when buildings are on fucking fire?” “Why not- wait, what the fuck? WHAT’S ON FIRE!?” I booked it straight to the rooftop, failing to find any fire extinguishers in the store. As the sky opened in front of me I began to wonder just how long I had been asleep. The sky glowed the colors of dawn but the sounds of the street signaled night, and night chaos at that. By the time I reached the parapet I saw the source of the light: someone had started a fire across the street where the bodies lay. The car itself was engulfed, the fire had spread to the store and continued to grow. Storefronts on both sides of the burning store billowed smoke, and I saw a somewhat familiar silhouette dash into one of them moments before a blinding explosion rocked the street. I felt the heat on my face and heard the shattered glass pepper the asphalt and had to wonder if anyone could survive. “Jimmy, who the hell was that?” When I heard no reply, I turned and saw him simply staring at the flames, dumbfounded. “JIMMY!” I screamed, “WHO THE FUCK WAS THAT?” “…Min-Ho…he, that was his family’s store, I…” he stammered. “What kind of store would have enough shit in it to make it explode like an 80’s movie?” “It..had kerosene and paint thinner because they had art supplies in it. I didn’t know they could do that!” [There’s a chance he could still be alive if the fireball missed him!] ‘Awh, shit!” Her thought to me caused an immediate response, and I was not 100% sure this would be a good idea. “Jimmy! Let’s go!” I could not wait. He could not wait. If there was any hope, I had to move. So move I did. Vision blurred as I ran down into a darkened stairwell only to be cleared when I crashed through the front door. A macabre dance of shadows greeted me, along with the smell of charred…something. Something worse than accidentally dropping steak into the campfire and giving up on it. Worse than the smell of pork chops smoking in the pan on too high a heat. I prayed it wasn’t Min-Ho. I lost track of the steps I took. I forgot how I got to the store. What I remember next was the searing heat, holding my arm up to protect my face, and seeing the car in front of the bodies melting as it burned. Two smaller fires nearby could only be the…remains. Inside, to my right, had to be the old man. Talya silently urged me forward. Smoke continued pouring out of the now empty windows, choking me and making my eyes water.