Dujapsorn didn't know when she fell asleep, perhaps because she was exhausted from walking and sitting in the sun for many hours. She woke up again when she heard loud cheers, the sound of broken glass, and the sound of motorbikes running everywhere on the road. When she opened the curtains and looked out through the window, she saw the dark red sky. Her heart beat continuously thinking that something bad must have happened. There was a knock on the door. She opened the door and saw Aunt Chem making a nervous face.

"Something's wrong, my lady, that loud sound is really scary."

"Where is my aunt?"

"She is chanting in the Buddha's room, I'm scared, let me stay with you."

"Okay, have you checked all the windows?"

"Done, lock the fence, pray to God." Chem clasped his hands and bowed his head. "I hope they won't come here, there's nothing to rob at this house."

Chem went into the room, Dujapsorn closed the door and went back to sit on the bed. The curtains were opened, the firelight was bright red and the smoke was still flying high above the buildings ahead.

Aunt Dujapsorn's house, not many alleys away from the main road, is the oldest traditional Thai-style house left in this area. This confirms that her grandfather's family was once very rich, but as time passed, her father's failure caused his assets to dwindle to the point of being almost empty-handed. Dujapsorn's aunt relies on the knowledge and cooking skills passed down from her grandmother, making pickled carved ginger, traditional crispy cakes and a few kroong kreng dumplings sold in front of the house to make enough income.

"Don't be afraid, they definitely won't go into this alley."

Chem sat trembling on the floor.

"I really don't know. As soon as I went out and locked the door, the sounds of people and cars echoed throughout the alley, and there was also constant gunfire. When people go crazy, anything can happen."

The knock on the door rang again. Chem was startled. Hearing the landlady's voice, she sighed and stood up to open the door.

"So you're here, Chem?"

"Yes, Mrs. Pon. I heard gunshots, I was very scared."

"That's why I was bothering Fah, making the young lady unable to sleep."

"Don't worry, Fah was startled and woke up a long time ago." She smiled and answered, looking out the window. "It's definitely chaos outside."

"Should we turn on the TV to listen to the news? I want to know what's going on right now." Chem suggested.

"In that case, go to my room." Siripon was invited. "Let's watch the news together."

Chem happily hugged the pillow he just brought home from the landlady's room. As Dut-apsorn walked and picked up pillows and blankets, the image on the TV screen also lit up along with reports on the latest situation at the burned Nang Lerng Central Police Station and Pukao Thong Fire Station.

Major Mom Luang Asira Jutathep had just returned to the barracks after coming to guard the situation as ordered from early morning. He slept for less than two hours. When there was a knock on the door, he sat up from the small bed in the military barracks and opened the door right before asking.

"What happened?"

"The Prime Minister has declared a state of emergency and an emergency order has been sent to the major."

The soldier took the letter, opened it, read it quickly, clenched his jaw before speaking to the postman.

"We definitely can't rest, it seems like this war is still going on."

Tanks and GMC vehicles were running straight towards Phan Fa Lilat bridge. Major Asira felt indescribably uneasy. Thick eyebrows furrowed as their eyes looked through the car's front window, seeing the orange light illuminating the road and the darkness.

Soldiers like Asira are trained to defend the country and defeat enemies, but are the people gathered on Ratcha Damnoen Road the enemy? It's just that they think differently from those who hold power, should their punishment be death or not?

But all soldiers must listen to orders and strictly follow them. Even though he protested in his heart, he couldn't go against the order. Upon arriving at the location where his unit was stationed, Major Asira announced.

"Don't kill innocent people, we are all Thailand, we only have the responsibility to spread out our forces and not let protesters approach Chitralada palace."

The news of soldiers suppressing hysterical people was heard from midnight until dawn. Dujapsorn was half awake and half asleep for most of the night because he was worried about people who shared the same ideals.

At 10:00 a.m, it was announced that the Prime Minister explained to the ministerial delegation the situation and the reasons for declaring a state of emergency. But there were also people who called to find Siripon to tell them the dense rumors that the army protecting the capital planned to break up the protest, including news that soldiers surrounded protest groups, so the people who wanted to participate were pushed out and the remaining protest group inside was only about twenty thousand people.

Every second passed with tension, the silence felt like a bad omen before the storm rushed in, and now she had no choice but to hide in the house.

Nearly three o'clock in the afternoon, there was silence outside, after the Prime Minister gave a press conference that someone incited the protest to become violent and injured staff, so the military and police had to be used police for absolute repression.

Chem sat huddled next to Siripon who could do nothing but watch the news on the TV screen with tension. Curiosity made Dujapsorn silently go out the back door of her house, which went through another alley, straight towards the location where the protesters were sitting.

Dujapsorn arrived at Ratcha Damnoen Street. On the way, she saw protesters sitting together to avoid the sun. Some people spread out mats to sleep together after not sleeping all night.

She looked left and right with great pity for those who love democracy. She did not know where the protest leader was. The sound from the big stage was silent, only the sound from the car speakers still echoed. But fatigue also caused no one to pay much attention to the vibrant sounds of the protesters.

Dut-apsorn was satisfied as her wanted, so her turned around and was about to go back when suddenly a machine gun rang out. She looked back and saw everyone standing up, startled because they didn't know the origin of the shot, followed by chaotic screams of people standing up and running with no direction and afraid of death.

Her heart beat continuously with fear to the bottom of her heart. Dujapsorn also ran after the group of people. When she turned around, she saw soldiers in the front row approaching and shooting randomly, followed by armored vehicles. Everyone screamed miserably, but at this point no one could help the injured person anymore except to run away to escape death.

Dut-apsorn ran as hard as her could, her heart pounding in her chest, hoping to escape home before the soldiers caught her. She ran into the alley before she could brake quickly when she saw a group of soldiers holding weapons going in the opposite direction.

Tears almost welled up in her eyes when she saw the faces of the group of men who were black and wearing dark blue almost black clothes. She turned around to run away in the other direction, but then her wrist was pulled back.

"Do not!" She screamed and struggled in fear, but strong arms pulled her body closer and whispered.

"Don't be afraid, I will take everyone away."

Dujapsorn raised his face and looked at that face in surprise.

"There's no time left, let's go quickly."

She looked back and saw that behind this group of soldiers was a large group of boys and girls. When he let go, she confusedly followed them before she could think.

"My house is right in front, let them come into my house."

The leader of the group of soldiers turned around, nodded in response and signaled the soldiers at the end of the line to follow her, then everyone ran back and forth into the alley. When she reached the fence, she unlocked the small door so everyone could hide inside. The four soldiers were still standing at the door when the young leader came looking for them.

"Thank you so much for helping us, from now on everyone must stay home until the situation calms down, understand? Look, I have a lot of work to do, if everyone stays home everyone will be safe."

She nodded in response, then looked for the name tag on his chest but was disappointed because he was wearing camouflage clothes and a white tag to cover his name, probably not wanting anyone to know his name.

"My name is Asira Jutathep." He answered knowing what she wanted

She raised her face, looked into his eyes and muttered.

"Jutathep."

His eyes were pitch black but his white teeth and bright smile made his fierceness look gentle and he asked.

"You already know my name, so what's your name, little girl?"

"Uhm... Fah.......Uhm. My name is Dujapsorn, thank you very much, soldier."

The young man gave a military salute before turning around, nodding at his subordinates, and quickly running into the alley. She closed the door with her heart beating strangely. When she turned around, she saw about twenty students sitting scared on the grass, then aunt Siripon and aunt Chem also ran out.

"Oh shit, what happened?"

"Soldiers chased and shot protesters, and the same soldiers helped them escape." She quickly spoke quickly. "Can we help the injured first? Don't ask anything because Fah doesn't know any more details."

The two older women nodded together and ran to see the condition of the injured people with blood all over their bodies.

There was chaos in the house, gunshots rang out in the wind. Dujapsorn suppressed all feelings of fear in his heart and helped the injured as best he could. With that, she prayed for the soldier who helped save lives and she hoped he would be able to save hundreds more innocent lives before the end of the civil war.
(END CHAP)

(This is a real event. You can find out more information on Google about Black May or Bloody May in 1992)