Jo's trigger finger prompted the fight or flight response of many. For some, they scampered like mice. Yet, to the guards of Ironside, the aggression of a gun was a mammoth draw. Most were preoccupied with apprehending those misbehaving until Jo went off. They somehow lost him as Jo carried his dear friend to a more secure location.

What got them back on the path to capture him was the arrest and interrogation of multiple rioters who had no problem directing them where both went. For the rioters to have firearms would make this operation more dangerous as a security force. And even if they were armed, to have rioters that could fire back would mitigate close-up confrontations, increase the already prevalent mayhem, and reduce their chances of stopping them for good.

On the other hand, for the group of mostly men, they were more focused than the guards who found it hard between bringing order and finding whoever fired the gun. They themselves were also divided in their attention, with survival against those who came at them and the tracking of Jo and Celia proved gruelling.

The guards took the risky but informed choice to break up into smaller groups. All of them tightened with tension as they approached each trailer home without the confidence of large numbers. The latest rioters they beat up to get information said the person who let off all those shots should be within these set of trailers. Their exteriours were rather untainted compared to other adjacent trailers, even though all were eyesores.

With the many possibilities of what they could face, they took their time to examine each one. They were glad to see the ones inspected so far were free of harmful or potentially lethal surprises outside of some bad smells and waste.

After checking about four trailers, they had reached the one where Jo and Celia were hiding in. As they neared the door, they were dragged into an altercation with the group of mostly men. They were waiting for the guards this entire time to go at them. Their struggle got Jo out of his hiding place where some junk fell on him after he went inside.

"What's happening out there?" He used all his strength to get out and see the fight between the guards and some familiar faces. Jo couldn't believe his neighbours—the same ones that sought to rob them whenever they walked by—were a part of those fighting the guards affiliated with Ironside. He sought to take Celia and escape, but with no back entrance to sneak away, he had to use the front. This meant he had to face them head-on.

From his experience of lifting her, it would be too much of a hassle to shoot while doing such a thing. Then something interesting came within earshot:

"Okay, we'll surrender! We won't go inside."

He rushed to the window to witness the guards on their knees with their hands up. His neighbours had gathered some of the rioters around them to help force this power reversal.

"If we let you go, do you promise to stay away from here?" His neighbour named Jakob, who liked playing on his ukulele with his pudgy fingers, was quite scary with his weathered, spotty skin, sophisticated ear hair, and yellowed teeth.

"Of course we will!" The newbie male guard who always acted tired took a look at the angered crowd before choosing his words. "We don't want to give any kind of trouble!"

They let them go eager to punish them if they came back. The guards scuttered off as if they were caught committing wrongdoing, highlighting their cowardice towards the people they saw as the actual wrongdoers.

Jo could see the group reform and turn to his direction. He ducked below the window to evade their line of sight with the hopes he wasn't seen, but murmurs from outside got him to poke his head back up. The thought they would come at him with their much greater numbers was justified in logic. For him, what they said was borderline incoherent. In this particular moment, what really mattered to him was to stand his ground.

He placed himself a short distance from the entrance with his revolver shaking in his hand. Believing they were coming closer, he began to shudder like a man lost in the frozen tundra. Being in the same area, the knowledge of the many sets of white clothing outside became a canvas similar to this repeating white land, enabling flashing vistas of his life too vivid to unsee.

"Jo, what are you doing?" The worry in Jakob's voice became muffled behind the window. He believed that all that had happened was getting to him. With a gun in his possession, he had to be cautious in his approach. If he took the wrong method in calming him down, he might get wounded, killed, or have Jo infuriate the crowd supporting them, which would lead to him being pummeled to death.

"I... I... can't do it anymore." Jo fell to his knees with his gun sliding out his hand. His aggressive façade had faltered under the exhaustion of being the strong protector throughout the time he and Celia had been together.

"Can you let us in, then? We've come to help you, not hurt you."

He doubted what he said as one of the people who antagonised them for what they had. How could he believe what he said was true?

"Imma show you that we don't mean no harm, Jo. I'll come in there myself and show you." Jakob entered with a level of confidence many admired. His experience of being threatened by his revolver spurred this in him, otherwise he would be terrified.

In no time, Jakob had reached him through a walk sullied with wrappers, empty food cartons and more below his feet. Despite this, talking to him was of the highest significance.

With Jo's gun rattling and his knees unable to straighten, he closed his eyes ready to fire. But Jakob got him first as his gentle palm rested on his forehead, bringing a sense of peace he hadn't felt in a while. Jo broke down in response to this, and for Jakob, he allowed him to cry while everyone else piled on each other to see what was going on from outside.

Jakob patted him through his bevy of sadness until he was done, allowing him to inquire why he was being so nice to him.

"We're acting the way we are right now because of you. What you did brought out the type of resentment many wanted to let out for years but were too afraid to do."

Jo's very essence sunk when he heard this. It was because of him that Avorie and the others lost their homes and were missing, that Celia was raped and so many of his own people had died and destroyed their community. This would haunt him for a long time to come. I just wanna leave this place. It's too much for me.

"Did you say something, Jo? No need to be dishonest." Even though Jakob never stated for him to speak louder, one could infer that was his intent.

When Jo noticed that there were people outside staring at him, he felt pressured to have himself understood. "I just wanna leave this place. It's too much for me."

"Oh, that's what you said! Well then, let's get out of here."

Jo was flabbergasted. Joining Jakob and the likely dozens of persons he saw from the windows, he and Celia could actually do it. He switched his shock to that of composure and dug Celia out of the trash to walk out with Jakob in a union too formidable to be contained.