Andrew’s pleasant slumber was cut short by the sound of knocking on the door. He reflexively tried to sit up, but couldn’t with Yui on top of him. He rolled on his side so that she slid off of him and walked over to the door. Yui mumbled something, still asleep.

“Give me a minute here and let me get some clothes on!” He picked up his phone and turned off the talk show, then shoved the speakers under the bed. A glance over at the computer reminded him that it was still on, so he rushed over and yanked out the plug. He looked around the room, checking to make sure there wasn’t anything else suspicious in plain sight, then opened the door. Sam was standing on the other side holding a cloth grocery bag. The two guards were standing beside him.

“Hey Andy, mind if I come in? I got y’all’s food here.” Andrew cringed a bit at the nickname, then stepped back and motioned for him to enter.

“What do we have for eats?” Andrew sat down on the bed, glancing over his shoulder at Yui. She was still fast asleep.

“Your choice of a beef and cheese sandwich, sorta warm hash browns with eggs, or cold waffles with strawberries and syrup.”

“Why’re there three options?”

“Well if you wouldn’t mind I’d like to eat dinner with you.”

“I guess that’s alright. No way to warm the food up though?”

“Wiseguy has the only microwave outside the Diner.”

“And I guess he’s not going to be too receptive to sharing it. I’ll take the eggs and hash browns. We’ll save the waffles for my girl.” Sam nodded and took a tupperware container out of the bag. He passed it to Andrew, the pulled out a sandwich for himself.

“Oh yeah, you also get 60 milliliters of vodka a day.” Sam fished out a short water bottle, then offered one to Andrew.

“No thanks man, I’m more of a toker than a drinker.”

“Take it anyway, get some MP for your troubles.”

“Keep it for yourself, my treat.”

“Really?” Sam broke into a wide smile. “That’s so cool of you Andrew.” Andrew smiled back at him and nodded. It would be worth more in the long term to get on his good side than to have a little more money. Sam took the cap off the bottle, then took a sip.

“So, where does the vodka come from? Is it replenished like the rest of the food in the diner?”

“No, there’s a still set up a ways away from the diner. This here’s potato vodka, courtesy of the restaurant stock. It’s not the best tasting stuff but it sure drowns your sorrows.” Andrew shrugged and started opening up his container.

“So, what’d you do on the outside?”

“The outside? You make it sound like we’re in prison.”

“Well what’d you do in the regular world then?”

“I was a security guard at a strip mall.” Andrew glanced him over again, trying to get a read on how old he was. Mid twenties maybe? “What were you?”

“I was a chemistry student.”

“Huh, so does that mean you could make a bomb or something like that?”

“Maybe if I had an entire lab to work with. Honestly what I know probably won’t be that useful here. I’m used to getting my precursors in clearly labeled bottles and vials.”

“Well that’s a shame. If we had explosives we could deal with these bandits without losing so many men.” Andrew picked up the fork inside his container and started munching on the food. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he started eating.

“So, were you always a mall cop?”

“I used to be a real cop.”

“What happened to that?”

“Actually, forget I brought it up. I don’t want to talk about that right now.”

“Okay Cowboy, whatever you want.”

“So are you really a Nazi?”

“Not really. it’s just that these pants are really comfy and I don’t like the Jews.”

“Doesn’t that make you a Nazi?”

“Alright man, so National Socialism isn’t just knowing about the Jews, it’s also a structure of very specific racial and metaphysical...” He trailed off, noticing Sam’s eyes start to glaze over. “Sure, I’m a Nazi.”

“Okay Andy.” He took a bite out of his sandwich and washed it down with vodka. The stuff had a pretty strong smell.

“So, what’s the hold up on this mission? Why can’t I just go and do it right away?”

“I don’t think I’m supposed to tell you that.”

“Because I might get scared and run off? I don’t think you have to worry about that.”

“I won’t say what your mission is, but you’re going to be working on it with another retainer. She should be returning from her last mission if all went well.”

“She? Well give me the details here, is she hot?”

“I don’t know. She’s pale, has short hair, pretty skinny.”

“How do you not know if a chick’s hot?”

“Don’t you already have a woman to take care of? Why are you so eager to see another?”

“Well I’ve never had a harem before, but this seems like the time and place to start one.”

“Why the hell do you think that?”

“Well, I never thought I’d kill anyone before I came here, and within five minutes of waking up I was looking at four or five bodies.”

“Christ, I’d hate to be facing you in a fight.”

“That’s why it’s good and all that we’re on the same side.” Andrew looked down at his food and stirred it with his fork. “For now at least.”

“Don’t give me that ‘for now’ bullshit Andy. There’s no other side you could be on here. Those high and mighty folk up at The Settlement would probably kill you on sight. If you went down into bandit territory... well you already slaughtered some of them. Plus I don’t think you’d hold onto that precious girl of yours for long.”

“You’re assuming I have to be on a side.” Andrew pointed out.

“In these parts you don’t last long without one.” Andrew considered how much fighting he’d been through since he arrived.

“Fair enough.” Andrew noticed Sam’s bottle was empty. Sam reached into his jacket pocket and took out a flask. “You’re a big fan of that vodka.”

“I have a lot of sorrows to drown.” He looked down for a moment, his smile dropping.

“Why don’t you tell me about them, share the load a little?”

“It’s a real sad story man, I don’t want to burden you with it.” He unscrewed the top of his flask and took a long sip from it. Andrew hoped he watered that stuff down.

“Maybe it would be good to tell someone. It couldn’t hurt.” Sam looked away from him, then set the flask down on his lap.

“Alright I guess.” He took a deep breath, “Back when I first joined the force, I was the department’s snack guy. Everyone would text me what kind of coffee and donuts they wanted and I’d go to this shop out on the edge of town to pick up stuff for them. It was a small place, with just this guy and his fifteen year old girl working the joint. I’d go in there all the time and get stuff for the whole department. They got to know me pretty quickly. The dad would always give me the ‘ole respectful ‘Mornin’ Sir’ while his daughter would just say hi real casually. She seemed so happy when she said it though.

After a few months of traffic duty and fetching food I walk in to see a fence hopper roughing up the owner, trying to get him to open up the cash register. I take my gun out and he surrenders real quick. I pistol whipped the fucker a few times in the head for causing trouble, then haul him into the cruiser. On the way to the precinct the guy starts vomiting and making these god awful sounds, so I take him straight to the hospital. Turns out I gave the guy brain damage. The next thing I know I got some illegals’ rights organization suing me for police brutality. I get to court and the man and his daughter are there to testify. They swear up and down that he charged me and I was only defending myself. There were security cameras in the store but the owner said he forgot to put in a tape that day. The jury couldn’t convict me, and I got to go home. I’m pretty sure the robber is still being carted around in a wheelchair and eating through a straw. When I went back to the shop they started giving me food for free, and on my breaks I’d hang out with them. I guess we got close after that.”

“So you still feel guilty about crippling that guy?”

“God, I wish that was all there was to this story.” He picked up his flask and took a swig. “So fast forward a year from the incident. I’m spending time with these guys every day. Every once in a while the dad invites me upstairs to have a beer with him. Did I mention they lived upstairs in the shop? The girl was really into theater and would try to get herself into every local production she could. I tried my best to see every one of her plays. I’d get her flowers every time, and when she could she’d get me a prop as a souvenir, like this hat.” He pushed it up by the brim, showing more of his forehead.

Andrew wondered why he was telling someone he just met about this. Sam was certainly past tipsy, but that couldn’t be all of it. Was he just so lonely and tormented that he’d talk to anybody that would listen? Andrew nodded at him and motioned for him to keep going.

“Okay, so I’m out on patrol on a Saturday night and I get a call. I answer the phone and it’s her. She’s crying and telling me that somebody’s trying to break in. I tell her I’ll be over as fast as possible, but I’m on the other side of town. I radio in to the rest of the PD what’s happening, but they’re all tied up with a string of robberies. I put on my sirens and tear through suburban streets at sixty miles an hour. My heart’s pounding and my hands are shaking when I get to the place. I didn’t bother with the driveway, I just drove onto the grass and got out of the car with my service revolver in hand. The front door’s locked so I kick it open. Inside the first thing I see is the dad slumped up against the wall, bleeding from his head. I look over to the register and I--” He choked up and tears started streaming down his face.

“I saw him crouching over her-- her remains with a knife in his hand. The bastard’s saying something, the same thing over and over again. I couldn’t tell you what it was, but I saw his eyes, and he was cracked out all to hell… I don’t remember doing it but I shot him. Three times in the gut. He didn’t die. He just started screaming and howling. I realized how…” He gripped his flask and started openly sobbing. “How wrong it was to let him bleed on her. I grabbed him and dragged him off to the other end of the room and shot him in the head until I ran out of ammo. I almost wished I saved a shot for myself. God. I waited for her to get up and end the act, but she didn’t. I heard the sirens coming and covered her with my jacket. While the other cops were canvasing the scene and trying to ask me what the hell happened her dad woke up. God the sound he made, it was the most soul wrenching noise a man could make; the cry of a man how lost his only love and joy.

The next day I was sitting in jail. I heard on the news that the father drank a bottle of Percocet and hung himself. They charged me with murder, but the police union lawyer got it downgraded to manslaughter. The prosecutor offered me a plea deal. I would have to resign, take anger management classes, and then I’d only get five years probation. I took it of course.” Sam titled his head back and patted on the bottom of his flask to get the last few drops out of it. “So that’s how I lost my badge. Afterwards it was impossible to find a job. Nobody would hire the cop who made the news twice for bad reasons. I was close to buying another gun to end it all when the girl’s uncle got in touch with me. He offered me a job as a security guard at his strip mall. Even though it was years ago I still see her in my dreams sometimes.”

Andrew stared at him in awe for a minute, then hugged him. Sam sobbed like a child into his shoulder while Andrew tried to think of something comforting to say. He gave up and held him in silence. After a while Sam stopped crying and pulled himself back.

“T-thanks Andy, I guess I should be going now.” He stood up and stumbled a bit. Andrew got up with him and put an arm around his back to support him.

“She wouldn’t want you to feel like this Sam.” He walked Sam over to the door and knocked on it. Sam wiped at his cheeks with his sleeve. After a moment a guard opened the door. “Hey, Sam’s had a bit much to drink, can you take him back to his room for me?” The guard looked at Sam, seemingly surprised to see him in this state. He said something to the other guard, then moved to receive him. Sam looked over his shoulder at Andrew and smiled through the tears. Andrew smiled back and nodded at him as he was led away. Once he was out of sight he closed the door and turned to face the bed. Yui was looking back at him.

“Andrew?” She said in a sleepy voice.

“How much of that were you awake for?”

“Enough.” Andrew shook his head and climbed back into bed with her. The stench of vodka still lingered in the room.