SAKAL WAS THE one who finally put a stop to it. He had been serving in the company longer than any of us, with only a month and a pre-discharge talk with the regiment commander standing between him and the beaches of Thailand. Sakal was the company sergeant major, a role that had turned him into a broken and tired soldier, but also a higher authority on all matters of seniority, rank promotion, and ETS. He had been two years ahead of me in high school. We were both music majors, but he studied classical and I jazz. And while he was strict about not speaking to us younger soldiers, I knew he was fond of me. Sometimes, when I was standing in line in the mess hall, he’d pat me on my back, and I’m also pretty sure he was the one who left the Pink Floyd CD under my bed, maybe as a reminder that there had been life before this wasteland and there would be life after it.

“What the fuck’s going on here?” he yelled, approaching in field pants, holding a wet toothbrush. He shoved me and a few other soldiers out of his way, giving a blaring whistle. Before Yanai realized what was going on, Sakal was already standing in front of him, asking the female soldier what she was doing here. She stood up straight and explained, then took a step forward without missing the opportunity to step on Yanai’s foot.

“You’re looking for Korczak, sweetheart,” Sakal said. He turned around, stood on his tiptoes, and swept his gaze across us until he spotted me standing behind the others.

“Go with him, the fatty with the curls will take you,” he said, pointing at me.

I wasn’t offended by Sakal’s description. I was aware of the way I looked, but at that moment I felt that my large body stood in my way, rendering me incapable of hiding in a crowd. And I didn’t want to accept the assignment of leading her to Korczak, to be marked by Yanai and the rest as the one who had taken away the only female soldier ever to arrive at Neptune of her own volition. I tried making myself smaller and lowered my gaze to the ground, recalling the first time I played hide-and-seek only to be instantly found.

“Show me where he is,” she said, grabbing my left elbow and pulling me toward a row of buildings, letting go only when we were outside everyone’s field of vision. She lowered her sunglasses and picked up her pace.

“Are you sure you’re looking for Korczak?” I asked, just to make her say something. She slowed down, catching me panting, struggling to keep up.

“We’ll find that out together,” she said, smiling a comforting smile. Her words, alluding to a shared future, alleviated my fear of getting on everyone’s wrong side.