"Photography... Makes a shit career." Joe lit a match from his pocket and held the flame to the joint in his mouth. "Believe me, I know all about it. Companies don't want to pay for serene wildlife photos, or photos of peace and happiness. They want war. They want men with guns. They want gritty survival stories. You know, I watched a man get split in half from machine gun fire? The hell of it is, he was still alive. Trying to put his own guts back in. Of course, he'd bled out by the time we got to him." Joe lifted his baton, and smashed it shut against the tile floor. "It was... depressing, to say the absolute least. I got to know people who were nothing more than drones in America's ant army. Blown to bits here and there, and no one says anything about it." He'd almost finished his first joint by now, and it showed. He made more unnecessary hand motions, more head-bobbing, and was getting more and more heated. "I don't know... It's just not good unless you can get past all of that. If you stick with it, well done. Great job. If not, you're a normal human being."
He stood up, a little shaky, and made his way to the door. He put his ear up to it. "More commotion. I've seen things like this before. If you don't hunker down, you get caught in it. Then you get blown up by a cashier in a stylish new bomb belt. Or you get hit with a phone bomb on the subway. Or, gunned down by the most reasonable terrorist on the planet. I'm getting ahead of myself." He stepped back from the door again, and returned to his spot. "Once we start hearing gunfire, we're not gonna move, alright? We're gonna stay here until it's over. Then we're gonna move in and claim anything useful left over. Especially if we can drag a couple of those M240s in here. Do you have a weapon? You'll need one. We don't have the supplies to treat a critical injury. We may have to euthanize." He grinned to himself slightly. "I've been praying for a break. A big break. This could be what I need."
He turned toward Myztii. "I'm gonna get you back to your brother, alright? By the time you reach him, the world'll know your name. And mine."