Nail - 3

 After three hurried knocks, a young man's voice was heard.

"Corporal Kim from the Transportation Battalion reporting for duty, ma'am!"

Han quickly closed the last fastener on her jacket, ran to the only door in the room, and swung it open. The Corporal saluted. Han signed. It was a great relief to see another alive human being. After a moment of mumbling, Han managed to say something at last, though in a noticeable drooping tone.

"Hi, Kim, please... come in. It's not safe out there."

Han felt extremely stupid as these words came out of her mouth. Kim, who was taller than average, looked down at the Technical Staff's rugged cap, figuring out what to say. He stepped back a little bit, afraid of her taking his looking down as rude. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Kim finally opened his mouth.

"Ma'am, thanks, but I was ordered to bring you back to command headquarters immediately."

Han could tell from the solder's dark blank eyes that he was both anxious and tired. Probably the battalion officers woke him up in the middle of the night and pushed his back.

"The vehicle is at the parking lot. Let me lead you there, ma'am."

When the soldier turned back, Han realized that he was carrying a loaded bullpup rifle with him. She couldn't help but step back a bit.

"Kim, would you mind verifying your identity?"

Kim frowned.

"I heard that the commander sent you an encrypted message."

Han checked her cellphone, and there it was, with the photo of the soldier. That was when Han realized how disoriented was her for the last few minutes. The message should have arrived shortly after the siren. She shook her head.

"All right, let's go."

They walked down through the narrow stairway of Han's aged and colorless apartment. The stairway was filled with the refugees who fled inside without much idea what is happening, thinking that the curfew would end soon. As Kim pushed himself through them without choice, they asked Han (who seemed like a high ranked officer) about the alert, but Han could not answer a single question except that she too had no idea. It was the first real siren she heard in her life, as far as she remembered, though she had several drills before. But during the drill she wasn't in her pajamas, and there was a bunker nearby to run in. Nobody teached her how to nudge through the crowd like this. Except being curious and worried a little bit, the crowd seemed mostly indifferent. It was not so surprising, Han thought. Unlike her, these people who were enjoying the night will soon return to their sweet home. 

It was not so long until Han and her driver reached the parking lot. It was easy to recognise the car Kim had brought, because the lisence plate was colored in red, blue, and orange. Han assumed that the color was for police officers, who probably did not have proper IFF transponders for recognizing vehicles. Other than the lisence plate, the car looked completely normal. As Kim started the engine, Han, who was sitting behind him, realized that the seat is cozy.  She was surprised that she could feel sleepy during this unrest, but she was woken up at the middle of the night anyway. She covered her eyes with the cap, and only minding the speechless but obviously envying driver a little bit, fall asleep.