The Trump administration is mobilizing 700 Marines to respond to protests triggered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles. Aerial footage of protests downtown on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday evening seemed to show crowds of a few hundred people, while another pro-immigration rally earlier on Monday reportedly drew thousands. With 4,000 members of the National Guard already deployed to the city, in addition to ICE and local police, armed law-enforcement officers appear to outnumber actual protesters, who have remained largely nonviolent (aside from the ones who set several robotic taxicabs on fire). What follows is a speculative attempt to convey the emotional truth of what these troops might encounter. We woke up at dawn, heads pounding, in a hut lit by a single bulb. We were two clicks outside the perimeter and three clicks from the nearest Lamill or Blue Bottle--a desperate goddamn distance, no no no this can't be happening.