Roy Fehler, in the third and next-to-last chapter, does little but observe. For half the chapter, he is pinned down behind a fire engine by a sniper, protecting his stomach from further injury and reflecting that even in the chaos of South Central Los Angeles, he has found peace in his life by being with Laura. A sergeant galvanizes the disorganized police remnants into action, but the night ends with an ugly incident. Roy's crew gets into a vehicle pursuit of looters, is almost machine-gunned at a National Guard roadblock, and then crash, looters escape when their car crashes. One of Roy's temporary partners shoots up the car and sets it afire. Soon after, Roy goes home to Laura. He rejects her offer of a drink and her apology about the riot (she is black). Roy soaks in a hot bath, and finally relaxed, asks Laura to marry him.