When the Elephants Dance

The detainees, weak from hunger and the heat, are panicking at the warehouse. The Americans are close to liberating the city, but the Japanese are desperate to hang on. The neighbors from the Karangalan cellar huddle together. They are shocked when Japanese soldiers bring in a bloody Feliciano—he has been tortured, the rising sun of the Japanese flag carved into his chest. Isabelle rushes to comfort him, cradling his head in her lap.

The Filipinos are now determined to fight their way out of the warehouse, but the only door is locked. Lorna, desperate to save her family, lunges at the soldiers, clawing their faces. The soldiers, momentarily stunned, stab at her with their bayonets. She is killed instantly. When her son rushes to her defense, the soldiers plunge their blades into him and then snatch her baby and bayonet her as well.

The detainees smell smoke and understand that the Japanese intend to burn down the warehouse. The Japanese soldiers herd some of the detainees out to use them as shields against American gunfire. The rest of the detainees, however, rush the door. In the confusion, however, they meet up with American soldiers, alerted by Domingo of the presence of the detainees in the burning warehouse.