The Dusk of Day One

"Stop. 𝘕𝘰𝘸."

The two boys stared at him, the blond looking furious. The other boy—a tall, scraggly-haired Hispanic—appeared to be terrified.

"Don't touch those," Asher warned, taking a step forward.

The beanie-head and the darker-skinned boy were both visibly shaken, but the blond wasn't intimidated in the least. He spread his arms open challengingly, tossing the bb gun to the ground.

"Shoot me," he dared.

The other two boys glimpsed warily between them.

Asher tightened his grasp on his pistol. "Don't think I won't."

The darker-skinned boy stepped off the counter, distancing himself from Asher's line of fire.

The blond, however, stayed put, glaring hatefully down at Asher.

"You already have a gun," the blond said. "We need some too. We don't know what the fuck's gonna happen, and we need to survive out there."

"I don't give a damn," Asher retorted. "If you arm yourselves while I'm in here, then you're a threat to me. You know what I do to threats?"

He pressed his finger firmly to the trigger, holding it there.

The other two backed away.

The blond didn't move.

"That's pretty fucked up, dude," the blond snarled. "We need protection."

"Then go to a pawn shop," Asher responded. "Go to a gun store. Go to another supercenter. I don't care—you're not strapping up while you're here."

"Says 𝘸𝘩𝘰, old man?" the blond sneered. "You? You're really gonna shoot me? I'm nineteen years old, dude. You really gonna shoot someone who's half your age?"

"Half my age—my ass. I don't give a good goddamn how old you are," Asher glowered. "Go ahead. Reach for those guns. See what happens."

The blond traded glances between Asher and the wide selection of rifles and shotguns.

After a moment of thought, the blond then scoffed, reaching for the nearest shotgun—

BANG.

Asher fired—and the bullet ripped through the blond boy's hand, splattering red mist to what remained of the broken glass, making him howl in pain and stumble awkwardly off the countertop.

When Asher looked around, the other two boys had fled the scene already, leaving only the blond boy to deal with.

Then—he heard rapid footsteps approaching from behind.

Asher whipped around and raised his gun, ready to strike someone with it—but he froze when he came face-to-face with Olivia.

"What happened?" she gasped, spotting the blond boy, who was writhing around on the floor now, clutching his hand and sobbing madly.

"I told you to stay put," Asher hissed.

"Holy shit… you 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 him!" Olivia breathed.

"He's fine." Asher turned to the blond boy, his eyes deadening. "He's not gonna die."

"Oh God… oh God!" the blond sputtered hysterically, blood covering both of his hands. "Oh fuck… oh fuck…!"

Asher kneeled in front of him. "Next time—don't fucking challenge me."

The blond gaped up at him, scrambling backward and grunting in pain as he did.

When the blond crawled to his feet, Asher aimed his gun at the boy again.

"Get out."

The blond spun around and darted out of the hunting section as quickly as he could.

Asher and Olivia were quiet for a moment, neither of them speaking, both able to hear the distant echo of the three college kids rushing across the store toward the exit.

Asher stood totally still, listening intently, their footsteps echoing farther away.

Then, seconds after, they vanished altogether, and a heavy silence fell.

Asher turned to Olivia. "I told you to stay put."

"I thought something was wrong," Olivia replied. "Sorry…"

Asher faced the gun case, examining the shotguns and rifles inside. "Yeah, well… sorry you had to see that…"

Olivia squinted at him thoughtfully.

"Don't be. I get it," she said.

Asher peered over his shoulder, eyeing her. "Get what?"

"I get it," Olivia repeated. "If they got those guns, then they might've tried to kill us."

"Yeah… that's right." Asher returned his attention to the guns. "It seems harsh, but you can't just blindly trust people. Especially not people like that. I know their type. I used to be them. They're not the kind of people who need to be running around with guns… especially not while we're in here. If they strapped up in here, neither one of us would be safe."

Asher ran his fingers up and down the stocks, then the barrels, the cold metal somehow comforting to his fingertips.

Olivia was silent for a few minutes.

After recomposing herself, she took a deep breath and pranced over to the counter, leaning on it and smiling at him from behind.

"I like you," Olivia remarked.

Asher turned and eyed her again.

"Seriously… I do. Most guys always talk like they're super hardcore or whatever, but they don't actually 𝘢𝘤𝘵 like it when something's really going down," Olivia explained. "But… you're like the total opposite. You look like a harmless dude in a suit, but you're a badass underneath. That's pretty cool."

Asher slowly nodded, somewhat baffled by her reaction. "You really are a loonybird."

"I think you're crazy too," Olivia said with a laugh. "Regular office guys don't usually just walk around shooting people like you do."

"I don't just walk around shooting people," Asher sighed. "It's just been a long day…"

He then turned back to the gun case and studied the guns admiringly, thinking his statement must've been the understatement of the century.

So many things had happened, so many bizarre things he couldn't have hoped to prepare for. He could hardly believe any of it, even after living it, even after robbing a guy, stealing a car, shooting someone through the hand, and looting stolen goods from a grocery store. It felt like he was living through a long, fanciful dream, like one of his insane office delusions that he'd eventually snap out of.

His fingers caressed the bands around the stocks of the guns, his mind returning to reality. They were all locked individually, and he didn't have the key.

"Bring me a knife," Asher requested, motioning loosely to the shelves behind Olivia. "I have to saw through these."

"Are we taking 𝘢𝘭𝘭 of those?" Olivia asked.

"Ye'ap. Grab some of those camping backpacks too," Asher replied. "Fill them up with ammunition. We're taking everything."

Olivia did as he asked, bringing him an unopened multi-tool before grabbing a few backpacks from the next aisle.

Asher went to work sawing the bands off the guns, his mind working up a storm.

He and Olivia couldn't us all these guns by themselves—but the more he had, the safer he'd be. Besides, the guns and ammo were great bartering chips to use with fellow survivors in the future, and he needed to have as much to barter with as possible in case the need to trade ever did arise.

Asher's arm ached as he snapped the bands in two, moving from one to another and sawing away. Olivia chose the largest backpack and began shoveling the boxes of ammunition off the shelf, stuffing the backpack full. When she was finished, she could barely lift it.

She then glanced at Asher, who had finished removing the locks from the guns and emerged from around the corner, tossing things out of an abandoned grocery cart and making room for the guns. He began placing the guns in the cart one by one, and Olivia crept away, sneaking out of the hunting section and heading back to the cart of food she'd abandoned.

Soon after, Olivia returned with the cart of produce and frozen pizza products.

Asher finished loading the guns, looking up and squinting at her.

"You need to stay where I am," he said, rolling his aching wrist. "There might be someone else in the store. You can't go wandering off."

"There's nobody else in here anymore. It's dead silent now," Olivia told him. "If anybody was here, then we'd hear them again. It's really echoey in here."

Asher opened his mouth and paused, then shrugged and nodded sideways. "Well… yeah… yeah, fair point…"

"Come 𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘯," Olivia urged, grabbing one of the carts and hurrying to push it out of the aisle. "My feet are 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘻𝘦𝘯…!"

Asher breathed out a laugh, plucking a few more camping items out of the aisle before grabbing the cart of guns and following after her.

The two of them pushed their overfilled carts across the store until they emerged in the clothes section. Olivia quickly snatched several articles of clothing and threw them carelessly over her piles of food, then raced off to the back, returning moments later with new black socks on, as well as a pair of dark tennis shoes.

Once they were done, they pushed the carts to the front of the store, rolling them out the glass door and pausing there.

The escalators were still off, but to the right, there was an elevator.

Asher pushed the button, and the elevator made a faint ding before its doors slid open.

"Push the carts in," he instructed her, guiding his cart of firearms into the elevator. "The carts can ride down, but we're still gonna take the stairs. I don't wanna risk getting trapped in an elevator when there's no repairman on sight to bail us out."

"Haaah," Olivia grinned, shoving her cart into the elevator alongside his. "That would 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘬!"

Her cart bumped loudly against the elevator's inner wall, and the doors easefully began to close.

Asher and Olivia traveled down the stairway, emerging on the bottom floor just when the lower elevator opened. They pulled their carts out, wheeled them around, and pushed them out to the parking garage, stopping at the convertible and beginning the task of loading everything.

All the firearms were placed long-ways in the floorboard of the back seat, and then, they threw the heavy camping backpacks, the clothes, and the foods into the seat. Once they were done, they shoved the carts carelessly away, leaping back into the car.

Asher started the engine, slid the sunglasses on, and backed out of the parking space, cruising out of the parking garage as sunlight washed over them once again.

"𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩! 𝘚𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩! 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥! 𝘈𝘪𝘯'𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯' 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯…!"

The CD played a peaceful southern song, Olivia rocking her head side to side, closing her eyes and smiling as she listened to its soothing melody.

Asher spared her a glimpse, driving down the empty road and observing what he could see of downtown Knoxville all around him, the afternoon sun casting beautiful glistening rays against the buildings, the streets all strangely empty and quiet, everything in the world feeling more peaceful than he ever thought possible before.

With Knoxville being as close as it was to Oak Ridge—and with Oak Ridge being one of the many places that suffered from some kind of devastating attack—he began to understand all the things he'd seen earlier in the day, when the dark military trucks were evacuating large groups of people out of the city. Now, as he drove smoothly through Knoxville with no interfering traffic anywhere around, he suspected that the rest of the people here had been urged to evacuate as well, leaving behind what few simply decided to stay.

It wasn't as if he was happy about any disasters befalling—but this, a beautiful, peaceful Knoxville, a Knoxville that was no longer barking at him, berating him, trapping him, or harming him at all—he couldn't help but smile at the sight of it the way it was now.

Perhaps the newfound freedom he'd obtained today could be a bit longer-lived than he'd originally thought.

"You can go—your—own—waaaay!" Olivia sang gleefully as another song began to play, beaming and jutting up in her seat. "Go—your—own—wa-a-aaay!"

Asher glanced at her, choking out a laugh.

"You can call—it—anooother—lonely da-ay!" Olivia shouted—springing up and standing with her chest pressed against the windshield, her arms held high as the wind blasted her hairs back.

"Jesus—siddown," Asher griped, chuckling and yanking her back into the car. "Seatbelt."

Olivia tossed her head back against the seat, releasing a dramatic groan into the air before she strapped her seatbelt on. Then, she turned the radio's volume down, giving him a curious look.

"How come you have a gun on you?" she asked.

Asher drove with one hand, leaned back against the seat and watching the road ahead, saying nothing at first.

"I've had it for a long time," he mumbled.

"Yeah… I figured it was 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴," Olivia chided with a laugh. "I was just wondering why you had it 𝘰𝘯 you when you were just sitting at a diner. You looked like you were just on your lunch break or something. People don't usually have to be armed to go on lunch."

Asher continued to drive without replying.

But, the longer she gave him her deep, quizzical stare, the more obligated he felt to answer.

"I wasn't on my… lunch," Asher sighed. "I'd just walked off my job."

Olivia's brows raised. "Oooh. No… wait… that still doesn't make it make sense."

"It really doesn't matter…"

"Oooh. Did I catch you on… like… an 𝘢𝘸𝘰𝘭 day?"

"A 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 day?"

"Like—today was the day you just went awol. You just walked off and had enough."

"Oh. Well… yeah… pretty much."

"Oh… man… what were you gonna 𝘥𝘰?"

"Nothing."

"No, seriously, what were you gonna do? You walked off your job with a freaking 𝘨𝘶𝘯 in your hands. Oooh, did you shoot up the place—?!"

"𝘕𝘰!" Asher yelled, smacking the steering wheel and feeling agitated.

Olivia reeled back, falling silent and sinking deeper into her seat.

Asher opened and closed his hand around the steering wheel a few times, sighing deeply.

"Sorry," he muttered moments later. "And no. I didn't."

Olivia nodded quietly, turning and watching the world pass her by.

She pondered on it in silence, and the more she did, the surer she became.

After all—if he hadn't gone insane on his job, and if he didn't have his own car nearby the diner, where the gun could've been stored—then she could only think of one other reason why he had it with him. It was something grave, something terrible and dark, something she'd talked to Sammi and Hailey about countless times in the past seven months or so, as she'd been frequently tasked with talking the two of them down from their own thoughts of suicide.

And, since Asher had walked off his job with a gun and no plans to even finish the day, Olivia was certain she knew what had been on his mind earlier today.

"I'm sorry, all right?" Asher said again, snapping her out of her thoughts. "I didn't mean to bite your head off."

Olivia blinked, turning to face him again. "What? Oh… no, I wasn't giving you the silent treatment. Sorry. I was just thinking about stuff. I'm not mad at you."

"Oh… okay." Asher let out another sigh, tapping on the steering wheel and glancing at her. "What's on your mind?"

Olivia looked down, messing with her shoelaces and pondering on this for a moment.

She still didn't know him well, but she liked what she knew of him so far, and she certainly didn't like the idea of him ending himself. Still, she couldn't think of a way to bring such a thing up, and he probably wouldn't like it if she did, either.

So, she merely shrugged, tilting her head sideways and resting it against the seat as she faced him again.

"I was thinking about my friends in Hawthorn," Olivia told him halfway truthfully. "Just kinda worried about them. Everyone was being taken out of the hospital by their families when I left, and me and them were like the only ones left."

Asher nodded along quietly as she spoke.

"And they… they had… issues," Olivia mumbled, hugging her knees and watching Knoxville coast past. "I mean… we 𝘢𝘭𝘭 had issues… but theirs were worse."

"Worse how?" Asher uttered.

"Worse… like… suicidal," Olivia told him.

There was a silence following her words, infected only by the sounds of the wind coasting over the convertible, as well as the low-playing music echoing faintly from the speakers.

Asher continued staring into the road ahead from behind the reflective lenses, his thumbnail gently scraping against the leather cover on the steering wheel, saying nothing.

Olivia glimpsed at him, then folded her arms on her knees and rested her chin atop them.

"I just hope they don't forget… how 𝘢𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 life can be," she murmured, cracking a smile, raising her head and gazing into the sky. "No matter how bad it gets… there's always so much 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥, too. There's always fun… and food… and friends… and music… and just… everything."

Asher didn't speak, staring ahead, scraping the steering wheel, and softly gnawing his lip.

"Y'know what I mean?" Olivia asked him.

Asher paused, glimpsing at her and nodding. "Yeah… yeah, I do."

"Yeah…?" Olivia muttered.

Asher nodded at the windshield. "Yeah. Don't worry too much about them. If they find something to keep them going… anything… then they'll… they'll just keep going. Hell, it doesn't even have to be anything huge… it just has to be… something."

Olivia smirked at him.

"Yeah," she disclosed, facing forward again. "I believe you."

The car rolled up the steep hillside in the distance of downtown, emerging at the top of the expanse of woodlands and arriving in the parking lot of the apartment complex.

Asher rolled to a stop in the parking space where he usually parked his old car, powering the engine off and glancing around. The parking lot was mostly empty, but he couldn't know if it was empty due to everyone having evacuated, or because many of them simply hadn't returned home yet.

"Oooh… man… do you live 𝘶𝘱𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴?" Olivia breathed, staring up at the building above her. "We have to carry all that up the friggin' 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴…?"

"Ye'ap… but not yet," Asher replied, unclicking his seatbelt and pushing his door open. "I've gotta look around first… make sure nobody's gone looter-crazy here, like they did in the city."

"Like 𝘸𝘦 did," Olivia corrected, laughing and springing out of the car.

"Yeah, okay, like we did…" Asher chuckled, sliding out his gun and approaching the concrete pathway, leading into the space between the buildings. "C'mon. Stay behind me."

Olivia followed closely at his heels, and Asher approached the rickety metal stairs, inching onto them and stepping from one to another as quietly as possible. He inched his way up the stairs, upturning his head and eyeing the second floor, only able to see the ceiling of the hallway and the balcony facing him so far.

Then—a muffled voice caught his ear, and his heart made a sudden jump, his finger gliding over to the gun's trigger.

The muffled voice sounded again, a woman's voice, echoing faintly from the direction of the apartment complex across from his own—Mrs. Farber's place.

Asher felt a hot rising anger inside all at once, his expression darkening, steadily creeping up the stairs as his teeth began to clench.

"Oh… give me a reason," he breathed. "Go ahead and piss me off again…"

He held the gun low, hidden behind the flap of his suit jacket, then began to walk normally, marching up the stairs with several loud 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬-𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬-𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬s.

When he reached the top, he spotted her—but his sudden anger seemed to drain out of him as quickly as it had arrived.

Mrs. Farber was standing at her door, the door open a crack, and her head was resting against its frame, her egg-shaped glasses clutched tightly in her hand as she sobbed quietly into the metal. Tears streamed down her wrinkled face, her visage twisted up in dismay, shaking her head and sniffing as she continued to cry alone.

Asher stood at the top of the stairs, merely staring at her, Olivia just two steps down from him, also watching the old woman without saying a word.

Instantly, Asher felt a deep, festering guilt inside, stuffing his gun into the back of his pants and sighing grimly. He'd almost wanted to scare the living daylights out of her—raising his gun and giving this horrible old woman the fright of her life, at long last—but now, watching her sob into her doorframe, he couldn't consider such a thing anymore.

Mrs. Farber sniffled, straightening up and slowly facing him, wiping her eye with her thumb.

Asher met her watery stare, narrowing his eyes at her. "What's wrong…?"

"I c… I can't…" Mrs. Farber sputtered, shaking her head and swatting at her open apartment. "I can't get my damn phone to work…"

Asher glimpsed at the apartment, then back. "Landline…?"

Mrs. Farber nodded, trying to swallow another sob and only halfway succeeding. "I can't… I can't call my daughter… I d… I don't know where she is…"

Asher's stomach churned with shame again, releasing a grave cloud of breath.

"And n… nobody's 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 anymore," Mrs. Farber cried, waving at the other apartments, wincing as if she was in pain. "Nobody's answering their doors. They're all gone… I can't… I can't use anybody's damn phone…!"

"Um…" Olivia murmured, grasping the railing and meandering to the top of the stairs. "Where was your daughter last? Do you know?"

"T-teaching," Mrs. Farber stammered. "She's a teacher… at UT…"

Asher looked down, only just remembering he'd powered his phone off earlier today, meaning it still should've had a decent charge on it. He pulled it out of his pocket and powered it on, then swiped the screen and opened the keypad, ignoring the twenty-seven missed calls from Elliot.

"You know her number?" Asher asked.

Mrs. Farber nodded, stepping back into her apartment and waving him inside.

Asher gave her an odd look, trading glimpses with Olivia before following the old woman into her home.

Olivia hovered by the doorway, and Asher stepped through the apartment, glancing around and suddenly feeling as if he'd traveled back in time.

Mrs. Farber's apartment was shaped like his, but opposite, the living room directly to the left, the kitchen and its bar directly right. The kitchen was decorated with numerous paintings of bright and colorful scenery, and the living room and the back hall were covered with countless family portraits, depicting many people Asher was certain he'd never seen in this apartment complex before. The living room furniture was comprised of a couch, loveseat, and recliner that were all the same faded blue, frilly at the bases and with designs that made him think of the 1990s, and the TV in the corner was similarly old, a big box-shaped television like the ones he and his gang used to watch in their respective homes long ago.

At the end of the kitchen's bar, there was a tan-colored landline, and the phone was sitting beneath a large board that was posted on the wall, which was covered with a wide variety of phone numbers scribbled onto it in pen, pencil, and several different colors of magic marker.

"It's this one," Mrs. Farber said weakly, stepping into her kitchen and tapping on the large blue phone number at the corner of her board.

Asher nodded, leaning on the other side of the bar and typing the number into his phone. Then, he hit the call button and handed it to her.

"It's calling," he informed.

"Thank you," Mrs. Farber replied with a smile, taking his phone and holding it to her ear.

Asher remained leaning on his arms atop the bar, watching as Mrs. Farber paced up and down her kitchen, chewing on her thumbnail and worriedly waiting for her daughter to answer.

Olivia remained in the doorway, leaning on the frame and observing from a distance.

Then—Mrs. Farber stopped in her tracks, gasping suddenly and clasping her mouth.

"Oh my God… Annie!" she exclaimed, grinning as more tears streamed down her face. "Thank God… God almighty… where in the hell are you?!"

Asher smirked, breathing out a laugh as he watched Mrs. Farber share a phone conversation with her daughter. He and Olivia were just able to hear the distant voice of Annie echoing faintly from the phone, and the woman was speaking rather quickly, explaining her entire situation to her mother.

"What… okay… the students?" Mrs. Farber sputtered into the phone. "How many are left? Okay… okay… so when's the truck supposed to get there? Oh… it's already there? Okay… okay. You gonna be able to leave soon? Okay… okay, good…"

Asher slowly straightened up, pocketing his hands and glimpsing around again, waiting patiently for their conversation to end.

He took a step down the hall, his eyes wandering from portrait to portrait, seeing a younger Mrs. Farber in many of them. In the portrait closest to him, he saw her arms draped around a younger woman who looked vaguely similar to her, as well as a young man in a sleek tan suit.

"Okay… honey… how long are you gonna be?" Mrs. Farber asked, marching up and down the kitchen again. "Oh… oh, good, okay. Well… I'll see you soon, then. I love you. And be careful, ya' hear?!"

Asher gazed into the portrait thoughtfully, thinking this young man and woman must've been her two adult children, though he never remembered seeing either of them in this building before. The daughter was teaching at UT, so she was likely busy a lot of the time, but he wondered why the son never seemed to come here…

When he turned, he noticed that Olivia had vanished from the doorway, presumably waiting somewhere out in the hall.

Asher squinted at the doorway—but then, Mrs. Farber appeared before him, stepping out of the kitchen and clutching his phone to her chest, wearing a wonderfully hopeful expression that he was certain he'd never thought possible of her before.

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 you," she exhaled, giving the phone a shake.

Asher cracked a smile, nodding and gently collecting his phone from her.

Mrs. Farber turned and eyed the portrait, then faced him again. "That's her… that's my lil' Annie, right after she graduated."

"Yeah," Asher mumbled, nodding at the picture. "I figured…"

"And that's Alan," Mrs. Farber added, tapping the glass and pointing at the young man in the tan suit. "My son. He was about your age."

Asher made another nod, his expression softening, turning and eyeing her.

"Was…?" he uttered.

Mrs. Farber nodded silently, biting her lip as more tears began to form, her eyes still lost in the portrait on the wall.

"I'm sorry," she breathed so weakly, he almost didn't hear her.

Asher observed her somberly, his stomach tightening, as another surge of empathy felt to be attacking him.

"He was… good," Mrs. Farber exhaled, a tear cascading down her cheek. "He was so… so good. Such a good person. Such a damn waste…"

Asher gulped roughly, his visage hardening with perturbation.

"Can I ask…" he muttered. "What… happened?"

Mrs. Farber didn't reply right away, inhaling deeply and releasing a trembling breath.

"He just… threw his life away," she murmured sadly. "He had a decent job… and decent friends… and a decent life. He just had a temper… and he couldn't stop his damn drinking. He went out to the bar with his friends one night, and he got in a fight, and… once that other fella knocked him out cold… he just… never got back up."

Asher nodded mildly, frowning and remaining silent.

"He didn't act like that when he was sober," Mrs. Farber sighed. "But he just… wouldn't stop his screwing around… and his… damn drinking all the time."

Asher managed another nod, his gaze venturing back up to the portrait.

"And whenever… you'd come home," Mrs. Farber mumbled, turning toward him. "In your suit… with that little brown paper bag in your hand… it just made me 𝘴𝘰 angry."

Asher faced her again, meeting her shimmering stare.

"I'm sorry, honey," Mrs. Farber said sincerely, reaching out and gently adjusting the collar of his undershirt.

Asher merely stared at her, thinking of nothing to say, though his chest was beginning to ache.

"Here… come'ere." Mrs. Farber stepped forward, pulling him into a hug and nearly startling him, patting him once on the back. "You need to take 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 of yourself. Ya' hear…?"

Asher swallowed, inhaling heavily and nodding, slowly returning the hug and feeling more out of place than ever.

And, seconds later, he realized why—because he couldn't remember the last time he's been embraced by anyone.

Mrs. Farber moved back, grabbing his arms and smiling at him.

"My daughter's been at the school, keeping the last few students there until the trucks come back," she explained. "The trucks are supposed to take 'em out of Knox County… something about 'evacuating everyone away from all the blast-zone counties' or something like that. But… she's comin' here to pick me up soon."

"Oh… good," Asher replied. "Good…"

"Yep… and she said there ain't nothing radioactive leakin' out of Oak Ridge, so we ain't gotta worry about that," Mrs. Farber added, slapping his arm once before releasing him. "I reckon it's just a precaution thing… but y'all should be fine, long as you look after yourselves. Unless you're plannin' on leaving too…?"

"Ahm…" Asher peeked over her shoulder, seeing that Olivia was now sitting across the hall with her back pressed to his apartment door. "I'm not really sure what we're gonna do yet."

"Well… you and your little friend will be fine, long as y'all take care of yourselves," Mrs. Farber assured.

"Yeah… we will," Asher nodded, giving her a smile and a wave before stepping past her. "Seeya, Mrs. Farber."

"See y'all," Mrs. Farber replied, waving him off. "Take care, now."

Asher gave her a final nod before easing out of her apartment, gently closing the door behind him and leaning his back against it, remaining still for a moment thereafter.

Olivia raised her head, gazing across the hall at him.

Asher stayed leaning against Mrs. Farber's door for a second, sighing deeply, staring down at her and feeling a bizarre flurry of things inside.

"She reminds me of Lester's mom…" he murmured thoughtlessly.

Olivia raised her brows, slowly reaching her feet. "Um… y'okay?"

Asher mulled over his thoughts for a second, then shook them away and pushed off the door, glancing to the balcony that overlooked the parking lot and seeing that the late afternoon was setting in now.

"Ye'ap… now let's go," Asher disclosed, snapping his fingers and waving down the stairs. "We got shit do to."

Olivia nodded and trailed after them, the two of them thumping down the stairs and returning to the parking lot.

They began working to carry everything up the stairs, which was a long and tedious task that took nearly two hours to complete.

Mrs. Farber propped her door open, seeming both anxious and delighted as she awaited her daughter's arrival. She didn't seem alarmed by the amount of firearms that Asher and Olivia were carrying up the stairs and stowing away in the adjacent apartment, and she even offered to cook a quick meal for them, choosing to fry some bacon on her stove while they worked.

Somewhere near the end of the work, she handed a huge plate of fresh bacon off to Olivia, and then, another car pulled to a stop in the parking lot, parking beside the convertible and powering off, a maroon four-door.

A woman stepped out—Annie, the lady from the portrait—and she ventured up the stairs, greeting her mother with a smile and a warm embrace. Mrs. Farber was glad to introduce her to Asher, and a short while later, the Farbers left their apartment with a few bags and a suitcase, saying their farewells before they drove off under the sunset.

After they were gone—leaving the entire complex empty, save for Asher and Olivia—the two of them finished stashing everything in the apartment, feeling both glad and exhausted.

Asher sauntered out of his home, wandering over to the balcony that overlooked the parking lot, and he slipped out a pack of menthols from his suit, flipping his Zippo open and lighting it, inhaling a smooth, calming drag and releasing a smoke cloud into the air.

He leaned on the balcony, watching as the sunset darkened into a beautiful, peaceful twilight over the distant city of Knoxville.

Even now, hours later, the event at Mrs. Farber's apartment still lingered on his mind.

In fact, he was certain it was troubling him, though he couldn't fathom why.

BANG—THUMP.

Asher jumped, wheeling around—seeing that Olivia had just shoulder-rammed the corner apartment open, ripping the lock from the frame and forcing the door inward. She nearly fell to the floor, catching herself on the doorknob and laughing as she staggered back to her feet.

"The hell're you doing…?" Asher muttered, slipping the cigarette from his mouth.

Olivia turned to him and grinned, waving into the darkened apartment. "Well… nobody's home, right? I wanna see what's in here."

At that, she rushed into the college kids' apartment, excited to go on another shopping spree.

Asher stared after her, scoffing out an astonished little laugh and inhaling another puff from his cigarette, flicking the ashes over the balcony.

He spared the distant Knoxville another glance, then broke into a brisk stride, deciding to join Olivia on her fun endeavors.

Any troubles that might've been on his mind vanished before long, night beginning to fall, and the long, strange day—the strangest, most enthralling and bizarre day of Asher's life—finally came to an oddly peaceful end.