Conspiracy Man

Honestly—Asher couldn't think up a better act of revenge than what he was doing now.

All the nights he'd spent trying to massage migraines away, gulping down whiskey and attempting to drown out all the yelling, laughing, and blasting music from the apartment next to his—he felt as if he was finally getting some justice.

Asher and Olivia ransacked the place; this apartment looked nothing like Mrs. Farber's, no portraits on the walls, and all the furniture was unkempt, one of the couch cushions ripped and a few stains imprinted on the fabric, the coffee table covered with a mountain of old dishes, foods, drinks, and an overflowing ashtray, the kitchen being in similar disarray. The giant flat screen on the wall was off, and its humongous sound system was as well, an expensive game console sitting abandoned on the floor in front of them.

While Olivia pilfered the kitchen, Asher took the liberty of ripping the sound system out of the wall, dragging the speakers out and launching them violently over the side of the balcony, watching with pleasure as they exploded into shards and chunks of debris against the pavement down below.

Olivia removed the game console, collecting all the games she could find and taking them over to Asher's place—and then, she returned to the kitchen, searching every cabinet, every mason jar, and every other small container she could find.

When Asher sauntered back into the dark messy apartment, he paused and narrowed his eyes at her. She'd just opened a blue cookie jar, shoving her hand into it and feeling around.

"What're you looking for?" he asked.

Olivia paused, meeting his eyes from across the cluttered bar and grinning. Then, she whipped her hand out of the jar, revealing a baggie of marijuana dangling from her fingers.

"Nothing now," she beamed. "Found it."

Asher laughed.

Olivia whirled around and pulled all the lower cabinets open until she found the other thing she suspected to be there—a long green bowl, ready and waiting to burn more marijuana.

"Y'know what I wanna do…" she mumbled as she moved around the kitchen, selecting random boxes of food from the cabinets until she could no longer carry more. "I wanna get aaall toked up… I wanna watch some movies… and I wanna play some games. Let's just 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭 tonight."

"I like it," Asher agreed, motioning toward her with his cigarette before inhaling the last puff and stomping it out.

The two of them headed back to Asher's apartment, and Olivia was quick to hook everything up to his TV, Asher removing all the cantaloupes and watermelons from the top of his bar and placing each one along the kitchen floor, as they all looked as if they'd roll off the countertop at any second. All their looted firearms were propped against the far wall on either side of his side window, the incredibly stuffed and heavy backpacks of ammunition sitting close by them, and everything else was in the kitchen, either stashed in the fridge or places messily over the stove and the countertops.

Mrs. Farber's plate of bacon sat on the edge of the bar, and Asher plucked one off the plate and munched on it, turning and seeing that Olivia was now digging through all of his DVDs, which sat in the open space beneath his TV.

"You have 𝘳𝘰𝘮-𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘴 in here…?" Olivia muttered in surprise, reading over the movie titles.

Asher shrugged, taking several gulps of his wine and nodding sideways. "Some of 'em are good. I like that stupid slapstick shit they do sometimes…"

"Well." Olivia jutted upright, facing him and holding up one of the movies. "That sounds like it'd be funny if you're 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩."

"Well'p. Then lucky you," Asher cackled, taking another large swig of the wine. "Pop it in."

Olivia inserted the movie into the game console, powering the TV on and selecting the DVD option on the screen. Then, she moved over to the kitchen's bar, standing opposite Asher and preparing to sprinkle the marijuana.

The DVD opened a title screen for the movie, which began playing a fast-paced classic rock song. Asher glanced over at it, then faced Olivia again, mindlessly sipping on the wine and watching as she held his Zippo to the bowl.

Olivia flicked it, lit the marijuana ablaze, and inhaled a long, bubbling drag of the drug.

Asher eyed her. "Don't overdo it, now."

Olivia smirked, releasing the floating clouds out of her mouth and giving him a curious look.

"What?" Asher snickered, holding up his big wine bottle to the living room light, seeing that most of it was gone now. "I'm not sober enough to babysit anyone…"

"Dance!" Olivia shouted.

Asher turned and stared at her. "What?"

"𝘋𝘢𝘢𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦!" Olivia exclaimed, pointing at the TV as it continued to play music.

Then—she leaped briskly over the bar and landed directly in front of him, tossing his wine bottle aside and taking his hands. She began moving them back and forth in a loose little dance, nodding side to side along with the music while she did.

Asher chuckled as he moved along with her, his mind beginning to lull into a simple, peaceful daze, the room clouded with a thin veil of marijuana smoke as he thoughtlessly joined in her fun. He spun her around once, and she nearly fell, collapsing over the back of the couch and bursting with laughter.

Asher let out a laugh, collecting his wine from the couch and upturning the bottle, finishing the rest of it off before wheeling around and kicking the bottle down the hall.

"Oh!" Olivia gasped, pushing off the couch and staring past him. "You have a 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥…!

She sprinted across the apartment, gazing into the round dartboard perched on his far wall, ogling it as if it had her entranced.

Asher meandered to the end of his bar, lifting one of the darts from the coffee mug that sat at the edge of this counter, filled with all the darts for the game.

Olivia whirled around, spotting the dart in his hand and instantly rushing out of the line of fire.

Asher arched his hand back, eyeing the center of the dartboard before flicking the dart through the air. It pinned itself perfectly in the center.

"Bullseye," he said.

Olivia took one of the darts from the coffee mug and reared back, but Asher quickly grabbed her arm, lowering it and instructing her how to throw it properly.

He spent some time trying to teach it to her, and with each throw, she drew closer to the center every time, despite being dizzy enough to nearly fall every time she tossed a dart. Asher threw a few more, and once the coffee mug was empty, he turned to the living room.

"All right… I like that song, but it's driving me insane now," he remarked, nodding over at the TV, which was still playing the same looping song on the movie's title screen. "Hit play, for God's sake…"

Olivia danced her way into the living room, turning the lights off and flipping lopsidedly over the back of the couch, landing crookedly on top of it. She remained sprawled there, grabbing the controller and selecting PLAY.

Asher wandered over as well, feeling calmer and dizzier than ever, sinking into the couch beside her as she finally started the movie.

Olivia was still lying crookedly beside him, her hairs flown back, one leg hanging off the couch as she lay with the controller on her stomach. She craned her head, gazing up at Asher upside-down, then pushed off the far arm of the couch with her foot, snuggling closer and resting against his leg.

Asher drearily glanced down at her, wanting to get more comfortable as well, but something stopped him.

"Wait, wait…"

He leaned forward, digging into his back and pulling out his pistol, his suit jacket wrapped around his arm and tangling up in it. He sighed and peeled the whole jacket off, throwing it aside and setting the pistol on the coffee table. When he leaned back again, now just in his white button-up, he sank fully into the back of the couch, feeling incredibly comfortable as Olivia nestled into the side of his leg, resting her head there and gazing into the TV.

As the movie carried on, and as a sense of dreamlike peace settled in the atmosphere of his home, he felt—strangely enough, in spite of the collapse of society, and in spite of all the wild, unthinkable things he'd done today—as if he was simply on a date now.

Asher let out a breathless little laugh at the thought.

"Hey," Olivia mumbled softly, still staring into the TV.

Asher raised his brows, rolling his head to the side on the couch's back cushions and gazing down at her.

"I'm glad I met you," she told him sincerely.

Asher stared, feeling just the faintest hint of movement against the side of his leg, where she was curling her fingers snugly around the fabric of his suit pants.

"Me too," he said honestly, his hand wandering up to her shoulder, resting comfortably there.

Seconds later, his thumb began stroking gingerly along her arm.

Olivia smiled serenely as she watched the movie play, feeling oddly safe and at home in a way she never remembered feeling before.

Asher took in a deep, peaceful breath as he watched the movie with her, feeling more at peace, and more needed, than he ever thought possible of himself before tonight.

Neither of them were sure when they began to fade off, when the movie slowly began to wander away from their awareness, when their eyes drifted shut, and when they sank into a deep, restful slumber.

Eventually, the movie ended, landing on the title screen again and playing the looping song.

Asher and Olivia remained deeply asleep for a long while, shifting and adjusting to get comfortable, never once opening their eyes, as they both felt drained, comfortable, exhausted, and nearly out of sync with reality.

Between the marijuana and the alcohol, they'd both managed to land themselves in a deeper sleep than either of them planned for. The entirety of the universe might as well have not existed beyond them, lying here, coiled around one another, lost to the world…

𝘊𝘩-𝘤𝘳𝘳.

The doorknob made a jolt.

Asher remained lying on his back, now sprawled across the couch with Olivia hugging him from the side. Their eyes were closed, Asher's mouth slightly agape, still lost to a heavy slumber.

𝘊𝘩-𝘳𝘳𝘳.

The doorknob jerked around again, this time louder.

Asher twitched, his heart jumping. His eyes fluttered open, barely raising his head and staring past Olivia and the couch, staring tiredly at his front door.

The lock began to turn, very slowly, as if someone was turning a key from the other side.

Asher's breath cut thin, his expression hardening, glaring at the door in disbelief. He had his keys in his pocket. Nobody else should've been able to…

The door popped ajar, slowly creaking itself open.

Asher stiffened up, sliding upright with his back to the arm of the couch, reaching over and clasping his pistol.

Then—a shadowy figure emerged from behind the door, pushing it shut and eyeing Asher through the dim lighting from the kitchen.

Asher's eyes began to adjust, still dazed and nowhere near sober, eyeing the scraggly-haired figure intently. Then, he let go of his pistol, releasing a relieved cloud of breath the second he recognized him.

Elliot stood there, his messy hairs brushed back and his hands pocketed in an old jean jacket, his brow wrinkling as he glared into Asher.

Asher stared at him, then looked down, seeing that Olivia was still snoozing lightly into his side. He slowly eased over, sliding off the couch and removing himself from her—then he fell to the floor with a loud 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘥, landing between the couch and the coffee table, still disoriented.

Elliot merely watched, wearing a somewhat caustic visage and arching one of his brows.

Asher staggered to his feet, bashing his knee to the edge of the coffee table and hissing several swears under his breath. Eventually, he finally made his way around the couch, his tie crooked, hairs askew, and eyes bleary, looking to Elliot questioningly.

Elliot stared, leaning slowly over to the side, eyeing Olivia, then facing Asher again, looking equally expectant of an explanation.

Asher glimpsed between him and the couch, then began swatting at the front door, motioning for him to go back out. The two of them stepped out of the apartment, closing the door and standing in the wide concrete hallway outside, facing one another.

"Mmm… new girlfriend. Okay," Elliot muttered in his usual throaty rasp, nodding and shrugging. "I guess that explains why you forgot how to answer your damn phone."

"What… why d… why do you have a key to my house?" Asher griped, waving loosely back toward his door.

Elliot scoffed out a laugh. "Oh, I had that key copied 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 ago."

Asher gave him a baffled look. "Why…?"

"For, ah… just such an emergency," Elliot said, scratching his head and gesturing to the far balcony over the parking lot, motioning toward the general direction of downtown. "Which brings 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 question to light… um… 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥?"

"The 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 are you talking about—?"

"You—were supposed—to be—𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳," Elliot said very clearly and pointedly, smacking his palm as he spoke. "You know how many damn times I 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 there today? You didn't show up once. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦."

Asher blinked sleepily, running hands down his face and sighing. "Well, I… I went there a lot earlier than I usually do…"

"Oh. Tch. Well—thanks for telling 𝘮𝘦," Elliot griped. "I had a plan. I had a 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯—and 𝘢𝘭𝘭 you had to do was show up at the damn diner. You know how many times I came 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? You weren't here for half the day, either. Where the hell have you 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 all day?!"

"El—what the fuck's your problem?!" Asher snapped. "What, is—is this about your 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱? Jesus fucking Christ—"

"It wasn't a camping trip—𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘨𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯!" Elliot whisper-yelled. "We were supposed to head out to the mountains and ride this shit out!"

Asher gaped at him. "What."

"I had a—no—no, no, wait." Elliot suddenly stopped, massaging his temples and giving him a look. "Where's your phone? Is it on?"

"It is now," Asher said, staring at him strangely. "Why?"

"Lemme see it."

"Why?"

"Just lemme see it!"

Asher groaned and dug his phone from his pocket.

Elliot nodded, took the phone, and launched it into the floor with all his might—shattering it on the concrete at their feet.

"What—God—𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶!" Asher stammered, staring down at the remains of his phone and ogling Elliot as if he had changed colors before his eyes. "What the hell'd you do that for—?!"

"In case they're listening."

"In case 𝘸𝘩𝘰'𝘴 listening?!"

"You 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 who."

"Oooh, the 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘪𝘥𝘴!"

"No, Ash—the New World Order."

"Oh, 𝘐'𝘮 sorry. Right, yeah, the New World Order. Hell, my bad, I thought you were gonna say something 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺—"

"Just listen to me for a—"

"That was 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦, you paranoid shit—!"

"𝘈𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳!" Elliot took a brisk step forward, his wild eyes shining with intensity. "Listen—to—me. I don't care how goddamn paranoid you think I am. The point is; I—had—a plan. It—was going—to work. And it would've been a 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘢 lot safer than you riding the fucking coattails of 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 all day! 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘥!"

Asher huffed out an irritable breath, his expression flattening as he began to grind his teeth, glaring into Elliot with frustration.

Most of the time—be it from ten-plus years ago, or the here and now—he often didn't know what to make of Elliot's beliefs. But, beyond all of that, it seemed Elliot's actions all day long were done simply out of worry for his friend, which was something Asher honestly hadn't expected of him.

So, as Asher fumed at him, he let out a deeper sigh, his temper beginning to simmer.

Then, as he forced himself calm, another peculiar thought came to him, and his eyes narrowed, giving Elliot a quizzical look.

"No… wait a sec," Asher mumbled, swatting the air and shaking his head. "You… you made the plan for the camping trip this morning. 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 this morning."

"Ah-huh," Elliot nodded. "So…?"

"So… that was hours before anything even happened," Asher said, squinting at him bizarrely. "How were you making bugout plans for this shit before it even happened?"

Elliot stared at him, releasing a cloud of breath and saying nothing.

Asher cocked his head, shooting him another skeptical stare. "Did you 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 something was gonna happen?"

"Obviously," Elliot grunted.

"How?"

"Because the people I know knew."

"Then why didn't you just 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 me?"

"Well—what happened every 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 time I've tried to tell you? You never believe me."

"El…" Asher sighed, digging his fingers into his eyes. "You thought the fucking apocalypse was coming when 𝘚𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘶 happened. How the hell am I supposed to know when this shit is real and when it's not?"

Elliot opened his mouth, making a thoughtful face and suddenly drawing a blank. Then, he turned and gazed into the night from where the balcony was, breathing out a laugh.

"Well… I reckon you know 𝘯𝘰𝘸," Elliot smirked, swatting at the balcony.

Asher glanced over at it, then back to him, choking out a laugh as well. "Well, yeah, no shit."

The two of them chuckled, sauntering over to the balcony and watching the distant city.

"So, ah…" Elliot muttered, scratching his brow and motioning loosely back toward Asher's apartment. "I'm gathering I've gotta be caught up on some stuff."

"Oh, hell…" Asher sighed deeply, leaning on the balcony. "Long story."

"Then tell it," Elliot replied. "I kinda wanna know why you never answered your damn phone."

"No—shut up. You don't get to talk about my phone after you just fucking assassinated it."

"Oh, shit, that reminds me…"

Elliot faced him, digging through all his pockets until he found another phone, a thicker one, black and old-school, a large flip-phone that was unlike any Asher had ever seen before.

"Oh, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 the hell is that…?" Asher mumbled caustically.

"Your new phone," Elliot said, planting it in Asher's hand. "Satellite phone. I've got one too, and my number's in there."

"Mhm. Okay," Asher uttered tonelessly, surveying the phone oddly before his eyes flickered back up to Elliot. "How's it different from a regular phone?"

"It works," Elliot laughed. "It's harder to spy on those phones too, at least the way they usually do it. Plus, they don't rely on phone towers, so you're a lot less likely to lose a signal wherever you are."

"Huh." Asher nodded, giving the phone another once-over before pocketing it. "Never heard of 'em. You'd think everyone would be using them, if they work that much better."

"Yeah, well…" Elliot leaned on the balcony and sighed. "They're not the ones that're advertised all over TV. People might use 'em if they ever knew about 'em."

Asher folded his arms over the balcony's railing, and the two of them were quiet for a moment.

The two of them hadn't seen each other in months, and neither of them were even sure how many. And now, with the weight of a transforming world on them, with a desolate and empty Knoxville before them, and with the bizarre encounters of their day, neither of them were quite sure what to say.

Asher's eyes narrowed at the scenery, gazing past the darkened treetops, where he was just able to see the taller buildings and the dimly-sparkling Sunsphere deep in the heart of Knoxville, the lights of the buildings still powered on despite the city being empty, shining under the night sky. He stared at it all, his mind wandering to the larger situation at hand, something he hadn't spared much thought or care until now.

"So… I'm guessing you know more than I do on this," Asher commented, making a nod toward the city. "Whaddid your little informants tell you?"

"Oh… well, ahh…" Elliot mumbled, stroking along his face and making a shrug. "Ah… okay… I'll give you the gist… because the gist is pretty much all I got from 'em. I was strongly advised not to go anywhere with the black trucks, who're 'escorting people to safety,' as the usual montra goes. Whole lotta other places got bombed into holy hell just like Oak Ridge did… and… essentially, this is a great big last-ditch power-grab. But, the good news is… they're stretched a lot thinner than they anticipated, and a lotta folks just aren't complying. The black trucks aren't coming back, either. I don't know exactly where they take people, but from what I heard, they already got too many people to manage, and they ain't gonna be lookin' for more. Everyone who's still left out here is just… out here."

"O… kay," Asher murmured, turning his head and squinting at him. "Meaning…?"

"Meaning… lots of places are just gonna be this," Elliot surmised, nodding at Knoxville. "Up in the air. No power, no order, and no real chaos, either. It's just one of the many places that's waiting to be made into something new… by whoever wants to give it a go."

Asher slowly turned his head, staring into the distant city buildings once more.

"Huh," he exhaled, cracking a half-smile. "Sounds fun."

Elliot blinked, turning and giving him a questioning look.

Asher met his eyes, shrugging and maintaining his smirk.

"Come on now, El," he said, his smile seeming to grow. "If anyone was made for that… I was."

"Oh, shit… man… don't," Elliot laughed with a rasp, shaking his head. "I don't wanna see the old Ash passion come out now. World wouldn't stand a damn chance."

"Well… we're here," Asher said simply, turning to the nighttime scenery again. "We're here… we have nowhere else to go… and we've got our entire hometown basically to ourselves. I don't see why we'd leave."

"Yeah, okay… yeah, good points, but… we don't have it 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 to ourselves," Elliot reminded him. "There're still gonna be some stragglers hanging around here, and we'd have to deal with them whenever those little emergencies arose."

"Doesn't matter," Asher said softly, gazing into the night. "I already have."

Elliot gave him another investigative stare.

Asher turned to him again, scoffing out a laugh. "You didn't think I changed 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 damn much, did you?"

Elliot's brows raised. "Apparently not. You didn't just go ape-shit and start killing a bunch of people, did you…?"

"No, dammit… why do people keep 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 me that…?"

"Well… anyone who knows you would know that you've got a line you need to keep from crossing," Elliot remarked. "Being passionate ain't a bad thing… but it can make you get carried away… 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 damn easy."

"Yeah, well…" Asher straightened up, planting one hand on the railing and using the other to fish out his cigarettes. "It's a lot easier to deal with that when you don't give a shit anymore."

Elliot perked his brow. "Well, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 retarded."

Asher shot him a look.

Elliot laughed at him. "Your apartment's full of all kinds of prepper shit that I 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 you didn't have when you woke up this morning… not to mention, you're taking care of a new little girlfriend in there, and you also just pitched the idea of taking over all of Knoxville. You're 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 not acting like someone who doesn't give a shit anymore."

Asher looked down, facing forward again and making a mild sideways nod. "Well… maybe not now. Earlier today was another story…"

Elliot nodded, then eyed him curiously. "Who is she?"

Asher sighed heavily, wondering how he could possibly explain.

"She just… happened," he muttered. "I walked out of KCL today… ended up at the diner pretty early… and she just showed up there. She'd just run off from a mental hospital, and she didn't have anywhere to go, so…"

"Oooh," Elliot exhaled. "She's not a PTSD case, is she? I don't want any competition on this little team we're formin' here."

Asher snickered, falling silent and staring thoughtfully down at the parking lot.

"Huh," he breathed. "I don't actually know."

Elliot narrowed his eyes at him. "You don't know why she was in the mental place? Did you not 𝘢𝘴𝘬 her…?"

"Well, I…" Asher mumbled distantly. "I… kinda did. I didn't ask directly, because… well, y'know… how do you 𝘢𝘴𝘬 something like that?"

"Fair point…"

"Yeah… and I didn't really need to ask, anyway. I kinda figured she was just there because her ex was a fucking nut-job."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah… guy sliced her arm open, so she just snapped and stabbed him in the… 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥."

Elliot stiffened up, standing fully upright and giving him a bizarre sort of look.

Asher chuckled and nodded. "Ye'ap…"

"Jesus H Christ," Elliot exhaled, combing his hairs back and glancing over at his apartment. "Okay. Noted. I will 𝘯𝘰𝘵 piss her off…"

"Well, she's not…" Asher sighed again, pondering on his long and eventful day with Olivia. "She's really not a spiteful psycho or anything. Honestly, she's just eccentric, far as I can tell. She just got pushed over the edge at some point. Happens to the best of us."

Elliot nodded quietly, sliding his hands into his pockets and sparing him another thoughtful glance. "M'kay… so… what's your plan now?"

Asher straightened out, lighting a cigarette and exhaling a smoke cloud out from the balcony.

"I'unno," he shrugged. "I just grabbed a bunch of necessities and hunkered down here. Didn't really think past that point."

"You can't 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 here," Elliot said.

Asher turned and eyeballed him. "I can't?"

"𝘕𝘰, you can't," Elliot stated, laughing as if he'd said something ridiculous.

Asher stared. "I kinda figured it'd be fine, seeing as how we're on an overlook, far enough from the city, surrounded by woods…"

"Yes… but this place is 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 a home for a bunch of 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦," Elliot told him firmly. "And you have no way of knowing when or if they're ever gonna come home, or how fucking 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘦 they're gonna be when they 𝘨𝘦𝘵 here. Plus, like I said, stragglers. The other leftover folks in Knoxville will look at this place the same way you did, and they'll start to migrate here for the same damn reasons. There're too many ways in and out of this place, and it's way too easy for someone to sneak up on you here… not to mention, the road down yonder is connected 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 to that bridge, which leads 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 into the city. No… you need a different place. Something similar, but 𝘯𝘰𝘵 an apartment complex. A house, a single stronghold with limited entrances, one that's close enough to the city for looting sprees, but far enough to avoid constant danger. Y'know what I mean?"

Asher nodded thoughtfully, staring into the night sky as his mind worked up a storm.

"I can think of one place," he said. "That big-ass house toward the north… the one me and Tammy wanted forever ago."

"Oooh… see, now that'd be 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵," Elliot grinned, smacking the railing. "Hell, that giant balcony overlooking the hill would be a damn good vantage point, too. Only one little back road leading up to the house, and you could see and snipe any invaders from a mile off."

"Mhm," Asher agreed. "I guess that's the plan, then. But… if that's what we're doing… then you're gonna have to help with the manual labor."

Elliot gave him an odd look.

Asher scoffed, wearing a caustic expression. "You know how long it took to carry all that shit up here? Now we have to turn around and drag it all 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 back down again."

"Oh…" Elliot laughed and nodded. "Well, yeah, that's what the van's for."

"So, ah… I'm guessing your house is off the table."

"Oh 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 yeah, it is. Nooo… we don't need to go hunkering down in south Knoxville. That shit wasn't safe when the world was fine."

"Where's all your prepper shit? You got it all in the van…?"

"No, not all of it. I've gotta go back and get all the good shit."

"You just left it in your house? You're not worried about it getting stolen…?"

"No. My house is booby-trapped to high hell. Which reminds me… whenever I go and get that stuff… if you're riding with me… then don't step on my front yard."

"Jesus fuck, El."

"What? I've got about thirty solar panels and a generator in there, not to mention everything I need to put my rain-catching system back together. I'm not risking any of that shit getting stolen right now."

"Okay. So… reasonable solution… landmines."

"Damn straight."

Asher ogled him, then broke into a series of breathless laughs, shaking his head. "I don't know how you're allowed to run loose on the streets, man…"

"Because," Elliot said, wheeling around to face him and jutting out his finger. "I'm 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥."

At that, he turned and marched off toward the apartment.

"Yeah, okay…" Asher finished off his cigarette, crushing it out on the railing and flicking it before following after him. "Return of the conspiracy man."

The two of them vanished into the apartment, both of them longing for a night of sleep.