A sharp knock at the door stirred her from her slumber, but it didn't seem like morning yet. She looked around the room in a stupor to see that it was only 3am, taking the briefest of moments to contemplate how ridiculous it was that they were still keeping time after the fallen of humanity, before she remembered what had woken her up; the door. Elsie was fast asleep, but the knock came again. With a sense of resignation, she picked herself up and rummaged around for something to carry with her, finding the discarded tray she had charged into the room with before and picking it up yet again. The view through the peephole took her off guard—Tom was standing there, fully decked out.

"Tom," she whispered, opening the door, "you half-scared me to death. We're sleeping. What are you doing?"

"Getting out of here," he said. His eyes scanned the hallway, and he kept his voice low—lower than usual. "C'mon."

"What? Are you kidding? Stuart told us that..."

"Stuart is one of Branch's toadies. He can't be trusted. We need to go. Now."

"If we run, they'll chase us, though," she said. Stuart told her to stay and that he could try to protect them, but she knew that right answer was for Tom to go.

"We don't know that."

"Stuart told me they would, that we are prisoners. He said that he could protect Elsie and I, but for you... Well, he said that you should try to run."

TK paused, swallowing hard.

"I know that this isn't ideal, but I think we should stay. For now."

"There's no later, doc. It's now or never. I'm leaving. You can come with me, but I understand if you don't want to."

"It's not that I don't want to, it's Elsie. Tom, the girl has seen enough. What are we going to do, hitch onto the back of your bike and hold on for dear life while we run from this place? Then where to? There's nowhere else to go. This place isn't ideal, no, but until we have a plan, I'm afraid of what will happen out there."

"Be afraid of what will happen here."

"I just... Tom, thank you for everything. Please, if you find something, come back for us. Please?"

He nodded and turned his back without saying goodbye, striding down the hallway until he rounded the corner for the elevators. Like that, he was gone, just as unceremoniously as he had entered her life. There he was, leaving it. She didn't want to think this encounter would be the last she saw of him, but something about it felt final. His words nagged at her. This was a terrible, terrible place full of terrible, terrible people and he needed to run. But she felt so helpless, so trapped and alone.

There she was, trying to find a way to keep herself and Elsie safe, but it felt wrong to stay and let Tom run off on his own. What Stuart said echoed in her mind; he said it was best for Tom to run, but if Stuart thought that, who else did? Would they be prepared for him to run, or would he be able to escape without incident? None of it made sense anymore, and she thought in circles. There wasn't a right or wrong answer anymore, just shades of gray, like the ones that existed in this strange new world that Branch had created.

Trying to fall back asleep was difficult for her. That had been one of the most difficult and long days in her already long life. The worse thing was that the day had refused to end. Instead, it was limping along as a knot balled up inside of her stomach, thinking about Tom making his run from the compound. She pulled one chair over towards the window that looked out over the vast nothingness of the wasteland, noting a few stray campfires off in the distance, but mostly it was drowned out by the giant, neon BRANCH sign that hung from the top of the building like a great beaming lighthouse alerting the wasteland they were there and it was looking for new victims to suck into its vortex.

Before long, the red lights flashing below caught her eye, rousing her from her thoughts and into the scene happening below. There, a lone red light darted off towards the horizon, kicking up dust in its wake. It could have been loud, but she couldn't tell thanks to the soundproof windows that helped to encapsulate the entirety of Branch Tower. Those windows were strong enough to have kept the building from toppling like the rest did when the bombs had dropped and were strong enough to keep the radiation out, making them modern marvels of engineering in a world that barely remembered the very concept of engineering.

It wasn't over five minutes later when more sets of red lights emerged from beneath the building, this time many and in a hurry. Vehicles, at least a dozen of them, were charging out from Branch Tower at escape velocity, kicking up dust and kipple in their wake, furiously heading in the direction that the other red light had headed off in. Her stomach dropped when she realized what was happening; Tom had made his great escape, and this was Branch's goons hot on his tail.

"Run, Tom," she muttered under her breath, knowing that he couldn't hear her, but saying it for her own sense of sanity. "Run."

After what felt like an eternity, she saw the return of the lights from Branch's convoy. They were all larger vehicles, although she couldn't make out much about them. She had to know what had happened out there, and she wasn't about to sit around and wait to find out. There were a few of the more banged-up combatants down at Handsome Bill's still, while she had left specific instructions with the few men that were looking after them, she could have an excuse to go down to the basement and see what more she could find out.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The ride in the elevator down to the basement dragged on like the rest of the day had. Luckily for her, the hallways were empty. Not even the guards were around. That was a good thing. Stuart had told her he'd try to keep anything from blowing back against her and Elsie, and thus far it seemed that he had kept his word. She could come and go as she pleased, it seemed. She just had to try to not get in the way. The basement was still outside of the occasional guard or two that was milling around. They paid her no mind, though. Instead, they were engaged in heated conversations she could not eavesdrop on for too long before rousing suspicions.

She walked through the hallway towards the garage, only to see a woman emerging from one of the many doors, letting out an enormous yawn while locking the door behind her. She was average height, with a bit darker skin and disheveled brown hair. She was curvier than the average woman, but not heavy. What did Dr. Faraday know, anyway? She was essentially skin-and-bones now, but she was prior to the fall as well. She gave the woman a warm smile, which she returned only to pause.

"Hi," the woman said, looking tired.

"Hi," Dr. Faraday returned, stopping herself and offering her hand. "I'm Ruth, Ruth Faraday."

"Oh, the new doctor?"

"Yes, that's me, Dr. Ruth Faraday. I was just heading over to check on a few of the patients over at what's his name's, Bill?"

"Uh huh, Handsome Bill, he calls himself, but he looks more like an overripe tomato about ready to pop."

"Oh my," Dr. Faraday caught herself laughing. "That's too much. And you are?"

"Ugh, I'm sorry, I'm so tired, was just working on a project in there. I'm Vera Maia."

"So nice to meet you, Vera. I just couldn't sleep, such a strange day and all, so I checked on my patients."

"You definitely are new here," she smiled.

"Why do you say that?"

"This day isn't unlike any of the rest here at Branch Tower. Madness, megalomania and giant monsters rampaging through the arena are all a part of this place's charm, I suppose."

"You don't say."

"Let me walk with you over to Bill's. Some of these guards can be kind of a pain in the ass sometimes."

"I appreciate that," she said, "I've only been through here twice now, still don't really know my way."

"Yeah, trust me, you'll get used to it in a hurry. I didn't think I would, but here I am, with my workshop down here and I spend a lot of my nights here, avoiding Will."

"Will, you don't mean Bill, do you?"

"Oh god no," she chuckled. "No, no, no. I mean Will Farrington."

"The brute with the exploding punch?"

"That's my Will."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know that you were... with him?"

"I don't know that I am. He and his brother helped me out of a jam out in the wasteland and we ended up here. I guess that I'm sort of with him, sort of not, I don't know. He has a girlfriend, but we all live together. Yeah, it's weird."

"Whatever comfort you can find out here."

"I guess so," she said, while they approached a throng of guards standing by the entrance to the parking structure.

"What's going on here?" Dr. Faraday asked. "I saw a bunch of vehicles dart out earlier, then saw them return. What happened?"

"I don't know, but we can find out," Vera replied, "hey, guys, what's the big deal?"

"That asshole Gabriel darted off, but Branch sent the Road Hoggs after him. They messed him up reaaal good," the guard said. "They're dragging him from the truck now."

Dr. Faraday pushed forward, Vera trying to tug her back, "No, don't get too close."

"I know him," she whispered. "He's my friend, he saved me."

"You can't do anything for him right now."

So there they stood, at the chain-link fence that looked out into the structure among the group of armed guards, watching as TK Gabriel was dragged from the souped up, derelict truck by two men in spiked leather armor, spilling him onto the concrete like he was a sack of dirt, blood spilling from his mouth.

"Fuck you," Tom spat up at one of them, only for the man to wipe his face off and plant the toe of his boot into Tom's ribs, knocking the air out of him.

"Think that yer real tough, don't ya?"

A mighty roar emerged from the vehicle behind it, the gigantic doors swinging open while men led the beast that was the Crusher out from the vehicle. Dr. Faraday felt the breath evacuate her body while she stood just mere feet away from the giant thing. He was bigger than she expected him to be, much more imposing, yet the look on his face was placid and docile.

Vera turned away, a look of disgust on her face. But Dr. Faraday was so mesmerized by the entire scene while poor Tom lay on the ground, spitting up blood and grunting in his leathers. A hush came over the chatty guards when the clicking of heels bounced off of the concrete walls. There was Jordan Branch, in his neatly tailored suit with his immaculate hair waltzing towards the scene. He pat the man with the spiked armor on one of the few safe spots on his back with a gloved hand, looking like he was concerned about catching whatever germs the man could be carrying.

"Bravo, Edward. You and your boys handled this all splendidly."

"It was that damned Crusher that nailed 'em. I lost five of my men and one of my pursuit vehicles to this fucker," he spat on Tom. "Whatever you done to this big fucker, it worked. He obeyed, just like you said."

"Quite so," Branch grinned, watching while they led Crusher away. "Oh, what my friend has become."

"Fuck you," Tom managed again, this time towards Branch, who tsked and crouched down, cradling Tom's head in his gloved-hand like a disappointed father.

"Oh Mr. Gabriel," he shook his head. "Foolishly, you made a gamble with your life; that gamble was that you could escape from Branch Tower after insulting me, your patient host. All of that after you thought you had defeated the Crusher? We have plans for you, Mr. Gabriel. We have plans indeed. Do you have anything to say for yourself, leaving without even telling me? Raiding my armory without my permission. You came to me." He was seething, the calm veneer wearing off momentarily before he caught himself, took a deep breath and continued. "You came to me and now you've taken advantage of my hospitality. You will not like what happens next. Oh no, you will not."

Tom spat in Branch's face, a smattering of red adorning Branch's pristine smile. Branch picked himself up and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, unfurling it with a theatrical flair before wiping off his face. He turned to the man that he had called Edward and nodded down at Tom. "Take him to the lockup. He can rot alongside the Crusher until we decide what to do with him. Stuart?"

"Ya boss?" Stuart's familiar, frog-like voice came from off to the side, him emerging with a gun slung over his shoulder.

"Have them incinerate this suit and have a new one prepared, won't you?"

"Right away," Stuart strode towards the hallway, his face going pale white when he saw Dr. Faraday. They made quick eye contact before she looked away in shame, knowing that she was somewhere that she probably wasn't supposed to see and had witnessed something unfit for her eyes. "Doc, what the rotting hell are ya doing here. Vera—you shoulda known better."

"Sorry, Stu, she was just going to check on her patients and..."

"No sorries," he ushered them back towards the hallway. "You two need to get out of here. Vera, get her back to her room before Branch sees her and remembers who the fuck she is."

"I'm so sorry, Stuart," Dr. Faraday said. "I just..."

"Go!"