After killing Harvey, Alessa didn’t know how long she knelt over the body. Rain drilled against the window of the baby’s room. Steam rising from the crater in the back of Harvey’s skull thinned, cooled, and died away. The body went cold and Alessa found herself still holding the hammer. She tossed it aside, stood up, and walked out of the room, closing the door calmly behind her.

Inside was a haunting emptiness. Not exactly guilt but maybe the lead up to guilt, an abscess where Alessa thought guilt should belong, full of echoing questions. Asking what she could have done to avoid doing what she did. What earlier signs she’d missed. Whether she could have stopped sooner and left him unconscious instead of killing him. Her clearest thought though was that the room would definitely no longer work for the baby’s room. She had won that argument once and for all, they were definitely moving to a new place. Her baby would not sleep in the same room where a man had died. Been murdered. Been murdered by her. They could take the body, strip the carpet and scrub away the blood, the taint would always remain. Same with all the unbuilt furniture and toys, it would all have to go.

Wandering aimlessly back into the living room, someone hammering at Alessa’s door made her jump. The knocks were lighter but more urgent than any of Harvey’s had been. Alessa looked around and saw Harvey’s shotgun resting by the armchair he’d used. His handgun was holstered on his waistband, on his body, back in the room. Alessa had no idea what to do if the person knocking was one of the others who’d come looking for him.

“What? What is it?” Alessa’s voice sounded discordant to her own ears.

“Alessa, it’s Heather, the nurse!” a woman, the nurse she’d met at Harvey’s meeting, said. “Did you see what’s happening? That crazy guy is pulling up in front of our building, he’s down below!”

“What? What crazy guy?”

“Don’t you know what’s happening outside? Some crazy guy in a boat got chased by this giant crab thing! He destroyed his boat but he managed to set fire to the monster, and it went away! Now he’s pulling up outside,” Heather said. “Hey, do you know where Harvey is? People are looking for him.”

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“No! No, I don’t know!” Alessa answered too loudly.

“Okay, well, I’ll come back. I’ll let you know what happens.”

Footsteps retreated down the hall. Alessa didn’t care about some news from the outside, it barely registered to her. Crossing into the living area, she sat on the couch and toyed anxiously with the belt of her bathrobe. The same questions with no answers kept echoing through her head. Alessa was sitting like that when she heard the rattle of keys in the front door.

“Alessa? Alessa!” Donnie’s voice accompanied the opening door.

Dazed, Alessa rose from her seat. “Donnie?”

Donnie looked wretched as he stepped into the apartment. Drenched to the skin, hair plastered across his head. Several cuts, still bleeding, covered his face. Seeing her though, his face brightened and he started toward her. Alessa was too stunned to move for several moments but then ran into his arms. She plunged against his chest, tightening her arms around him as she broke down sobbing.

“Oh, Donnie, oh my God, it’s you! It’s finally you!”

“I’m sorry, I’m home now. I’m so sorry it took me so long.”

Sobbing until she gasped for air, Alessa kept her face buried in Donnie’s chest. The two of them didn’t say a thing for several minutes.

“You won’t-, you won’t believe the time I’ve had getting back to you,” Donnie said.

Alessa looked up, flushed, tears in her eyes. “Donnie, a terrible thing,” she said. “A terrible thing happened.”

Concern flushed over Donnie’s face. He had no idea what she meant but it didn’t matter, none of the insanity out there mattered. They were together now.

“It’s okay, we’ll handle it,” Donnie said. “We’re together, we can handle anything.”

Alessa collapsed again against Donnie’s chest. Stroking her hair, Donnie held her as the hell he’d been through drained out of his body. Outside, however, the rain continued to fall.