Part 6 — Takeoff

I need to go somewhere. I can't stay in this house forever. Grabbing his jacket, he stepped outside. He locked the door behind him.

"Heh. She owns the car." Looking at the empty driveway, he began to walk east. With a load of money in his pocket, he decided to walk into a gun store.

"License?"

He showed the cashier his ID.

"Right. Take it."

Now equipped with a P38 pistol, he stepped outside again. I don't know where I'm headed, he told himself. Best stay armed. And best stay with an attached arm to use the firearm. He laughed at himself. I love the worst jokes. Probably another reason why she left. He decided to make things easier for him. He called an Uber, which took him 100 miles forward. His stop was an apartment complex. He looked up at him. "Probably nicer than the one I'm in..." He looked at its sign. Dreamlands Deluxe, it said. "What a name," he marveled. "Probably a better name than 'Living Luxuries.'" He searched up Dreamlands Deluxe on his phone. "4.8 out of 5... like I figured. I should probably move here someday. I mean, getting to college will be costly, but maybe it might be worth it." Living Luxuries, on the other hand, has a rating of 4/5. Not as good, but not too bad, either, explaining why I'd even clean my apartment in the first place. Plus, it's really close to college. He pondered this thought for a moment. Eh, we'd take Xin's car to college anyway. But since she's gone... He walked on.

~~~~~

Part 7 — All Aboard

Zap heard loud noises. He walked toward them. What he saw was a large crowd of people circling one man on higher level ground. "It's not right!" He was saying. "It's dangerous! We must end it all now!" Zap joined the crowd. "What's all this about?" He asked someone.

"We're trying to ban ownership of guns. It doesn't seem right, you know?"

"Yeah, I see," Zap said, shoving his pistol further into his jacket.

"Hey, if you want to support the cause, there's a petition—see that pedestal, over there?—that you can sign to support it. We're almost at 10,000 people—we're a few hundred short."

"Alright then." Zap walked over to the pedestal pointed out to him. Flipping through the last few pages of signatures, he skimmed them over. "Wait—" he stopped at one specific signature. "Seems like—seems like Xin's." He took a closer look. "Yeah, that's her. She's all the way over here? I can't believe this." He breathed. Slowly, he reached for the pen.

After taking a few deep breaths, he placed the tip of the pen on the paper.

He then let go of the pen.

He walked away. All the way over here? For what? He knew that she didn't go all the way over here for the same purpose he did. She seemed to have taken a permanent leave from the apartment. So why is she all the way over here? College is far. Does she expect to drive this distance every single day? "I can't fucking think right now..."

~~~~~

Part 8 — The Journey Home

"Screw it, I'm going back." Zap didn't want to spend any second longer here than he needed to. He quickly dialed an Uber. When he ran to the meeting location, he saw the Uber drive just pull up. Quickly getting in the backseat, he showed the driver the address on his phone. Can't speak... what's wrong with me?

As soon as the sun set, they reached their destination. Zap grabbed a random amount of money, muttered, "Tip," and ran for his apartment room. He fumbled for his keys and slammed them into the lock, disregarding any dangers of a jam. With the door open, he rushed inside the house. "Phew... gone from there... but why do I care so much? It's just a different location. Why am I hating it so much?" He was confused. He was having irrational thoughts. He looked at the kitchen. He looked inside his jacket, looked at the gun. "And now I'm starting to go insane..."

He walked up to his room and hid the gun under the pillow. He walked back downstairs and hung his jacket on the coat rack. Walking back upstairs again, he went into Xin's room and took a look around it. "Empty inside...hehe. Just like me." Zap slapped himself. "Bad joke. Ugh. I need to eat." He walked downstairs to make dinner, which he tended to the entire time.