Thirty minutes later, Boo stumbles in through the front doors of the Harrisford Hardware Hub, unsurprised to find it completely empty. Her coworker Luke is slumped over behind the front counter, his cheek squished into the palm of his hand as he absently drums on the desk with a pen. He perks up upon seeing her enter, drenched hair and all.

"Melly Mel!" he sings, sliding over the counter and grabbing her in a crushing hug before she can run away. "I missed you!"

"I told you not to call me that," she grumbles, squirming to get away from him. "It's so childish."

"Yeah, because Boo is such a welcoming name," Luke simpers. He releases her with a playful grin. "You'll scare away our darling customers that way."

"Good," she laughs. "Not like anyone is gonna show up in this weather anyhow. Can you believe he made us come in?"

"Old man's losing it, that's for sure," he hums. He grabs her elbow and tugs her toward the break room. "Come on, Mikey and Tanya are here too."

"Oh, thank God," she sighs in relief.

"I know," Luke laughs. "We make things that much more enjoyable."

"You have no idea."

Michael and Tanya are holed up in the break room, playing paper football with a bag of stale marshmallows. Luke opens the door and they both look over, their smiles igniting when Boo traipses in.

"Aye, look who it is!" Michael cheers.

"Thank the Lord," Tanya sighs with a smile. "Save me from these idiots."

Boo grins as she slides into an open chair next to Tanya. "Least all the cool people got dragged into this."

Luke plops down beside Michael and stuffs a handful of marshmallows into his mouth. "Michael," he says in a muffled voice, smacking him repeatedly on the arm. "Hey, Michael, look."

"What?" Michael gripes, turning around.

"Chubby bunny," Luke grins, right before half of the marshmallows fall out of his mouth and into his lap.

"Gross," Boo whines, wrinkling her nose as a string of slobber hangs from his lips. "I take back what I said."

Michael is cackling with laughter while Luke pops the marshmallows back into his mouth one by one. Tanya throws Boo an exasperated look before reaching up to turn on the old radio sitting on the table. She fiddles futilely with the knobs; the signal is weak from the storm, and the best that comes through is varying levels of static.

"Why can't Frank just pony up and buy us a TV?" Tanya mutters, giving up on finding something to listen to. "Or at least a radio from this century."

"Shh," Michael whispers. "If you say his name, you summon him."

Tanya rolls her eyes. "He's not a ghost, it doesn't work like that."

As if on cue, Frank tromps into the break room only minutes later, looking like he's out for blood. His narrowed eyes land on Boo first.

"Oh good, now I won't have to fire you," he says brusquely. Boo resists rolling her eyes. He claps his hands together and booms, "So! Thank you all for coming, not like you had a choice."

A collective sigh descends upon the room. Frank's lip curls up in a sneer and he says, "Hey, I'm giving you guys more hours and more money. Don't look at me like I'm the bad guy."

"But this is your fault, Frank," Boo seethes.

"Yeah!" Tanya cries. "We should be at home. Who in their right mind comes to a hardware store during a hurricane?"

"No one," he replies dryly. "But this place will be swamped with people in need of repairs. Your job is to take everything out of back stock and put it on the shelves."

"Everything?" Michael asks dubiously.

"Everything!" Frank replies in a sing-song voice as he walks out of the room. The sound of his obnoxious whistling can still be heard through the thin walls as he saunters away.

"That's gonna take all night," Boo gripes. "The stockroom is huge."

"Forget this," Luke grumbles. "If I'm fired, I'm fired. This job sucks anyway."

He stalks out of the break room, muttering to himself as the other three exchange curious glances. A moment later, several dull thuds emit from outside the door.

"We should probably go make sure he's not just crushed himself under something heavy," Tanya murmurs.

Boo suppresses a laugh and rises from the table. All three venture into the aisle next to the break room, eyes roaming as they look for Luke. The air is quiet, save for the muted screaming of the wind and rain on the roof.

"Luke?" Michael calls, already on his way over to the next aisle.

"I'm going to sleep," Luke yells back. Boo chuckles to herself and follows after Michael; Tanya is close on her heels.

When Boo rounds the corner, she sees Luke pulling out large sheets of foam and laying them on the ground. He cracks a crooked smile at her and Tanya before whipping off his apron.

"I dunno about you guys," he says, "but there is no use sitting awake while the world ends."

"I like sleeping better than stocking," Tanya grins. Luke drapes his apron over the foam with a dramatic flourish before laying down. Tanya plops down next to him, sitting cross-legged and playing with the strings on her apron.

"I brought reinforcements!" Michael booms, appearing from nowhere with his arms full of random items. He dumps his collection onto the makeshift bed, revealing extra aprons and a random assortment of snacks from the break room.

"Your bedding, m'lady," he says to Boo, handing her some spare aprons before doing the same to Tanya.

"This is ridiculous," Boo laughs as she lays down on an empty section of the foam. She lays an apron over her legs and stuffs another one under her head as a pillow.

Michael tosses a bag of chips at Boo and some candy at Luke and Tanya. He then wedges himself in between her and Boo, his head near Boo's elbow and his knees curled up under hers.

"What do we do now?" Luke asks, arms behind his head.

"Thought you were gonna sleep," Tanya laughs.

"How can I sleep when I have two beautiful women in the same bed as me?" he says cheekily.

Boo rolls her eyes. "Don't make it weird."

"Don't forget about me," Michael pouts.

Luke laughs and says something in response but Boo tunes him out, keeping her eyes to the ceiling while her mind begins to roam. She wonders what Martha's doing. Probably making dinner, or watching Perry Mason reruns, or finding something to clean despite having an immaculate house. She hopes she's alright by herself - staying away from the windows and following all the other precautions laid out by the weather channel. A small part of Boo even hopes Lori is okay; a very tiny part. Astronomically small.

"Mel," someone says. Boo glances over to see Luke, Michael, and Tanya all staring at her.

"What?"

"We're gonna play twenty questions," Luke says, pushing a blonde curl out of his face. Boo nods and he thinks for a moment before saying, "Most embarrassing moment."

Michael doesn't hesitate to go first. "Oh! I once pissed myself in a grocery store. Right in the middle of the canned food aisle, it went everywhere."

"Oh my God, Michael," Tanya giggles, covering her mouth.

"Mikey, it's supposed to be something recent," Boo says exasperatedly. "Not from your toddler years."

"Oh no," he says quickly. "No, this was like two weeks ago."

"Michael!" Boo laughs, breaking into obnoxious cackles.

"Holy shit, bro," Luke chuckles. "Why would you do that?"

Michael sighs dramatically. "I'd chugged like three cups of coffee that morning and it just hit me. I couldn't get out in time."

Boo and Tanya are a mess of giggles, both unable to speak without laughing hysterically.

"Worst part was, the cute cashier was working and she was the one who had to clean it up," Michael says glumly. "I gave her my number afterwards but I haven't heard from her yet."

"I wonder why," Boo says through her laughter.

« • »

The conversation dwindles before eventually dying as all three of Boo's coworkers drop off one by one. First Tanya, then Luke a short while later, leaving Michael and Boo to stay up talking quietly until he too fell asleep. Frank's failure to reappear tells her he's probably also slumped over in a corner somewhere.

Now Boo is alone, listening to the muffled sound of the storm beating down on the aluminum roof, wondering how anyone can sleep at such a time like this. The noise had only picked up as the time wore on, and now there's no denying they're in the thick of the hurricane.

She reaches into her pocket and pulls out her phone. The time is just after ten at night, but there's a chance Martha is still up. The real issue would be whether or not the landline still works. She knows it's a long shot, but she dials regardless before pressing the phone to her ear.

Before the call can even go through, an obnoxious dial tone emits rhythmically from the phone and she sighs. Seems the phones are already out. She mouths a quick prayer before shoving her phone back in her pocket and squeezing her eyes shut. The noise outside is nothing compared to the thoughts drowning her mind but she knows she has no other choice than to wait out the night.

Luke is right, no use sitting awake while the world ends.

ahh get ready cuz yall got a big storm comin ;)