[ RF ] A man has lost everything he ever cared for . And yet , he is happy .

He huddled at the bottom of the ladder, listening to the world end above. One landed no more than a mile away, shaking loose huge slabs of the shelter's ceiling. One narrowly missed the man, spearing into the concrete floor and embedding itself two inches deep. Steady *WHOMP* sounds rocked the shelter as he hid beneath the couch, a ratty old thing he'd picked up curbside from the McAllisters. They were dead now, no doubt. 
 
 Everyone was dead. 
 
 After an hour the chaos stopped. All that remained was silence- complete and total silence. He had never heard anything so quiet. 
 
 Julia was gone. She worked in the city, that's where the bombs hit. She was scattered through the atmosphere, vaporous. He'd loved her once, had even bought the ring to propose. He checked her phone one night on a whim, she'd left it on the couch during a trip to the bathroom. 
 
 *Rick*. Who was he? Why was he asking if she wanted to come over *again* that night? The phone barely managed to get back into position as the man fought back tears of rage. 
 
 The Chinese, the Russians, the French- whomever did this saved him the trouble of breaking it off with his girlfriend of six years. He'd never see her again, never see Rick, never see *anyone*. As he took his first tense steps into the wrecked shelter he felt an absurd sense of relief when nothing else collapsed. 
 
 Then the loudest noise he'd ever heard: a laugh. He barked laughter that sounded insane bouncing off the broken walls. Was it luck or not? His student debt: gone. Car payment? Gone. Mortgage? Gone. Debt? Gone. He was well and truly free but imprisoned for the rest of his life. The absurdity of it all compelled him to laugh again. 
 
 With a casual flair unimaginable to most, the man plopped down on the couch and ran his hand over cold concrete in the search for a light switch. He flicked it and one lamp came on, dangling and swinging slowly from side to side. The light passed his face, illuminating a mad smile. 
 
 Free! Free from Julia and Rick, free from the bank. At last, at long last, he could enjoy life. He reached over to a stack of 24-pack waters and twisted the top off the first. Water never tasted so good.
