More than anything

He's probably as okay as she is, and she offers him a wan smile that suggests she regrets asking. "Okay," she agrees. She hesitates, then sighs and finally explains, "You read about 'deafening silence' sometimes. It used to make me mad, until everything at home. I finally got it. It's like that again." She looks around and gestures at the empty city. "I can almost feel it, like I'm carrying it on my shoulders." She wonders if it's the same for him. If the quiet is like a weight on him, the way it is on her, the way it seems to be on Anne and so many others she knows.