knock knock knock

"Hey Penny"

knock knock knock

"Hey Penny"

knock knock knock

"Hey Penny"

knock knock knock

"Hey Penny"

knock knock knock

"Hey Penny"

knock knock knock

"Hey Penny"

knock knock knock

"Hey Penny"

This was it. The point of no return. Penny sits by the door, waiting for Sheldon's ceaseless annoyance to end.

knock knock knock

"Hey Penny"

But she knows at the deepest depths of her now cold and dead heart, that it will never end. Penny readies her gun. She no longer needs to ready herself, as she knows she will feel no remorse about what's to come.

knock knock knock

"Hey Penny"

BLAM

Silence. Complete and total silence. This is what Penny wanted, so why does she still feel empty inside? Sheldon cannot speak anymore. There will be no more "Hey Penny", there will be no more knocking at the door. But she still feels dead. Life is purposeless. Ever since the voices came, nothing was the same. Leonard killed himself. Howard's in death row for a mass shooting at a television store, reportedly driven insane by the sitcoms playing out front. Amy and Bernadette both put themselves into a suicide pact, throwing themselves and eachother off of a building in eachother's arms. Raj will spend a lifetime in jail for what he did to those poor children who dared to repeat Sheldon's catchphrase. When questioned, he said that "They already were long gone if they'd use such infernal language. Their souls were rotting in hell long before."

Everyone else had heard the voices. Not Penny. She didn't hear the laughter whenever Sheldon gave his usual remark, or when she incorrectly stated the name of a popular video game. Not before, anyways. now she hears from beyond the door, Sheldon's last breaths - "Bazinga." Penny begins to hear laughter as it dawns on her. Everything makes so much sense - Kripke! Howard's mother! The children! It all pieced together so perfectly within Penny's mind. Now, it all makes sense. Penny decided that, because of it, she needed to go. Her life is over. She murdered Sheldon, she would be thrown in jail. She would hear the laughter for the rest of her sorry life. She puts the gun to her head. She is completely comfortable with what will happen next, as her finger presses against the trigger. She begins to mouth her last word, as it will be the most important thing she's ever said.

"Zimbabwe."