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.”Warren didn’t say anything at first, but as he thought about it he realized his feelings on the subject very closely mirrored Jasmine’s.“Okay.But only if you’ll promise to do the same for me.”Jasmine kept her gaze trained on the countryside, but she said, “Okay.”Warren sighed.“I hope it doesn’t come to that.”Jasmine didn’t say anything.Warren realized she’d been thinking about this very thing all along.She’d danced around the subject all day, trying to work up the nerve to say what she really needed to say.He knew then she believed there was a dark end ahead for both of them, and that there was nothing they could do about it.He tried to think of something he could say to ease her mind, at least for a little while, but he came up with nothing.What he finally did say was, “Do you think there’s a God?”“I don’t know.” She looked at him.“What do you think?”He shrugged.“I don’t know, either.No one can really know a thing like that until they’re dead, I guess, if then.I was raised to believe in a higher power.My parents weren’t religious in the traditional sense.They didn’t require me to adhere to some strict set of beleifs set down by long-dead men.They believed in a Creator, but not one you could identify as Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or whatever.It was just a fuzzy, non-specific belief in a benevolent force somewhere…out there.” He indicated the sky above them by lifting his head.“There’s no hellfire and brimstone in my past.I was always kind of grateful for that.Now…well, now it looks like the prophets of doom were right all along.”Jasmine’s eyes narrowed to slits.“So you think this is God’s judgment?”Warren shook his head.“I didn’t mean that.” But the idea took root in his head, caused him to explore some theories he might not have considered otherwise.“But…what if it is? I’m just thinking out loud here, so bear with me.This world around us, the road, the passing fields, the stalled cars…this is our reality now.But what if it’s only an illusion? Or what if it’s something else? What if it’s hell?”A glint of something that might have been fear sparked in Jasmine’s eyes.“But…that can’t be.Can it? We’re alive.”Warren arched an eyebrow.“Are we? Maybe we’re dead and we just don’t know it yet.Maybe we’ve been dead since that first fucking day and everything since then has just been an illusion.Think about it.It would explain all the weird shit.The blighted land.A new car that becomes a mobile wreck almost overnight.Think of all the fucked-up things you’ve seen this last week, Jaz.Tell me how any of it makes sense.Unless, of course, we’re in hell, or some purgatory.Maybe that’s it.Maybe we’re doomed to wander this highway forever, endlessly—”“Stop!”Jasmine’s eyes were wide and gleaming now.She looked like a terrified animal, a small and helpless creature cornered by a larger predator.“You’re scaring me, Warren.”He sighed.“Sorry.I didn’t mean to.I thought you wanted to talk about this.”Her expression softened as some of the tension eased out of her.“I did.Now I don’t.If this is hell or purgatory, there’s nothing we can do about it, no way we can escape it.I don’t want to think about it anymore.”“Fair enough.”But now Warren couldn’t stop thinking about it.He didn’t believe they were in hell, or even purgatory, but he couldn’t dismiss such notions as irrational or implausible.Not after all they’d seen and experienced.If there could be such things as alternate dimensions coexisting side by side—and the evidence of this was indisputable—then surely there could be such a thing as hell.Or dreaming gods.The only tangible evidence he had that he was still on a mortal plane was the beating of his own heart.And he wasn’t sure he could even trust the reality of that.A loud BANG! jolted both of them.Warren stared through the windshield at the hood of the car.“Was that—”The sound came again, louder now.Then again.Then the car jerked hard, making them both yelp.The car shuddered violently and began to slow down.Warren half-expected pieces of it to start falling off.“Shit!”He pounded the steering wheel with a fist and pressed the gas pedal all the way to the floor, but it was no good.The car lost power and began to coast.In a few moments it came to a dead stop in the middle of the road.Warren just sat there for a while with his hands clenched around the wheel, completely incapable at first to comprehend what had happened.Then Jasmine sighed.“Car’s dead.”Warren shook his head.“How can that be? How—”But Jasmine was already opening the door on her side.There was a groan of metal rusted to an impossible degree.She stepped outside and left the door standing open.Warren felt a touch of exasperation, but he immediately realized it was pointless.Why ask how something so inexplicable could happen? There were no answers to be had.So he sighed and pushed a button to trigger the trunk latch.Then he got out of the BMW and stared over the roof at Jasmine.She had put her sunglasses on and was staring at the stretch of road ahead of them.She said, “So I guess we’re on foot now.”Warren moved to the rear of the car, opened the trunk, and hauled out their bags.“I guess so.I don’t think we’ll find another working vehicle, either.” He laughed humorlessly.“The horseless carriage has been consigned to the ash heap of history.”Jasmine joined him at the car’s trunk.She picked up a bag and slung it over her shoulder.“You know how I said I didn’t want to talk about the weird stuff anymore?”Warren nodded.“Uh-huh,” he said in a careful tone.Her chin angled downward, then lifted again.She was eyeing him up and down.“It’s funny how selective the decay is.My car aged thirty years in under a week.Our clothes look a little careworn.But you and I, physically, seem unaffected.”Warren pursed his lips.“Hmm…”He thought again of the slippery nature of dreams, and of a god in the throes of some awful dementia.And he suppressed a shudder.Jasmine folded her arms beneath her breasts.“I wonder why.”Warren smiled wryly.“Well, look who’s asking the hard questions again.Jeeze, Jasmine, I don’t have a fucking clue the rot isn’t affecting us.I’m just glad it’s not.Christ, I’d hate to have to deal with incontinence or senile dementia on top of all this insanity.”“Or any number of other common old age maladies.Erectile dysfunction, for instance.”Warren groaned.“I’m just teasing you.”“I know.” Warren glanced briefly at Jasmine’s feet.“How long can you go in those heels? I hope you’re not planning a hundred-some mile hike in them.”Jasmine shrugged.“I’m sure there’ll be an opportunity at some point along the way to avail myself of more appropriate footwear.” She smiled.“Okay, non-sequitur time, and I don’t mean this to be maudlin, but I couldn’t have picked a better companion to travel through this horrible time with.You’re a good man, Warren
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