Endgame | Chapter 23

Sunday, March 18th, 2029

SARAH

It's been a long day, to say the least. Iris lead us back to the parking garage where she showed us a recoilable ladder hanging off of the back end up. We were able to get us a car, thanks to the hot-wiring skills from Jake, our one problem was that we had to go down to the second floor and drive through one of the windows since the entrance to the building was completely blocked off. We got a nice sturdy minivan that should last us for awhile, we just picked whichever car or truck had the most gas in it and could get us the farthest.

We've been on the road now for a few hours and I sit in the middle row of the minivan, just behind Andy who is behind the wheel. In the middle next to her is Jake. Jen is riding shotgun. I can feel my eyes begin to droop as I let the exhaustion of the day wash over me. I'm out like a light. I'm now standing in a wide open field, flowers are blooming and a gentle wind uproots some of the flowers, sending them spiraling into the air where they hover in place. I look down and see I'm wearing the red dress that I saw myself wearing in John's last dream.

I look up and I see a large oak tree in the middle of the field. Standing under it is John and Jay. John is wearing a nice black suit, and Jay is helping him by adjusting his tie for him. He catches my glance and then smiles. I'm running as fast as the heels I'm wearing permit me, I nearly trip once, but I catch myself. I'm throwing myself into his embrace, I nearly knock him over.

"I can't tell you how much I've missed you," I say.

"I could say the same thing." He says.

"It's nice to see you again, Sarah," Jay says.

"I…I saw your last dream, the one where I was wearing this, John, I was so scared when you were taken…"

"Let's not talk about that now," he says, offering his hand. "May I have this dance?"

I don't care if the tears are coming or not now. I take his hand and we go running off into the field. We find a spot in the middle of the hovering flowers of different breeds and colors, twirling and twirling.

Music begins playing softly, it's a slow beat, nothing like I'd ever heard, the most wonderful song. I take his free hand as he puts his other arm around my waist. We begin dancing in circles to the beat of the melody.

"This…this will cease to exist when I wake up, right? It'll stop being real?" I ask.

"What makes you think this isn't real?" He asks.

"Well, it's just a dream, after all…" I say, looking down.

"Sarah, if I've learned anything at all, is that the only difference between where you go and where I go when this ends isn't permanent. Think of it as us both making the trip to see each other, it's as real as you make it to be," he says. I begin smiling the widest, goofiest smile I'd ever smiled. He smiles back and kisses me.

I love you, John.