Chapter 6

"Oh hell, Jim. Hell... Look at the odometer. It's right on schedule." It was now 8:40 AM. Jim slowed down and stopped by Cindy's car. Cindy noticed the battery status flip from yellow to blue, as the current charge of 33% began to make its 2% per minute ascent. The day was starting out just as whacky as the last one had ended.

They had had an early breakfast and had started traveling eastbound on Antelope Freeway at 7 AM sharp, a few minutes before sunrise. Jim had decided to drive at 67 mph, figuring he could pull 5 HP out of his fully charged batteries for two and a half hours. But as the miles started to roll by, both he and Cindy began to worry. The sound barriers were definitely not getting shorter. They were in fact still increasing in height. By the time they reached Cindy's car again, the barriers were a hundred feet high.

"Jim, how about we turn around and drive right back, on this side of the road?"

"Drive westbound in the eastbound lanes? Sure, why not?" Jim turned the car around and began to retrace their path. "I'm going to drop my speed, just a bit. I'd rather not completely exhaust the batteries." They traveled westbound at 60 mph for 110 miles, until they reached Cindy's car again. Both battery packs were down to 16% as Jim finally stopped the car at 10:33 AM.

Jim sighed and said, "Why don't we get out and stretch our legs, think things over?" A short time later Jim and Cindy were sitting next to each other on the grass in the shadow of the giant sound barriers. The temperature of the morning was much cooler than they were expecting. It was 60F.

Jim reached over and hugged Cindy. Cindy gave him a fierce hug back and they sat quietly holding each other, staring at the sound barriers. She shook her head in disbelief and finally asked, "How high do you think they are now?"

"Two hundred feet, as close as I can guess. I hate to say it, but they really are growing. It doesn't matter what direction we travel in, or on which side of the road. They're always increasing, maybe doubling with each loop we make. I think the whole Freeway, barrier to barrier, is just about a hundred yards wide. The barriers look just about two thirds that distance now. Damn! When we first met, they were only twelve feet high. I could have pulled my car over to the barriers. We could have climbed over. But who would have ever guessed THIS would happen?!"

"Yeah..." Cindy lightly caressed the side of Jim's arm. "Want to know something else spooky?"

Jim sighed and rested his head against Cindy's, taking a deep breath and enjoying the fragrance of her clean hair. On impulse he kissed the side of her head. "Sure, why not? Go ahead."

Cindy turned to face him and returned the kiss before replying. "My first two days here, it was so unbearably hot. My car was registering the outside temperature at 98F the whole time, at least until my battery died. It didn't cool off at all at night. But the temperature has been dropping on each of our four trips, first to 87F, then to 77F, then to 68F, and now finally down to 60F for this last cycle. Want to bet it doesn't get colder and colder, the longer we travel?"

Cindy pushed his body down to the grass, lying alongside him. She reached across and laid her arm across his waist, and then she kissed his ear and whispered, "Jim, I can't imagine us surviving this insanity. I think we might die here."

Jim wrapped his arms around her, not saying anything for a while. He finally kissed her again and said, "It's certainly weird, fantastic... But there's nothing particularly deadly here. We have lots of food, and a fair bit of water. Maybe we should try to collect more, if it rains again. At least we're saving the empty bottles... Cindy?"

Cindy rested the side of her head against his and whispered, "Yeah?"

"The old man, in the store... My gut keeps telling me the guy wasn't malevolent. He said I would be fine. I still feel like trusting him..."

"Even though he betrayed you? Why should we trust him?"

"He had a certain sense of humor about this whole thing. I can't explain it. The road signs, all the ridiculous road signs for Antelope Freeway, so pointless... Or maybe..."

"Huh? Maybe what?"

"Maybe their point was to add some laughter to this, to show us not to take this too seriously..."

Cindy stared at Jim in disbelief. "Oh, I don't know Jim. It's not just the monster sound barriers and the impossible loop of this road. My dream! My wet dream from last Wednesday! I still feel violated, being pushed into arousal like that. I'm struggling with how to get over it..."

Jim was quiet for a moment. "Yeah. I think I'm still struggling with my dream too."

Cindy sat up, keeping her hand on the center of Jim's chest to hold him to the ground. She looked into his eyes and sighed, giving him a kind smile. "You are? Do you trust me enough to tell me how?"

"Yes... Cindy..."

"Yeah?"

"I like to push myself to be gregarious, but I tend to be kind of quiet around people. Being bounced around in lots of foster homes, it taught me not to get too close to people. I used to have trouble trusting anyone. With you though, I can't imagine myself ever not trusting you. Really. I can't explain it..."

Cindy nodded and then smiled. "I sort of feel the same way. I'm usually shy with people too, especially men my age. But with you, all I want to do is return the trust. Wait! It's more than that... A lot more... I should tell you..." Cindy pulled her legs underneath her and got into a lotus position. She had one hand gently petting the top of Jim's head while they looked into each other's eyes.

Cindy took a deep breath. "I've had so many images about you in my dreams last night. Sexy ones and ones that are more than just sexy. They're procreative, about starting a family with you. Last night, after our showers, I had dreams about getting pregnant, childbirth, breast feeding... And you were with me, in all my dreams... You were holding me as I was giving birth. I think it was our child, a girl. I'm sure it was a girl... But I can't remember her name..."

After a moment of recollection, she continued. "And then in another dream, you were with me when I was nursing her. We were alone with our daughter and I was afraid. We both were afraid. From what, I don't know. We were all alone, the three of us, in some sort of log cabin. There was a huge amount of snow outside, a fantastic snowstorm..."

Cindy saw Jim look at her in shock as she described her dream. "Jim, where are all these images coming from? I had this really vivid dream of traveling with you. We were heading to meet my parents and brother and sister. You were going to meet them for the first time. I can still remember all my intense anticipation of showing you to my family... And then it all faded away..."

Jim looked up and Cindy and stared at her, unsure whether she was finished. Staring at each other's eyes, both their hands sought each other and met in mid-air. Jim was about to reply, but then Cindy continued.

"And mixed in with this are all sorts of sexual desires. I can't remember all the different ways we made love to each other last night... in my dreams I mean. Jim, I wasn't just snooty in high school. I was also more than a bit shy when it came to boys. It's not like me to be this forward, even in fantasies. It's not like me at all."