Apocalachia

Chapter 1: Tropical Oasis

We've been walking for ages now, sprays of sand on the wind pelting us constantly. Really wish I had a pair of goggles...

"We've been walking forever..." Penelope mumbles next to me as she drags her feet along the ground.

"Yeah..." I mumble simply in reply, unable to manifest any other thoughts onto the material plane.

And then, I see something on the infinite horizon. A break in the solid, sand-colored line. The closer we get to it, the harder I squint my eyes, until finally I squeal with joy! "Oh my fucking god, it's a car!"

"What?!" Penelope says excitedly before adjusting her glasses and peering off in the distance. "Oh my fucking god, it's a car!"

"Come on!" I shout, and somehow, the two of us manage to generate enough energy to run the last bit of the way towards the vehicle. It appears to be a jeep, but it's missing all of its doors.

"It's a jeep!" Penelope cheers, bouncing up and down in excitement and causing her body to jiggle around magnificently. But her words also make me think. Jeeps exist in her world, then. I wonder how much other stuff is similar...

"Let's get in and keep looking for some sort of shelter." I say as I step cautiously towards the vehicle. A sudden memory of the movie Kangaroo Jack pops into my mind. I reach out and gingerly poke the Jeep. "Seems real enough..." I mumble to myself. I set my sword in the back and then get into the driver's seat.

Penelope takes her bow and arrows off her back and puts them between her legs in the passenger seat. "This is so great! Things are looking up!" She points out cheerily.

"You're so positive. We're still trapped in some sort of alternate dimension, forced to survive in a desolate landscape." I chuckle as I turn the key and the Jeep fires up with a nice purr. I check the gas and find that it's about three quarters full.

"Well, why can't I be positive?" She asks, tilting her head as she looks at me. "I just met a great guy and..." She looks down at her hands resting on her thighs. "Well... Things kind of sucked in my world."

"What do you mean?" I ask, shifting into gear and pressing down on the gas. The Jeep thrums and moves forward across the flat landscape.

"Well, for one thing, the Red Equator keeps getting bigger and bigger every year, and before I ever die, it would have swallowed up my home, too."

"The Red Equator..." I mutter to myself. "I'm guessing that's the super hot zone?"

"Yup. Nothing grows. Nothing survives. Now that I think about it, this place can't be America. It's probably much hotter there. This is more like southern Canada. But like I said, before I die, everything was going to become like America."

"How? How is that possible?" I ask in confusion.

"Because that's what the corporate overlords intended." She sighs. "They left on a spaceship for a new planet, and left behind these big satellites. Don't ask me how they work, but year by year, they slowly incinerate the planet. Things have pretty much been a nonstop party since then since we all know we're going to die eventually anyways. But... I've always had hope that things would get better. It's just... It seemed like nobody else around me shared the same view. That's why it sucked... And now, this happened! I'm... Hopefully I'm somewhere else. With you. A great guy!"

"Well... You're too kind." I smile at her before resting my hand on her thigh. I stare out at the expanse for a few moments before I even realize what I've done. What have I done?! And then I feel her fingers intertwine with my own, and her wet lips plant a kiss on my cheek. Her head then rests on my shoulder as we speed across the wasteland.