More Stories from the Twilight Zone by Carol Serling Page B

her he felt. “I’ll do my best to make it back from the office in time.”
    â€œWith the world ending, why bother to go into the office at all?”
    He shrugged, keeping his back to her. “I just like the routine is all. It’s comforting.”
    â€œWell, do hurry home,” she said. Then grunting, she hefted herself out of the chair and waddled down the hall toward the kitchen.
    He had no intention of being home tomorrow, end of the world or not. He’d deal with her the following day, after her fixation had been proven wrong.
    Then maybe he could help her, get her the help she needed.
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    Elliot Leiferman: December 21, 2012, near Death Valley
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    The car hit ninety easily as he took the Jaguar down the straightaway out onto the desert road headed toward Death Valley. The old highway was almost never used anymore, and to even get on it he had had to move a road-closed sign, but he loved the freedom of the straight pavement and the speed at which he could safely drive without worrying about any patrols stopping him.
    Thunderclouds threatened in the low hills in the distance, but the cab of the Jaguar kept him comfortable from the intense heat and safe from the blowing sand. This morning Candy had been like a schoolgirl in her excitement. How anyone could be excited about the end of the world was beyond him, but for weeks the news reports had gone on and on about the Mayan calendarcoming to an end today, and this morning’s headlines were END OF THE WORLD?
    The entire thing just annoyed him.
    It was not only stupid, but it had cost him the woman he loved. He wanted this over and done with, he wanted to help Candy get healthy again, stop drinking, lose weight, become the woman he had married.
    But that wasn’t going to happen until he got home tonight and the world hadn’t ended. Then he could start helping her recover for real and maybe even get to the root cause of why she had believed the end was coming anyway.
    The Jaguar’s smooth ride ate up mile after mile of the old road, taking him deeper and deeper into the desert. Even at this time of the year, the temperature outside was a baking ninety degrees and he had the air-conditioning holding him in comfort. He had come to learn that there were real advantages to having large amounts of money—the beautiful home in Malibu was one, this car was another.
    He loved this car, and lately had taken more and more long drives in it when home, just to get away from Candy.
    He looked out over the expanse of desert around him, letting himself relax into the drive. Wouldn’t it be funny if the world actually did end today while he was in the desert? He snorted to himself and snapped on the radio, letting it search for a radio station.
    Normal music playing, no alarms, nothing different.
    Nothing was ending today.
    He let the miles drift by as he thought about all the wonderful times he and Candy used to have and the hope that starting tomorrow, they could rebuild that old life once again.
    The sun was starting to touch the horizon; the day was nearing an end. Candy was going to need him later tonight. He had no doubt she would pass out from all the drinking, but at least he could be there to take care of her. For the first time in a year, hefelt he wanted to. Something that she had believed in deeply was about to not happen and she would need help getting through that.
    He let the car slow down to under sixty and glanced around at the vast expanse of nothingness. Amazing that in such a crowded place as California, there could be so many thousands of square miles of nothingness.
    At that moment he noticed a faint light on the dashboard. He slammed on the brakes and came to a stop in the middle of the old road.
    The gas warning light was on.
    Oh, God, no.
He had no idea how long it had been on, but it was unlikely he had enough gas to make it back to the roadblock. That had to be seventy or more miles back, at least.
    It had