He’d almost come too late. He’d arrived days ago but had been trapped in Ohio for a time. That was the thing about a post-apocalyptic world, you never knew how much time you had. You never knew what day it was. You were lucky to guess the month right. He didn’t know if he made the right decision or not but there was no undoing it. Jessie and Scarlet were on their own and he was too far away to do anything for them.
He waved the smoke out of his face and walked out on the balcony. Flames were licking up the side of the building, the bottom floors were already completely engulfed. He pulled his guns, the Mark Seven blasters that had been his favorites for a long, long time, and tossed them onto her bed. If he was going to live here, he couldn’t impact anything. Couldn’t change anything if he could avoid it. All he had left was knowledge of the future but even that wasn’t guaranteed. Nothing was. Time wasn’t a straight line and he’d just changed it a little. Bent it from its course. Who knew what butterfly effect he’d set in motion? He’d removed one body and sent it away but Scarlet shouldn’t make any difference. She always died no matter what he did. She had never lived past this date before.
He’d replaced one Jessie for another and that was going to change things up because he wouldn’t do the things he did before. He knew better. Maybe the world would grow to be a better place now. Or maybe he’d just destroyed it. Probably not. It wasn’t that fragile.
He hung from the railing, dropped to the balcony below then repeated the move again to get to the ground. He remembered the Mercury was in a parking garage and looked around to get his bearings. The Casino burned brightly in the afternoon sky and if nothing changed, if the wind didn’t shift because the moon wobbled a little last month or a tree fell into the flames, it would burn itself out and the rest of the city would remain. He’d seen the ruins so it was one possibility that had already happened.
A thing so simple as a bug being squashed under someone’s shoe on a sidewalk can change the world. He knew that now. If that bug would have survived, maybe it was the one that found a home in the bark of a mighty pine. Maybe it had tens of thousands of offspring over the years and maybe they ate away at the tree. Maybe they were the reason it fell with its top touching the flames. Maybe that is how the fire would spread to burn down most of the city. But that one bug died years ago and the city was spared.
Jessie couldn’t keep thinking like that. He was no longer responsible for the future and if he agonized over every little thing he did, he would be frozen in place, afraid to move. The bracelets were gone and he was free. He had finally made it to the right time and in time to get Scarlet out. The plan for a thousand years had been to go with her and he still wasn’t sure why he’d done what he’d done. He wasn’t sure if they would be able to survive where he sent them but everything they needed to know was in the database, they would figure it out. Those two were on their own and he couldn’t keep trying to fix things. He couldn’t keep resetting the world hoping for a better outcome, it was as good as it was going to get.
He found the garage and started up the ramp, trying to remember which level he’d parked. He heard Bob’s warning growl and was surprised. He’d forgotten all about the dog, it had been so long since he’d seen him. He clicked his tongue and crouched down, held out his hand.
“It’s me, boy.” he said and patted his leg. “C’mere. That’s a good boy.”
Bob approached sniffing the air, ears cocked. Something wasn’t right but something was. It was his master but it wasn’t. He trusted his nose and ears more than his eyes and finally came forward, hesitantly at first. Jessie ruffled his fur and smiled. He couldn’t believe he’d forgotten about the dog, they had been so close. It took a moment but he accepted him as Jessie because after all, he was.
Nefertiti hissed when he approached and wouldn’t let him touch her. Scarlet said cats can see the supernatural and he wondered what she saw in him. She hopped off the car and stared into the shadows, looking for her mistress.
“She’s not coming.” Jessie said.
The cat that was more than a cat held his eyes for a long moment then turned and walked off, her tail held high. He sighed and opened the door. She wouldn’t be coming back. She only tolerated them because of Scarlet. He leaned back in the seat and turned on the radio. Her playlist started. He closed his eyes, listened and remembered.
Epilogue
Jessie woke up slowly, easily and without pain. He was warm, feeling floaty and it was almost like he was still dreaming. The world was filled with a quiet, thick sound that really wasn’t there unless he thought about it. He opened his eyes and everything was fuzzy. The air felt thick and it tasted a little bit sweet. Far away he heard a beeping sound then saw Scarlet look down at him. She saw he was awake and did something he couldn’t see off to the side. He tried to reach for her but his hand hit something solid and he turned to see what was stopping him. He was floating in a glass box in something thick but clear
