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“He’s faking,” I say. “But it still felt good.”

Something hits the door, scratching and scraping. Then it howls, and I can’t tell whether it’s the dog or one of the monsters. It’s a horrible sound, though, and as I back up, fear flickers through me.

The bartender was holding the creatures back. He must be able to undo that ward. Is that what’s happening?

“He’s letting them in,” I whisper. “I’m sorry, Henry. I’m so sorry.”

He reaches and takes my hand and only holds it tight as the beast batters the door. At the window, a zombie pulls back its fist to smash the glass, and Henry pulls me behind him even as I resist and—

The bartender gives a long, shuddering sigh, and when I look over, his eyelids flutter and close, and I brace myself for what is to come. The roof creaks, and I look up sharply just as it starts to crack.

“Down!” Henry shouts, and he pulls me down, covering me as the bar shakes around us.

A board falls inches from my outstretched hands, and I yank them back. Then a huge piece of the roof hits the floor, dust billowing up, and I squeeze my eyes shut against it.

When I open my eyes again, I’m in the bar I’d seen before, when the bartender showed it to me. The bar as it exists in my world, a decrepit ruin.

“Henry?” I croak.

He doesn’t answer, and I start to scramble out from under him, thinking he’s hurt, but he rises slowly and lets me up. I twist to see him staring.

“This is what you saw,” he says. “The real bar.”

I nod and push to my feet as I spin toward the door. As before, it’s gone, and I expect to see monsters stampeding through. But it’s open to darkness beyond. To night. I look quickly at the window. It’s an empty hole, but there’s nothing beyond it.

“Five minutes,” Maggie says again.

She sits on her stool at the remains of the bar, staring down into a glass that’s no longer there.

“Keep driving,” she says.

“I don’t understand.”

“You will.”

The bartender lies at my feet, blood pooled around him.

“Did I…?” I begin. “That’s not possible.”

“I think you did,” Henry says. “You killed him.” His broad face breaks into a grin and he picks me up in a hug. “You caught him off guard. You killed him. We’re free.”

I shake my head. “That—that’s not possible. It can’t be that easy.”

Henry puts me down and, holding my hand, he leads me to the door. Outside, it’s night. Just a regular night. No sign of a storm. No sign of monsters. We stand on the broken porch, and I look up at the sky, which is …

Just a sky. A night sky with stars and a three-quarter moon and not a tinge of red to be seen.

We take time to breathe. Just breathe.

Maggie calls “Five minutes” again, and I frown, peering through the empty doorway at her.

“Keep driving,” she says.

I walk back inside, Henry following as I say to Maggie, “I said I don’t understand.”

She doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t look our way. She’s not going to explain. Just this cryptic bullshit. It doesn’t matter. We’re free and—

The building shakes again, and Henry grabs for me, not dropping to the floor, but pulling me to him. A timber on the floor flies up. Up, into the air.