Don't Fear the Reaper

Alex scanned the non-existent horizon, wiped his brow, and stopped walking. “You know, we’ve already gone a third of the journey, maybe we should take a rest.”
“A third!?” cried Jack, “you said that it takes three whole days to get to where we’re going!” Alex said nothing in response asides from a simple
“Time is relative.” Jack halfway accepted this answer, but then stopped again.
“Do the dead sleep?”
“We can, but we tire more from physical or especially emotional strain, rather than simply being awake.”
“Is reaping emotionally exhausting?” Jack queried “I mean, I guess that makes sense since you’re dealing with dead p-” Alex smirked as he cut him off.
“No Jack, reaping is not particularity straining.” Jack stood standing, rather confused, as Alex spontaneously dropped to the darkened ground, sitting with his legs criss-cross-applesauce. Jack remained standing for a moment before joining his companion, although he appeared very uncomfortable, as if he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. Alex laughed,
“Just lay down, it’s soft.”
“No it isn’t!” Jack insisted as he ran his hand along the chasm.
“That’s because you don’t want it to be, if you lay down and act as if you actually want to sleep, it will know that, and adjust accordingly!” Alex was already laying with legs stretched out like a starfish and the blackness was beginning to meld around him, creating a blanket. Jack followed suit and pretty soon he felt a weight come around him. The universe had tucked him in. With this weight came an extreme drowsiness and Jack was deeply asleep within moments.
Sometime during their rest, Alex must have scooted himself right up to the other boy’s side, because when Jack woke up, he was startled to see the reaper’s hoodless face only inches away. It took him several minutes to comprehend his situation again, and he had almost chalked it up to an elaborate dream, or simply a bad trip, until he heard Alex shuffling around, and finally his voice;
“So, Jack, how was your first night off Earth, and more importantly, your first sleep as a dead boy?” the younger boy yawned and ran his fingers back and forth through the back of his hair, in attempt to conceal his panic.
“Um” he started, “it was fine.” And in fact, it was fine; Jack was surprised at how similar sleeping was whether you were dead or alive. Dead, that word went through Jack’s head again and again. It was so final. Dead. Full stop. Yet, there wasn’t a full stop, because after death there wasn’t nothingness, there was Alex, and assumingly others, as Alex told him about them. It was more like dead…ellipsis. Nothing seemed as vibrant as Earth had ever been, except maybe Alex’s violet hair and his own robe, both of which he found himself staring at frequently. “Just fine?” Alex urged, “C’mon man, let me know how it was! Did you have any…” Alex stuck his head right in front Jack’s and finished, “nightmares…?” Jack chortled and batted Alex away.
“Fuck off!”
“Ooh, not a morning person are we? You feeling cranky Jacky?”
“For Christ’s sake!” the younger sputtered. Alex laughed and held his hand out to the still sitting Jack, who grabbed it and used it to bring himself into a standing position.
“We’re closer than I thought we were, actually” Alex said as Jack occupied himself by repositioning his robe. “We should get there in just a few hours” Alex emphasized the word ‘hours’ with largely gestured finger quotations.
“Let me guess” ventured Jack, “time isn’t fucking real either”
“You betcha!” Alex grinned, then threw his arm around Jack’s back as he began to guide him towards their destination. “You’re getting good at this thing!”
“What, being dead?” Jack shot a weird expression at his companion, causing Alex to look slightly offended.
“I mean, yeah. It’s a genuine compliment, some folks don't deal well.”
Jack could hardly believe this.
“You’re already dead, what else could go wrong!” Alex looked at him wearily, and wordlessly continued walking. Jack decided to change the subject by asking a question he needed to know the answer to. “So, where are we going, anyway?”
“The main city, it's called Los Fantasmas. It's huge, so when we get there, I want you to stay close to me.”
“That’ll be easy” Jack whispered to himself, eyeing the bones clasping his shoulder.
“What’s that?”
“Nothin’, so tell me, what’s Los Fantasmas like?” Alex eyed Jacked up and down before asking;
“You ever been to L.A.?”