Foreverland Is Dead

Cyn. We were afraid…”
    She chokes on rising emotion.
    Mad comes over and, despite her reservations, puts a hug on Cyn. They both do. Cyn stands there stiffly and lets them.
    “You saved our lives,” Mad says, squeezing tightly. “All of us.”
    Cyn doesn’t know what any of this means. Neither does Jen. They watch the strangers go through another round of laughing and weeping. Mad stands back, wipes her eyes.
    Kat reaches under one of the empty beds, blows her nose in a t-shirt, and throws it back under.
    “Why can’t I remember my name?” Cyn asks.
    “You will, pretty soon,” Kat says. “We need to get going. It’s a little chilly outside. There are clothes under your beds—you should get dressed. We’ve got to walk a bit to reach the gate.”
    “What gate? What’s going on?”
    “Just trust us.”
    Cyn isn’t trusting. She sure as hell isn’t moving.
    Kat keeps an eye on her as she pulls a box out from beneath the bed and gets out a few sweatshirts and some jeans. Mad does the same for Jen, and Jen goes along with it.
    “Look, you got no reason to trust me, I know. But you’re going to have to make that leap.”
    “I don’t know you.”
    “You don’t know yourself . ”
    Kat holds the clothes in one hand, reeking of body odor. Cyn isn’t reaching for those rags. But Kat’s right: she doesn’t know anything. These girls seem to know something.
    “We know you, Cyn,” Mad says. “I can prove it. Check those pants, the ones from under your bed. You read the tag on the inside of the waist, see what it says.”
    Kat throws them at her feet. Cyn bends down and picks them up without looking away from her. She flips the waistband, finds a white tag sewn to the inside.
    Cyn.
    “I know that don’t prove anything.” Kat holds up her hands. “But we’re telling you the truth. You don’t have to be near us, you just need to follow. And if you don’t like what you see, you just go on your own way.”
    Mad starts to protest. Kat stops her.
    “We got a deal?”
    Cyn looks at the pants.
    “You ain’t got nowhere else to be, nothing else to do. And no one else to trust. You just got to fall with us, Cyn.”
    Jen is dressed and ready.
    Cyn stares at the tag. She puts the candle down, slides the jeans on one damp, moldy leg at a time. Kat throws the sweatshirts at her feet and she puts those on, too.
    Fall with us.
    Kat goes to the door, puts her hand on the knob. She takes a breath and opens it.
    Cyn steps back. Alarms go off in her head.
    An old man lies on the ground, his hands and feet tied with strips of clothing. He groans through a dirty rag tied around his mouth. His angry words are distorted, his eyebrows pinched. His scalp is red and ridged.
    “We brought him with us,” Kat says. “We didn’t hurt him, Cyn. He was just taking up space he didn’t need to be taking up.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “Don’t matter. We’ll leave him here.”
    The old man growls, a string of words muffled by the gag.
    “Why?” Cyn asks.
    Kat looks at Jen. “He’s a real bad man, Cyn. This is where he belongs.”
    Kat checks the bindings, makes sure they’ll hold long enough for them to reach the gate. Mad guides Jen outside, staying between her and the old man. Cyn comes out next, the old man cursing nonsense at each of them. But cursing for sure.
    The morning chill slips down her neck. Cyn crosses her arms, shivers while staring at the helpless old man. He bites the cloth like a muzzled dog.
    “Is that his house?” Jen asks.
    There’s a large brick house to the east where the sky is glowing, the sun still below the trees. A lamp lights up one of the front windows.
    “Yeah,” Kat says. “He lives there with his daughter. They helped build this place. We’re going to let them have it all to themselves.”
    Kat, Mad, and Jen start walking towards a meadow. The old man begins another round of guttural, angry protests. A window lights up on the second floor of the brick house. The curtains part, and the outline of a girl appears. Her hand on the glass. Maybe she’ll come out for him when the girls are gone, untie him. He looks hungry.
    The old man rolls into Cyn’s leg. His eyes plead. The growls turn to whines.
    “Come on!” Kat shouts.
    Cyn walks around him. The grunts and cries fade behind her. Grass brushes her waist, the flowers tickling her outstretched hands. Mountains are on the horizon to her right. The brick house recedes in the distance, only the lit windows