The Annihilation of Foreverland

quat . He’s done nothing, Danny Boy. He’s a waste of time. They should put a bullet through his skull instead of a needle.”
    “Mr. Smith, please.” Danny hugged the bars. “Reed needs the reprieve, sir. You’re going to break him. He’s not going to take the needle, you know that. There’s got to be another way. Have a heart, man.”
    Mr. Smith’s stare did not waver.
    Reed striped off his shirt. His shoulder blades knifed from his back and every one of his vertebrae could be played like a xylophone.
    “Mr. Smith…” Danny said.
    “Ah-hah-hahaha!” Sid bellowed. “Look at the goon! It’s Halloween in cell six, boys. Reed’s got an eating disorder, the crazy mutt!”
    Reed slipped off his pants. His pelvis poked from his hips.
    Danny couldn’t watch. He’d sat with him on the beach, but seeing him bared to the world told of every second he’d endured since he’d been on the island. Even his face looked like a barren skull in the shadows.
    Danny took off his shirt.
    “Hey, look at Danny Boy!” Sid laughed. “He’s copying his boyfriend. I knew the two were gay for each other.”
    Mr. Smith finally looked Danny’s way. He muttered something. By the time Danny had his pants off, the door to the Haystack swung open and a crowd of Investors rushed inside.
    “Danny Boy.” Mr. Jones grabbed the bars on his cell. “What are you doing, my boy? You don’t need to do this, you have a reprieve. You can’t worry what the others are doing, you need to keep yourself in line, son.”
    Danny removed his underwear and began folding his clothes.
    “You’re a good boy, Danny Boy. You’re a good boy. This is so…” Mr. Jones looked at the other old men. “Danny! Look at me! LOOK AT ME, BOY!”
    Danny turned his back.
    “Stop this madness, son. This is just so unnecessary… I mean, you don’t need to go through the suffering. You don’t need…” He chuckled nervously, then reached through the bars but Danny was out of reach.
    The other Investors murmured. “It’ll be all right,” they said. “He’ll get right, Mr. Jones, don’t worry. The kid will get right. Let things go at their own pace, you can’t make him do it.”
    Reed placed his clothes at the foot of the cell door. Mr. Smith retrieved them and left. The Investors consoled Mr. Jones until he let go of the cage. He muttered on the way out, leaving Danny’s clothes behind. When the door closed, the Haystack was quiet.
    “You’re as crazy as he is, Danny Boy,” Sid said. “You’re a pair of cracked pots, son. A pair of them.”
    Reed turned his back on Danny and started a breathing routine.
    The skylights began to close and darkness settled.
    Danny began pacing to combat the chill running up and down his body. The camp began talking in half-hushed tones. He didn’t care.
    It was impulse. He didn’t plan on joining Reed, but he just didn’t want to follow the rest of them into the needle. It was too much celebration, they were embracing it too happily. Someone needs to resist .
    But the lights had gone down and he was already shivering.
    The cages whirred. The needles began to lower. The excitement had been dampened by the weirdness of Danny’s voluntary nudity, but it didn’t slow any of them from reaching. The lines whined as they were stretched to the floor.
    Zin was still sitting, unaware that the needle had dropped into the cage until it lowered to the top of his head. He reached up, mechanically, and began to fit it around his head.
    “Zin,” Danny said. “Come back, all right. Don’t… just come back.”
    Reed still had his back to Danny. And Zin was reaching for the needle and Danny realized it might be for the last time. If he got smoked on this round, Danny would be completely alone.
    “Zin!” Danny just wanted him to hear it, to make sure. “You hear me?”
    “Is n’t that lovely, boys?” Sid’s voice echoed in the dark. “Danny Boy’s afraid for Zinski. Hot damn, I’m tearing up over here. It’s breaking my heart.”
    “Zin.” Danny tried to keep it quiet, but it was impossible. “Just look at me, man. Just, don’t smoke out. Not yet.”
    “He’s a goner, Danny Boy,” Sid said. “Say goodbye.”
    “Shut up!” Danny rushed the front of his cell and reached into the dark aisle . “SHUT THE HELL UP, SID!”
    Silence fell as heavy as the cold air. Faint rustling told Danny that none of the boys had gone inside the needle, yet. They were listening. A drop of water fell from one of the