The Annihilation of Foreverland

longer than Mr. Jones. He’d know what to expect from Danny. Besides, he should know what they were doing with Reed.

52
    Mr. Jones lived on the west wing. His penthouse was an apartment with enough square footage for a family of four. Even so, he only lived in a small portion of it to cut down on cleaning and cooking.
    He walked down the empty hallway, rounding the corner in the foyer onto the veranda. The chairs were still arranged in a half-circle from their meeting with the Director. There would be another soon, he believed.
    Mr. Smith paddled on top a floating board in the swimming pool. Mr. Jones went to the end of the pool. Mr. Smith grabbed the ledge and looked up.
    “I would like a word,” Mr. Jones said. “I don’t trust what’s going on. The Director, the boys… they have things on their mind.”
    “You believe they’re planning an escape?”
    Mr. Jones shook his head. “I think we should cancel the next round and call another meeting. Maybe the boys need to be reset.”
    “Everything is back on track. They have Sid ready to graduate. Besides, I don’t have time to start over, Mr. Jones. The clock is ticking for this old man. It’s now or never.”
    Cancer is an impatient foe .
    “Have you seen Reed?” Mr. Jones said. “You might live longer than him.”
    “He’s young, Mr. Jones.” He floated on his back, spitting water. “His body can recover once he gives it up. There’s nothing I can do about this body.”
    He drew a long breath and went underwater. He frog-kicked to the steps and pulled himself out. Mr. Jones handed him the towel. Mr. Smith dried off and collapsed into a lounge chair.
    “Do you ever feel guilty?” Mr. Jones asked. “What we’re doing to them.”
    Mr. Smith draped the towel over his neck. “They had their chance at life, Mr. Jones. The mind is a terrible thing to waste. And so is a perfectly good body.”
    He put on sunglasses and laid his head back. Mr. Jones watched him. He was lightly snoring within a minute.
    Mr. Jones left him.
    He’s right. They had their chance.

53
    Danny went out to the tabletop cliff with a bag of food.
    He wouldn’t return to the dormitory. He had enough food to sustain him until the next round started. Reed had enough leaves, too. He could make all the tea he needed. Danny just wanted to be alone. He needed to think. He needed a plan. One that would make it their last round, ever.
    There were rumors that Foreverland was getting smaller. It still worked, but they couldn’t get out to the water or fly as high into the sky without running into the Nowhere. Lucinda had something to do with it. Danny knew it. And the Director did, too.
    There was only one w ay to stop him. Only one way to be sure. They couldn’t wait for someone to save them.
    Danny knew what he had to do.

    The trees rustled behind him.
    Danny was sitting on the tabletop, legs crossed, practicing his breathing when Zin emerged from the forest.
    “It’s almost time,” Zin said.
    Danny unfolded his legs. “Where’s Reed?”
    “He’s on the beach.”
    They started back down the path. Danny looked back at the view.
    It would be the last time he would see it.

    Reed was sitting on the sand dune.
    He wanted to get up, walk the beach. His body began to ache again. He reached into his waistband and pulled out a long leaf. He stopped bothering with tea. He chewed the leaf, instead, spitting out the coarse fibers and swallowing back the acrid flavors that stuck in the back of his throat.
    The healing compounds surged into his blood. His muscles let go. Nerves relaxed. A mellow cloud drifted through him and he tingled with pleasurable numbness. The ocean seemed to surge through him, each waves pulsing in his groin. He sat there, smiling.
    Life is beautiful.
    He wanted to try the water, feel it on his ankles. One more time. He might be flying high, but he was lucid enough to know this could be the last time he’d ever get a chance. They would come for him, take him to the Haystack again.
    He wouldn’t be leaving it.
    He rolled onto his hands and knees. He would straighten his legs first then try to throw himself upright. He started with the right leg—
    “It won’t work.”
    She was there, to his left.
    Her hair glowing fire.
    Reed blinked, shook his head. But she was still there, her butt planted in the sand. Her hair fluttering.
    “You can’t do it, Reed,” Lucinda said. “You don’t have the strength. You don’t have much of anything. It’s just about