The Annihilation of Foreverland

broken down with age. They didn’t tolerate the voltage. They relocated the survivors to the Mansion and left them a note that the island was under new management and they would be staying inside the Mansion until further notice. Then they locked the doors from the outside and had not heard from them since. Danny occasionally checked the location of their trackers, just to be sure.
    The only indication of the old men that was outside the Mansion was concentrated inside the Chimney. The Investors that died were put inside the freezers, some stacked two high. They could have cremated the bodies but it made sense to preserve as much evidence as possible. Someone would have to sort through everything.
    They drove the cart through the Yard. No one paid much attention to the body bag. The boys were told that the Haystack was closed until further notice. Until then, it was unlimited game room and no suffering.
    No one argued.

    They drove over the sand dune.
    A man was in a hole about waist deep, shoveling a pile of sand next to him. He had a round belly and shoulders red from the sun. His face was clean shaven.
    “Slow down there, old timer.” Zin pulled up behind the man. “You’re not a teenager anymore, you know that.”
    Reed tossed a shovel full of wet sand off to the side and leaned on the handle. He was breathing hard. His cheeks red with exhaustion.
    “Got to get this fat ass in shape,” he said.
    “You can’t do it in one week, son.”
    Reed rubbed his smooth chin. The beard was the first thing to go. I t was smelly and itchy. How the hell the Director walked around with those long, curly hairs around his mouth Reed couldn’t understand.
    Danny and Zin pulled the body bag off the cart and dropped it next to the hole. Reed climbed out and pulled the zipper down. His former body was inside. Frost had accumulated on the eyelashes. The lips purple. He pulled the zipper to the bottom. The chest was bruised and bony.
    “You sure you want to bury yourself on the island?” Danny asked. “Not a lot of good times here.”
    “That’s not me,” Reed said.
    It made sense to put it on the beach. That’s where he spent most of his time while he was on the island. The body should remain part of it.
    They rolled the stiff body into the hole.
    It was strange to throw sand on the face. It was hardly recognizable, but it was the only thing Reed had known until a week ago. He was breathing harder with each shovelful of sand. It wasn’t so much the exertion anymore. That’s not me, he kept telling himself. That’s not me.
    But he didn’t resist when Danny took the shovel from him. Reed went to the water while he and Zin finished the job. He listened to them pack the sand over the body’s final resting place.
    Finally, it was at peace.

    The sun dropped below the horizon. The sky was a myriad of purples and reds and oranges. They stood on the hardpacked sand, the water wrapping around their ankles. Home was out there. The outside world was within reach.
    For the first time, Reed embraced hope.
    Zin leaned on the shovel. “You know, they were right, the old men. There’s not much for us to go back to. I don’t know about you guys, but I got nothing out there. I’m not saying I want to stay here, but there’s nothing great waiting for me in the real world. My life sucked. I got no parent s , no home… I got nothing.”
    “That’s why we’re not going back there, Zin.” Danny put his arm over his shoulder. “We’re starting a new life.”
    Slowly, the sky went dark.
    They left the golf cart on the beach and wal ked back. They crossed the Yard and went around the dormitory. F or the firs t time ever, the Chimney was dark. They passed it o n their way toward the Mansion.

    Danny was on the back of a yacht.
    The foamy water rippled in deep-cut waves as the ship’s motors churned the water. He held onto the railing and watched the island recede into the night. A few lights twinkled on the back of the Mansion. Danny informed the old men that he would be passing through and they needed to be in their rooms. He reminded them that he had control of their trackers and that he would put them to sleep on sight.
    They were old and harmless. Still, the three of them walked cautiously through the building and across the back yard to the yacht. He saw them watching from their windows. They would see the Director with them (without the beard) and would want to talk to him, to find out why he was keeping them imprisoned