Dark Side of the Moon

by P. C. Rasmussen

  Billy swallowed, glanced along the corridor between the shelves leading to the scanner, and gave a somewhat halfhearted shrug. "Heard the twins were out cruising," he muttered.

  "And you were afraid they'd come after you?" Kyle asked, to which Billy nodded mutely while scuffing the floor with the tip of his right boot. "Don't worry, kiddo. They'll never bother you again. They're dead."

  Billy raised his head and stared at him for a moment, his eyes wide and round. "What?" he asked.

  "Dead as doornails," Kyle confirmed with a smile on his lips. "Let's go check on Daniel, okay?"

  Billy nodded eagerly and followed him when Kyle started walking again. He felt sorry for the kid and wondered if Stella and her gang might be able to correct some of what was wrong with the boy. But that was for another time. Right now, he needed to check on Daniel first and foremost.

  The scanner room, which had been fairly well lit when they'd left Daniel there, was dark and empty when they reached it. Kyle eyed the closed door and briefly considered various nasty scenarios that made his skin crawl. What if the machine had deemed Daniel unsalvageable and had spaced him? Or what if someone other than the moron twins had gotten a hold of him and dragged him to his doom, wounded as he had been?

  "Fuck," he muttered. "Daniel?" he then called and sent a look around the immediate area. "Danny!"

  "He's not here," Billy said, his tone strained.

  "I've noticed," Kyle countered while trying to listen for any movement out there.

  "No, I mean he left. He's gone back to his room ... probably," Billy persisted.

  Kyle turned back to face him. "Why the hell didn't you say so immediately?" he demanded. "I was beginning to think the worst here."

  "Sorry. Didn't know if you needed something down here before we went to see him," Billy muttered and ducked his head.

  At that Kyle realized that the kid probably hadn't known that he was heading toward the scanner. "Right. Well, let's go then," he said and figured that while he was here, he might as well pick up some fresh clothes since the shirt and t-shirt he'd worn before he'd showered were ruined by the blood. He steered down the corridor he had found his size in earlier and grabbed two sets. And all the while Billy was right on his heels.

  It wasn't until they were halfway back to the rooms that Kyle realized that Billy's rather obnoxious behavior right now was based on bone-chilling fear. He kept glancing around and nearly walked into Kyle several times. "What's up with you?" he asked and came to a stop.

  Billy just barely side-stepped him and stopped too, hands buried deeply in the pockets of his prison jeans, while he kept his head bowed and his eyes on the ground. "Nothing," he muttered.

  "I may be a lot of things, but stupid isn't one of them," Kyle said sternly. "You're basically riding my back here. It can't be the moron twins you're scared of since I just told you that they're dead."

  Billy snorted and jerked his shoulders upward a little, then sniffed and rubbed the back of one hand under his nose. "They're not the only ones cruising. And now that they're gone ..." He shrugged and shifted his weight from foot to foot in a way that almost made Kyle seasick.

  "What? Others are going to move in?" Kyle pressed, not sure he liked the implications. But, of course, Billy probably had a point. To think that the moron twins were the only ones up here with those tendencies was insane. "How many are there?"

  With a slightly shaky hand, Billy rubbed the back of his neck, still not looking at Kyle. "Plenty," he muttered.

  Kyle hissed and briefly considered his options. Then he focused on Billy again. "Okay, Billy. Here's what we'll do. We'll find Daniel and then we'll relocate. We'll find a safer place. And I think I may know one," he said.

  Billy finally met his eyes, his expression a little stunned. "You do?" he asked.

  "Yeah. Let's find Daniel first," Kyle countered. "One thing I know for sure. If the others didn't stand up to the moron twins, there's just no way they'll stand up to someone else either. You two need to get the hell out of this dome and into a safer environment."

  Billy managed a tentative smile. "Sounds good," he squawked, his voice breaking in mid-sentence. It once again made Kyle wonder how old he really was.

  ***

  Back at their rooms, Kyle noted first and foremost that Jack and Andy were nowhere around. Not that he really cared right now; he was still pretty much pissed off at them.

  The door to Daniel's room was closed and he hesitated for a moment, then stepped up and knocked on it. There was no immediate reply. "Dan? You in there?" he called. "It's Kyle."

  He tried the handle, but it didn't budge. Glancing back at Billy, he frowned. "Do these doors have locks?" he asked.

  "Used to. But they don't work anymore," the kid countered, looking as worried as Kyle felt.

  He turned his attention back to the door and eyed it for a moment, then knocked again. "Daniel? If you're in there, open the fucking door," he demanded a little angrily. Truth be told, he was worried. Even after knowing Daniel only a little over a week, he had taken a liking to the kid that was almost eerie. Daniel felt like the brother he'd never had and his need to help him out grew stronger every day. When his angry demand yielded no result, he banged a fist against the door a few times. "Damn it, Daniel! Open the door!"

  "What if he's not in there?" Billy asked, his tone wavering.

  "What if he's not alone in there?" Kyle countered aggressively and decided to take matters into his own hands. Pulling back a step, he eyed the door, gaging how sturdy it might be. This was a prison, of course, and doors to cells were not supposed to be easy to break down. With that in mind, his idea to try and break the door down by throwing himself at it took a backseat in favor of finding something to pry it open with.

  Before he could take it any further, he heard a sound from inside that reminded him of a chair being dragged over a floor, and then the door opened. Daniel stood there, looking a little pale and a lot shaky. "What?"

  Kyle arched an eyebrow. "What? I'm getting ready to break down the door here and that's all you've got?" he countered. "How'd you lock the door?"

  "Didn't," Daniel said and wrapped his arms around himself. He looked as if he was in pain. "Just put the chair against it. It works fairly well," he added, then pressed his lips together into a thin line.

  "Are you in pain?" Kyle asked while inspecting him visually and taking in all the signs that told him so.

  Daniel made a halfhearted attempt at a shrug. "A bit," he said. "The scanner cut out before it was done."

  This didn't really correspond with what Daniel had told him about the scanner before. "I thought you said that it can be used for even the smallest injury," he said.

  "Normally it can. It must be defective or something," Daniel said and leaned one shoulder carefully against the doorframe.

  Kyle assumed that Daniel had been lying down when he had first knocked on the door and that he hadn't felt like getting up or answering. "Stupid machines," he growled, then noted that Daniel was scanning the area behind him visually.

  "Where's Vinnie?" he asked and Kyle wished he hadn't.

  He met the kid's eyes and for a moment they just stared at each other until Daniel got the point and his features tightened.

  "The twins?" he asked, looking sick to his stomach.

  "Unfortunately, yes. But not before Vinnie took one of them out. I got there too late to help Vinnie, but I did manage to take out the other twin as well," Kyle said, watching the kid closely for the anticipated reaction.

  But the reaction Daniel displayed was not what Kyle had hoped for. It was obvious that the younger man was conflicted about this. "So, Vinnie's dead? Because of me?"

  At that very moment Kyle realized something about Daniel that he hadn't been consciously aware of before. He was a guilt-magnet. He took the blame for the mistakes of others and made it his own. In his mind Vinnie hadn't died because he had been careless, but because he had tried to protect Daniel. While t
hat was true from a certain perspective, it was hardly the kid's fault that Vinnie hadn't been able to control his temper enough to think things through before storming headlong into trouble. "No, Vinnie died because he let his temper get the better of him," Kyle corrected him in a flat tone of voice. "If he'd thought it through first, things might have ended differently. Hell, if he'd waited for me, things would definitely have ended differently."

  The hurt in Daniel's eyes was almost tangible. "Yeah, but he wouldn't have been in this situation if it hadn't been for me," he tried.

  Kyle wanted to slap him for that comment. "Vinnie got into this because of his temper, Daniel. Not because of you. What do you think landed him here in the first place?"

  Whether Daniel took that to heart or not was hard to say. He just stood there and stared at the floor for a moment. Then he looked up again, meeting Kyle's eyes. "So ... the twins are dead?"

  "Yeah. Permanently off your back," he agreed seriously.

  Daniel shifted his attention briefly to Billy, who was fidgeting around like the nervous wreck he was. "That might not be so good," he finally said in a low tone of voice.

  With a glance back at Billy, Kyle tried to determine what the bigger issue was here; the fact that others might move in to take over where the twins had left off or something he wasn't yet aware of. Obviously, the first issue had merit, but it was hard to judge against what he didn't know. "Why's that?" he asked and returned his attention to Daniel.

  "There are others out there that are worse than the twins," Daniel said and, if possible, grew even paler.

  Kyle took a hesitant step toward him, afraid he might fall over any minute. "You should consider sitting down before you fall down, Dan," he suggested.

  Daniel nodded and shuffled back inside where he sank down on the edge of his bunk. Kyle and Billy followed him inside and Billy shut the door behind him.

  "So, who's worse than the twins?" Kyle asked. "And don't tell me the loonies will move in here because the twins are gone," he warned.

  "Not the loonies. They don't come here. I don't think they like the light or something," Daniel said and gave him a wavering look. "But ... maybe the gardeners. I've heard stories about them."

  "The gardeners?" Kyle asked, admittedly a little surprised. He had expected to hear about other leftovers from Mr. Shanghai's court or something. Pulling the chair over, he sat down facing the kid. Leaning forward, he propped his elbows on his thighs and folded his hands. "You think the gardeners are worse than the twins?"

  Daniel both nodded and shrugged at the same time. "From what I hear."

  He knew it wasn't the right thing to do, but he couldn't help himself at that moment when a chuckle escaped him, which earned him a hurt and somewhat confused look from Daniel. "Have you ever been to dome 3?" he asked and was sure to remove any signs of hilarity from his expression for the moment.

  Daniel's gaze skirted away and roamed around the room for a moment before settling on the far wall. "No," he admitted a tad reluctantly.

  Kyle wasn't surprised. "I took a little trip over there today. And I met them; all of them. And they're a nice bunch." He eyed Daniel closely for his reaction, which at the moment was stunned surprise. "I'm sure they have no qualms about messing people up if they feel threatened, but they are nothing like the twins; nothing at all." He figured it might be a good idea to leave out his initial meeting with Mike. There really was no reason to bring that up. It would only scare the two of them even more and that was not part of Kyle's agenda right now.

  "You ... went over there?" Daniel sounded almost perplexed. His surprise had managed to put a little color back in his cheeks, though. He no longer looked like he was about to pass out. "And they didn't kill you?"

  Patently obvious questions like that always made him smirk. "Do I look dead to you?" he countered evenly.

  Daniel made a face and leaned back carefully until his back connected with the wall behind him. "No," he admitted and eyed Kyle with more curiosity than concern now. "What's it like?"

  "Like a jungle. There's green growing things everywhere. The air is heavy, but in a good way. You can taste the life over there. And it's fresh," Kyle said and realized that he wanted to live there. If there was no way off this rock, he at least wanted to live out his life in the best place here. And dome 3 seemed to be just that. Now he just needed to convince the kids that it was the right place to be.

  "Man, I wish we could live there," Billy said dreamily from behind him. "I miss trees."

  Kyle glanced back at him briefly before returning his attention to Daniel. "We can, actually. They invited us to come over. Stella ... I kinda think she's the unofficial leader ... mentioned both of you and that you were welcome. It'll be safer there; much safer."

  Daniel stared at him, his expression blank.

  Chapter 3

  Home Sweet Home

  It was like traveling with two scared mice, Kyle thought, while they made their way into dome 3. The boys kept stopping every few feet on their way through the tunnel, uncertain and skittish; not that Kyle blamed them; not after what they had been through.

  "Come on, guys," he said for the umpteenth time. "I keep telling you. There's nothing to be afraid of. They're the good guys."

  "How do you know?" Daniel asked. "Look ... I know the guys in dome 2 and ... I know it's not ideal, but ... at least I know what I'm getting into."

  "Do you?" Kyle turned back to face him and gave him a stern look. "The twins are gone. You don't know what comes after. If you've been afraid of the gardeners, it's for all the wrong reasons. But you may be right to fear what follows the twins. And it's not the gardeners. I've met them. I've talked to them. They said you were both welcome. What's the big deal?"

  Daniel glanced at Billy and then gave him an incredulous look. "The big deal? My mom always used to say that where there's smoke there's fire. You haven't heard the stories about them. Jack is scared of them. He knows what they're capable of. He warned us against going in there," he said and made a sweeping gesture with one hand while he had the other arm wrapped around his midsection.

  "Jack is a coward, Danny," Kyle countered. "I'm not sure he's even been further than dome 3. And Stella sure as hell doesn't like him."

  "You don't know them, Kyle," Daniel persisted.

  "I know enough of them, Dan. I've got kind of a sixth sense about people. My initial impression always holds true. It has never failed me yet. And I'm telling you, these guys are okay," Kyle pressed and then sighed. "Look ... I get it, you're scared. I don't blame you. This place must seem like a little slice of Hell to the both of you. But you have got to be willing to take that step forward to better your situation. Are you telling me, honestly, that you prefer to stay in dome 2 with the potential for someone worse than the twins taking over, than risk meeting these guys and finding out that not only are they okay, they can also protect you?" He was getting a little tired of this conversation, but was also aware that he needed to give both of them a little time on this.

  Daniel considered this for a moment, then glanced at Billy again who was fidgeting and shifting his weight from foot to foot in an almost nauseating way. "I ..." He broke off while his gaze roamed over the inside of the tunnel and he kept chewing on his lower lip in a sure sign of insecurity. "Yeah, I'm scared," he finally admitted and settled his gaze on the floor in front of his feet, his head bowed. "I don't wanna be here. I don't think I deserve this because of what I did. I could have made it big. And they never even gave me a chance, never even allowed me to defend myself, to apologize. I'm ..." Close to tears, he pursed his lips and drove his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans.

  "No, kid, you don't deserve this," Kyle agreed. "I don't deserve this either. But you can't hang onto crap like that. You gotta move on, you gotta make the best out of what you've got. Staying in dome 2 isn't it. I know it feels safe, but it's not. I mean ... how many times have the twins attacked you over there?" Kyle eyed him closely, watching his respons
ive face. "How many times did they do that to you while the others just stood by and watched; Andy and Jack and Stan and Bark? If they'd stood together, they could have easily taken those two out. But they never even tried, did they? You wanna stay with them, knowing that they are not going to stand up for you in future either?"

  Billy grabbed Daniel's arm with a slightly jittery hand. "Dude, he's right," he said quietly. "I don't wanna stay there. If the gardeners can protect us ..."

  For a moment Daniel just stood there and stared at the floor, his eyes glassy with unshed tears. Then he looked up and met Kyle's scrutinizing stare. "You're right," he agreed, his voice a little rusty. "It's just ... after all we've heard ... it's kinda hard to trust someone's intuition, you know?"

  Kyle nodded. "Yeah, I know," he agreed. "Come on. Let's just go say hi. We can always go back if you think they're too shifty or something."

  A silent nod was all the answer Daniel had to give and they started walking again.

  Kyle led the way into dome 3 and along the rim until they came to the path leading into the jungle. He stopped and made a gesture toward the path with one hand. "This leads straight into the middle of the dome," he said. It struck him as a bit odd that Mike hadn't turned up. He seemed to be the gatekeeper of this dome.

  Daniel sent a look upward and then glanced around at the dense foliage in front of them before glancing back at the doom wall behind him. The glass of this dome was fairly clean and you could see far and wide. Not that there was anything to see out there but dust and more dust. "Let's go," he said, his tone a bit tight.

  With a shrug, Kyle turned and took the lead down the path. They were halfway there when the sounds of people talking and having fun reached them. There were no loud noises or screaming or anything that might have scared the boys off, but Kyle still felt the urge to glance behind him now and again to make sure they were still with him.