NO MONEY, NO CHOICE

Daniel pulled into his driveway and got out of his car. He didn't say a word to anyone as they walked up to his front door.

"Dude, he's really pissed off," said Deandre to Rico. Rico nodded his head in agreement. Daniel walked through the front door and left it open. The Misfits stood outside for a minute before making their way into the house.

Inside, Daniel un-hooked his gaming console from the television. He picked it up and walked toward his basement.

"What are you doing, partner?" asked Jett as Daniel pushed passed.

Daniel didn't answer. He opened his basement door and slammed it behind him. The Misfits stared in the direction Daniel left.

Lauren crossed her arms. "Good job, Rico."

“Don’t blame me,” said Rico. “It’s just a dent and a scratch. It’s not like I completely broke the damn thing.”

Heavy metal music soon echoed from the basement. An hour passed by and The Misfits started to worry.

"He's been down there an awfully long time," said Ava. "Someone should go talk to him."

"You're right," said Deandre. "Lauren, go talk to him."

"Why me?" asked Lauren in defense. "I'm not the one he's pissed at."

"That's right," said Jett. "And that's why YOU should be the one to talk to him."

"What makes you think he'll even talk to me?" she asked.

"Because he listens to you," said Rico. "He wanted to kick my ass, but you stopped him."

"Fine," said Lauren. "But the next time he wants to kick your ass, I'm keeping my mouth shut.

"Fair enough," said Rico. Lauren turned to leave when he called after her. "Hey, if he doesn't want to come up, maybe you could flash him your tits. That should make him happy."

Lauren flipped him the bird and walked toward the basement. The sound of rock music grew louder the closer she neared the door. She opened it and walked down the stairs. When she reached the bottom of the stairwell, she was greeted with a scene from a science fiction movie. Wires and monitors lined the walls of the small square room. In the center of the room was a metal desk covered with tools and several computer towers. On another work desk against the wall was a small blue glowing cube, hovering in place with no assistance. Lauren looked around the room at the glowing lights from the electronic devices scattered about and saw Daniel at his workbench looking under a giant magnifying glass at a green computer chip. He held a soldering tool in his hands and placed it firm against the chip. A small puff of smoke rose up when the tool made contact.

"What is all this stuff?" asked Lauren.

Daniel didn’t look up from his work but grabbed a remote sitting next to him for his stereo. "This is where I work,” he replied turning down the music.

Lauren walked up to the glowing cube. She reached out to touch it. "What exactly do you do?"

"I build things." Daniel looked up. "Please don’t touch that," he said somewhat forcefully. “It’s dangerous.”

Lauren quickly pulled her hands back. “What is it supposed to be?”

Daniel picked up part the soldered computer chip and examined it. "It’s a type of battery. When I’m finished, it will have enough energy to power a whole city."

"So…you’re some kind of genius."

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"I wouldn't call myself a genius, but I do have a love for physics and engineering," said Daniel. "If only I could make money off of it."

Lauren walked up behind him and looked over his shoulder to get a better look at what he was working on. She watched closely as Daniel placed the soldered chip back into the console. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm trying to figure out what happened and why you're here. If I can figure out what went wrong, maybe I can find a way to send you back."

"But....we don't want to go back."

Daniel leaned back in his chair. “I remember you telling Rico that it was your home and you had to get back.”

Lauren sighed. “I did, but the others really seem to like it here. This world isn’t destroyed. We can actually make a life here if we wanted.”

"You guys have no clue how this world works, and I can’t be the one to show you. I can’t babysit you. I can barely take care of myself."

"Look, we know you're upset about your car. I came down to apologize. Rico said he's sorry."

Daniel fiddled fretfully with a tool on his desk. "I'm not upset about my car,” he said in a solemn tone. “What happened at breakfast only cemented the fact that I am on my last leg. If I can't finish my project in time for my buyer, I will lose my house. I’m already behind on payments as it is. I may wind up having to sell my car."

Lauren placed a tender hand on Daniel’s shoulder. "I'm sorry. I know you're going through a rough time”

Daniel looked away from her and closed his eyes. He let out a frustrated breath. “You don’t understand,” he said. He stood up and walked to the battery. “I’ve put all my money into the materials to build this. Everything I have went into making it and I need to put my energy into finishing it. I can’t let anything get in the way of that.”

"Please,” begged Lauren. " We didn’t know what we were getting into when we came here. We didn’t ask for this. It's going to take us some time to get used to how things work. All we ask is that you be a little patient."

Daniel looked down at his feet. “I don’t know.”

“Give us a little while longer,” said Lauren. “If things don’t work out, if we can’t adjust to life here, then send us back. Just please don’t deny us the chance to try.”

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Daniel was quiet. He continued to look down at his feet, hesitant to agree to Lauren’s plea. Every fiber of his being said to refuse, but when he finally opened his mouth all that came out was a small “Okay.”

The door to the basement soon swung open and Rico stomped down the basement steps. "So, did you convince him to forgive us?" he asked.

Lauren looked at Daniel and awaited his answer. Once again, Daniel’s mouth defied his instincts. "I forgive you,” he said.

Soon, the rest of The Misfits came into the basement. Daniel grew annoyed at having so many people in his workspace, the loner in him desperate to kick everyone out.

"Wow!" said Scotty. He looked around the room in amazement.

"It feels like home," said Kitsie happily. Her inner mechanic was all a flutter.

"What is this place?" asked Jett. “What’s with all the science mumbo jumbo?”

"This is where I work, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't touch anything," said Daniel when he noticed Deandre pick up a drill. Deandre put it gently back on the table.

"Look, now that everything is okay between us, we really need to think about getting some money," said Rico. "We're going to need it if we want to have a life here."

"How do you plan on doing that?" asked Daniel. "I'm flat broke."

"Which is why we're going to rob a bank. All we need are a few guns.”

Daniel shook his head. “No way. I cannot in good conscience just sit here and let you rob a bank.”

"C'mon man, work with us,” pleaded Rico. “What else do you suggest we do?”

“Ever heard of getting a job?”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” said Rico with a look of disgust. “You need the money just as bad as we do. We can help each other out."

"I don't need any help," said Daniel.

"Hey, what's this thing?" asked Deandre. He picked up the glowing cube and brought it to his face to get a closer look. Daniel turned around and his eyes grew wide.

"Deandre, put that down," said Lauren in a stern voice.

"Okay, okay. Don't get your panties in a twist." Deandre placed it back on the table.

Daniel relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief when a loud ‘THUMP’ and the sound of metal hitting the floor filled the room. The cube had fallen off the table. It rattled on the floor and the blue glow turned deep red. Daniel pulled Deandre back and grabbed his console before darting toward the stairs. “Everybody out!” he screamed. He grabbed Lauren by the arm and led her out of the basement. The rest of the group followed him at a rapid pace.

Once everyone was upstairs, Daniel slammed the basement door shut in time for the cube to explode, shaking the house with an enormous boom. He opened the door back up and was met with a black cloud of smoke. He and the others coughed, fanning the smoke away with their hands, and made their way back downstairs. The monitors lining the walls had fallen to the floor except for one which had a severely cracked screen. Wire sparked from the extent of the damage taken during the explosion. Black soot stained the walls. The computer modems he was hired to fix were obliterated, destroying his only source of income. On the floor sat what was left of the cube, a small metal piece of his project aflame from being blown to smithereens along with his dreams of ever making a name for himself. A year’s work was gone in a matter of seconds. There was no way he could rebuild it in time to save himself from homelessness. He was left with no choice. He sighed with regret and said, "I think I know where we can get some guns."