Apocalypsis: Book 2 (Warpaint) (10 page)

“Did you tell him how much you love him yet?”

She started to say something, but no sound came out of her mouth.  She looked like a fish out of water for a second before she found her voice again.  “Who says I love anyone?”

“I do.  You do.  Your face does.  Whatever.  Tell him when you’re ready.  But I need your help, and it’s important.  Just to me, though.  It’s not a big deal to anyone else.”

“What is it?”

“Promise me you won’t tell.”

“No.”

I sighed, very frustrated.  “Jesus, Coli, why the chip on the shoulder all the time with me?”  I turned to walk away, already regretting having come up with the stupid idea to follow Bodo with her help, when I felt her hand on my arm.

“Wait.”

“
What?
” I said angrily.

“Listen.  I’m sorry.  I have a habit of … I don’t know.  Always expecting the worst, I guess.”

“Yeah?  Well, it gets old, you know?” I said, not quite mollified.

“So I’ve been told,” she said, looking over my shoulder.

I followed her gaze and saw the object of her despair. 
Kowi.

“Why don’t you just tell him how you feel?  Stop acting angry all the time and get over whatever it is that makes you act so suspicious of everyone.”

She half-choked, half-laughed.  It was a bitter sound.  “Right.  Like it’s that easy.  Not sure if you’ve noticed, but the world ended.  Everyone died and we live in the wreckage.”

I stared at her.  “That’s how
you
choose to see it.  I see that we live in a new world.  That there are unlimited futures for all of us.  None of us is going to die from pollution, the effects of overcrowding, ozone layer depletion or any of those other things adults were always moaning about.  Maybe you think this world sucks - and I agree, parts of it do - but the other parts?  They aren’t so bad.  Especially now that the tribes are going to work together and build a nice community here.”

“It’s just more people to worry about as far as I’m concerned,” she said, looking out over the crowd.  She snapped her attention back to me.  “So.  What did you want to talk about?”

“Nothing.  You can’t keep a secret, and I don’t want the whole tribe knowing my business.”

“I’ll keep it a secret, if you promise it won’t hurt my people.”

“I promise.  This is just my personal thing.  It has nothing to do with you guys.”

“What then?  What is it?”

“I need you to show me how to sneak around without being heard.”

She laughed.  “What?”

“You heard me.  I want to learn how to walk around and not sound like an elephant lumbering through the trees.”

“Why?  So you can sneak up on us and listen to our conversations?”

“Please.  Like you guys talk about anything worth listening to.  No.  I want to learn for practical reasons.  Someday the canners are gonna show, and I want to know how to sneak up on them and snap their necks.”  It sounded good to me.  She didn’t need to know my real reason was so I could follow Bodo and find out what he was up to.

She thought about it for a second before agreeing.  “Fine.  I can show you.  It’s not a big deal, really.  I don’t know why you had to go on and on about it.”

“Me?  That was
you!”

“Whatever,” she said, turning to join her friends again.

“When?” I asked.

“After our next session,” she said, without looking back.

I left her to her weaving conversation and went back to get Peter.  I dragged him away from a grateful-looking Kowi and brought him back to our hut, pleased that I had finally figured out the path to get there.  I was tired of having to be escorted everywhere all the time.

Halfway back I realized that I hadn’t broached the subject of going after the canners with Trip and Kowi, when I had everyone together. 
That was stupid.

“What did you talk to Coli about?” asked Peter, distracting me from my thoughts.

“Nothing.”  I tried to sound all casual about it, but I should have known Peter wouldn’t go for it.

“You’re planning something, aren’t you?”  He stepped over a log before continuing.  “I know what you’re doing.  It’s that Bodo thing, isn’t it?”

“Shhhh, shut up.  We’re almost back to our hut.”

“Put me down as thinking this is a bad idea.  Get that voting machine out of your butt again so I can make it official.”

“It’s not a
machine
, idiot, it’s a
system
.  And you don’t get to cast a vote.  I live in a dictatorship and I’m the dictator.  If you don’t agree, just keep your thoughts to yourself.”  I looked at the firm line of his lips and stubborn jaw and added, “And don’t you dare tell Bodo, or I’ll give you the worst wedgie you’ve ever had in your entire life.”

“I’ll fight back.”

“No, you won’t.  Your nuts’ll be too far up in your throat to do that.”

“Youch,”
said Peter, respect in his voice.  “You don’t mess around with your wedgies.”

“No, I don’t.  They’re krav maga wedgies and a whole different animal.”

We arrived at the edge of our hut to find Bodo lying on one of the mattresses.

Chapter Two

I STAYED IN THE LIVING area of our hut, refusing on principle to go talk to Bodo first.  As far as I was concerned, he was the one who had stormed off and acted like a jerk, so it was his responsibility to make things right.

He was talking to Peter.  I tried to listen in and figure out what they were saying, but they were speaking in annoyingly low voices that made the individual words impossible to discern.  I acted busy, messing up Peter’s can arrangement on the shelves.

My attempts at eavesdropping were interrupted by the arrival of Trip carrying a big basket filled with food.  He was the last person I expected to be making a dinner delivery.

“Hey,” I said, as he walked up and handed me the basket.  All kinds of things were mixed together inside. 
I guess the boys and I will be sharing tonight.

I dropped a hunk of bread on the ground for Buster to chew on while he waited for the real food to arrive.  Buster was partial to the hunks of deer or gator meat we’d been getting.

“Hey.  Kowi asked me to drop this off on my way out.”

“Thanks.  I’m glad you stopped by, actually.  I forgot to mention something at the meeting that’s pretty important.”

“Oh yeah, what’s that?” he asked, leaning on one of the poles that held up our hut, his arms crossed.

“The plan for going after those canners.  The ones that are holding those kids.”

“No need to discuss it.  We’re not going anywhere.”

“What?” I almost thought I had misunderstood.  But his firm look told me he probably wasn’t joking.  “Are you serious?”  I couldn’t believe he, of all people, was saying this.

“Yes, I am.  Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Uh, because there are innocent kids being murdered? … But only after being dismembered while they’re still alive, maybe?”  I felt like I was being messed with. 
Does he really need this explained? 
I was starting to think Trip was thicker in the head than I had imagined.

“Kids are dying all over the world.  It’s not my problem.  I’m just going to worry about my people here in Kahayatle and that’s it.”

“I … uh … shit, I guess I don’t have anything to say to that - except you’re an ignorant jerk.”

He bristled at my evaluation.  “I don’t do what I do here to impress you.”

“I would think you’d at least want to impress your own people.  Fight for their survival.”

“When and if the cannibals come to my world, then I’ll deal with them.”

“Oh, that’s a brilliant idea.  The Sitting Duck Plan.  I’m sure the canners will love it.  It’ll make their job a lot easier.”

Trip frowned at me.  “It’s not being a sitting duck.  It’s being smart, lying low.”

I shook my head.  “No, it’s being ignorant - trying to pretend things aren’t happening when they are.  But hey … if you’re afraid and can’t handle it, no big deal.  I’ll just do it without you.”

He stood up, moving away from the pole to get closer to me.  “First of all, I’m not afraid.  Anyone who knows me, knows that.  Second of all, you can’t go out of the swamp without my permission, so you can forget your little plans for going after anyone while you live here.”  He was close enough now that he was towering over me, once again trying to intimidate me with his attitude and strength.

I heard someone behind me, first some footsteps and then a voice.

“You need to get back over dare, indian guy, becausse Bryn doesn’t like it when people get at her face like dat.  And neither do I.”

I was still mad at Bodo for his earlier crap, but thankful as hell that he had my back right now.  I was exhausted from all the training I’d already done today and wasn’t in the mood to fight anyone right now - particularly the one guy in the whole place who I knew could give me a run for my money.

“This has nothing to do with you, white boy.”

“White boy?  I’m not white.  Maybe a little bit pink or maybe beige.  But not white.”

I turned halfway to look at Bodo, wondering if he was messing with Trip or just that confused over the vernacular.  His expression gave nothing away.

“You’re nuts, you know that?” said Trip.

“Whatever you want to say, I don’t care.  But you don’t get to talk to Bryn like dat.”

“Says who?”

“Sayss me.”

“Right.  And you’re nothing to me
or
her, so back off.”

“I’m am, too.  I am her boyfriend,” Bodo said boldly.

I cringed at Trip’s next words.

“Not according to her, you’re not.  So go back to your little mattress meeting over there with twig-boy, and let the grown-ups talk.”

I was shoved out of the way before I had a second to think.  One minute I was standing in between them, and the next I was on the floor looking up at a complete mess.

Bodo had launched himself at Trip, putting him in a headlock.  I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it happen myself.  He landed a couple punches into Trip’s face too, before they fell into the shelves, knocking the cans all over the place.

I scrambled over to the opening between the two huts, joining Peter.

“What in the heck is going on?!” he shouted.

“Idiots are fighting,” I said, in a mostly calm voice.

“About what?”

“I’m not exactly sure,” I said.  My answer was pretty much true.  From my perspective, they weren’t fighting over the same thing.

“Guess,” said Peter, wryly.

“Well, I think Trip’s fighting because Bodo challenged his manliness.”

“Oooh, that’s bad.”

“Yeah.  And I think Bodo’s fighting because Trip told him I said Bodo isn’t my boyfriend.”

Peter winced.  “Ouch.  That had to hurt.”

I shrugged.  “I guess.” I was actually surprised by Bodo’s reaction.  He always seemed so non-violent.  The only time he’d come after me was in a joking way, and I’d never seen him fight anyone else.  When he came after me, he did it so amateurishly and half-heartedly, I had assumed he didn’t know how to fight at all.

I watched him now, admiring his technique.  He was a little sloppy, but he got points for creativity.  “Wow, he’s really holding his own in there,” I said absently, watching him land a few punches into Trip’s gut before being grabbed in a bear hug that sent them both flying across the hut and into the railing.

Unfortunately for them, the railing had endured enough abuse already, what with me using it as a launching pad a few days earlier for Paci or Yokci when they were fighting me.  It broke at the spot where Bodo’s back hit it, sending both of them into the swamp.

A big wall of water came up, soaking part of our hut’s floor.  Peter rushed over to move our mattresses out of the possible splash zone.

I thought the cool swamp would cool the two idiots down, but all it seemed to do was make them madder.  Punches were flying and attempts were made at drowning each other.

Peter and I just watched in awed suspense.  We were soon joined by Kowi, Paci, and Jeremy.

“What in the hell is going on here?” asked Kowi.

“Testosterone overload,” I said.

“Holy shit, that dude can fight,” said Jeremy, giving Bodo some respect.

“Yeah, who’d a thought?” I said, still mystified as to how he was holding out so well against Trip.  I had really underestimated Bodo and felt a little bad about it now.  I should have been giving him private lessons all along - he could have been my star pupil.  Maybe I could remedy that later if he wasn’t too mad at me for being somewhat responsible for the black eye I knew he was going to have tomorrow.

“What’d you say to get them fighting like this?” asked Paci, smiling at the scene in front of him.

“Why do you assume it was me?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” asked Jeremy, looking at me for a second and then back to the fight.

Bodo plowed into Trip again, sending him down on his back into the water.  Both of them disappeared for a few tense seconds before they came back up sputtering.  Trip took the advantage and slammed Bodo in the jaw, knocking him sideways.

“No, it’s not obvious.  What happened is that I was telling Trip we needed a plan for going after the canners, and he was telling me how it wasn’t going to happen and how he wasn’t allowing me out of the swamp.  And then Bodo stepped in to defend me.  That’s it.”

“I guess this is something we probably should have discussed earlier,” said Kowi, sighing.  “I meant to talk to you about changing your regular krav maga training sessions into something that can prepare us for more immediate stuff.  Like going after those guys who messed with Celia.”

“Yeah, I can do that.  Not sure how far I can get, though.  It’ll depend on how much time I have.”

“They’re getting tired,” said Jeremy.  “Should we stop them?”

“Nah.  Let them work it out,” said Kowi.  He turned to me, putting his back to the fight.  “So you think we should go after them, then?  The canners?”

“Heck, yes.  Otherwise we’re just sitting here waiting for them to attack us.  Let’s go get those poor kids out of there and end the problem before it comes to us.”

“I agree,” said Paci.  “We can’t let what happened to Celia go unpunished.”