Apocalypsis: Book 3 (Exodus) (18 page)

“I’m pretty sure they’re not going to give up the grenades,” he said wryly.

I stood.  “I’m pretty sure they don’t have a choice.”  I stalked off, intent on finding the location of the grenades and bringing them back.

“Bryn, wait!” yelled Peter, but I ignored him.

I went into the trees towards the clinic, not bothering to try and walk silently.  I was too mad and didn’t have enough time to make the required effort.  I needed to get some sleep before we left and darkness had fallen a long time ago.  The grenades were out there somewhere, and I had to find someone willing to tell me where.

The clinic is as good a starting point as anywhere else.  Maybe LaShay will be there.  She seems to know everything around here for some reason.

When I got there, the place was empty.  I sat down on a pallet to contemplate my next move, frustrated, trying to figure out how I was going to find anyone when I’d never been anywhere but the clinic, the eating hut, and the pool.

My worried thoughts stopped when I heard voices.  My head was below the edge of the railing of the hut, which was covered in an elaborately-decorated rug, making me invisible to anyone outside.  The first voice I identified was Winky’s.

“How can you say that, Coli?  She’s done nothing but help us.”

“Please.
  All she’s done is get everyone all riled up, sent us into a situation that was none of our business, which ended up getting her own boyfriend killed, and then she comes back here telling us how we’re supposed to live, who’s going to live here, and who’s not?  Who the hell does she think she is?”

“It’s not like that and you know it,” said Winky, sounded disgusted.

“Yeah.  It is, Winky.  And you’d better start remembering who’s in charge around here, too.  Bad things can happen to people who don’t follow the rules.”

The voices stopped just outside the entrance of the hut.  I was two steps away from being discovered, and they were definitely going to think I was eavesdropping, even though it hadn’t been intentional.

“Are you threatening me, Coli?  Get your hand off my arm.”  Winky sounded as if she didn’t believe what she was hearing.

“I’m telling you like it is, that’s all.”

“What makes you think I take orders or advice from
you
, anyway?”

“
I
say it and
this
says it,” she said in a menacing tone.

Winky sighed.  “Coli, put that away.  You’re always waving that thing around, and to be honest, we’re all getting pretty tired of it.”

“We?  Who’s we?”  Coli’s voice had taken on a paranoid tone.  It made a shiver run up my spine, because it sounded like someone who’d lost her grip on reality.

“Everyone you’ve pulled that knife on in the last few weeks.  It’s getting old.  So either use it or put it away.”

“Don’t frigging tempt me, Winky.”

“I’m not
tempting
you, nutcase.  I’m warning you.”

I heard some shuffling and then a scream.  It was short and wild, followed by the sounds of two people wrestling.

I jumped to my feet, just in time to see Coli swing her knife in a wide arc and catch Winky in the shoulder with it.  Crimson bloomed out across her sleeve.

“You friggin’
cut me
, you lunatic!” yelled Winky, dancing out of the way, putting her hand up to her injured shoulder.  Soon it was covered in blood, too.

Coli was crouched down, looking like a cat ready to pounce.

I knew for a fact she was going to make another strike, so I didn’t think about it - I just did it.  With three bounding and relatively quiet steps over towards Coli, I jumped on her back, putting one arm around her neck, and with the other, grabbed her head and twisted it forcefully around. I jerked myself back as hard as I could, and we both went down, me on my back with her on top of me.

I gripped my legs around hers to keep her from thrashing and flipping us over, tightening my grip around her neck to choke off her air supply.

She reached up with her knife hand, so I was forced to release her neck with one hand to block it, luckily making contact with her wrist instead of the nasty blade that was covered in dark red stains.

She strained to bring the knife up close, just inches from my arm.  My muscles trembled with the force it took to keep it from slicing me open to the bone.  I was fairly certain she wouldn’t be stopping with any superficial wounds if she had a chance.  I was going to be filleted like a fish, just as she’d offered to do to me before.

Winky recovered from her surprise, and ran over, kicking Coli’s hand hard to send the knife flying.

As soon as I knew I was safe from that threat, I focused the strength of both my arms into choking her.  I used my free hand to cinch up the one still around her neck.

She struggled and scratched at the skin of my forearm, but within seconds, I felt her losing energy.  I didn’t let go or let up even a millimeter.  She was going to kill me if she had the chance, and I didn’t want my last night to go down that like.  I just had to immobilize her and get away.

Her body stilled, but I waited five full seconds before letting go, just in case she was faking it.  I released my arm tentatively, and when she didn’t jump up to attack again, I shoved her off me, taking Winky’s offered hand to stand.  I frowned at her, mad this fight had been brought to my doorstep, but understanding it wasn’t her fault.

“What the hell was that all about?” I asked.

“Bitch attacked me, you saw it,” she said angrily, moving past me to the clinic, rummaging through baskets to find clean cloths and cleaning fluid.

“Yeah, but why?  Why were you even here with her?”

“She friggin’ followed me.”  Winky growled in frustration, nearly dumping the contents of one of the baskets.

“Why are you mad at me?” I asked.  “Did I do something wrong?”

Winky sighed, stopping to put everything she’d collected down on a small table, looking at me.  “Yes and no.  I’m mad at you because you’ve caused me to question everything I thought I knew.  About myself and my family and the people I live with …”

I frowned.  “How so?”

“Bryn, don’t take this the wrong way, but until you came here, everything was fine.  Everyone just got along for the most part, ate food, slept on a mattress every night, goofed around.  None of us worried about dying or being eaten or blowing things up with grenades …”

“Oh.  So that’s all my fault,” I said in a flat voice.

“No.  It’s not your fault at all,” she said, frustrated.  “You coming here was just a timing thing.  But now suddenly we
know
there are murdering monsters out there.  That they
are
going to come for us … that the swamp isn’t as safe as we thought it was. 
And
that the people I live with are closed-minded
assholes
who are going to put my life in jeopardy if I stay with them.”  Her voice was rising as she continued.  “And now I’m just trying to come here, get some supplies for our trip, and that crazy bitch attacks me,
cuts
me - so now thanks to her I have to worry about infection while I’m on the road - and we have to leave before she wakes up, or she’ll start a friggin’ war and I’ll probably get fed to the gators or something!”

I looked at her, a smile dawning across my face.  “You’re coming with me?”

She walked over and punched hard me in the arm.  “Of course I’m coming with you, you idiot.  Now help me get this cleaned and wrapped.  We need to get some supplies and get the hell out of here
tonight
.”

I reached up to help her, awkwardly putting fluid on the cloth she handed me and pressing it to her wound that she’d revealed by pulling her shirt aside.

“Why tonight?” I asked.

Winky gestured towards Coli’s inert form as I wrapped a cloth around her arm and tied it up.

“Because that bitch is going to wake up and tell her boyfriend you tried to strangle her to death, and that I was going to steal from the tribe, that’s why.  And then we won’t be going anywhere except farther into the swamp.”

“Do you really think they’d do that?”

She raised an eyebrow.  “Do you really want to wait and find out?”

I shook my head, a new sense of urgency overtaking me.  “No.  Come on,” I said, pulling her sleeve back up.  “Let’s go.”

She grabbed my arm, stopping me from leaving.  “Not yet.  I have to get some things from here, first.  And you need to get Rob and Fohi.”

“Where are they?”

“At the pool, trying to get some ass before they leave.”

I smiled.  “Are they having any luck?”

“Rob might be, but Fohi … not so much last time I saw him.”

“Are you gonna meet me back at my hut when you’re done here?” I asked.

“Yep.  Be there in ten.  You’d better run.  I’m going to immobilize the bitch and put her somewhere they won’t find her until tomorrow.”  She looked at Coli, lying nearly lifeless on the floor.  “Better make it fifteen.”

“You sure you can do that with your arm?”

“I can do whatever I set my mind to, Bryn.  Don’t ever forget that about me.”

I put my hands up in surrender.  “Oh, I won’t.  Believe me.”  I reached out and grabbed her into a hug.  “I love that you’re coming with me, but I hate that you were forced into it.”

She patted me on the back.  “No one forces me to do anything.  It was my choice.”

I pulled away, my hands still on her arms.  “I guess you like to live dangerously.”

“Nope,” she said matter-of-factly.  “I like to take measured risks.  And staying here is riskier than going with you, so it’s just simple math.”

I shook my head, dropping my arms.  “I love the delusional.”  I turned to leave the hut, going into a slow jog.  I heard her response floating out from behind me.

“I’m not delusional!  I’m a realist!”

I broke into a run, ignoring the sounds of branches swishing past my body as I pushed through and the leaves crunching under my feet like little firecrackers, echoing all over the place.  Our departure had been pushed forward and I had no time to lose.

***

I arrived at the pool area to find Fohi and Rob sitting on the walkway, getting dressed, surrounded by giggling girls.

“Oh, hey, Bryn.  What’s up?” asked Fohi, separating himself from two who were sitting next to him.

I took him by the arm and pulled him away from the others before saying in a quiet voice, “Don’t freak out, but we need to leave now.”

“What?!”
he said in a high-pitched, panicked voice.

I squeezed him arm painfully, whispering loudly in his face, “I just
told
you not to freak out, stupid!”

“Ow, that hurts,” he said, trying to brush me off.  “Sorry, you just surprised me.  Next time warm me up a little with a,
Hello, how ya doin’
kinda thing, before you tell me we gotta run out in the middle of the night.”

Rob had walked up in time to hear the last part of his speech.  “What’d he just say?  We’re leaving tonight?”

“Yeah, you heard right,” said Fohi, bending down to lace up his moccasins.  “She says we have to leave now.”

“Like
now
now?” asked Rob, looking at me.

“Yeah.  Like
now
now.  No time to explain.  Can you guys get your hands on the grenades without anyone finding out?”

“I don’t know.  Why?” asked Rob.

I sighed.  “Isn’t it obvious?  I plan on taking them with us.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” he asked, doubt in his voice.

“Do you have some other way to protect us against canner attacks in our new home?” I asked sarcastically.  “A bazooka maybe?  Rocket launcher?  Flame thrower?  Tank?”

Rob held up his hands.  “Easy there, I was just asking.”  He dropped his hands.  “Yeah, I can get them.  You need them now?”

“I’m only gonna say it one more time, Rob.  We are leaving
now
.”

He looked at Fohi who shrugged his shoulders in response.  “Okay, then,” he finally said.  “I’ll go get them.  Where should we meet you?”

“Meet me at the canoe launching site.  Make sure you have what you need for our trip and the weapons.  If you have a gun and bullets, bring them, too.”

He started to walk away with Fohi, leaning down to talk to him.  I grabbed his shoulder to stop him, taking a step closer to the two of them so I could whisper in both their ears at the same time.

“Listen … we had a little run-in with Coli.  Winky’s taking care of her, but we need to get out before she wakes up.  Don’t say anything to anyone about us leaving early.  We need to do this on the down-low, if you know what I mean.”

Rob nodded, but Fohi had to question me.  I should have known he would, but it was making me frustrated, wasting time like this.

“What’d she do?  What’d you do?”

“I’ll tell you later.  Just go, okay?”

“But what … you mean Winky’s going too?”

“Yes!” I whisper-yelled.  “Would you just
go
, please?”

“Well, that means we’ll need two canoes, not just one,” he said over his shoulder as I pushed on his back to get him going.

I stopped, realizing he had a point.  “Is that a problem?” I asked.

“Nah,” he smiled, turning to face me while he walked.  “I can get you ten canoes if you need ‘em.”

Rob slapped him on the back of the head.  “No you can’t, idiot.”

Fohi punched him in the ribs.  “Don’t hit me on the head, a-hole.  And, yes, I can.  I know where everything is, unlike
you
.”

“Do you know where the bikes are?” I asked, suddenly hoping we might not have to walk the entire way.

“Of course I do.  I’m in charge of all that stuff,” he said, puffing out his chest.

“You
used
to be in charge of it.  Now you’re in charge of shutting up,” said Rob.

Fohi’s mouth thinned, and I could see he was getting ready to tackle his friend, so I put my hand gently on his arm and stared him in the eyes.  I don’t try to use my feminine wiles on guys often - or ever - but this was an extreme emergency.

“Um, Fohi?” I said softly, almost flirtingly.

He smiled lazily, looking a little stunned.  “Yyyeeeah?”