Exodus (Apocalypsis #3)

Fohi and Rob leaned over Kowi’s shoulders and pointed out some spots that had been marked.

“Here and here are the pits. Here’s the one Bryn fell in today.” Fohi looked at me and added, “Sorry about that. Again.”

Rob pointed to another spot. “Here’s the other pit. These two over here don’t have spikes yet. And those four spots there have trip wires in, but none of them are armed yet.”

I had to admit, their positioning seemed pretty good, considering what I’d read in George’s journal and what I knew of the swamp.

Kowi was nodding. “Good. You guys okay with this?” he asked me and Trip.

We nodded our heads.

“Okay, then. Good luck. We’ll see you in a few. Send a signal if you need more backup.”

Trip nodded and then turned, speaking in low tones to Yokci before heading into the trees at a fast clip.

Yokci took off in another direction.

I kept up with Trip as best I could, but even with Paci’s help, I lost him pretty quickly in the brush ahead.

“What the hell is his problem?” grumbled Paci. “He knows you can’t walk fast.”

“He’s got boy troubles,” I said, before I thought to stop myself. I tried to cover it up with a lame explanation. “You know, cuz he’s a boy and all, and he’s troubled about the tribe and the injured kids and stuff.”

Paci gave me a sideways glance but didn’t question me further.

I tried not to sigh in relief too loudly. I was going to have to watch myself a little closer, or Peter would end up killing me when I spilled the beans about his love life. It was probably no match for what Trip would do to Peter, namely break his heart into a million pieces. I had to make sure that didn’t happen, no matter what.

I forced myself to think about these two jokers who were trying to get into Kahayatle using my name as a password. No way could they be up to any good.

Trip made us wait a few minutes before getting into the canoes. Yokci finally arrived with a couple of loaded guns, and then we left, moving silently down the river. Paci used poles to push the boat along. It was quieter than oars and he did a great job of keeping us from hitting the edges, unlike me and my paddling.

We pulled up to the banks near the canoe rental place. Two black guys were standing at the edge waiting for us. They looked a little bit younger than me and nothing alike. All of us were on high alert.

“Yo! What’s up!” said one of them, a big smile on his face. “Man, are we glad to see you guys. I thought we were going to be hanging around all night out here. These mosquitoes are brutal.” He reached down and slapped one on his leg. A second later he was waving something away from the front of his face, before he gave up and started clapping at it.

The other guy reached over and put his hand over his brother’s arms, gently but firmly forcing them down. “Ronald, chill.”

“Oh. Yeah.” Ronald’s arms fell to his sides and his face reanimated. “Is that you, Bryn? Wheres’ Bodo?”

“I told you I didn’t know them,” I whispered to anyone who was listening.

None of us said anything; we just sat in the canoe looking at them from the middle of the river. I was nervous as hell, waiting for a group of canners to come running out of the nearby trees. Maybe they’re just going to shoot us from under cover. These two guys could be decoys.

“Who are you?” demanded Trip. He stood at the front of the boat with his chest puffed out. I really wished he would sit the heck down and not be such an easy target, but I couldn’t blow his manly cover and risk really pissing him off. I knew Trip well enough now to know that he would probably prefer a bullet to being emasculated in front of other guys. Dope that he is.

“We already told one of your friends. We’re Ronald and Jamal. I’m Ronald and that’s Jamal. We were send here by Sissy and Jimmy and they told us to ask for Bryn and Bodo.” Ronald ducked his head down, looking right at me. “You’re Bryn, aren’t you? You’re just like Sissy described.”

“How’s that?” asked Yokci, making me cringe. I really wasn’t sure about hearing Sissy’s description, especially considering I’d disabled the lock on their back door - permanently.

“Brown hair, smallish, cute … and not an indian.”

“It’s Native American,” I corrected. It was the best I could come up with; my brain was racing trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

“Oh, sorry. Not Native American.”

“Why would she do that?” asked Trip, sounding angry and maybe a little bit confused like me.

“Because. They have the waystation.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, tired of feeling like I was in the dark. “I have no idea what a waystation is, and Sissy and Jimmy are not friends of mine. I met them one time.”

Ronald scratched his head. “Okay, let me start over. Jamal and I met Sissy and Jimmy at the waystation. That’s the Cracker Barrel? Up off I-95? Anyway, we told them we were looking for a safe place to, you know, start over, and they suggested we look you up. They said they had a couple other people ask and they sent them, too.” Ronald looked at us for a few seconds. “Didn’t they make it?”

We all shook our heads.

“Oh, man. Sissy said she’d already sent like three people this way. I wonder why they didn’t come.”

“What’d she tell you to do?” I asked, still mystified as to how they found me.

“She said to go to the Everglades and that we needed to ask for Bryn.”

“And you found her here. Of aaaaalll the places in the Everglades you could have gone?” asked Trip, clearly doubting this guy’s story.

“Yeah,” said Jamal in a deeper voice. “What? You think we’re making this up?” Jamal was mad. I didn’t have to know him to see that.

“Just seems kind of hard to believe,” said Paci.

“Well, when you come down I-95 there’s all these signs for the Everglades and a giant shell shop with discount tickets to the Miccosukee Village … so we figured we’d give it a try, and if she wasn’t here, we’d just keep going down the highway until we found the right exit,” explained Ronald.

“It’s not like we’ve got anything else to do,” said Jamal.

“Other than avoid the crazies that’re out there,” said Ronald.

“Canners,” said Yocki.

“Yo, what?” said Ronald.

“Canners. As in cannibals,” I clarified.

“Oh, yeah. You got that right. Canners. Man, those loons are everywhere, you know? But we move at night, when it’s harder to see us.” Ronald smiled, his bright white teeth lighting up his face.

“You can’t stay,” said Trip, pushing on the pole, sending our canoe a little farther away from them.

I frowned but didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure what to do.

“What? Wait a minute, man! We came all this way!” protested Ronald.

Jamal hit him on the shoulder. “Come on. I told you this was a stupid idea. They’re racist. Let’s go.”

“We aren’t racist,” said Paci. “We just don’t like outsiders.”

“That white girl in your boat says different to me,” said Jamal, challenging him. He stood there on the bank, his hands fisted by his sides, looking proud and tough.

Ronald on the other hand looked like a deflated balloon. His arms hung down and his head dipped low, making him seem utterly defeated. He turned slowly away, saying nothing.

It broke my heart. “Wait a minute, Ronald,” I said.

“What are you doing?” said Paci in a quiet voice. “You can’t just let them in here.”

“They’re not allowed in,” said Trip.

“You can’t just leave them out there to get eaten,” I insisted. “We have more than enough for two more people. And we could use the muscle. Right, Rob?”

Rob shrugged. “Couldn’t hurt. But I’ve got no say in this. I’m not the chief.”

“And I am. And I said no.” Trip pushed on the pole again. “Leave now,” he said loudly to Ronald and Jamal. “You’re not welcome here.”

I glared at Trip. “Listen, Trip. This isn’t a dictatorship here. You either agree to take a vote, or I’m outta here.”

Trip scoffed at me. “Yeah, right.” He pushed on the pole again, sending us farther away.

I started to stand, but Paci grabbed my arm. “Bryn? What are you doing?”

I sat back down. “I told him, if he doesn’t agree to do this fair, I’m outta here. I’m not kidding.”

Paci pleaded with Trip. “Come on, man. You know that’s the right thing to do. You don’t have authority to make this kind of decision alone anymore, anyway.”

“Shut your mouth, Paci. We’re going back,” growled Trip.

“Screw this,” I said, before shaking Paci off, getting up on my feet, and diving into the water.

As soon as my head surfaced, I heard the guys yelling back in the canoe. Then another splash. A second later, I felt someone come up beside me, and I turned to confirm it was who I thought it was. Paci was smiling like a maniac at me.

“One thing I can say about you, Bryn … is life is never boring with you in it.”

I smiled back, spitting out the swamp water that had made its way between my teeth. “Thanks. Or screw you. I’m not sure which is the right answer right now.”

He grabbed my arm and started pulling me towards the shore. “It’s a compliment. Come on. Your leg doesn’t need to be in this water right now. Let me get you outta here.”

The guys in the boat were all yelling at us. I glanced back and saw it rocking back and forth. Trip was too busy trying not to fall in to push the canoe away anymore, and it was getting all turned around.

We reached the spot where Jamal and Ronald were standing. Ronald rushed over to help us out, but Jamal remained in place just staring at us.

“Thanks,” I said, taking Ronald’s offered hand. “Oh, man, that stings,” I said, looking down at my leg. The cloths that were wrapped over it were in bad shape, so I bent over to untie them and take them off.

“Damn, what happened to your leg?” he asked.

“I fell into a pit filled with … never mind.” I glanced up at Paci and he gave me a look that said keep our secrets to yourself.

“Damn, girl. That’s ugly,” said Ronald.

“Thanks,” I said, not even looking at him. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

“Yeah. I’ve seen worse. Especially these days.”

I finished getting the bandages off and stood, facing the brothers. “So. What’s this about Sissy and Jimmy?”

“Like I said … they told us to come here and ask for you. We need a place to live. We’re from Tampa. It’s bad there. Real bad. We just kept going south until we got to that Cracker Barrel. And when Sissy told us about you guys, we decided we might as well give it a shot. Like Jamal said, we’ve got nothing else to do and nowhere else to go, so … here we are.”

“What makes you think we or anyone else would just let you in?” asked Paci. “I mean, you said yourself how bad it is in Tampa. It’s every man for himself these days.”

Jamal shrugged and answered when Ronald seemed too bummed to speak again. “We heard we had a chance with Bryn and Bodo. We were told they’re good people. I guess we were told wrong.”

“Don’t talk like that about her,” said Paci, getting bristly.

“He doesn’t mean it,” said Ronald. “We’re just frustrated and tired and scared … and tired of being scared. It’s been a long couple-a months.”