Apocalypsis: Book 2 (Warpaint) (27 page)

The hawk took one look at him and shrieked, throwing her wings out at her sides and flapping them frantically.

Bodo leaned back to get out of their way, hanging on to the leather straps that were wrapped around her ankles, yelling the whole time.

“Get him, Peter!  Schnell! 
Quickly!”

Peter took off running daintily through the grass, yelling, “Buster, come back!”  He went faster than I would have thought possible, quickly putting distance between us.

The hawk shrieked again, breaking free of her tresses and taking to the air.

I didn’t have to be a hawk expert to see that she had locked in on her target and she was going to go for it.  It was Team Hawk against Team Fuzzy Pink Poodle, and I was absolutely sure who was going to win.  It was no contest.

I took off sprinting after Buster.  I had no plan in mind, other than to just tackle him and hope my back didn’t get too torn up from those talons.  For a brief second I wondered if she would be able to rip out my spine.  Her feet looked like they had knives on the ends of them, even from far away.

Her shrieks echoed around us.

I was closing in on Buster, but not as fast as winged death was.

I was just about to give up hope when I saw Buster stop.

His head disappeared for a second underground and then a rabbit jumped up out of nowhere, sending Buster out of the hole and into a barking frenzy.

The hawk swooped down, nearly taking Peter’s head off, causing him to scream like a girl on fire and drop to the ground. 

The hawk continued on, gliding just over Buster’s back to grab the rabbit and tackle it to the ground.

Buster came up short, standing just two feet away from the hawk, dropping down into a prone position.

We all froze in place, watching the imminent tragedy playing out in front of us.

Buster whined, his butt wiggling with the effort of his tail.  He clearly wanted to share the kill with the hawk, but was smart enough to ask permission first.

Peter gained his feet again and tiptoed over, talking in a quavering, high-pitched voice.

“That’s a good boy.  Come on, Buster, come with me now.  Leave the vicious, poodle-eating pterodactyl alone.  Let her eat her fuzzy rabbit.  Look!  I have some snake for you!”

Peter reached into his pocket and pulled out a hunk of his dinner.

The hawk took one look at him and threw her wings out to the sides, opening her beak in a silent scream, no sound coming out.

“Don’t do dat!  Put dat away!” shouted Bodo.

Peter quickly threw it at the bird in a panic.

Buster saw it leave Peter’s hand and followed its trajectory over his head, watching it land a couple feet on the other side of the hawk.  Buster crouched down even lower and army-crawled around her.

I couldn’t frigging believe it.  That stupid dog was going to try and take that snake meat away from her.

“Buster,
no!”
I growled out, but he ignored me.  “Peter! 
Get him!”
I whisper-yelled.

Peter took a step forward, and the hawk shrieked menacingly at him, fluffing her wings a little as she did.

“Oh,
crap,”
said Peter, now frozen in place.  “I just peed a little.”

“Oh for shit’s sake, you people make me crazy,” said a voice from the trees.  And out strode Coli, plain as day, marching over and picking Buster up in one hand and then walking over to grab the snake meat too and shove it in the dog’s mouth.

The hawk just watched her go, doing nothing.

Buster rode happily in her arms over to Bodo.

“Here.  Take your stupid dog,” she said grumpily, dumping him unceremoniously into Bodo’s waiting hands.

She was walking back to the woods before my voice started working again.  “Coli!”

“What?” she said, stopping and turning around.

“What the hell?”  I couldn’t think of anything more intelligent to say, my brain still misfiring over all the unexpected action and barely avoided tragedy.

She shrugged.

“How did you know we were here?”

She laughed.  “Are you kidding me?  You’re like a herd of buffalo.  Then you’ve got goofball over there blowing on that damn harmonica all the time.”

“How long haff you known about Nina?” asked Bodo, coming over to stand by me.

“Since the first day you came,” she said, less sarcastically.

“Why didn’t you say anything?  Sell Bodo out?” I was so confused right now.  Coli was impossible to figure out.  Just when I thought I knew exactly what she was going to do, she threw me a curveball and did the opposite.  She made no sense at all.

She shrugged.  “I don’t know.  It didn’t seem to be hurting anyone.  Plus Bodo gave me his snakes and stuff for our dinners.”

“You didn’t belief dat I found dem?”

“No, of course not.  Not when I saw your hawk bring them down.”

“You’f been watching me?”

“Yeah.  You got a problem with that?”

“No.  Dat’s nice.  I hope you like her.  Becauss if anyone here tries to hurt her, I will leaf and you will never ever see us again.”

Coli’s face took on an angry expression.  “No one’s going to hurt her.  She’s beautiful.  And she’s completely safe with us, I can promise you that.  We respect the hawk.”  She pulled something out of her back pocket and spoke more calmly.  “I found this.”  She held up a feather, brown with some white parts.  It looked familiar.

“Dat is from my hawk.”

“I know,” she said softly, staring at it.  “I saw it fall one day when you were working with her.  I came back and found it.”

Bodo looked at her carefully before saying, “You can haff it if you want.  She won’t mind.”

Coli smiled genuinely, the joy lighting up her face with a stunning beauty.  I was struck speechless when I saw it; it was so unexpected and weird on her.

“Thanks.”  She turned and walked noiselessly away, leaving us standing there in the field.

Once she was gone, Peter turned to me and said, “Have I died and gone to some alternate dimension, or did Coli just smile?”

“No.  Or yes, and we’re both there. 
Wow. 
She’s really pretty when she does that,” I said.

“She’ss very sneaky, dat girl.  I never saw her.  Not one time.”

“I wonder if she’s told anyone,” I said.

“I don’t think so.  I’ve never gotten any indication of anything going on with Bodo from anyone I’ve worked with,” said Peter.

Bodo pulled his harmonica out of his pocket and blew out a short set of notes.  The hawk looked at him and then bent down to her rabbit, tearing it apart.  I had to look away to keep from feeling sick at the savagery of it.  I knew it was all a part of nature, but it was a little too raw and real for me.

“Let’s go back to the hut.  I need to go calm my head before I have a stroke,” said Peter, taking Buster from Bodo.  He talked to him softly, walking into the trees, murmuring scoldings and concerns for his future welfare as he went.

“That was mind blowing,” I said, making my way through the swamp next to Bodo, following Peter on the path.

“Yeah.  You can repeat dat.”

“You can say that again, you mean.”

“Yeah.  Dat’s what I said.”

I tried to work on my silent walking, but quickly gave up.  Coli was right.  We were like buffalo.

“I like your hawk’s name.  Nina.  It’s like bold and kind of badass, too.”

“Like Bryn.”

I smiled.  “You think so?”

“Yeah.  I like dat you like her,” said Bodo, taking my hand.

“What’s not to like?  She kills snakes and didn’t eat Buster.  She’s my kind of girl.”

“Good.  Because she is going with us to get dose canners.”

I frowned, thinking about all the reasons that shouldn’t happen.  “I think that’s a really, really bad idea, Bodo.  They have guns.”

“I know.  But we are going to be gone for two days.  Dat’s too long to be away from her.  Don’t worry.  I will be sure she is safe.”

“I can’t believe you were able to work with her and keep her a secret from us this entire time.  I should be mad at you.”

“Are you?  Mad at me?”  Bodo looked worried.

“No.  I’m not sure why.  Maybe because I know your motivations are pure.”

“I luff her.  Dat’s true.  She is a very special bird.”

I looked at him sideways.  “Should I be jealous?”

He squeezed my hand.  “No.  I can’t be away from you for longer dan one day either.  Und I like you better.”

I smiled.  “Good.  I like you a lot, too.”

“Maybe some day you can luff me.”

“Yeah.  Maybe some day,” I said, finishing our trip in silence, thinking about all the things we would be risking on this mission and how one of them would be Bodo himself.

Chapter Four

THE MORNING OF OUR CANNER recon mission dawned overcast and dark.  The heavy-looking gray clouds booming with rolling thunder just off in the distance felt like a really bad omen, and made me wonder how long it would be before the rain began to fall and completely soaked us.

“Do you think those five days of training helped?” asked Peter, standing next to me, looking up at the sky.

“Maybe.  Maybe not.  It’s hard to say.  I’d like to think so.”

“You’re under a lot of pressure.  It’s okay to admit that.”

“Yeah, I know.  I just don’t want to let anyone down.”

“You’re not going to. Everyone knows you’ve done your best, and that’s all you can do.  Even I learned some things.”  Peter made some quick palm thrust motions with the heel of his hand, breaking into smiles when he was done.

I grinned back.  “Well, you do have good reflexes.  Must be all that ping pong you’ve played.”

“You mock what you don’t understand.  I’ll take you on, any day of the week.”

“Maybe someday we can do that,” I said wistfully, turning my attention to the backpacks in the doorway of the hut.  Ping pong sounded so much more appealing than hunting canners right now.  Hopefully, it always would.

“Ready to go?” asked Bodo, coming through the trees.

“How’s Nina?” asked Peter.

“Good.  She’ss ready.”

“Time to go,” said Peter, hiking his backpack up onto his shoulders, straightening the straps and making sure his shirt underneath wasn’t wrinkled.

“She doesn’t like da rain, dough.  Neither do I.”

“Can she fly in it?” I asked.

“Yes, but if it’s really bad, it’s dangerous for her.  If it pours, I will wait with her somewhere close by.  I’m sorry for dat.”

I sighed.  “Don’t worry about it.  We’ll make do.  At least we don’t have to try and make up excuses for you when you disappear.  I’m glad you decided to tell the chiefs.”

“Yes, well, his crazy girlfriend was gonna tell.  Better dey hear it from me.”

“You’re right,” said Peter, waiting for us to get our backpacks on.  “But they’d be stupid to be upset over it.  You’ve already brought them three rabbits and two snakes.  That’s more than enough to cover the amount of food that we eat.”

We left our hut carrying a minimum of supplies, wearing the jeans and t-shirts Winky’s friends had found for us, traipsing over the woven root ground with our new moccasins.

“Man, I love these shoes,” I said, for the tenth time at least.  “I can’t believe they keep all the pokey things out.  I’m pretty sure I’m quieter with them on, too.”

“Don’t bet on it,” said Peter.  “Coli is only too happy to remind me how loud we are whenever we step foot anywhere in the swamp.  Just yesterday, she and her friends were calling you a swamp elephant.”

I curled my lip in distaste.  “Yeah, well, I’m convinced she’s not a real person.  She’s an evil spirit that just floats over the ground without actually touching it.  That’s why she’s so quiet all the time.”

“Who’s an evil spirit?” asked Coli, coming out on my left from between two large trees, their roots all tangled together to form a net wall, rising up out of the ground.

“Geez, Coli.  Enough with the spying crap,” I said, not unkindly.

“I’m not spying.  I’m just coming to the send-off, along with everyone else.”

I sighed.  “They’re making a big deal out of this, aren’t they?”

“Of course they are.  Wouldn’t you?”

“No.  I wouldn’t.”

“Yeah, well, you’re different than we are.”

You’re not kidding
.  Before I could get my next thought out, we’d arrived at the ceremonial hut.  A large crowd had gathered to say goodbye, and at the center of it all was Celia.

My eyes were drawn to her arm wrapped in its bandages, and I had to swallow the lump in my throat.  Her half-limb hung at her side, a testament to the seriousness and danger present in our mission.  Seeing it really brought home the fact that my entire family was going to be at risk for the next few days - even our pets.  The ridiculously awfulness of it was hitting me hard.  I battled tears that threatened to come and embarrass me with their presence in the face of all these bold warriors.  I was glad we had decided to put our warpaint on later.

Bodo and Peter moved in closer, both of them stuck close to my sides.  Normally, I’d just shove them away, but today I was glad for their nearness.  It gave me a sense of security - probably a false sense - but I’d take that over feeling alone and vulnerable any day.

“Looks like everybody’s here,” said Peter softly.

The faces were all turned towards us.  I didn’t see anything negative or that looked like judgment, but still, it made me uncomfortable.  I focused on looking for my team.  One person wasn’t there.  “Everyone but Trip, actually,” I said.

“Wow, how could I have missed him?” said Peter under his breath, looking from left to right.

I scanned the crowd and the trees around us to be sure. 
Nope.  No Trip. 
“Well, we can’t wait for him.  Let’s go.  Maybe he’ll catch up.”

“Why can’t we wait?” asked Peter.  “He’s important, isn’t he?”

“Of course he is.  But we’re about to get rained on, and I’d like to be in place before the noise from the storm wakes up those canners and the rain gets so hard Nina and Bodo can’t keep up.”

I separated myself from my roommates and went to stand by Kowi.

“Hey.”

“Hey, what’s up?  Ready to go?”

“Yeah.  Where’s Trip?”