Apocalypsis 01 - Kahayatle

whatever.”
    “A truce over what?”
    “Between you and the Miccosukee.”
    He laughed.   “What?   You speak for the high and mighty Kowi now?”
    “Don’t talk about him like that, Trip,” warned Coli.  
    “Whatever.   I just think it’s pretty funny that he’s got some white girl coming over here for him to try and tell me what to do.”
    “She ain’t just a regular white girl, Trip.   Trust me,” said Paci.
    “Trust you?   Yeah, right.”
    “Fine.   Don’t say I didn’t warn you later if you decide to tangle with her.”
    Trip raised an eyebrow at me.   “So what does this white girl who’s got all the Meeks all scared got to say to me?”
    “What I have to say is, first of all, you’re not getting any of the grenades I brought with me, and also that I’m taking Peter with me tonight back to my hut where he lives.   And finally, maybe most importantly, you and the Meeks, as you call them, need to kiss and make up, before it’s too late.”
    He laughed overly loud and took his time about it.   Then he stopped all of a sudden and got instantly serious, giving the distinct impression that he was a little mentally off balance.  
    “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said, all traces of laughter gone.
    “No.   I’m not.   Let’s go sit down and talk.”
    He nodded his head slowly.   “Talk.   Okay, we can do that.   Just you, though.   The rest of them can stay here.”   He gestured to his group behind him and said, “Watch them.   No one leaves.”   He took me by the arm and led me past the fire pit, towards a chickee hut that had the walls up.  
    As I passed by Peter I leaned behind Trip and said, “Be right back!”  
    I ignored Peter’s stark look of fear.
    Trip and I entered the empty hut and he gestured to the floor.   “Have a seat.”
    “I prefer to stand.”   I knew that my chances of defeating him in any physical match were better if we weren’t on the ground; there he had the advantage of size and weight.   Standing I had the element of surprise and my quick strike ability.   I hoped I wouldn’t need to use it, but if my dad had taught me nothing else, he’d taught me to expect the unexpected and that the worst case was always a possible scenario.
    Trip moved to the center of the hut and then turned to look at me, his thumbs casually hooked in the band that went around his waist, the one that was holding up a cloth that hung down in front of his man-parts, covered in decorations.   I couldn’t tell if they were painted on or woven in - it was too dark to see details with only a little bit of the torchlight reaching in between cracks of the wall hangings.   I didn’t want to spend too much time studying it for obvious reasons.   He wore leather breeches on his legs and moccasins, no shirt.   His muscled chest was painted like his face in reds and blacks.   He didn’t have the permanent tattoos that Kowi and his tribesmen had, I could see that now.   He was slightly slouched over and it almost looked as if he were flexing his chest and abs a little.   I smiled, thinking to myself that this guy was almost as bad as a peacock.
    “Let’s start with you telling me who you are,” he said.
    “My name’s Bryn Mathis.   I’m from the Orlando area.   Maitland.”
    “What about the other ones?”
    “Bodo’s from Germany, stuck here after a year abroad program, and Peter’s from Sanford.”
    “Why are you in my swamp?”
    I decided not to debate the ownership of the Everglades at this juncture.   “We came here to escape the canners - the cannibals that are out there.”
    He scoffed at that.   “Cannibals.   Yeah, right.”
    “Yeah, cannibals.   It’s the truth.”
    “Why should I believe you?”
    “Because I have no reason to lie?”
    “Sure you do.”
    “Oh yeah?   Enlighten me.”
    “So you could come here and steal from me.”
    “Steal what?   I’ve got news for you, Trip … there are at least fifty creatures probably within twenty feet of me that could kill me right now.   Does that sound like something a girl like me purposely goes to live with if she has any other choice?”
    “Not really.”
    “Exactly.   And I don’t go hanging around mosquito infested swamps so I can steal some soap.”
    He unhooked his thumbs and came a little closer.   “Maybe you’re here for something else.”
    I raised an eyebrow.   “Please don’t be suggesting what I think you’re suggesting.”
    “What’s that?”