Apocalypsis 01 - Kahayatle

fight club grime off me anyway.”
    “You do know we’re not showering together, right?” asked Peter, eyeing me suspiciously.
    “Are you trying to make me vomit my lunch?”
    Peter shrugged, getting up to find his clothes.   “I just wanted to be sure.   No need to be so prickly about it.”
    Bodo kept me company while Peter showered on the other side of the curtain, and then escorted Peter back to the hut while I took mine.  
    I was almost ready to walk back when I heard a rustling in the bushes next to the enclosure.   I froze in place, not sure if it was an animal or human, but it was definitely not the wind.
    “Who’s there?” I called out.
    “It’s me.   Trip.”   His voice was hoarse.
    I stepped out from behind the screen to greet him.   He was standing at the edge of the trees.   He looked like crap.
    “Wow.   Sorry about your face.”  
    He had a bruise on the corner of his eye, a swollen cheek just under it, and a big purple bruise on his neck.   He gave me a lopsided grin.   “Yeah.   I guess I kind of deserved it.”
    “I won’t hold it against you.”
    “Good.   Listen … I’m sorry to interrupt your shower, but I just wanted to talk to you for a second about the meeting tonight.”
    “If you’re here to plead your case, I’ll tell you the same thing I told Kowi.”
    “Oh, yeah?   What’s that?”
    “Save it.   I’m not playing favorites.   We’ll all get it out in the open tonight with everyone around.”
    Trip just stared at me and nodded for a couple seconds before he said, “You’re smart.   I misjudged you.   On many levels.”
    “Thanks.   I think.”
    “I guess I’ll see you later.”
    “See ya.”
    He stepped back and soon disappeared into the trees.
    I made my way back to the huts, deep in thought about tonight’s festivities.   I was going to need Peter’s and Bodo’s help to pull this off.   They’d seen as much or more than I had out there.   We had one shot to convince these guys that their tribes were in danger.   Someone had to paint a picture of their possible future that would burn itself into their skulls.
    ***
    People filtered into the area near the ceremonial lodge a half hour before the actual meeting.   We’d gone with Buster since we had nothing else to do, Peter having organized and re-organized our living space three times already.
    “I feel better when my life has order and structure,” he’d said.
    As we walked up to the meeting place, I saw the truth of his words - at least the truth they held for him.   He actually looked happy and not scared for the first time … maybe even hopeful.   It made me feel like we were definitely doing the right thing.   Buster took off in search of lizards or something more interesting than a bunch of feet that could step on him.
    Coli came walking up to me and handed me something folded up, soft, and dark blue in color.
    “What’s this?”
    “It’s a shirt.”
    “Why are you giving it to me?”
    She shrugged.   “I thought you might like to wear something other than that awful t-shirt you have on.”
    I laughed.   “Wow.   Okay … so who should I thank for this?”
    “Whoever you want,” she said, starting to walk away.
    I reached out to stop her.   “Who made it?”
    “I did,” she said, before returning to the trees.
    “She’s got issues,” said Bodo.   “But I think she likes you anyway.”
    I unfolded the shirt, which wasn’t the shape of a regular shirt, and saw that it was made of some kind of cotton cloth that had designs woven into it, mostly patterns of small diamonds together in rows.   There were several colors in these small shapes, but the dominant color was the bright, but deep, blue.
    “It matchess your eyess,” said Bodo.
    The shirt was more like a cape that fit over my shoulders and hung down to my waist.   I was going to keep my regular shirt on underneath.   I looked at other girls coming into the area and noticed that they were all dressed up in clothing that had the same general look as this one.   Most of them were wearing full skirts that matched, too.
    “Oh well.   Might as well join the party,” I said, putting it on over my head.   I felt like a caped crusader.
    “It’s cute,” said Peter.   “Bright colors suit you, I think.”
    “Thanks,” I said, smiling as I watched two other girls come up with shirts in their hands.   One was for Peter and one for Bodo.   “Let’s see ‘em, guys.   You can play