Apocalypsis 01 - Kahayatle

behind me.
    “I’d love a shower, actually.   Unfortunately, the world came to an end and all of the water that I was used to having come out of my faucet dried up.   So forgive me if I’m a little bit pungent right now, but it’s not my friggin fault.”
    Kowi was trying like heck to keep a straight face.   “You can use ours.   Eventually you can find a place to hook up your own if you want.”
    I looked at him incredulously.   “You guys have showers?   Here?”
    “In a manner of speaking,” he answered mysteriously.   “I’m sure Coli will be happy to show you where they are, since she so generously proposed that you take one.”
    She opened her mouth to protest but one look from her tattooed boyfriend shut her up in a flash.  
    I smiled at her smugly.   She might smell better than me, but I didn’t have to jump when some half-naked guy told me to, like she apparently did.   At least I had that going for me.
    I looked back at Peter and Bodo.   “Do you guys mind if I go get cleaned up?”
    “No!” they both yelled in unison, causing Coli to smile bitchily back at me.
    “Jerks,” I said under my breath.   I stormed over to get the freshest clothes I could find out of my bag, picking out a tank top, shorts, and a fresh pair of socks that I’d taken from the army-navy store.   My shoes were soaked, but I didn’t have anything else for my feet.  
    “Come on,” she said, walking off quickly, not looking back to see if I was following.
    I trailed behind her for five minutes, picking my way along as best I could over the lumpy surface.   It eventually got less rooty and more like regular ground, even though it still felt pretty springy underfoot.   We reached a small clearing that the sun was able to penetrate and burn into brightly.
    “Over there, behind that curtain, is the shower.   The water is heated from the sun.   Don’t run it continuously.   Just run it to get wet and rinse off.   Soap and shampoo is there too.”
    She turned to leave me.
    “You guys have soap?” I asked.   I was in shock.   I hadn’t touched soap in months.   It was one of those things my dad had kind of forgotten when he was trying to set me up with supplies before he died.   I had all kinds of camping gear and bleach, but no soap.   I’d used up the last bit I had a month after he died, and had depended on my pool water to keep me as clean as possible for the next couple - but the algae had soon taken over and made the whole cleanliness thing a dream I left in the past.
    “We make our own.”
    “That’s friggin nuts,” was all I could say.
    She shrugged.   “Our tribe has always been self-sustaining.   We might have integrated into the white man’s world once, but that didn’t mean we let the old ways disappear.”
    “Well, thank God for that,” I said, impressed as hell.
    A hint of a smile crossed her face before it was replaced again with her scowl.   “I assume you can find your way back.”
    I laughed somewhat bitterly.   “You assume wrong, actually.”
    She stopped her exit and turned around.   “Seriously?   You expect me to stay here while you shower?”
    “It’s not like it’s going to take me forever,” I said, slightly offended that she found my company so distasteful.
    “The way you smell?   Uh, yeah.   It is.”
    I threw my arms up and stalked off.   “Whatever.   Leave then, jerk.   See if I care.”   I was pretty damn sick and tired of everyone making comments about my stink.
    “I was only kidding,” she said, not sounding at all contrite.  
    I looked over my shoulder and she was still standing there.   She looked fragile and unhappy, but I ignored her and whatever her issues were as I continued to the shower.  
    The curtain that I’d been able to see from far away was actually a small enclosure, set up using nearby tree branches as support for the animal hides that hung down.   I wasn’t exactly sure what kind of animal they were, but thought maybe deer.  
    I quickly shucked off my clothes and stepped over to the black hose that was hanging down at the far end.   I could see that it was coming from a large black rubber bladder thing above my head, the entire side of which was in the full sun, getting heated by the rays attracted to its dark color.   There was another bladder next to it, but this one was gray and hidden in the shade, not directly exposed to the sun.   Both of their hoses were tied together with twine, and a giant clip