Apocalypsis 01 - Kahayatle

said, as I put my hands on either side of his smooshed nose, yanking it back to the front.
    A loud crunch and a fresh gush of blood told me that I’d at least gotten it back in the general direction; the loud screaming and bucking from the kid told me that it had hurt.   He passed out in a few seconds, finally going still.   I got up and rolled him over on his side so he couldn’t choke on his own blood.
    I walked down to the swamp to rinse my hands off in the water.   “He might not look pretty, but at least his nose won’t be sideways,” I said, scrubbing my palms together and watching the blood dissolve away.
    I didn’t get a response, so I turned around to look at them.   They were all staring at me.   I self-consciously reached up and wiped my nose with the back of my hand.   I was hoping I hadn’t ruined the whole effect of my fighting skills by having a boog hanging out or something.
    “What?” I said, tired of the silent treatment.   “Why are you guys staring at me?   Cut it out.”
    Bodo spoke first.   “I don’t know why dey are staring at you, but I’m doing it because I’m admiring your muscles.   You really know how to make a guy feel like a wimp.”
    I looked down at my arms, noticing for the first time that they were a little pumped from their recent workout.   I had pretty much zero body fat left, so they did look pretty ripped.   I glanced back up at him, “I hope that’s not a problem for any of you.”   It would be just my luck that I’d ruin any chance of ever having a boyfriend by scaring them all away.
    “It’s not a problem for me,” said Bodo, shaking his head slowly side to side.   “Not a problem …”
    I smiled, ignoring the responses from the other guys.   The more I got to know Bodo, the more I thought I might have a chance at finding a guy my dad would have loved.
    ***
    We sat in our hut, surrounded by a big group of Miccosukee.   I didn’t bother counting all of them.   Kowi and Coli sat at the center, and everyone was listening closely to what Kowi was saying.
    “As you all know, the Creek of Kahayatle have taken the friend of Bryn and Bodo, named Peter, and they are demanding that we turn over the grenades to them in exchange for Peter.”
    I gasped.   How could they possibly know we brought grenades?
    “My first answer was to say no.   Then Bryn was kind enough to show me the error of my ways.”
    “She kicked our asses,” said the wet indian, who I now knew as Paci.   A few of the group laughed, including Kowi.   His girlfriend just glowered at me.
    “Yeah, so after we had our … discussion with Bryn, we decided to go ahead and agree to their terms.   But she convinced us to reconsider and share with her and Bodo the details of the Creeks’ demands, which we have now done.   We’ve asked all of you to come here tonight so that we can discuss this situation before we make our decision about what to do.   Those of us who are on the council have agreed to include Bryn and Bodo in our conversation.”
    I looked around and could see that all but a few of the members were okay with it.   Paci looked like he was on Team Bryn, and he seemed like the gregarious type.   I had a feeling he’d been campaigning for us.   He smiled and lifted his chin at me, acknowledging my presence.  
    I looked over at Bodo in time to see him narrow his eyes a little bit at Paci.   Jealousy maybe?   I tried not to be too excited over the idea.   Jealousy was usually bad news, even if in the beginning it was a little flattering.   I’d seen enough girls leaving the mini krav maga self-defense workshops talking about stalker ex-boyfriends who’d always started out being the jealous type; the same ones they were now trying to learn how to fight off.   I didn’t need to be fighting my own people over stupid stuff like that.
    Kowi began talking again.   “Bryn wanted the chance to speak, so I gave her my permission.   Does anyone have a problem with that?”
    I could see Coli itching to say something, but she kept her mouth shut.
    Kowi looked at me.   “Go ahead.   Say what you wanted to say.”
    I stood up, wiping my hands nervously on my shorts.   “I just wanted to say a few things, maybe share some ideas.”
    I looked at Bobo and he nodded, urging me forward with his quiet confidence in me.
    “The Creek have my friend Peter.   He’s not a violent person in any way and he’s pretty much helpless.   If they set him loose outside of