Apocalypsis 02 - Warpaint

like him.”
    Peter snorted. “As if a guy like him would want to be with a guy like me.”
    I squeezed Peter harder, looking at him now instead of Trip. “What’s that all about? Any guy would be lucky to have you.”
    “Whatever,” he said sadly. He tried to shrug me off, but I refused to be detached.
    “Peter. Don’t make me hurt you. You are cute and sweet and funny. And even in the middle of all this mess you haven’t lost your class or your cool. Like I said. You’re a hot property; anyone would be lucky to have you. Just not Trip, cuz he’s mean.”
    “Well, I appreciate the thoughts, as misguided as they are.”
    “Don’t worry. Your knight in shining armor will arrive someday. And when he does, I know he’ll not only be totally adorable, but he’ll be a good cuddler, too. I’ll bet Trip is a horrible cuddler.” I narrowed my eyes at the offender, ignoring his amazing body in favor of his imagined snuggling crimes.
    “Yeah,” said Peter, gamely. “He probably just lays there and expects to be the cuddlee all the time and not the cuddler.”
    “You are so right. Just look at him. I’ll bet you twenty bucks he’s a cover-stealer, too.”
    “Not that twenty bucks means anything, since bills are only good for feeding fires right now, but yeah. I get it. I’ll bet you a can of beans he’s a cover-stealer.”
    “A can of beans and a bag of chips,” I countered.
    “Whoa. That’s serious. A bag of chips? Really?”
    “What’s serious?” asked Kowi, coming up from behind and scaring both of us enough to make us jump.
    “Uh … nothing?” I said, looking sheepish.
    Kowi eyed me suspiciously, but thankfully changed the subject. “I think we got a handle on this stuff now. You guys don’t have to hang around if you don’t want to. I can have someone bring you dinner.”
    “Awesome,” I said. “I just need to talk to Coli for a second before we go.”
    “About what?” asked Peter.
    “Girl stuff.”
    Kowi stepped back, giving me room to leave their presence and find his girlfriend. As I moved away, I heard Peter talking about his schedule again. I smiled, thinking about how seriously he took his job. I wasn’t going to have to worry about a thing with the training, other than getting these noobs out of amateur status as quickly as possible.
    I found Coli standing on the fringe of a group of girls, all of them talking about weaving cloth for clothes and making shoes out of deer skin and gator hide.
    “Coli, can I talk to you for a second?”
    She stepped back faced me. “Maybe.”
    I ignored her bratty retort since I was about to impose on her a little bit. “I need to ask you for a favor.”
    “What is it?”
    “Well, before I ask, I kind of need you to agree to keep it a secret.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t keep secrets from Kowi.”
    “Yes you do.”
    “No I don’t,” she said, sounding pissed.
    “Did you tell him how much you love him yet?”
    She started to say something, but no sound came out of her mouth. She looked like a fish out of water for a second before she found her voice again. “Who says I love anyone?”
    “I do. You do. Your face does. Whatever. Tell him when you’re ready. But I need your help and it’s important. Just to me, though. It’s not a big deal to anyone else.”
    “What is it?”
    “Promise me you won’t tell.”
    “No.”
    I sighed, very frustrated. “Jesus, Coli, why the chip on the shoulder all the time with me?” I turned to walk away, already regretting having come up with the stupid idea to follow Bodo with her help, when I felt her hand on my arm.
    “Wait.”
    “ What? ” I said angrily.
    “Listen. I’m sorry. I have a habit of … I don’t know. Always expecting the worst, I guess.”
    “Yeah? Well, it gets old, you know?” I said, not quite mollified.
    “So I’ve been told,” she said, looking over my shoulder.
    I followed her gaze and saw the object of her despair. Kowi.
    “Why don’t you just tell him how you feel? Stop acting angry all the time and get over whatever it is that makes you act so suspicious of everyone.”
    She half-choked, half-laughed. It was a bitter sound. “Right. Like it’s that easy. Not sure if you’ve noticed, but the world ended. Everyone died and we live in the wreckage.”
    I stared at her. “That’s how you choose to see it. I see that we live in a new world. That there are unlimited futures for all of us. None of us is going to die from pollution, the effects of