Apocalypsis 02 - Warpaint

boyfriend.”
    Peter winced. “Ouch. That had to hurt.”
    I shrugged. “I guess.” I was actually surprised by Bodo’s reaction. He always seemed so non-violent. The only time he’d come after me was in a joking way. And I’d never seen him fight anyone else. When he came after me, he did it so amateurishly and half-heartedly, I had assumed he didn’t know how to fight at all.
    I watched him now, admiring his technique. He was a little sloppy, but he got points for creativity. “Wow, he’s really holding his own in there,” I said absently, watching him land a few punches into Trip’s gut before being grabbed in a bear hug that sent them both flying across the hut and into the railing.
    Unfortunately for them, the railing had endured enough abuse already, what with me using it as a launching pad a few days earlier for Paci or Yokci when they were fighting me. It broke at the spot where Bodo’s back hit it, sending both of them into the swamp.
    A huge splash came up, soaking part of our hut’s floor. Peter rushed over to move our mattresses out of the possible splash zone.
    I thought the water would cool the two idiots down, but all it seemed to do was make them madder. Punches were flying and attempts were made at drowning each other. Peter and I just watched in awed suspense.
    We were soon joined by Kowi, Paci, and Jeremy.
    “What in the hell is going on here?” asked Kowi.
    “Testosterone overload,” I said.
    “Holy shit, that dude can fight,” said Jeremy, giving Bodo some respect.
    “Yeah, who’d a thought?” I said, still mystified as to how he was holding out so well against Trip. I had really underestimated Bodo and felt a little bad about it now. I should have been giving him private lessons all along - he could have been my star pupil. Maybe I could remedy that later if he wasn’t too mad at me for being somewhat responsible for the black eye I knew he was going to have tomorrow.
    “What’d you say to get them fighting like this?” asked Paci, smiling at the scene in front of him.
    “Why do you assume it was me?”
    “Isn’t it obvious?” asked Jeremy, looking at me for a second and then back to the fight.
    Bodo plowed into Trip again, sending him down on his back into the water. Both of them disappeared for a few tense seconds before they came back up sputtering. Trip took the advantage and slammed Bodo in the jaw, knocking him sideways.
    “No, it’s not obvious. What happened is that I was telling Trip we needed a plan for going after the canners, and he was telling me how it wasn’t going to happen and how he wasn’t allowing me out of the swamp; and then Bodo stepped in to defend me. That’s it.”
    “I guess this is something we probably should have discussed earlier,” said Kowi, sighing. “I meant to talk to you about changing your regular krav maga training sessions into something that can prepare us for more immediate stuff. Like going after those guys who messed with Celia.”
    “Yeah, I can do that. Not sure how far I can get, though. It’ll depend on how much time I have.”
    “They’re getting tired,” said Jeremy. “Should we stop them?”
    “Nah. Let them work it out,” said Kowi. He turned to me, putting his back to the fight. “So you think we should go after them, then? The canners?”
    “Heck, yes. Otherwise we’re just sitting here waiting for them to attack us. Let’s go get those poor kids out of there and end the problem before it comes to us.”
    “I agree,” said Paci. “We can’t let what happened to Celia go unpunished.”
    “I agree, too,” said Jeremy.
    I looked over at the fighters. “Well, maybe you can explain to your fearless leader then, because he seems to think it’s a terrible idea.”
    “He doesn’t like the idea of us mixing with the outside world at all,” explained Jeremy. “He thinks that’s what got our people in trouble in the first place, a couple hundred years ago. He wants to try and avoid the mistakes of our past.
    I considered it for a second, trying to put myself in his shoes, but before I could speak my mind on the subject, Kowi put in his two cents.
    “Well, I don’t agree with him, and it’s not just up to him anymore.”
    Jeremy shrugged. “It’s your funeral. Go ahead and tell him you don’t agree.”
    “I will,” said Kowi, standing straighter. “Come on. Let’s go get these fools out of there before they call the gators over.”
    “Call the gators?” I said in a weak