Apocalypsis 02 - Warpaint

overruled. I’m okay with going if everyone else wants to risk it.”
    I eyed him suspiciously. “That just seems a little too simple, Trip. You don’t strike me as the kind of guy who changes his mind so easily.”
    He lowered himself down to sit cross-legged on the other side of his sister, fixing me with a stare. “You’d be surprised what you don’t know about me … one of those things being that I’m not an unreasonable person.”
    Coli snorted and stood. “Well, I can see it’s time for me to leave. I don’t have waders tall enough for this crap lake. See you guys later.”
    I watched her back disappear into the trees.
    “Wait!” I yelled, jumping up to follow her. I turned to Celia and Trip on my way out. “Be right back.”
    Coli stopped and waited for me to catch up.
    I reached her and said quietly, “I need you to teach me that sneaking thing you do.”
    “Fine. Come now.”
    “Just give me a minute to say goodbye. To Celia.”
    “Two minutes.”
    I ran back to Celia and Trip, noticing that she was still doing her best to ignore him and he was doing his best to try and not be offended by it.
    “Hey guys, I have to run. I have a little training to do with Coli. Can we talk about this more later?”
    Celia shrugged, not looking at me.
    “Yeah. I’ll come get you,” said Trip. “After lunch?”
    “Perfect. Maybe see if Kowi wants to join us.”
    Trip scowled. “Sure. I’ll see.”
    I left them without a backward glance. They had their issues and I didn’t need to be the one to fix everything for everyone. Not everything is even fixable in this world, anyway.
    I joined Coli and followed her silent form deeper into the trees.
    ***
    “Remind me again why I’m teaching you this?” said Coli as she led me deeper into the swamp.
    “Attack planning. Canner attack.” I tried to sound casual so she wouldn’t suspect any ulterior motives on my part.
    “You think you’re going to attack canners in the swamp?”
    “It could happen. If any of them ever follow one of us back here or come looking for food.”
    “I really think you’re deluding yourself, but whatever.”
    We walked for a few minutes until we were well and truly in the middle of nowhere. If Coli decided to leave me there, I was pretty sure I’d be lost for good. All the trees looked the same to me right now.
    “Okay,” she said, stopping and turning to look at me. “First thing you have to do is pay attention to the trees around you.”
    I looked down on the ground.
    “Not on the ground, stupid. The trees. Look up.”
    I looked at her, confused. “Why up? I’m walking on the ground, not swinging through the trees like a monkey.”
    “Yeah, but the stuff up in the trees, falls down. And then you step on it. Right?”
    “Yeeaaaah …”
    “So, you have to know what you’re dealing with. See that tree over there?”
    I looked where she was pointing. “Yes.”
    “Dry leaves. Crackle like crazy when you step on them. Avoid walking around trees like that.” She pointed to a different tree. “See that one?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Those leaves don’t crackle so much, even when they’re dry. They make less noise when you step on them.”
    “Wow,” I said, looking at all the greenery around us. “I had no idea. I never thought of it that way.”
    “Yeah, well, that’s why you sound like a herd of buffalo coming through when you walk.”
    “Gee, thanks.”
    “No problem. Okay, so now, look at the ground.”
    I was almost afraid to do it, like it was a trick.
    “Do it, dummy. I’m not going to mock you … much.”
    I laughed, looking down at the ground. I noticed some of those crackly leaves.
    “So you’ve got leaves there and some small twigs, a branch. What happens when you step on the branch? Less sound or more sound?”
    “It makes less sound?” I guessed.
    “Try it,” she urged, gesturing with her chin at one near my foot.
    I stepped on it and as soon as I put pressure on the wood, I realized my mistake. “It makes more noise.”
    “Yeah. It’s bigger than your foot. That means it’s putting downward pressure over a bigger space, over more leaves and more twigs. And branches fall on top of …” she was waiting for me to finish her sentence.
    “Dry leaves?”
    “Exactly. So if you want to announce to the world you’ve arrived, step on a branch.”
    “I guess I should avoid twigs too?”
    “Depends on the twig. Some are dry and snap easy. Some not so much. You can ignore the wet ones that