Apocalypsis 03 - Exodus

inside?” asked Winky.
    “I don’t think so. But Peter can see them.”
    “Why are we whispering?” asked Bodo.
    “Peter!” I whisper-yelled. “Are they inside?”
    He shook his head.
    “Can I talk normally, then?” I asked in a regular tone of voice.
    “Yes, I guess,” he said.
    I shook my head, laughing a little. We were the worst military commandos of all time. “What’s going on?”
    “Someone’s at the gate. I can’t see who it is. I’m afraid to stand up.”
    “Do they have any guns?” asked Ronald.
    “Be right back!” said Winky, pushing off my back and running down the hallway we’d just come from.
    “Where’s she going?” asked Jamal.
    “Who knows? Maybe she’s going to get some slippers so she can beat them to death,” said Ronald.
    “Peter, I’m coming over,” I said.
    “No! Then they’ll know we’re in here.”
    “Don’t you think they already know that?” I asked.
    “Why would dey know dat?” asked Bodo.
    “It’s kind of coincidental, isn’t it? That we get here and one day later someone else is here. I mean, we told about a hundred people where we were going.”
    “Uhhh, we might also have told about hundred people ourselves,” said Ronald, sounding guilty.
    “Make that about three hundred,” said Jamal.
    “Doesn’t matter,” I said. “We need to let people know we’re here and that we’re not afraid to defend our home.” I raised my voice. “Peter, I’m coming over. Cover me!”
    He looked at me fearfully for a second and then stood up into a half crouch, his gun up and shaking, pointed at the glass.
    I ran as fast as I could being bent over, and skidding to a stop next to him.
    “No shots fired,” I said breathlessly. The adrenaline was making it harder to breathe than it should have been.
    “Nope. They’re not doing anything.”
    I stood up halfway and looked over at the front gate. “They don’t look very threatening.”
    “No. But that doesn’t mean crap,” said Peter, his gun still up and pointed at them.
    Winky came running through the hallway door and didn’t stop until she was next to us. She was carrying a giant plexiglass shield and wearing a helmet that was about three sizes too big for her. She tipped her head back so she could see me from under the brim. “I’m ready to go out and meet them.”
    “Give me that, you fool,” I said, yanking the helmet off her head. “You’re not going anywhere with that nose. You’ll scare people away.”
    “Isn’t that the point?” she said, scowling, straightening her hair that I’d messed up.
    I put the helmet on my head. “Hand it over, Winky. I’m going out. You can cover me with a gun.”
    “How come you get to go out there?” she said, pouting.
    “Because I’m … the mayor, that’s why.”
    “Says who?” asked Peter.
    “I vote for her!” said Bodo. “Dat’s two votes.”
    “Three!” yelled Gretchen.
    “And four,” added Bianca.
    “Whatever,” said Peter. “Just don’t get shot. We need you here to run your classes. I already have a schedule made.”
    “Of course you do,” I said, patting him on the shoulder. I took the shield and held it up to me. “How’s this?”
    “Higher,” said Winky. “They can take your face off if it’s too low.”
    “What about my ankles?”
    “Smaller target than your big head,” she said, shrugging.
    I nudged her with my hip. “Cover me, guys.”
    “Hey!” said Bodo. “Wait a minute! Is dis a good idea, guyss? Dat she goess out dare by herself?”
    “She’s not going alone,” said Ronald. He’d gone and suited up, too, only he’d added a flak jacket to his ensemble. “Here,” he said, tossing me one.
    I crouched behind the shield and put it on. Jamal came out of the hallway with riot gear on as well.
    “Ready?” he asked, grinning from ear to ear. “This is fun. I feel like a cop.”
    “Fun until you feel a bullet,” I mumbled. But I was glad for the company and figured we’d look more intimidating with the bigger guys standing with me.
    We walked to the door together, opening it up and stepping outside. I waited for a few seconds to see if they would do anything.
    “Are we going to go talk to them?” whispered Jamal.
    “I wanted to see if they’d shoot first,” I whispered back.
    “If it were me, I’d wait until we were closer,” said Ronald.
    “Good point,” I said, moving forward again. Ronald and Jamal fell into step beside me.
    The closer we got, the more confused I became. There were