Apocalypsis 03 - Exodus

world and not everyone was going to like me, but he didn’t even register on the realizing-I-was-a-girl sensor. Hmmmm. I need to find Peter and grill him until he caves. I had no idea where he was, but I knew he made cloth sometimes, and Winky said it was made in a hut near the pool; and I wanted to check out the no-gators system they had set up there anyway, so I headed off in that direction.
    Halfway there, I ran into Mandy.
    “Hey, Bryn. What’s up?”
    “Nothing. Just going to look at the pool in the daytime, maybe check out the cloth-making stuff.”
    “You mean the weaving?”
    “Yeah. That’s cloth-making, right?”
    “That’s part of it,” she said, stepping over a branch that had fallen across the path. “It’s the final part, actually.”
    “What else is involved?” I asked, mirroring her movements along the path.
    “Depends on what kind of cloth. If it’s cotton, we harvest the cotton, separate it from the seeds, and then go through a few other steps to eventually turn it into a thin yarn. If it’s wool, we sheer, wash, and spin. That’s a very simplified version, but you get the idea.”
    “Wool? You guys have sheep?”
    “Yep. Goats, cows, and horses, too.”
    I looked around. “Where are they?”
    Mandy laughed. “Not here, obviously.”
    “Obviously,” I said, feeling stupid.
    “We have a ranch that’s not far away. You can get to it by canoe.”
    “Aren’t you guys afraid of canners or other people getting out there?”
    “No. We keep it hidden. And protected. Even more now that you guys have let us know about the canners.”
    “That’s cool.”
    “Would you like to see it sometime? I could take you.”
    “I’d love to.” I couldn’t believe I was actually going to see a horse again. I’d never been one for riding before, but I couldn’t ignore what great transportation they’d be these days. “Do you guys use the horses for getting around?”
    “Yeah, sometimes. But we worry about taking them out in front of hungry kids for obvious reasons.”
    I shook my head. “It’s so ridiculous. I mean, there’s enough food on this planet that no one needs to go around eating kids or horses or dogs or any of that crazy stuff.”
    “You and I know that, but they don’t. You’d be surprised how many kids think food just appears in boxes from some factory somewhere. I don’t think they ever questioned where their food started, you know, as crops and things.”
    “Even if they did, they probably think those crops are all gone and can’t be used anymore.”
    “Exactly. Maybe someday we’ll be able to educate people and make some changes. But until then, we have to worry about ourselves and keep our animals away from the wackos.”
    We had arrived at the pool and I looked around, trying to find the gator traps.
    “Are you coming?” Mandy had walked ahead and was already partway down one of the wooden walkways, going towards the ring of huts.
    “Yeah. I’m just looking for the gator sticks.”
    “Gator sticks?”
    “Yeah. The sharp sticks that keep the gators out.”
    “Oh. They’re farther that way and over there.” She gestured to the perimeter around the outside of the huts.
    “What about the snakes? What makes them stay away?”
    “Ginger and Sneaky, the raccoons, the foxes, herons, bass, some other snakes…”
    I raised an eyebrow at her. “Ginger and Sneaky?”
    “Our cats. The snakes don’t really like them. Plus we have several king snakes around here.”
    “King snakes?”
    “Yeah. They’re badass. Kind of like canners to the cottonmouths.”
    I felt myself go faint. “Cottonmouths? There are cottonmouths here?”
    She smiled. “Yeah, of course. These are the Everglades, you know.”
    I looked at the pool with new eyes. “Holy crap. I swam in a snake’s bedroom last night.”
    Mandy walked over and grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the huts. “No you didn’t, goofball. There are no snakes here. We make way too much noise, the cats are always here, and the raccoons never get enough to eat. Believe me, there are much more peaceful places for them to hang out than here.”
    I eyed the water, but saw no wiggly things moving around. “I want to see these cats.”
    “Well, come on, then. They’re probably inside begging for attention.”
    We walked across the boards until we reached a hut that had its cloth sides on but rolled up. There were already a few people inside, none of whom was Peter. Dammit.
    “Bryn’s here to watch us make