Apocalypsis 03 - Exodus

I said, patting him on the back. “Thanks for that.”
    “That what? Spectacle?” he asked, still looking pretty stunned.
    “The entertainment. I love when LaShay gets her undies in a bunch. Come on. Let’s go swimming.”
    Jamal and Ronald both looked afraid again, so I pointed to the dock. “Sit there, take off your shoes, and dip your feet in the water. It’s really nice.” I reached down and pulled my moccasins off.
    “Aren’t you afraid of snakes?” asked Ronald.
    “And alligators?” asked Jamal.
    “Yep,” I said matter-of-factly, and then jumped into the water with all my clothes on.
    Within minutes the newcomers had a swarm of girls swimming at their feet. They were all laughing and joking around, including Jamal. He kept looking at LaShay, but she wasn’t giving him the time of day. She was teasing Ronald though, and he was being really good-natured about it. I had a feeling he must have had a bossy mother, the way he handled her so well. He never got offended no matter what she said. I liked him more and more with each passing minute. He and his brother would be good additions to our little community.
    Eventually the sun started going down, so I got out and sat down next to the guys. “We need to get going. The meeting will be in an hour or so and I need to try and get somewhat dried off.”
    “You should probably get that leg cleaned up, too,” said Ronald, eyeing it warily.
    I looked down and noticed it looked a little raggedy. “I probably shouldn’t have gone swimming,” I said, almost to myself, biting my lip as I tried to touch it without making it hurt.
    “I’ll get you fixed up. Just go to the clinic, and I’ll be right there,” said LaShay. She reached up and smacked my hand away from my leg. “Don’t touch!” She swam away, a group of kids following behind her.
    I rolled my eyes and pulled my moccasins on. I noticed Ronald and Jamal staring at the kids getting out of the water, every one of them missing an arm or a leg. They exchanged looks but said nothing. I was glad they were seeing it; I wanted them to know that the people here were the good kind and not the vicious kind.
    When Peter and I were ready, the four of us walked together through the trees, headed towards the clinic. Ronald finally spoke.
    “So … we noticed that the kids in the pool were all … you know …”
    “Missing body parts?” I suggested.
    “Yeah. I wouldn’t have put it quite so bluntly, but yeah.”
    “Canner victims. We rescued them a few days ago,” said Peter.
    “Wow. That’s amazing,” said Jamal, respect in his voice. “You guys did that? Why?”
    “Because it was the right thing to do,” I said.
    “But didn’t that put you in danger?” asked Ronald.
    “Yes, it did,” said Peter.
    I joined in. “They took Celia, one of the Creek girls, and she escaped; but she told us what was going on, so we could hardly just ignore it and do nothing.”
    “Everyone else does,” said Ronald softly.
    “Well, we’re not everyone else,” said Peter, his voice filled with pride.
    “Can I ask you a question?” said Jamal.
    “Seems like you already have,” I said. I wasn’t being mean, but it seemed funny to ask permission now. We’d already had the awkward why-are-all-these-kids-missing-limbs conversation.
    “When you all made the decision to go after those guys … what did Trip say? Was he for it or against it?”
    I sighed. I knew this wasn’t just about the canner mission. “He was against it at first. But he changed his mind.”
    “Who changed it for him?”
    “Kowi, probably. They’re old friends. He trusts him.”
    “Do you think Kowi’s going to let us stay?” asked Ronald.
    “I don’t know. I want to think, yes, but you never know with these guys. They have a lot of people to take care of and worry about.” Even though I was pretty sure Kowi was going to let them stay, I didn’t want to get their hopes up yet.
    Nobody said anything after that. I’m sure we were all wondering about Ronald’s and Jamal’s fates.
    We arrived at the clinic and Winky was there to fix me up. LaShay helped, but mostly she busied herself with changing bandages on the hurt kids’ arms and legs; and she worked very hard at ignoring Jamal, too. He kept staring at her but she obviously wasn’t interested. I shook my head. Poor guy. He and Peter should get together and compare notes on how to deal with difficult crushes.
    We left the clinic a half hour later, along with all the