Apocalypsis 03 - Exodus

killing. She was suffering, that was certain.
    “Where’s Bodo?” asked Winky. “I’ll kill your damn baby for you. Just tell us.”
    Brittney perked up immediately, her expression ecstatic. “Really?! You’ll do it?” She stood up and grabbed Winky by the upper arms, jumping up and down a few times before pulling her into a crazed hug. “I knew you would. I knew you were a good person as soon as I saw you. The indian kids were always nice to me when I saw them in town.”
    “Native Americans,” corrected Winky, looking at her with wary caution in her eyes.
    “Winky, you’re not …” I started.
    Winky gave me a stern look and coughed the words: shut up at me. Then she turned her attention to Brittney who’d raced into the adjoining room and was talking from within.
    “Come in here and pick your weapon! We have so many to choose from. I think the axe would be best, don’t you?” She stuck her head out. “Come on, silly! I told you, your friend doesn’t have much time. There’s going to be a ceremony, you know! As soon as the moon is highest.” She grinned and then disappeared again.
    Winky mouthed, A ceremony? at me, before turning to join Brittney. She made it to the entrance, before I heard her say, “Whoa, wow, hold on a second there, looney bird.” Winky was backing up out of the room, Brittney in front of her holding up a shiny and very lethal-looking axe.
    Brittney was smiling like she was posing for a pageant photograph. “How about this one? It’s reeeaally sharp. You can cut off its head with one chop!” She moved the axe in a slight downward motion, giggling before lifting it back up and gazing at its sharp edge above her head.
    Winky and I exchanged a look. The girl is certifiable. We had to get this baby out of here and let her think we’d killed it. It was the only way to get out and find Bodo.
    “Here, let me take that bad boy from you,” said Winky, reaching up to take the axe.
    Brittney pulled it against her chest, getting suddenly angry and suspicious. “Wait a minute. Not so fast. How do I know you’re really going to do it?”
    Winky shrugged. “You can watch if you want.” She was deliberately acting casual about it; I could tell from her posture and expression. I was hoping Winky was right that this mother, even though she was obviously very far gone, didn’t have the stomach to watch her offspring be decapitated. There’d be no way to fake that gruesome task.
    “No, no. That’s okay. I don’t need you to do it here. You can do it outside. Let’s keep this room and my parents’ room niiiiiice and clean. When they come back they will have an absolute fit if their carpet is dirty.” She smiled and giggled for a second. “Man, are they ever uptight about that stuff.” She rolled her eyes and gave us a look that said, Parents, right?
    Winky nodded, her eyes bugged out and her voice deceptively calm. “Yeeeah, let’s make sure we keep the parents happy. I’ll go kill the baby out on the front lawn so we don’t mess up the carpet.”
    “It’s not a baby. It’s a demon ,” said Brittney looking at Winky closely, squinting her eyes a little.
    Winky stared her down, first shaking her head, then nodding it. “Yeah. Of course. It’s a demon, all the way. Nasty little canner demon. I’m going to go kill it right now. You can tell Bryn about Bodo and then we’ll just be on our way. Okay?”
    Brittney smiled. “Okay! You go kill the demon. And as soon as you bring me back its head, I’ll tell you about the ceremony and the Amazons and the garden of Eden and aaaall of that fun stuff!” She looked back and forth between Winky and me. “Okay? Do we have a deal?”
    I nodded, not knowing what else to do, lost in the insanity.
    Brittney’s voice took on a business-like tone. “Give her the demon, Bryn. She’s gonna go chop its head off for us. Then we’ll do some girl talk. Gossip and stuff.” She flounced down on the cot beside me, crossing her legs and folding her hands over her knee.
    “Okaaaay,” I said, standing and gently handing the baby over to Winky, giving her crazy bug-eyes, trying to ask her silently how she was going to show this wackadoodle a baby head without actually showing her a baby head.
    Winky took the axe in her other hand, balancing the baby in her opposite arm. “Okay, Bryn.” She nodded her head at the looneybird. “Brittney. I’m gonna go chop off this demon’s head now. You guys go ahead and start talking. I’ll just