Apocalypsis 03 - Exodus

hurt.”
    “Maybe he’s not as good a person as you think,” she said, looking up at me blankly.
    “I think he is. Maybe he’s made hard choices, too, but I believe that he’s good no matter what.”
    “Then you’re a naive idiot who deserves what she gets.” Brittney stood, anger back on her face.
    I wasn’t sure if I were relieved by it or happier with the zombie look. Both were disconcerting. “So? What is it? Where is he?”
    Before Brittney could answer, we heard Winky’s voice from up above.
    “Okay, guys. Dead baby head, coming down!”
    ***
    Bile rose into my throat as Winky’s moccasins made their way down into the room. She held a bloodstained bundle in her arms, now much smaller than the original.
    My mouth dropped open and stayed there. I was in complete shock that she’d actually done it. My attention was drawn from the horror by Brittney’s reaction.
    She was jumping up and down with glee, clapping her hands in front of her chest rapidly. “Oh, I’m so excited you actually did it. I was afraid you wouldn’t, but I should have trusted you. I could tell you were a good person as soon as I saw you. I’m sorry I made fun of your name,” she said, nearly simpering in her admiration of Winky.
    I shook my head slowly, from side to side. This one was a complete surprise for me. I wasn’t even sure I could hang out with Winky-the-baby-murderer anymore. What am I going to do? Tell her to go back to the swamp? Will she listen to me? Will she try to axe me, too? My heart was racing again, and now I felt outnumbered. It was two lunatics and a baby head against me in a tiny, enclosed space. I opened my stance a little and twisted my head a little to limber it up, never letting my eyes leave Winky.
    “Yeah. It was pretty easy, actually. That neck was tiny. But here’s the head. There’s, you know, junk coming out of it though, so I’d keep it wrapped up in the blanket if I were you.”
    Brittney cringed a little. “Ew. I’m not keeping it. I just want to be sure it’s real.” She blinked a couple times. “You could be trying to trick me.”
    Please, God, let Winky be trying to trick her. I hadn’t considered that because I’d seen enough blood in my life to know what the real thing looked like - and this was it.
    “Here you go,” said Winky, pulling back the blanket a little. A brown, hairy skull peeked out from behind the folds of crimson-stained cloth.
    “Okay, okay,” said Brittney, waving her hand hurriedly at the bundle. “You can put it away now. I believe you. Can you please go … put it out in the front yard with the body. Maybe hide it behind a tree or something?”
    “Sure. You coming, Bryn?” Winky asked casually, as if she weren’t carrying a bloody baby head in her arms.
    I nodded dumbly, feeling like I’d been transported to another dimension. I didn’t know whether I wanted to leave the hell that was down here or stay away from the hell that awaited me up the stairs. I was so confused.
    “I have to tell her about her boyfriend first.” Brittney grabbed my arm and dragged me over to the cot, forcing me to sit down.
    Winky continued up the stairs and disappeared.
    “Okay. First … there are a group of Amazons who are keeping him nearby. You know the house down the street that was owned by Chancery Crouch, that movie star? We’ll, they’re there. And they’ve got him and a bunch of other cute guys, and they’re doing a ceremony tonight where they all get tied to a group of girls for life. Isn’t that cute?” She grabbed my arm and wiggled it a little. “No, you probably don’t think so. But except for him being your boyfriend, it is pretty sweet if you ask me.”
    I held up my hand, feeling almost tired over the barrage of nutty illusions she was vomiting all over me. “What now? Did you say Amazons ?”
    “Yeah. Amazons.”
    “As in, from the rainforest?”
    She giggled. “No. As in, from Palm Beach.”
    “Amazons. From Palm Beach.” I shook my head. “Why did I think I was going to get a straight story from a fucking lunatic.” I was pissed now. All this time I’d thought she had something to tell me. And Winky had killed a damn baby over it.
    “Don’t call me a lunatic,” she said angrily. Then her expression changed immediately to one of a happy prom queen. “Seriously. They’re all tall and gorgeous. That’s part of the rules, you have to be gorgeous or they kill you. And they’ve captured a bunch of gorgeous guys. And they’re