Apocalypsis 03 - Exodus

ridiculous statement. “We’re not trading one of our friends for another so they can participate in your disgusting cannibal rituals. Nuh-uh.” I shook my head, trying to act casual about the whole thing, hoping I could delay her attack long enough to come up with a plan.
    A couple girls near the fire lifted up their machetes in threatened stances, their expressions telling me pretty clearly I’d offended them.
    “We’re not cannibals,” said Rainbow Vom Girl. “We’re warriors. That’s it.”
    “I heard you hang out with cannibals,” I challenged. Time to clear the air on this crap.
    “We might use those guys for certain purposes, but we definitely don’t use them for food. That’s disgusting.”
    I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had leaned over and spit at that point. She was as tough as they come, despite her glamour-girl looks. I almost wanted to fight her just to see if she could back up that attitude with some muscle and moves; but this wasn’t a game, and we had to get the heck out of there before things got messy.
    “What purposes?” asked Winky.
    I cringed, because I had a feeling I knew what was coming.
    “Sex,” the girl answered simply.
    “That’s just gross,” said Winky, really quietly. Only the two girls next to her and I heard what she said. One of them reached up to slap Winky, when their leader yelled out, stopping her in mid-strike.
    “Stop! Don’t hit her. Just because she doesn’t get us, doesn’t mean she needs to be beaten. She’s carrying a baby.”
    My heart soared with hope. Mercy in the form of Rainbow Brite.
    She turned her attention back to me. “I made you a deal. Take it or leave it.” She sighed once, seeming impatient.
    “Look at the moon!” yelled a girl from across the bonfire.
    Rainbow Vom Girl looked up, turning and motioning for her friends to come join her.
    “Time’s up,” she said. “What’s it going to be? Bodo or …” she gestured towards Rob, “… Jacob.”
    ***
    I started laughing so hard, I couldn’t help it.
    “Jacob?” asked Rob. “Are you serious?” He knocked me on the upper arm with the back of his hand. “Did you hear what she just called me?” He looked back at her, pissed off. “I’m no werewolf, woman.”
    I nodded, and then shook my head, unable to speak. I’d never heard anyone be so ignorant in my life. And I thought I’d been bad calling my friends indians.
    Rob crossed his arms over his chest. “Listen, Parrot Woman, no way am I going with you guys, especially since you obviously have no appreciation for me as a person.”
    I looked at Rob sideways, whispering, “Do you have any idea how much you sound like Peter right now?”
    He frowned at me.
    “Who’s Peter?” asked Rainbow Vom Girl.
    “He’s our friend. Our gay friend. He’s not your type, trust me.”
    She shrugged. “We aren’t that picky. We just need them to be big and healthy.”
    “Why?” asked Winky. “Why not small and healthy?”
    “We’re starting a new race, and only the strong survive; you should know that by now. Our children will be the new leaders of this world. We need to give them every chance they can get. Bigger is better.”
    I thought about it for a second, before responding. Establish some common ground with her. Show her you’re not a threat. “I hear what you’re saying. I mean, if you can get some of these girls pregnant, then you have a chance at starting a new community. That’s what we’re trying to do, too. Not in exactly the same way, but same concept.”
    “Minus the orgies,” said Winky. “We’re gonna do it the old fashioned way. You know … boy meets girl, boy likes girl, boy asks girl out.”
    Rainbow snorted. “And that worked out so well for our world before, right?” She glared at Winky and then me. “Are you complete imbeciles or what?”
    I felt my feathers ruffle a little, but tried not to let it show on my face. “Uhhh, no?”
    “Then you have to see the problem with your little plan. Men ruined our world. They got power hungry. They played games with our food, our environment, our genetics … and look what happened.”
    Winky and I exchanged glances but said nothing.
    “The world ended,” she continued. “A virus they created with their carelessness and greed came down and wiped away the problem. And guess what? We get to start over. With no more power-hungry men. No more women playing along with the whole boy-meets-girl bullshit.” She looked pointedly at Winky.