Apocalypsis 03 - Exodus

“They’ll dry up soon. Just take him. Really. I’ll be okay.”
    Winky shook her head and took a step back. “Hell to-the-no. I don’t want that baby. It’s not mine.”
    Melody frowned. “Whose is it?”
    “They said it belongs to the cannibal girl,” said her sister.
    “Who? Brittney?”
    “Yeah.”
    “You guys know her?” asked Rob, coming over to join us.
    “Yeah. She went to the same school as us, back in the day,” said Kiersten. “Mean girl. Totally vicious.”
    “Nothing’s changed there,” said Winky, her words loaded with meaning. “She made us chop this baby’s head off, so I’m pretty sure he’s better off with you.”
    Melody pulled the baby back into her chest, gently tugging the blanket back to examine his neck. “You seem to have missed,” she said, studying his face closely and smiling absently. She looked mesmerized, unable to tear her eyes away from his. He stared back up at her, no longer fussing, one little hand escaping to wave around. She took it in hers and gently kissed his tiny fingers, one at a time..
    “We just pretended to kill him,” Winky explained. “The blood on the blanket isn’t his. So essentially, we rescued him from a mentally deranged killer, and you need to keep him safe here so she doesn’t come after him.”
    Kiersten nudged her sister. “So what do you think? Are you okay with taking in a cannibal baby?”
    Melody’s face lifted quickly and she glared at her sister. “Don’t you dare say that about him. All babies are innocent. We are not our parents!”
    “God, I hope so,” breathed out Kiersten. She looked at me, nodding her head. “We accept your deal. You can have Bodo, so long as you leave the baby with us and release any claim on him.”
    “Done,” I said without hesitation, holding out my hand so she could shake it. Winky put hers on top of ours and so did Melody. We moved our hands up and down in tandem, all of us smiling.
    “Sorry we kind of overdid it with Bodo. He’s going to be a little bit hard to move for a while,” Kiersten said, smirking.
    “How long?” asked Rob.
    “A few hours? So why don’t you stay and have some food with us. You can go when he can walk.” She looked at each of us and added, “I promise you’ll be safe. No one will mess with you while you’re here. You get a free pass today.”
    I looked at the others and they nodded. I wanted to get the hell out of there, worrying that if we stuck around they might change their minds. But Bodo couldn’t even stay awake, and I had a feeling he’d collapse to the ground if he were released from his bonds, so I agreed to stay.
    “Sure. We’ll leave in a few hours. But, uhhh, not to offend you or anything … but we don’t eat, you know … people.”
    “Neither do we. But I hope you don’t have issues with vegetables, because we’re mostly vegetarians here.”
    “Mostly?” asked Winky.
    “We eat an occasional dog or fish if we can catch it, but only enough to keep our strength up.”
    I swallowed hard, thinking of poor Buster less than two miles away. “Yeah, I’ll pass on the dog, but vegetables sound good to me.”
    Kiersten gestured towards the fire, yelling out to the girls. “The festival has now officially begun. Bring the food and Alejandro. Let’s celebrate our new addition!” She gestured to the baby bundle and Melody held him up, smiling from ear to ear.
    The girls started whooping for joy, several of them running up the stairs to do their leader’s bidding and the rest coming to swarm around Melody and her adopted offspring. I spared a moment to look at the new mom again; she had quieted the baby’s newest fit by giving him her breast, and the look of utter rapture and calm on her face made me nearly jealous.
    I left her to run up the stairs to Bodo, reaching his side in seconds.
    ***
    I could hear all kinds of things happening around me, but all I could think about was Bodo. He was passed out, or appeared to be - hung over with his head dropping down to his chest. I put my hands on either side of his face to lift it up.
    He jerked his head out of my grasp and struggled hard against the ropes holding him for a moment until his eyes focused and he realized it was me.
    “Ooooh, hey dare, Bryn. Is dat really you?” He squinted his eyes and shook his head a little.
    “Yeah, it’s me.” I was grinning like an idiot. I couldn’t help it.
    “You look happy,” he said, smiling back for a moment. Then his smile turned into a