Apocalypsis 04 - Haven

point!”
    “I can only send there!” she yelled. “The birds only go one place!”
    “Send it anyway! Maybe someone there who’s on our side will get it!”
    “Wait!” she yelled.
    I stopped, letting Paci pass me by.
    “We have an alert code for this situation. Should I use it?!”
    “Yes!”
    I left Jenny to her messages and ran for the door to the compound, getting there just behind Paci.
    He threw the door open for me. “Where are you going?” he asked, breathing heavily.
    “I’m getting Peter and the City Manager Group. We need to get our defenses up and ready. Everyone needs to get armed.”
    “I’ll sound the alarm,” he said.
    “Good. See you out front.” I turned to run to the hallway.
    Paci grabbed my hand and pulled me back, spinning me in his direction.
    “What?!” I asked, freaking out as I imagined a whole army of canners descending on Haven while we were all peacefully hanging around, building bathrooms and sheering sheep.
    “Just this,” he said, pulling me to him and pressing his lips to mine.
    We’d both been running, and our upper lips were sweaty. The salty droplets pushed down to our lips as they smashed together. His hot, slippery tongue came out to invade my mouth before my brain even had time to compute what was happening.
    Maybe I should have complained or shoved him away, but I didn’t want to. I’d missed him, watching him all this time being stoic and strong and good to everyone around him. Happiness was in such short supply and life was so damn unpredictable; I had to grab the bits of it I could when they presented themselves.
    I turned my head and deepened the kiss, pulling him tighter to me.
    He moaned and wrapped his arms around my back, going so far that his fingers rested around the edge of my ribs and touched the edges of my breasts.
    “Whoo hooo, somebody get me the fire extinguisher!” yelled Fohi, coming out of the nearby hallway. He was clapping his hands. “Check it, Fuzzybeans. Those are called lo-vers. Maybe someday you’ll have one.”
    I broke off the kiss, leaving Paci with a stormy look on his face. “Later.” I smacked him lightly on the cheek. He released me so I could run over to Fohi.
    “Whoa, what? Am I next?” A huge grin split Fohi’s face and he opened up his arms. “Come to Papa.”
    “Canners on the way. I need you to arm everyone up, now.”
    “Is this a drill?” He dropped his arms at his sides, his game face instantly in place. He’d been practicing for this event three times a day, every day since he was able to walk again.
    “This is not a drill. This is the real deal. They’re on their way, and Gail is coming with them.”
    “That bitch.” Fohi reached behind him and pulled out a big white canister.
    “What the hell is that?” I asked, totally confused.
    Fohi wiggled his eyebrows at me. “Got my own little early warning system.”
    He lifted the device above our heads and pressed a button on the top of it.
    Three things happened simultaneously:
    A very loud air-horn blast ripped the air around us, sending my eardrums into painful spasms.
    Fuzzybeans immediately decided that Fohi’s shoulder was a very dangerous place to be and detached a section of his back skin in her hurry to leave.
    And Fohi’s recently regained balance abandoned him. Rocketed forward by the unexpected sting of kitty claws, Fohi fell into me, sending us both into a pile of arms and legs on the floor.
    ***
    Paci helped me to my feet, nudging Fohi farther away with his foot once he had me up.
    “Idiot,” Paci said. “Put that damn air-horn away before you destroy everyone’s hearing.”
    People were pouring out of the hallways and in through the front door.
    “It worked, didn’t it?” Fohi was on his knees, trying to regain enough balance to get up.
    Rob came striding in with Winky at his side. Both of them had pink, flustered faces and stopped to help Fohi.
    “What’s up?” asked Winky, letting Fohi go when he was standing.
    “Canners are coming, we think. Everyone needs to arm up,” I said.
    I caught Peter’s eye as he came into the room.
    The crowd was getting louder and louder as the word spread across the room.
    “Listen up, everyone!” yelled Paci.
    The room went dead silent.
    “We think we have a group of canners coming. We don’t know how many people or the exact details, other than they’re coming soon. We need everyone to get armed and in position. We could be in position for a day or several. It’s hard to say