Apocalypsis 04 - Haven

behind her back.
    “Where’s she goingk to go?” asked Bodo. “Dare’s nothing out dare.”
    “She’ll be back,” said Peter. “She’s just one of those people who has a hard time adjusting.”
    “Don’t count on it,” said Zach. He sounded sad. “She’s pretty stubborn. That’s how she made it this far. She came all the way from Tennessee.”
    “Whatever,” I said, watching her form getting smaller and smaller. “I wish her well. I think she’s an idiot but that doesn’t mean I want her to die out there.”
    Paci patted me on the shoulder, leaving his hand there when he was done. “You did the right thing, Nokosi. You have to be tough. People have to toe the line or it’ll be anarchy in here.”
    Bodo walked by and bumped into Paci, causing Paci’s hand to fall off my shoulder. “Come on,” he said, “I’m still hungry. And we gotta digk dose holes very soon.”
    Paci watched him walk away, a very slight frown appearing for a second before disappearing and leaving him impassive again. He walked away without saying a word.
    Peter came up and stood beside me as we watched everyone else walk to the door. “Trouble brewing in paradise, I see.”
    “Please say it isn’t, Peter. Seriously.” I looked over at him. “I have too much crap to deal with right now to worry about roosters in the henhouse.”
    “Perhaps you should have thought of that before you kissed the second rooster.”
    I gasped. “What? How do you know that?”
    Peter raised an eyebrow at me. “How quickly you forget who you’re dealing with. I know all. I see all. I am the great and terrible Oz.”
    “Coli caught me, didn’t she?”
    Peter sighed. “Yeah. And she told everyone who would listen what a slut you are.”
    I rolled my eyes, headed back into the building. “Great. As if my life didn’t suck enough already.”
    I could just barely make out Bodo walking through the crowd of kids to get to the food again. I was going to have to tell him about Paci and me as soon as I had the chance. I couldn’t let him hear about that kiss from anyone else, and the guilt was eating me alive. I was seriously not looking forward to that conversation.
    ***
    It was Buster’s frenzied behavior that clued me in to something being not quite right about Paci.
    Bodo was eating lunch with the others, and I had just started making my way over to the buffet when I caught frantic jumping motions out of the corner of my eye. Buster was doing some kind of crazy dance at Paci’s feet. He looked like a little kid on Christmas morning, waiting to open presents that were just out of his reach.
    I frowned, taking a detour in Paci’s direction. He was standing just at the entrance to the alcove where Fohi was recuperating. By the time I reached his side after weaving my way around several groups of people, Buster’s enthusiasm had increased in its fervor. He looked like he was going to suffer a stroke any second, whining and letting out sharp barks over and over.
    “Dude. What’s in the bag?” I pointed to the bag he had hanging over his shoulder and resting on his hip.
    “Just some stuff,” he said, his eyes glued on Fohi.
    “What kind of stuff?” I tried to use the side of my foot to guide Buster away, but he wasn’t having any of it. He rushed around my toes and started dancing again on Paci’s other side.
    “Stuff stuff.” Paci shifted the bag a little.
    A muffled meow came from inside.
    “What the hell was that?” I asked. “Is that a cat in there?”
    Paci sighed heavily. “It was supposed to be a surprise.” He frowned scoldingly at Buster as he opened up the flap on his bag.
    Several of the other kids who had followed my progress over and watched Buster doing his dance gathered behind me.
    “What’s in the bag?” asked one of them.
    Paci’s hand finally came out with a big ball of fluff in it.
    “What the hell?” I asked.
    And then the ball of fluff moved and two little tiny eyes were looking at me, blinking sleepily. Paci extended the thing out to me, and my hands came up automatically to accept it. He reached into his bag and pulled out another ball of fluff, handing that one to me too.
    “Happy birthday,” he said, smiling slightly.
    “But it’s not my birthday. And what … what are they?” I knew I sounded totally stupid, but I couldn’t figure out what he was doing giving me kittens.
    They shifted to get more comfortable and cuddled up closer to each other. Then they began purring, the regular