Apocalypsis 04 - Haven

is much worse than her bite. Usually.”
    “Ease up, there, Katy,” he said with more volume, walking toward the back of the truck.
    She barely spared us a glance as she strode by, following close on his heels. “Do you know how worried I was? Tater ’n me have been pacing so much we nearly wore a hole in the floorboards!”
    “You can stop yelling any second now,” he said. It sounded like laughter wasn’t that far away for him.
    She punched him in the back. “ That’s for leaving us behind and almost gettin’ yourself killed!”
    He arched his back and shuffled a couple steps, but kept on walking. “Damn, Katy, ease up. Can’t you see my nose is broke?”
    “I’m-a break your damn neck! How about that?”
    He stopped at the back of the truck, turning to face his sister. “Katy. Chillax, girl. I brought some people.” He smiled wide.
    I’d drawn even with Jackson, so I could see the expression on her face when it went from mad to excited. “Really? You found hands?”
    I felt instantly sick.
    Extending my palms out towards both of them and putting some distance between us, I said, “Hold up … you guys brought those people here to take their hands? What is that … some kind of sick fetish?” I backed up farther, taking my gun out of my waistband and holding it with two hands at waist-level, pointed at the ground.
    The girl looked at me for a second like I was nuts. Then she turned to her brother and jerked her thumb in my direction. “Who’s the dumbass?”
    Jackson chuckled. “She ain’t no dumbass. She’s the ball -biter.” He nodded a few times to drive home the point.
    Katy’s mouth dropped open as she stared first at her brother and then at me. “No! Say it ain’t so!”
    I wasn’t sure, but it was possible I’d just gone from dumbass to testicle-chomping celebrity in her eyes. This was one twisted family.
    “Yeah. And she busted my nose and could probably bust yours too in a heartbeat, so if you could just tone it down about eighty notches, that’d be great.” He hopped up onto the back step in an easy, practiced motion and opened up the big doors, pushing them both wide as he jumped down.
    Katy stepped back, a shocked expression on her face as she waved her hand in front of her nose. “Shew-eee, damn that smells. Oh my god, there’s kids in there!” She scowled at her bother. “You put them in there like that? They ain’t cattle, you know. They’re humans!”
    “You were going to eat their hands,” I reminded her, my gun still out.
    “Girl, you are some kinda stupid, ain’t ya? No wonder you’re runnin’ around bitin’ balls.” She snorted. “Darwin’s gonna take care-a you, mark my words.”
    Bodo put his hand on my shoulder. I recognized it for the moral support it was. I appreciated it since I felt about as dumb as a box of rocks at this point.
    Jackson looked at me with a smile. “Did I mention my sister is easy to rile up? And just to clarify, we were looking for hands as in ranch hands. You know, cowboys? People to help out around here?”
    The lightbulb popped on above my head. “Ooooh, raaaanch hands. That makes waaaay more sense than what I was thinking.” I wiped my brow. “Phew. My mind went a little nuts there.”
    “Nuts. That’s funny, comin’ from you,” said Katy, walking up closer to the trailer. She wasn’t laughing. Facing the kids inside, she said, “You guys wanna come out? I got some beef stew on the stove.”
    All of the kids who were able to shuffled forward, most of them falling in the dirt when they tried to get down. Bodo, Jackson, and I helped them up while Katy led the way to her house. We left the sleeping kids where they were inside the trailer.
    “It ain’t much, but it’s better than starving,” she said as she disappeared behind the door. “Wait on the porch! I’ll bring it out!”
    “Jackson, how in the hell have you managed to keep all these cows out here without getting them taken?” I asked, marveling at their sheer size and number. They were all a whitish-creme color and looked as big as pick-up trucks from where I was standing.
    “Well, lemme tell ya … it’s been a challenge. But I’m a diplomat, so that’s made it easier. And they ain’t all cows, obviously. We got bulls and steers, too.”
    I frowned. “How does being a diplomat make it easier? I don’t get it.”
    “I ain’t got no enemies, see? I deal with everyone square. You got somethin’ to trade, you eat my beef. You ain’t got