Apocalypsis 04 - Haven

stepping in the remaining blood but it was impossible - the stuff was everywhere, staining the whole inside of the boat pink and red.
    “Yes. Dey are.”
    Bodo took up the paddle that was inside the boat, pushing us off the bank and pointing us downriver.
    “Get da guns ready,” he said.
    I picked them both up, resting one on each thigh. I was at the front of the boat with an index finger on each trigger. If any canner showed his face in front of us, he was going to get it blown off.
    ***
    We came around a bend in the river we knew well, the place were we used to pull boats up when we were going to the ceremonial hut of the Miccosukee tribe who lived here. Or who had lived here before the asshole canners had come in and ruined everything.
    Even from the water we could hear the laughing and shouting.
    I turned to look at Bodo. “Who do you think that is?”
    “Not da Meeks or da Creeks. Dey are never dat loud.”
    “Or obnoxious,” I said, moving my fingers so they were tighter on the triggers. Only when the front of the boat bumped into the shore did I abandon my post and get out to secure the canoe to some nearby roots, using the vine-ropes that were always there for that purpose.
    There were three other boats already there. Judging from the moccasin I saw partway over the edge of one, inside it was the body of another kid we knew.
    I stepped into the water, moving over to that boat. I reached inside and turned the body closer to me, moving the boy onto his back.
    “Oh my god,” I jerked my hand back. When Kowi groaned, it felt like my heart had leaped up into my throat to choke me.
    “Kowi!” I whisper-screamed. “Oh my god, Kowi! What are you doing here?!” There was too much blood in the bottom of the boat. Way too much blood.
    “They surprised us,” he said softly. Blood was coming out of his mouth and staining his teeth. When he breathed out I smelled the iron of it.
    “Why are you still here?” I asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be at the ranch?”
    “I had to come back … wait. Find Coli …” He coughed a little, more blood coming out of his mouth to run down his face.
    “Who else came back?” I asked, feeling so sick I could hardly keep from vomiting. My face was burning with the increase in blood pressure. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears.
    “… Mandy… Jason …” His voice gave out before he could finish.
    Maybe there were more kids here, maybe not, but I was never going to know. I could see the light leaving his eyes as his body went completely slack.
    “Oh my god,” I whispered, reaching out and putting my hand on his cheek. It was still warm and spiked with beard stubble. Tears flowed down my face and I had to struggle to keep the sobs silent. This was so unfair. Such a needless, useless waste of life.
    I was no preacher’s kid like Jamal and Ronald, but I sure wished I was in that moment. I couldn’t think of the right words to send Kowi on his way, and for some reason, it felt really important to me in that moment that I do this.
    The sorrow I felt at losing him from this world was almost too much to bear. He was such a proud, good man - a real leader. And his life had been taken in the cruelest of ways, when he was trying to take care of his people. He died not even knowing if he’d been successful.
    Through my sobs, I said the prayer that came from somewhere out in the ether. “Kowi, I’ll remember you for the rest of my life. And if I ever have kids, they’ll remember you too. I promise to take care of your people and get them to safety. Have a safe journey.” I pushed his lids closed and stepped back from the canoe.
    I pulled the narrow boat free of its moorings and sent it down river, praying that the spirits who inhabited this place would guide him wherever he needed to go. I looked up into the sky after the boat turned a corner. “Dad, please take care of him. He’s one of the good ones.”
    A vision of my father standing at the end of a tunnel of light with his arms held out filled me with a brief sense of peace. I’d probably made the whole thing up in my mind just to move past the pain that was tearing me up inside, but a piece of me felt like Kowi was in good hands now, on his way to heaven or wherever it was that my dad was waiting for me. I stood there in the water until I couldn’t see Kowi’s boat anymore.
    And now it was time for me to take care of business, down here on Earth. Down here where kids who murdered others