Apocalypsis 04 - Haven

in cold blood paid the ultimate price.
    Murderous rage replaced the sorrow I had for Kowi’s untimely and unfair end, filling my every cell. Death had come to Kahayatle in the form of soulless canners, and now death was going to come once again - in the form of me . Bryn Mathis. Ball-biter. The girl who wouldn’t quit until every one of those cold-blooded bastards paid for the pain they’d caused.
    I took my gun and t-shirt full of shotgun shells and stepped out of the water, following the path through the trees that would lead me to the hut. I paid no mind to Bodo behind me. He could go or stay as far as I was concerned. I was on a mission.
    Using the techniques taught to me by Kowi’s mate, I made my way soundlessly towards the murderers. All the lessons Coli had tried to teach me suddenly fell into place, rendering me a ruthless and silent assassin. A killing machine. And I wasn’t going to stop until I’d taken them all out.
    I am Nokosi, and you are done today, canners. Done.
    ***
    The idiots had a fire going in the middle of the hut, not caring at all that it would likely burn the place down eventually. They were too busy eating and drinking something alcoholic to care about anything but themselves.
    I moved into position behind a large cypress tree. Bodo came up behind me a few seconds later.
    “What is da plan?” he whispered in my ear. There was no danger of anyone overhearing us, they were being so loud.
    “I’m going to kill every single one of them.” I put my shells down on the ground in front of me and got busy untying the knot that held them all in my t-shirt. Once they were free, I hurriedly put my shirt on, making sure to stay ducked down so they wouldn’t see my arms come up over the branch and the part of the trunk that kept us hidden. I shoved the shells in my pockets when I was dressed again, giving a few more to Bodo.
    “I will go around, and we can get dem in a cross-fire,” he suggested.
    I nodded. I wasn’t sure I’d wait for him to get to his final spot before I started, but whatever. As long as we took them down, it didn’t matter to me where he was.
    He left without saying another word and without a kiss goodbye. I didn’t know if I was relieved or sad about that or if I would even accept a kiss from him if he offered it. There were too may unanswered questions swirling around right now.
    I waited a minute or two after Bodo left, trying to figure out how many canners there were. Using a peephole made by the high and strangely shaped tree roots, I counted ten in the hut; but that didn’t mean there weren’t more close by. The assholes were drunk, and I already knew from my ball-biting incident that they tended to wander when they were that way.
    A crunching of leaves off to my left caused me to freeze in fright. I turned my head ever-so-slowly, my eyes nearly falling out of my head when I saw a guy passing just to my left. If he turned to look at me, there would be no way he could miss me. My gun was hanging at my right side.
    I quickly weighed my options. I could lift the gun, twist, and shoot him, starting the war between me and the rest of them right then, right now before Bodo got in position. Or I could wait it out for the few seconds it would take him to pass by. Maybe he wouldn’t look. I needed more time to plan this attack. I wasn’t ready yet. Please God, let him go and not see me!
    All of my hopes and prayers were for nothing. No sooner had I decided to wait him out, than he turned and faced me.
    He stopped walking for a couple seconds, frowned, and then opened up his mouth to shout, “Hey! What are you doing over there?”
    A shot rang out and his body jerked hard as it was flung back into the leaves. Two seconds after calling me out, he laid there motionless, crimson spreading across his chest from a gaping wound, put there obviously by a shotgun.
    Bodo!
    Bodo had very possibly just saved my life.
    And now the war was on.
    I lifted my gun up and stepped onto a root, elevating myself so I could shoot between some branches.
    Another boom came from across the clearing and a canner standing near the fire went down, landing right in it. He screamed bloody murder as sparks flew up everywhere, but his efforts didn’t last long. He stopped moving before he was fully free of the flames and soon his shirt was on fire. The smell of cooking human made my stomach roll.
    Canners who’d been sitting nearby dove out of the way, yelling and scrambling for nearby