Apocalypsis 04 - Haven

time, wait for my moment.
    “No! Don’t come out!” yelled Bodo.
    The canner standing behind him hit him over the head with the butt of his gun. It didn’t knock Bodo out, but it did make him stumble. More blood poured down his head as he swayed and fell to his knees.
    “Put your guns away, and I’ll come out!” I yelled. It was worth a shot. Come on! Think, think, think! Come up with a plan!
    “Dude, it’s just a chick,” scoffed one of the canners. He stuck his gun in the front of his pants. He faced my general direction, looking out into the trees. “Well! Come on then! Don’t keep us waiting!”
    “I’m not putting my gun away,” said one of the smaller guys. “Could be the ball-biter. I like my balls where they are.”
    “I’m not the ball-biter!” I yelled, thinking maybe I could make them believe I was harmless so they’d let their guard down. They were afraid of a tough-as-nails girl, so I had to be the opposite.
    Time to turn on the sexy. It was my only hope of survival. I knew their credo: Rape before murder. They were savage but predictable. I had to get them to think of me as a piece of ass and not a hunk of meat. And definitely not a ball-biter.
    “I’ve heard of her, though, that ball-biter girl,” I continued. “That’s just gross, all that ball-biting. I don’t do stuff like that. Balls are my friends.” I rolled my eyes at my own stupidity. Flirting with canners did not come naturally, apparently.
    “Just stop talking and come out. I’m running out of patience.” The guy behind Bodo shook his gun towards Bodo’s head, and I could tell from his tone he wasn’t kidding.
    I quickly flipped the bottom of my t-shirt up through the neck hole and pulled it down, making a lame type of halter top, hoping it would make me more appealing to these rapists. Buying time until I could come up with a plan was the only thing I could think to do at this point. I pulled my shorts down a little too, exposing my hips as best I could. They were bony, and my six-pack abs probably did away with any femininity I was going for, but what the heck … it was worth a try. I pulled all the shells out of my pockets and left them on the ground under some leaves.
    I stepped out from behind the tree and picked my way over the roots and dead branches towards the guys, acting as dainty as I knew how and making sure to squeal a little every time I slipped intentionally.
    “Oh my god , this swamp is so icky! How do you guys stand living here? My nails are totally ruined.” I stopped about ten feet away from the closest canner and looked at my fingers in disgust, making sure not to share eye contact with any of them. I didn’t want them to feel threatened; the more they bought into my helpless girl act, the better off Bodo and I would be, at least in the short term.
    I pouted. “Dang it. I wish I had some nail polish.”
    One of the guys snorted. “Are you kidding? Nail polish? Out here?”
    I held up my hands, nails out. “Do I look like I’m kidding?” I dropped my arms to my sides and bit my lower lip for a few seconds, making sure they all saw my damsel-in-distress act. I blinked a few times rapidly. “Wow. You guys … you look serious. Are you going to let us go or what?” I was a little disturbed at how easily the airhead thing was coming to me. I was totally channeling the girl in Clueless . They couldn’t possibly believe I was this stupid.
    Guns lowered, and all but one canner put their weapons in the waistbands of their pants. Only the one holding Bodo kept his out and aimed at the ground near where Bodo was still on his knees.
    “What’s your name?” the one nearest me asked.
    “Katy.” It was the first name that popped into my head, and I immediately kicked myself mentally for using it. Chances were these guys would make it out of here and I wouldn’t; I just hoped they were getting a good look at me now and wouldn’t mistake me for the real Katy later if they ever found their way to her ranch.
    “Katy … where are you and this guy from?” asked the one with the gun. His suspicion was coming off him in waves. “He’s German, right?” Something about the way he said that made alarm bells ring like mad in my head. If they’d heard about the ball-biter, they’d probably heard about the goofy German kid too.
    “German? Heck no. He’s from Lithuania.”
    Again. Information coming from my butt. I didn’t even know where Lithuania was on a map. Is it near Greece? Hungary?