Apocalypsis 04 - Haven

had promised to keep the EWS a secret, but I was certain that meant from canners and not friends. “You guys need to get in on that,” I said. “Trip, seriously, you need to send at least a couple people to the Triple Bar D to get trained and to get some birds.”
    “Talk to Kowi about that,” he said.
    Everyone went silent as they waited for my response. All I could hear was the pounding of my pulse and the rustle of a slight breeze through the trees before Mandy spoke up.
    “We have some very bad news, everyone. Very bad news.” She had started to cry again. She tried to continue but couldn’t.
    “What?” asked Trip. “What the hell are you trying to say?” He stood, his body language screaming fight .
    “Don’t get angry, Trip,” I urged. “There’s nothing we can do now that we didn’t already do to take care of it. It’s just … really, really bad news. The worst.”
    Mandy held up her hand, and we waited for her to gather herself. This was her news to deliver if she wanted to. I was ready to do it for her if I had to, but these were her people and it was her right to decide.
    I looked at Paci’s smooth features and proud bearing. This was going to be hardest on him.
    He turned his head and caught my eye.
    I tried to beg him silently across the space between us to forgive me for not getting to his brother sooner. I really did feel like it was partially my fault for not being there to defend him. He’d brought me into his tribe and cared for me when I was desperately seeking shelter, and in a way I’d let him down.
    Paci frowned, asking me silently what was going on.
    I mouthed the words, “I’m sorry, ” just before Mandy delivered the news.
    “The canners killed Kowi,” she finally said. “When he went back for Coli. They got Jason too.”
    “What?!” yelled Trip. “That’s bullshit! That didn’t happen!” The glow from the lamps lit up his angry face. The veins in his forehead and neck were standing out as he continued to yell. “Kowi is not dead! Neither is Jason! You’re wrong!”
    Several girls started crying with Mandy. Jeremy’s face went from confused to startled and then shocked. His mouth dropped open, but he remained silent.
    “Oh my god, y’all,” said LaShay. She wandered off into the darkness crying.
    “Yes, he is, Trip,” I said in a low tone. I didn’t want to fight him; I just wanted him to understand. I kept my gaze lowered so he wouldn’t think I was challenging him. “When we got to the landing point, we found him in a canoe. He died as I stood there. We found Jason in a canoe too, higher upstream. He was already dead when I got to him.”
    Tears were streaming down Trip’s face. “You saw Kowi before he died?” His voice was just above a whisper, broken and strained.
    “Yes. I did. And I said a prayer for him after he passed on and asked my dad to look after him. I …” I had more to say, but I couldn’t get the words out. I dropped my chin to my chest and stared at my hands folded in my lap. My throat was hurting too much to talk, and my heart was breaking for all of Kowi’s family. I knew how much he’d meant to them, especially Trip and Paci.
    “Tell me you got the guy who killed him,” said Rob, crying too. “Tell me you fucking nailed him to the wall.”
    I smiled a little through my tears - not out of happiness but out of some misplaced apology for not getting to their brother sooner. “You’ll be happy to know that we nailed all ten of those motherfuckers to the wall. And we had help. Coli gutted their leader like a fish with her knife.”
    “Good,” said Rob. “They deserved it.” He cleared his throat really loudly and coughed a few times, trying to rein in his emotions.
    “Yes, they did,” I agreed.
    “What happened to da two guyss who tried to take you?” asked Bodo.
    I shrugged. “They’re dead.” I wasn’t proud of having ended their lives. Murder even in self-defense was nothing to brag about.
    “Fed ‘em their nuts, I hope,” said Rob, wiping his nose off on his sleeve.
    “Damn straight,” I said.
    I looked up and caught Trip with a small smile. Then his face spasmed with pain again and he turned away, taking a few steps away so he could stand at the edge of the hut and stare out into the trees.
    I tried to catch Paci’s, eye but he was staring at the ground saying nothing. A few seconds after Trip left he turned and went with him. They stood together in silence outside our ring of light.
    I really