Apocalypsis 04 - Haven

in hand and moving people back so the newcomers would have room to maneuver.
    “Take the livestock around to the big yard behind the prison!” I yelled.
    Derek gave me a thumbs up before turning his attention back to the arrival of our newest members.
    “As you were saying?” prompted Peter.
    “As I was saying, there’s this thing we need to get in on, the EWS - early warning system. They use birds to carry messages, and if we get a contact point set up here, they’ll let us hook in.”
    “And what does that do for us?”
    “It lets us know when canners are on the move and what they’re doing. And also about good kids and what they’re doing. It’s like networking kind of but slower than we were used to before.”
    “Hmmm. Sounds very interesting. What do we need to do to get involved?”
    “We need to get some of their birds and get trained in their secret code. I’m not allowed to learn it.”
    “How come?” Peter sounded offended on my behalf.
    I hugged him because I adored his loyalty. “Don’t be mad at them. They said there’s a target on my butt, and they can’t give the code to someone so high profile.”
    He patted me on the back. “High profile? Oh, so we’re all Miss Hollywood now, is it?”
    I pushed him away gently. “Shush, it’s not like that. But the canners want to kill me for biting that guy’s nuts, so I guess it’s too much of a risk for me to know secrets.”
    “Ball-biter.” Peter gave me a very sneaky smile.
    “What did you just call me?” I was almost whispering.
    “You heard me. Ball-biter.”
    I threw my arms up. “What the hell! Why is everyone calling me that!”
    Peter giggled. “We had some other visitors, not just the canners.”
    “Who?” I was totally mystified. “How does that have anything to do with calling me that horrible name?”
    Peter turned around and stared at the front doors to the prison. “See for yourself.”
    I looked over in time to see Kirsten the Amazon girl hugging Bodo very tightly to her.

CHAPTER SEVEN

    MY FACE BURNED WITH SOME emotion I couldn’t quite identify. Shame? Jealousy? Anger? Whatever it was, it wasn’t pleasant, and I didn’t like feeling it or the fact that it was once again my boyfriend causing it to happen.
    “She showed up just before the canners and helped us deal with them. She said she got the message they were coming for the ball-biter and decided to take you up on your invitation to visit.”
    I stood next to Peter, my feet rooted to the spot. That hug was going on for way too long, and Bodo didn’t seem all that interested about breaking it up. I let the ball-biter comment slide for now. I had bigger problems, that much was obvious.
    “How nice of her to come to our rescue,” I said. I was only being partially sarcastic. I did wonder what her motivations were and if they were entirely altruistic, especially when I noticed how hard she was mashing her boobs into my boyfriend’s chest.
    “Friendly, aren’t we?” said Peter under his breath.
    “A little too friendly,” I agreed, walking towards them.
    “Don’t do anything stupid,” said Peter, walking fast to keep up with me.
    “I never do anything stupid.”
    “Okay, don’t do anything overly emotional then.”
    “I never do that either.”
    “Yeah, okay. If you say so.”
    I looked at him as we walked. “Are you saying I’m a big whiney baby or something?”
    “No, I’m just saying you’re a girl, and girls get emotional when it comes to their boyfriends, and now you have that supermodel having vertical sex with him and no one would blame you if you eye-gouged her. That’s it. That’s all I’m saying.”
    I took his hand in mine and squeezed. “Thank you for that … whatever it was.”
    “It was a pep talk, and you’re welcome.”
    I would have kept right on walking until I was between Bodo and Kirsten, but Peter stopped all of a sudden and jerked my hand so hard I almost fell onto my butt.
    “What?!” I yelled, preparing for another lecture.
    But Peter wasn’t looking at me. He was staring at the gate.
    “Oh my good lord in heaven and baby Jesus in a manger. Do my eyes fail me or has the most beautiful man ever created just arrived at my door?”
    I rolled my eyes. “If you’re talking about Paci, then yes, he’s there.”
    Peter whipped his head to stare at me. “Paci? Oh, ho, ho … how interesting that you’d choose that person over aaaaall the other ones available.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me.