Apocalypsis 04 - Haven

pieces because we were definitely not fine out here. Not fine at all.
    “We had several intimate moments that included kissing and fondling.”
    “Fondling?” I coughed a couple times to get the word out of my mouth. “Bodo?” I just looked at him.
    “Drugs.” He said it fiercely, but he was looking at the ground.
    “No, there were no drugs involved,” said Kirsten, sighing sadly. “I know he wishes that were the case, so that he could deny culpability, but the truth is that he came to me willingly.”
    I just stared at Bodo, trying to resolve in my mind how the boy I loved and trusted could have pulled the wool so fully over my eyes. I had to be the biggest idiot left on the planet.
    His voice was anguished. “It’s not like dat, Bryn. It’s not! You haff to listen to me. She is being tricking right now. She is not telling you da whole story!”
    Something in me clicked, and I went from desperately sad to deadly calm. This would be the end of my one and only love affair. I was so glad I hadn’t gone all the way with him. He so didn’t deserve to have that part of me.
    “So tell me the whole story, then. Here I am. Listening for the last time.”
    “I was captured. And tied up. And dey all came to me naked and trying to get me excited, but I told dem no. I told dem no! And den Kirsten came and talked to me. And she talked and talked and talked. And she toldt me she wouldt help me find Nina. And she wass very nice to me. And when I cried, she put her arms around me and put her body on me. Dat was not my fault! She did dat!” He pointed at her accusingly.
    Kirsten backed away from him a couple steps. It was a wise move since he seemed to be losing it a little.
    I decided that I’d heard enough.
    I held up my hands to calm him down. “Fine. I’ve heard what you have to say. Now I need to finish this meeting with Kirsten so she can leave. Are you planning on staying here at Haven?”
    His mouth dropped open. For a few long seconds he just stared at me.
    “Are you serious?” he finally asked.
    “Yes. I assume you’re welcome at Kirsten’s place if you prefer to go there.”
    “Bodo is always welcome.” Kirsten’s tone said nothing about her personal feelings on the matter, but her eyes were a different story. She clearly wanted him to come.
    “I am not going dare. I want to be here. I want to be with you,” he said, crying again. He angrily swiped the tears from his face.
    “You can go where you want. But for right now, I’d like this meeting to be just with Kirsten and me, so if you’re staying, please just … find somewhere else to be.”
    “But …”
    “I think you’d better go, Bodo.” Peter had walked up just in time to hear the last of what we’d said. “I’ll come find you to talk about the garden in a minute.”
    Bodo spun around and stormed off, making no secret of the fact that he was furious. He tried to slam the front door, but the piston in the door didn’t allow it. We all watched as he disappeared into one of the hallways to the right of the reception desk.
    I looked back at Kirsten, determined to finish our business together and not bring Bodo into the conversation.
    “I’m so sorry,” she said.
    “Never mind that.” I looked at Peter. “What did Jenny say?”
    “She’s totally into it. She’s already talking to your code reader,” he said to Kirsten. “I hope that’s okay.”
    “It’s fine. And now for the gift.” She walked over to her stack of belongings. One of her people had set something down in the pile while we were talking. Kirsten pulled out a box with holes in it and a small sack.
    “Here’s your bird,” she said, walking back to us. “You need to build him a coop or cage thingy and put some nesting materials inside. I also have this bag of food.” She put the sack in my hand. “You’re the bird’s food stop. He’ll come here to eat and then back to my place to sleep. Make sure you always keep his coop full of food.”
    “Where do I get more of it?”
    “We’ll bring you some. But eventually you’ll have to harvest your own.”
    “What do they eat?”
    “Corn, seeds, nuts, fruit, insects … you can find a lot of it in the wild. The Native Americans will help you identify it.”
    She put the box down on the ground at our feet and opened it very carefully, putting her hand inside. When she pulled it out, there was a gray bird wrapped inside her fingers, its wings folded up tightly to its sides. She stood and held it up for