Apocalypsis 04 - Haven

had windows, but they were worlds better than where most of them had been sleeping, and you couldn’t beat the security system. A pack of dogs, four watchtowers with armed guards, and several explosive-rigged traps ringed our little town. Many signs warned people approaching to follow a very specific protocol before coming to the gate or risk being blown to bits. It was harsh, but effective. We’d had zero accidents and all good additions to our community so far.
    But while several things were going well for us, there were still some problems we had to deal with on a regular basis, and two of them haunted me night and day: Bodo and the girl I liked to call the Bad Penny. No matter what I said or did to smooth things over with her, she just kept turning up under my nose making me nuts.
    “Gail, I’ve already said this to you like fifty times.” She was standing in front of me and Peter in Peter’s workspace. We were sitting in two of the swivel chairs that ringed a large laminate, oval-shaped table.
    Peter had claimed an old conference room as his City Manager headquarters, and it was stocked with all the writing materials we could find and a huge cork board and magnetic board. All of his plans were hanging up around the room, and over fifty checklists were in the process of being completed and refined at all times.
    “I don’t have to listen to that crap from you,” she responded, arms folded across her chest.
    “Uh, yes you do,” said Peter, as frustrated with her as I was. “Bryn makes the rules here, and you follow them. Just like everyone else does. You’re not special. You’re not the exception. No one is.”
    “Could-a fooled me,” she said in a mocking tone. “I don’t see you coming down on Fohi for getting involved in the weaving.”
    “That’s different.”
    “How so? You said his job was setting traps. But eeevery day I see him in the weaving room, messing around with the looms. That means you do let people do other jobs. I guess that rule only applies to certain friends, though.”
    “You’re comparing apples and oranges again,” said Peter, getting ready to launch into his politically correct explanation about how we have to spread out our resources and put the most qualified person in the most appropriate position. Fohi was just there flirting with Winky, but that had nothing to do with this at all. Gail knew this. She was just trying once again to get under our skin.
    I held my hand up to silence Peter. I was staring at Gail the whole time. “Okay, Gail, here’s the deal. We’ve been understanding of your issues, nice to you …”
    “Issues?”
    “Yes. Issues. We’ve been nice to you, given you food, clothing, shelter, everything you need to survive and thrive here … and all you’ve done is cause trouble.”
    “That’s bullshit.”
    “No, it’s not. You harass Jenny non-stop about the birds, you mock Fohi until he punches walls, you say negative remarks about the food to anyone who will listen … and frankly, none of us is interested in your shit anymore. It needs to stop, and it needs to stop today.”
    “I’m just interested in learning the code stuff too. What if Jenny gets sick? What if something happens to her? You need a second person trained.”
    “That second person will never be you, you can count on that,” said Peter.
    “Listen, gay boy, I don’t need you …”
    I stood up all of a sudden, the chair flying out behind me. “Stop right there!” I came from around the table to stand just a couple feet from her.
    She backed up as far as she could go, until she ran into a shelving unit with files on it. “Stay back. I have a knife!”
    “You’d better not have a knife. You know this is a weapon-free zone.”
    She fumbled in her pocket and pulled it out, holding it up in front of her and pointed at my face. “Stay back, I’m not kidding. I don’t have to stand here and be bullied by you. I have the right to defend myself.”
    The weapon looked like something she’d made out of a piece of metal she’d found and sharpened.
    “What is that?” laughed Peter. “A prison shank?”
    She held it up threateningly at him. “It’s a knife, and it’s sharp, so shut up.”
    I whipped the side of my hand over and made contact with her wrist, sending the metal flying across the table and crashing into the wall. It fell to the floor with a loud clank.
    “Ow!” she shrieked. “What’d you do that for!”
    I sighed. “Gail, I’m putting you under