Apocalypsis 04 - Haven

everything.”
    It was like a light switch in control of a very dim and dying light finally flicked off. That was the moment I stopped feeling so terrible about Bodo wanting to leave. It was so simple. Just one sentence. Something deep inside me was glad he’d finally said it out loud.
    “Kirsten is blameless. It’s you who’s to blame, Bodo. I hope one day you can look in the mirror and understand that.” He had so much growing up to do. Why hadn’t I seen that before?
    He turned towards the building and shoved his hands in his front pockets, not looking at me anymore. “Do you needt help with da problem inside?”
    “You can help if you want. I’ve asked Paci and Trip to do a trial of some sort with her. We need some kind of fair process to figure out her sentence or whatever.”
    “I will take her to da Amazons with me if you want. Dat’s something I can do for you, if you let me.”
    “I don’t want you to go. It’s dangerous. And even though you and I aren’t together anymore, it doesn’t mean I don’t love you anymore. You’re family. I don’t want you to put yourself in danger, especially not for an idiot like her.”
    “I have to leaff. It’s too much pain for me here. Dat Paci is in luff with you and soon you will luff him too. He’s a good boy. Dat’s true. I don’t like it, but dat’s true. He iss very much like his brudder dat way. He will be good to you.”
    Bodo started walking towards the building.
    I ignored his foretelling of my future love life. I was in no position to be falling for any boy anytime soon. I wasn’t good at it. “If I can’t change your mind, I hope you’ll accept whatever we can offer to keep you safe on your trip … to the Amazon place or the Keys.”
    “Yes, I will do dat. I don’t want to die. I just want to be happy.”
    My heart spasmed with the pain, knowing that Bodo couldn’t be happy with me, anymore than I could be with him.
    Maybe if our world had been like the old one, we could have moved on from the lies. But then again, probably not. In the old world I would have had my father’s wise counsel, and he surely would have told me that I couldn’t build a life with a person I could not trust.
    Bodo was a good guy, and I knew he’d always have my back. But the boy I chose to spend my life with had to have not just my back, but my heart, too. He had to protect it with everything he had, not be careless with it.
    Lies were carelessness in fancy packaging. I was done with all of that useless garbage.

CHAPTER EIGHT

    PETER HAD MANAGED TO GET a good portion of the kids who weren’t busy working or guarding the perimeter to gather in the main dining hall. Trip, Paci, and I sat at a long dining table and Gail stood in front of us, her handcuffs off. Flick and Derek stood behind her and Ronald and Jamal stood at her sides. Everyone else rested at tables and benches around the room.
    “Gail, do you know why you’re here?” asked Paci. His voice and expression were the picture of patience. He sounded so much like his brother, it was spooky. As soon as the first word was out of his mouth, the murmuring of the gathered crowd stopped.
    “Yes. Because of her,” she said, gesturing at me.
    “No, you’re here because of you ,” said Trip, annoyed. “And your behavior that’s put all of us in a bad spot. Now we have to decide what to do with you.”
    “Let’s get this done,” said Paci. He sounded very tired. “I need someone to tell us what happened.”
    Peter stood up and moved to Jamal’s side. “I’ll tell you what I saw.”
    “He’s just going to give everything from her side. They’re both in on it,” argued Gail.
    “You’ll get your chance. Just wait,” said Paci. “Peter, please go ahead and tell us.”
    “Gail had come to us again to ask if she could work with Jenny and the EWS, like she has many times before, and we told her no. She complained that other people get special treatment - she mentioned Fohi - and accused us of playing favorites and being unfair. And then she started slinging insults and got Bryn upset, so Bryn went up to her and then Gail brought out a knife.”
    Several kids gasped out in the audience.
    “And she threatened to kill her with it or a bullet.”
    “She attacked me! She hit me! It was self-defense!”
    “Gail, wait your turn,” said Paci. Turning to Peter, he said, “Is that all?”
    “Yes.” Peter sat down.
    Paci turned to me. He spoke louder than he needed to for the benefit of the