Read Apocalypsis 04 - Haven for Free Online

me.
    I looked out the front doors again. “I guess. I don’t know. We don’t know all of them.”
    “Exactly. Take the gun.”
    I scoffed at his suggestion. “What … you think our friend is bringing canners in? I don’t think so.”
    “Ever heard of kidnapping? Bad guys forcing good ones to do bad things? Geez, don’t be so naive.”
    “You don’t know Paci,” is all I said, pushing the gun back into his hands. I left him standing there and strode out the front door, Yokci hot on my heels.
    By the time I was halfway to the fence, I was surrounded by not only most of my old friends and those picked up on the road but also Flick and Derek.
    My heart was racing the closer I got to Paci.
    His eyes bored into mine, not sparing a second look for anyone else.
    Bodo was next to me. I glanced over at him and noticed he had no expression on his face or any obvious body language that would tell me anything about what he was thinking. That could be good or bad.
    The heat was rising in my face to the point that I probably looked like a tomato by the time we finally got to the gate. What is Paci going to say? What will Bodo think? I can’t believe I kissed him! Man, he’s as cute as he ever was.
    Paci rested his hand on the chain links in front of him, still staring at me.
    “Bryn,” he said when I got close.
    “Paci. Glad you made it.”
    He nodded once, now finally looking at someone else. “You found him.” His eyes were on Bodo for only a second before they were back on me.
    “Yes. I did.”
    Bodo put his arm around my shoulders. “Yess she didt. She rescued me from da Amazons because she luffs me.”
    Part of me wanted to push Bodo off, and that just made me feel terrible. He loved me and I loved him. It was so simple. So why it suddenly felt all complicated, I had no idea. I didn’t love Paci, I just … admired him. I was grateful to him for standing up for me. That had to be why I couldn’t stop feeling all messed up whenever he was around.
    Yokci solved the temporary problem of my inability to form a semi-intelligent sentence by speaking up. “Are we going to let them in, or what?”
    Peter jingled the keys behind us. “If I could get through, I could do that. Excuse me.”
    The group behind me shuffled around, making room for the key master.
    Peter stopped when he was next to me. “Ready?” he asked, lifting an eyebrow at me.
    It was like time stood still for a few seconds. Peter was sending me all kinds of vibes, and several unspoken questions danced between us. I had a feeling I was in for some serious girl-chat after this, and I wasn’t feeling bad about that at all. I needed to talk to someone about it, and it couldn’t be Bodo. Peter was the only one I could trust to not only give me good advice but also keep my secrets to himself. The time would come for me to tell Bodo what had happened with Paci, but that was not now.
    “Yeah, I’m ready.” I looked at Paci. “Who are these other people?”
    “Stragglers I found on the road.” He gestured with a jerk of his head over his shoulder. “They used to live near the canner place. Said they were part of a network dedicated to giving them false recon.”
    I nodded. “I heard about them.” I looked over at Bodo. “From Alejandro.”
    “Ah. Da sexy man-meat guy. He wass dare neighbor maybe.”
    I looked at Paci again. “As long as you vouch for them, I’m okay with letting them in.”
    There were two guys and one girl. None of them looked starving but neither did they seem like canner barbecue attendees either. How will I know if I’m letting a canner in, other than to weigh them on a scale of starving to cannibal-size? I shook my head at the awfulness of it. I was sickened by the idea that I could end up sharing my home with a man-eater who had snuck in under the cover of friendship.
    Peter opened the lock and Bodo and Jamal rolled the heavy gate open to admit the newcomers.
    I stepped back with everyone else to give them room.
    I was