Free Apocalypsis: Book 2 (Warpaint) by Elle Casey

max.  He had zero body fat, so Peter and I were able to admire his every muscle, which I noticed Peter was doing with unabashed curiosity.
    I caught Peter’s attention and raised my eyebrows at him in a conspiratorial message of mutual admiration.  He smiled in return, giving me a pitiful wink that made him look like he had something stuck in both eyes.  It made me laugh.
    Paci looked up at me.  “Something strike you as funny?”
    “Yeah.  You baby-talking to a nude poodle.”
    Paci turned his attention back to the dog.  “I had a dog, but she died a few years back.  I miss her.”  He swallowed hard.
    I wondered how many family members Paci had lost.  Most of us didn’t talk about it.  It was too depressing, and life was already pretty crappy most of the time.  It had turned into some kind of unspoken rule to keep your family miseries to yourself.  Peter was the exception, maybe since it hadn’t been the virus that had taken his sister.
    “Time for the meeting,” said Paci, standing up straighter.  “Where’s your boyfriend?” he asked, looking at me.
    “He’s not my boyfriend, and I have no idea where he is.  He took off on a walk or something.”
    Paci’s eyebrows raised.  “He’s not your boyfriend?”
    “No.  Why?”  I wasn’t sure why I asked.  It was kind of a loaded question, and I tried to avoid those, generally speaking - at least when it came to guys.
    “Sure looked like it to me.”
    “Well, looks can be deceiving.”  My hands went to my hips, and I probably seemed defensive but I couldn’t help it.
    He looked at me for a couple seconds and then broke out in a huge grin.  “You don’t have to tell me that.  The first time I saw you acting all tough I was expecting to see you on your ass in the swamp.”
    “The only ones on their asses in the swamp when Bryn’s around are you guys,” said Peter, pride in his voice.
    I glanced over at him and winked.
    “I don’t deny it.  But see, she’s making a critical mistake.”
    “Oh, yeah?  What’s that?” I asked.
    “You’re teaching us all your moves.  Eventually we’ll all be as tough as you, and then you’ll be the one taking a bath.”
    “You might think so,” I said casually, “if you didn’t consider the fact that while I train you, I continue to train myself.  So no matter how far you move forward, I’ll always be ahead of you.”
    “Burn, Paci,” said Peter, his voice again full of pride.
    Paci smiled.  “I like your style, Bryn.  I really do.”  He walked towards the ceremonial hut.  “Let’s go.  The tribe is waiting for you.”
    “Tribe, as in singular?” I asked, walking over to follow him through the trees.
    “No.  They’re both there.  I’m just trying to get my head wrapped around the idea of us being just one now.  It’s not easy.”
    “It’ll get easier,” I said.
    “Let’s hope so,” said Paci.  He remained silent the rest of the way to the ceremonial hut, but he kept looking back at me from time to time with a weird expression on his face.
    Peter came up to me as we reached the edge of the trees that ringed the hut.  We let Paci pull ahead until we were alone again.
    Peter spoke once he was out of earshot.  “I think he likes you.”
    I watched Paci join the others, noticing that he was still glancing at me occasionally, and watching other guys who were looking over at Peter and me.
    “Really?”
    “Yeah.  He keeps watching you.  Once he heard Bodo wasn’t your boyfriend, he was all over that.”
    I sighed.  “Shit.”
    “Yeah.  Exactly.  You’d better not go around advertising you’re single.  There’s not a hell of a lot of available jawbreakers if you know what I mean.”
    My mind raced with the implications.  It was stupid of me not to have been thinking about all this stuff before.  I’d been so wrapped up in finding food to eat, a place to live, and companions who wouldn’t eat me, I hadn’t much considered the other human needs, other