One of the other warriors snorted.

“I guess so,” I said. This whole thing was freaking me out. I saw no good end here and no way to take them all down without feeling the slick blade of a weapon that could cut entire branches off trees with one quick swipe. The fact that Bodo talked about me while he was gone was flattering, but I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to appreciate it now. That would come later, hopefully, if I could get our butts out of this mess somehow.

Her gaze flicked over to Rob. “Bring him to me,” she ordered.

Two of the girls moved in and shoved Rob forward, using their machetes as threats to keep him from doing anything stupid.

He stepped up, stopping next to me and casting nervous glances my way.

“We need a guy to complete our ritual.” She jerked her chin up at him. “He’ll do. I’ll trade you the German one for this one.”

Rob choked and started coughing. “Gahh!”

I patted him on the back awkwardly. “Uhhh, that’ll be a definite no,” I said, fighting back the urge to scoff at her ridiculous statement. “We’re not trading one of our friends for another so they can participate in your disgusting cannibal rituals. Nuh-uh.” I shook my head, trying to act casual about the whole thing, hoping I could delay her attack long enough to come up with a plan.

A couple girls near the fire lifted up their machetes in threatened stances, their expressions telling me pretty clearly I’d offended them.

“We’re not cannibals,” said Rainbow Vom Girl. “We’re warriors. That’s it.”

“I heard you hang out with cannibals,” I challenged. Time to clear the air on this crap.

“We might use those guys for certain purposes, but we definitely don’t use them for food. That’s disgusting.”

I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had leaned over and spit at that point. She was as tough as they come, despite her glamour-girl looks. I almost wanted to fight her just to see if she could back up that attitude with some muscle and moves, but this wasn’t a game, and we had to get the heck out of there before things got messy.

“What purposes?” asked Winky.

I cringed, because I had a feeling I knew what was coming.

“Sex,” the girl answered simply.

“That’s just gross,” said Winky, really quietly. Only the two girls next to her and I heard what she said. One of them reached up to slap Winky, when their leader yelled out, stopping her in mid-strike.

“Stop! Don’t hit her. Just because she doesn’t get us, doesn’t mean she needs to be beaten. She’s carrying a baby.”

My heart soared with hope. Mercy in the form of Rainbow Brite.

She turned her attention back to me. “I made you a deal. Take it or leave it.” She sighed once, seeming impatient.

“Look at the moon!” yelled a girl from across the bonfire.

Rainbow Vom Girl looked up, turning and motioning for her friends to come join her.

“Time’s up,” she said. “What’s it going to be? Bodo or …,” she gestured towards Rob, “… Jacob.”

***

I started laughing really hard; I couldn’t help it.

“Jacob?” asked Rob. “Are you serious?” He knocked me on the upper arm with the back of his hand. “Did you hear what she just called me?” He looked back at her, pissed off. “I’m no werewolf, woman.”

I nodded, and then shook my head, unable to speak. I’d never heard anyone be so ignorant in my life. And I thought I’d been bad calling my friends indians.

Rob crossed his arms over his chest. “Listen, Parrot Woman, no way am I going with you guys, especially since you obviously have no appreciation for me as a person.”

I looked at Rob sideways, whispering, “Do you have any idea how much you sound like Peter right now?”

He frowned at me.

“Who’s Peter?” asked Rainbow Vom Girl.

“He’s our friend. Our gay friend. He’s not your type, trust me.”

She shrugged. “We aren’t that picky. We just need them to be big and healthy.”

“Why?” asked Winky. “Why not small and healthy?”

“We’re starting a new race, and only the strong survive. You should know that by now. Our children will be the new leaders of this world. We need to give them every chance they can get. Bigger is better.”

I thought about it for a second, before responding. Establish some common ground with her. Show her you’re not a threat. “I hear what you’re saying. I mean, if you can get some of these girls pregnant, then you have a chance at starting a new community. That’s what we’re trying to do, too. Not in exactly the same way, but same concept.”

“Minus the orgies,” said Winky. “We’re gonna do it the old fashioned way. You know … boy meets girl, boy likes girl, boy asks girl out.”

Rainbow snorted. “And that worked out so well for our world before, right?” She glared at Winky and then me. “Are you complete imbeciles or what?”

I felt my feathers ruffle a little, but tried not to let it show on my face. “Uhhh, no?”

“Then you have to see the problem with your little plan. Men ruined our world. They got power hungry. They played games with our food, our environment, our genetics … and look what happened.”

Winky and I exchanged glances but said nothing.

“The world ended,” she continued. “A virus they created with their carelessness and greed came down and wiped away the problem. And guess what? We get to start over. With no more power-hungry men. No more women playing along with the whole boy-meets-girl bullshit.” She looked pointedly at Winky. “Wake up, girls. It’s time to change the way the game is played.”

The warriors around her were all nodding. It looked like a party of bobble heads.

“Soooo, you’re all, like, girl-power, is that it?” asked Winky.

“Girl power on steroids is more like it,” said Rob, sounding freaked out. “I guess it’s a good thing you still need sperm for your plan to work out.”

Rainbow glared at him. “For the time being. But that could change.”

Rob gulped.

She looked back at me. “The moon is full and up. Our festival is starting.”

“What festival?” I was trying to stall, trying to come up with a plan.

“The fertility festival.” She looked over her shoulder and yelled, “Bring them out!”

A couple girls left the fire circle and ran up the stairs.

“Who are you bringing out?” I asked.

“Our Eves.”

“Eves … as in Adam and Eve?”

She nodded, waiting for me to say something.

“Let me guess … this is your Garden of Eden.”

She shrugged. “We do our best.”

Reason is not going to work with this girl. I panicked, not knowing what else to do. The warrior girls were coming out of the front of the house now, followed by three girls in white, see-through dresses. As they descended the stairs and reached the fire, we could plainly see they were naked underneath.

“Please!” I begged, resorting to Plan C. “Don’t do this! I love him! I really do! I can’t let you force him into this!” I took a step forward and the nearest girl reached out her arm to stop me.

I reacted automatically, grabbing it and twisting it around so hard and so quickly, it popped at the elbow, causing her to scream and drop her weapon. She bent over, cradling her wounded limb to her.

Rob dove to the ground, coming up with the big knife in his hand, waving it in front of himself, threatening anyone who came near with a beheading.

“Don’t even think about it!” he yelled at a girl who looked like she wanted to give him a go.

I kicked the girl I’d just injured in the side of the face while she was bent over, sending her into the weeds, and then spun to face the Rainbow Girl. My fists were up by my face and my elbows in at my stomach, protecting myself as best I could from whatever assault I was about to suffer.

No one moved a muscle. The heavy breathing of the girl in pain disappeared, and a slight breeze blew through our group, moving the white dresses of the vestal virgins standing by the fire. Time seemed to stand still, and every muscle in my body was tense and ready to get to the work of survival against very bad odds. My eyes flicked up to Bodo, and I wondered if I’d ever get the chance to tell him I loved him before we both died.

The wail of the canner baby broke the silence, and I saw its little hands waving outside of the blanket from the corner of my eye. I didn’t dare look over, knowing there were threats on every side of me just waiting for me to be distracted.

A shriek came from the top of the stairs. “No! Wait! Stop!” came a young girl’s voice. The slap, slap, slapping of bare feet on marble reached my ears before the vision of another girl in white appeared at the top of the stairs.

She was young, maybe fourteen or fifteen, her long blonde hair flowing out behind her as she ran down from the entrance to where we were all gathered. Her dress was longer than the others and she was wearing underclothes beneath it, making her look a lot less hedonistic than her sisters-at-arms.

“I heard a baby!” she yelled. “I know I heard a baby! Don’t try and lie and tell me I didn’t, Kiersten!”

Rainbow Girl sighed heavily, gesturing to the young, demanding girl who’d just arrived at her shoulder and was now peeking over at us.

“Strangers? Meet my sister, Melody. Melody? Meet the strangers, who yes, have a baby with them. You can’t have it.”

Melody stepped out from behind her sister’s back and approached, holding out her hand demurely. She looked like an English princess with the way she did it - so formally and graciously.

I stood up straight, allowing myself to fall out of fighting stance, taking her hand numbly to shake it, not sure if I were dealing with another lunatic or just a young girl who was a little lost. She was no threat to me, that was for sure, so I allowed myself to feel a measure of security in front of her.

“So nice to meet you,” she said, smiling and revealing a perfectly straight set of large, white, toothpaste commercial teeth. “Welcome to our home.” Her voice spoke of breeding and elocution lessons, stunning me with their foreignness in this wild world that surrounded us. She looked at Rob for a second and then turned away, acting suddenly shy. Then she took small, tentative steps towards Winky.

I turned to watch her progress, taking one step back myself so I’d be even with my friend.

Melody held out a trembling hand, as if she wanted to touch Winky’s bundle but afraid to for some reason.

“Is it … it’s a baby, right?” she asked.

Said baby started yelling again, causing Melody to jump. “Oh! My goodness,” she said, startled, her hand flying to her throat. “That frightened me for a second there.” She took another step closer to Winky. “Is it a boy or a girl?”

“It’s a boy. And it stinks, so I wouldn’t get too close if I were you.”

Melody smiled. “Oh, I don’t care about baby doo. It’s all a part of who they are, right?” She was talking to Winky as if they shared a bond of some sort.

Winky must have sensed it too, because she frowned at the girl. “Are you okay?”

Melody was standing in front of the baby now, looking down. She put her hand up to her mouth and nodded her head silently. That’s when I saw tears in her eyes.

I looked over at Rainbow Girl, Kiersten, for an explanation.

“Melody, come on,” she said, almost tiredly. “Go back in the house.”

Melody shook her head. “I want to hold him,” she whispered, never taking her eyes off the bundle.

“You can’t. It’s hers, not yours.” Kiersten ignored me and walked over to her sister, putting her hands gently on her shoulders. “Come on, babe. Let’s go back into the house.”