Nature Rules - 2022 WATTY'S SHORTLIST

The Enemy Of My Enemy Is My Friend

There are other people in the bunker when I walk into the kitchen in the morning. About forty folks are drinking and eating in the large area. Some of the people are strangers but some of them I know. John from Nakimu is here, munching on toast. Beside him... I cock my head to the side and squint because surely that can't be...

Solomon and Katherine.

My ears pop from the pressure building in my head. I'm going to punch the traitors and tell them to get out. Immediately. They don't notice me standing a couple of metres away. They continue to sip their coffees, appearing content and well-fed, while I'm about to explode. Hot steam jets out from my pores.

A hand touches my shoulder and I spin around, fists clenched and ready to rip.

"Whoa! Calm down before you turn yourself into mush."

A turtle-faced man stands in front of me. Seeing Jebb, I loosen my hands but not the anger tied in a noose around my neck. It's choking me and I want my revenge.

"Do you know what they did to me? To us?" I ask him.

"I heard," says Jebb, looking at the pair.

"I'm going to kill them."

"No, you're ..."

I don't wait for him to finish. I press through a clump of strangers to look for Rassel and spot him serving himself some eggs.

"Good morning, Naia," he says.

"What are Solomon and Katherine doing here?" I hiss. "They're traitors."

"I know, I know. They volunteered to help us and at the point, we can't afford to turn down two extra pairs of hands."

"You're kidding me, right?"

"Naia, GlobalGov forces outnumber us and we need everybody...and anybody."

"What makes you think Solomon and Katherine won't give us all away? What makes you think they're honest and trustworthy?"

"Because Solomon cares about his people, deeply," says Rassel. "He won't let his settlers down."

"Yeah, that's right. He just turns in the ones not from Nakimu."

"I'm not saying Solomon is a good person, what he did to you was beyond reproach. But we need him and Katherine in our fight. You don't have to talk to them at all."

"Whatever," I say. "I can't believe this."

Crinae walks into the kitchen and also does a double take when she sees Solomon and Katherine.

"Um, do you know who's here?" she asks me.

"I do," I say, putting my hands on my hips. "Rassel insists they stay and fight with us."

"Who are all these people anyway?" asks Crinae.

"The Aeternian army," says Rassel while spreading out his arms. "These are the people we've been calling. More are arriving today. Together, we're going to take back freedom for Aeternians. It starts with us versus the local GlobalGov forces. We get past them and we can move east, to Newtopia. So girls, build up your strength. Help yourself to breakfast and then get Hyla and Chuck."

"It's almost like a Stampede breakfast," a man says to me. "You wouldn't know what that is but it was fun. Every community in Calgary had a free breakfast when the Stampede was on for two weeks of summer. Yahoo!"

After another Stampede story, a couple of pancakes and a few minutes of Crinae babbling on about how syrup is her new favourite food, we get up to fetch Hyla and Chuck. We don't have to go far. They're in the midst of some of the new kids and Hyla's talking up a storm. It's a far cry from the Hyla who wouldn't say a peep to me on the mountain trail.