Apocalypsis: Book 3 (Exodus) Read Online Free PDF Page A

hand.  “Hey,” he said, looking intently at my face.  “Feel better?”
    “No.  I feel worse, actually,” I said weakly.  I couldn’t for the life of me sound as strong as I felt in my brain now, knowing I had a plan.  My body was still too wasted to perform, but my mind was getting stronger by the second.  I struggled to sit up, but Paci sat down on the edge of my pallet and pushed me back.
    “Stay.  I just came to see how you were and to bring you some water.  Here … drink.”  He pushed the bottle into my good hand, pausing to unscrew the cap for me.
    I took a long sip and then dropped my head back, balancing the bottle on my stomach.
    “So, how’s your leg?” I asked.
    He glanced down at it.  “It’s okay.  The bullet went through the meat.  I’m going to be fine.”
    “What about Kowi?”
    “He’s going to be okay, I think.  He’s too stubborn to get sick over it.”
    We both smiled.
    “So …,” started Paci, clearly a little uncomfortable.  “You … uh … had some issues with Coli.  What’s that all about?”
    “Do you really have to ask?” I said, rolling my eyes.
    “She is a pain in the butt, but I got the impression it was more than that.”
    It was more than that, but I wasn’t sure he was the one to be my confessor.  Something in his eyes, in his body language, made me nervous.  He reminded me of Bodo in some ways, and that made me feel both guilty and sad.
    “It’s nothing.  Boring girl stuff.”
    Paci stared at me for a few seconds, before reaching over to squeeze my shoulder.  “Okay.  Well, I’m here for ya if you need to talk.  I won’t tell anyone anything you say, just so you know.”
    “Thanks, Paci.  I appreciate that.”
    “Everyone needs someone to confide in,” he said mysteriously.
    I should have said nothing, but I couldn’t just let it hang like that.  “Who’s your confessor?”
    He shrugged.  “I don’t have one.”
    He’d been so nice to me from day one, even though he’d followed Kowi’s orders to grab me when he first met me.  I’d seen him fight enough times to come to the conclusion that even then, he’d held back and not used everything he had against me.  He was always standing around, smiling, interjecting humor when things got too intense.  All of this made it impossible for me not to respond.
    “You can confide in me if you need someone.  I won’t share either.”
    He smiled.  “Thanks, Bryn.  Maybe someday I will.”  He stood up, my eyes following him automatically.   “Keep the water.  I’ll come see you at dinner.”
    “Okay, thanks,” I said, tipping the bottle towards him before taking another sip.  He walked away before I was finished.
    I swallowed, thinking about what had just transpired, letting the water bottle rest beside me.  Paci was a good guy, maybe even a good friend.  It was hard to believe he didn’t have anyone he could talk to; he was a pretty popular guy, always laughing and joking around with everyone.  He was cute, too … really cute.  And I’d seen lots of the girls watching him and acting very interested.  But I also knew that sometimes it was hard to open up, and when you found someone you could do that with, it felt like coming home in a way - to a safe place.
    I wanted to be that for Paci, but a part of me felt like I’d be cheating on Bodo.  But I told myself that was stupid, because there was nothing wrong with talking to someone, and I was going to go find Bodo soon anyway.
    My mind drifted to his rescue, but my plans were interrupted by Peter who’d arrived again to boss me around, apparently.
    “Finish that water and then come on.  Kowi wants to see you.”
    I sat up with the plan to gulp the rest of the water down, raising the bottle partway to my lips, when the world started to go faint, my vision narrowing down to a tunnel of grayness in front of me.
    I heard Peter say, “You don’t look so good…,” and then a buzzing filled my ears.  The tunnel