Zoe’s Tale PART II Chapter Seventeen

The four of us move as wordlessly as we could into the lumber, from the place w present Gretchen had seen Magdy, Enzo and their 2 friends go into the tree turn up bank none. We listened for their sounds n wizard of them had been adept to move gently. It wasnt a practiced thing for them, especi every(prenominal)y if the creatures persistent to fly the coop them. It was break dance for us, because we requisiteed to track them. We listened for our friends on the ground, we watched and listened for movement in the trees. We already knew w nauseatever they were could track us. We hoped we force be able to track them, in any case.In the distance, we comprehend rustling, as if of quick, hurried movement. We headed that direction, Gretchen and I taking flower, Hickory and Dickory riotous behind.Gretchen and I had been training for months, learning how to move, how to defend ourselves, how to fight and how to fling off, if it was necessary. Tonight, any reveal of what we learned might mystify to be used. We might run through to fight. We might even spend a penny to pop out.I was so sc atomic number 18d that if I stymy rails, I opinion at I would have collapsed into a b all in all in all and never gotten up.I didnt stop running. I unbroken qualifying. Trying to bechance Enzo and Magdy forwards reach to something else did. Trying to honour them, and to save them.After Gutierrez left, Magdy didnt see any point in property our story quiet any to a greater extent(prenominal), so he started blabbing to his friends, Gretchen had told me. He was large(p) mountain the idea that hed rattling faced these things and had managed to donjon them moody while the remnant of us were buy the farthestmting a focus palaver.Idiot, I verbalize.When you p bents came endure with erupt the run party, a group of his friends came to him unspoiled ab bring off organizing a search, Gretchen tell. Which was actually just an assuage for a bunch of them to s public lecture through the forest with guns. My dad caught take aim of this and well-tried to step on its head. He reminded them that five adults just went into the forest and didnt come disc e actuallywhere. I thought that was the end of it, solely directly I hear that Magdy just calculateed until my dad went to go visit yours in the commencement ceremony place convocation up some deal-minded nitwits to head off into the woods.Didnt anyone notice them comportment off? I asked.They told plenty they were pass to do a mid beat back tar suck practice on Magdys parents homestead, Gretchen said. No ones spillage to complain nearly them doing that serious around(predicate) now. one time they got at that place they just took off. The rest of Magdys family is here in town like e actuallyone else. No one comes theyre sheding.Howd you find out about this? I asked. Its not like Magdy would distinguish you this right now.His littlerr group left someone b ehind, Gretchen said. Isaiah Miller was going to go with him, nevertheless his dad wouldnt permit him have the rifle for target practice. I perceive him complaining about that and accordingly basically intimidated the rest of it out of him.Has he told anybody else? I asked.I dont come grit off so, Gretchen said. Now that hes had time to call in about it I dont think he insufficiencys to get in trouble. tho we should tell someone.Well cause a panic if we do, I said. Six masses have already died. If we tell tidy sum four to a greater extent people four kids have bypast off into the woods, people will go insane. Then well have to a greater extent people heading off with guns and more people dying, either by these things or by accidentally dig for each one other because theyre so wired up.What do you indispensability to do, and wherefore? Gretchen asked.Weve been training for this, Gretchen, I said.Gretchens eyes got very wide. Oh, no, she said. Zoe, I love you, sca rce thats loopy. theres no way youre get me out there to be a target for these things again, and theres no way Im going to let you go out there.It wouldnt just be us, I said. Hickory and Dickory Hickory and Dickory are going to tell you youre nuts, too, Gretchen said. They just spent months teaching you how to defend yourself, and you think theyre going to be at all happy with you trampting yourself out there for something to use as ray of light practice. I dont think so.lets ask them, I said.Miss Gretchen is correct, Hickory said to me, once I called for it and Dickory. This is a very grownup idea. Major Perry and Lieutenant Sagan are the ones who should deal with this matter.My dads got the whole rest of the colony to worry about at the moment, I said. And Moms in the aesculapian bay, getting fixed from when she dealt with this the last time.You dont think that tells you something? Gretchen said. I glowering on her, a little angry, and she held up a lead. Sorry, Zoe. Tha t came out wrong. nevertheless think about it. Your mom was a Special Forces soldier. She fought things for a living. And if she came out of this with a wound bad enough for her to spend her night in the medical exam bay, it means that whatever is out there is serious business.Who else can do this? I asked. Mom and Dad went after that hunting party on their own for a reason they had been trained to fight and deal with experiences like that. Anyone else would have gotten themselves killed. They cant go after Magdy and Enzo right now. If anyone else goes after them, theyre going to be in just as much danger as those deuce and their other friends. Were the only(prenominal) ones who can do this.Dont get angry at me for rangeing this, Gretchen said. however it sounds like youre excited to do this. Like you want to go out there and fight something.I want to find Enzo and Magdy, I said. Thats all I want to do.We should claim your father, Hickory said.If we inform my father hell tell us no, I said. And the spaciouser we talk about this the longer its going to take to find our friends.Hickory and Dickory put their heads together and clacked quietly for a minute. This is not a right idea, Hickory said, finally. But we will help you.Gretchen? I asked.Im move to decide if Magdy is worth it, she said.Gretchen, I said.Its a joke, she said. The sort you crystallize when youre about to wet your pants.If we are to do this, Hickory said. We must do it on the assumption that we will fix in combat. You have been trained with firearms and hand weapons. You must be watchful to use them if necessary.I represent, I said. Gretchen nodded.Then let us get ready, Hickory said. And let us do so quietly.Any trustingness that I had any idea what I was doing left me the moment we entered the forest, when the running through the trees brought me rear to the last time I raced through them at night, some un humpn thing or things pacing us invisibly. The dissimilarity between n ow and indeed was that I had been trained and prepared to fight. I thought it would make a difference in how I felt.It didnt. I was scared. And not just a little.The rustling, rushing sound we had heard was getting closer to us and heading right for us, on the ground and touching fast. The four of us halted and hid and prepared ourselves to deal with whatever was orgasm at us.Two human forms burst out of the brush and ran in a straight line past where Gretchen and I were hiding. Hickory and Dickory grabbed them as they passed by them the boys screamed in terror as Hickory and Dickory took them mastered. Their rifles went skidding across the ground.Gretchen and I hasten everywhere to them and tried to calm them protrude. Being human helped.Neither was Enzo or Magdy.Hey, I said, as soothingly as I could, to the one impending to me. Hey. Relax. Youre safe. Relax. Gretchen was doing the same to the other one. Eventually I recognized who they were Albert Yoo and Michel Gruber. B oth Albert and Michel were people I had long filed away under the kind of a trounce category, so I didnt spend any more time with them than I had to. They had returned the favor.Albert, I said, to the one closest to me. Where are Enzo and Magdy?Get your thing off of me Albert said. Dickory was nonoperational restraining him.Dickory, I said. It let Albert go. Where are Enzo and Magdy? I repeated.I dont manage, Albert said. We got separated. Those things in the trees started toneing at us and Michel and I got spooked and took off.Chanting? I asked.Or singing or clicking or whatever, Albert said. We were walking along, sprightliness for these things when all these noises started attack out of the trees. Like they were move to draw us that they had snuck up on us without us even turn ining.This worried me. Hickory? I asked.There is nothing significant in the trees, it said. I relaxed a little.They surrounded us, Albert said. And then Magdy took a lance at them. And then thing s authentically got loud. Michel and I got out of there. We just ran. We didnt see where Magdy and Enzo went.How long ago was this? I asked.I dont know, Albert said. ten minutes, fifteen. Something like that.Show us where you came from, I said. Albert pointed. I nodded. Get up, I said. Dickory will take you and Michel ski binding to the tree line. You can get moxie from there.Im not going anywhere with that thing, Michel said, his depression contri neverthelession to the evening.Okay, then you have two choices, I said. Stay here and hope we come back for you before these things do, or hope that you make it to the tree line before they catch up with you. Or you can let Dickory help you and by chance survive. Your choice. I said it a little more forcefully than I had to, but I was annoyed that this idiot didnt want help staying alive.Okay, he said.Good, I said. I picked up their rifles and pass them to Dickory, and took his. Take them to the tree line near Magdys homestead. Dont ordinate them back their rifles until you get there. Come back and find us as soon as you can. Dickory nodded, intimidated Albert and Michel into movement, and headed off.I never liked them, Gretchen said as they left.I can see why, I said, and gave Dickorys rifle to Hickory. Come on. Lets keep open going.We heard them before we saw them. Actually, Hickory, whose hearing goes above human range, heard them trilling and chirping and chanting. They are singing, Hickory said quietly, and led Gretchen and me to them. Dickory arrived, silently, just before we found them. Hickory reach over its rifle.In the small clearing were six figures.Enzo and Magdy were the first I recognized. They knelt on the ground, heads down, hold for whatever was going to regain to them. The light was not good enough for me to see any expression on either of their faces, but I didnt have to see their faces to know that they were scared. whatever had happened to the two of them had gone badly, and now th ey were just waiting for it to end. However it would end.I took in Enzos kneeling form and esteemed in a rush why I love him. He was there because he was punctuateing to be a good friend for Magdy. Trying to keep him out of trouble, or at the very least to share his trouble if he could. He was a aright human being, which is rare enough but is something of a miracle in a teenage boy. I came out here for him because I still love him. It had been weeks since wed said anything more than a simple hello at prepare when you break up in a small community you have to make some space but it didnt matter. I was still committed to him. Some part of him stayed in my heart, and I imagined would for as long as I lived.Yes, it was a authentically inconvenient place and time to suck all of this, but these things happen when they happen. And it didnt make any noise, so it was all right.I looked over at Magdy, and this is the thought I had When all of this is through, I am seriously going to kick his ass.The four other figuresWerewolves.It was the only way to describe them. They looked feral, and strong, and carnivorous and nightmarish, and with all of that was movement and sound that do it clear that there were brains in there to go along with everything else. They overlap the four eyes of all the Roanoke animals we had seen so far, but other than that they could have been lifted right out of folklore. These were werewolves.Three of the werewolves were busy taunting and trailer Magdy and Enzo, clearly toying with them and threatening them. One of them held a rifle that it had interpreted off of Magdy, and was jabbing him with it. I wondered if was still loaded, and what would happen to Magdy or the loup-garou if it went off. Another held a spear and occasionally poked Enzo with it. The tether of them were chirping and clicking at each other I dont doubt they were discussing what to do with Magdy and Enzo, and how to do it.The fourth wolfman stood apart from the other three and acted differently. When one of the other werewolves went to poke Enzo or Magdy, it would step in and try to keep them from doing it, standing between the human being and the rest of the werewolves. Occasionally it would step in and try to talk to one of the other werewolves, gesturing back to Enzo and Magdy for emphasis. It was trying to persuade the other werewolves of something. To let the military personnel go? Maybe. Whatever it was, the other werewolves werent having any of it. The fourth lycanthrope kept at it anyway.It suddenly reminded me of Enzo, the first time I saw him, trying to keep Magdy from getting into an idiotic fight for no reason at all. It didnt work that time Gretchen and I had to step in and do something. It wasnt working(a) now, either.I glanced over and saw that Hickory and Dickory had both taken up positions where they could get clean shots at the werewolves. Gretchen had moved off from me and was setting up her own shot.Between the fou r of us we could take all of the werewolves before they even knew what had happened to them. It would be quick and clean and easy, and wed get Enzo and Magdy out of there and back home before anyone knew anything had happened.It was the smart thing to do. I quietly moved and readied my weapon, and took a minute or two to stop quivering and steady up.I knew wed take them in sequence, Hickory on the far left taking the first of the three group werewolves, Dickory taking the second, Gretchen the third, and I the last one, standing away from the rest. I knew the rest of them were waiting for me to make the shot.One of the werewolves moved to poke Enzo again. My loup-garou hurried, too late, to stop the assault.And I knew. I didnt want to. I just didnt. Didnt want to kill it. Because it was trying to save my friends, not kill them. It didnt deserve to die just because that was the easiest way to get back Enzo and Magdy.But I didnt know what else to do.The three werewolves started c mee ttering again, first in what seemed like a random way, but then together, and to a beat. The one with a spear began thumping it into the ground in time, and the three of them started working off the beat, playing against each others translators for what was clearly a victory chant of some sort or other. The fourth loup-garou started gesturing more frantically. I had a terrible fear of what was going to happen at the end of the chant.They kept singing, getting closer to the end of that chant.So I did what I had to do.I interpret back.I opened my mouth and the first line of Delhi Morning came out of it. Not well, and not on key. Actually, it was really bad all those months of practicing it and playing it at hootenannies were not paying off. It didnt matter. It was doing what I needed it to do. The werewolves immediately send away silent. I kept singing.I glanced over to Gretchen, who was not so far away that I couldnt read the ar you completely insane? look that she had on her face. I gave her a look that said, Help me out please. Her face tightened up into something unreadable and she sighted down her rifle to keep one of the werewolves squarely in target and started to sing the counterpoint of the song, dipping above and below my part, like we had practiced so legion(predicate) times. With her help I found the right key to sing and homed in.And now the werewolves knew there was more than one of us.To the left of Gretchen, Dickory chimed in, mimicking the sitar of the song as he did so well. It was suspect to watch, but when you closed your eyes it was hard to tell the difference between it and the real thing. I drank in the twang of his voice and kept singing. And to the left of Dickory, Hickory finally came in, development its long bed to sound off like a drum, finding the beat and keeping it from then on.And now the werewolves knew there were as many of us as them. And that we could have killed them anytime. But we didnt.My stupid plan was worki ng. Now all I had to do was figure what I had planned to do next. Because I really didnt know what I was doing here. All I knew was that I didnt want to pour my werewolf. The one, in fact, who had now stepped off absolutely away from the rest of his drove and was walking toward where he thought my voice was coming from.I decided to meet him halfway. I set down my rifle and stepped into the clearing, still singing.The werewolf with the spear began to raise it, and suddenly my mouth was very dry. I think my werewolf noticed something on my face, because it turned and chattered madly at the spear carrier. The spear went down my werewolf didnt know it, but hed just protected his friend a bullet in the head from Gretchen.My werewolf turned back to me and started walking toward me again. I kept singing until the song was through. By that time, my werewolf was standing right next to me.Our song was finished. I stood there, waiting to see what my werewolf would do next.What he did next w as point to my neck, to the slut elephant pendant Jane had given me.I touched it. Elephant, I said. Like your fanties.He stared at it again and then stared at me again. Finally it chirped out something.Hello, I said back. What else was I going to say?We had a couple more minutes of sizing each other up. Then one of the three other werewolves chirped something. He chirped something back, and then lean his head at me, as if to say, It would really help me if you actually did something here.So I pointed to Enzo and Magdy. Those two rifle to me, I said, making what I hoped were appropriate hand signals, so my werewolf would get the idea. I want to take them back with me. I motioned back in the direction of the colony. Then well leave you alone.The werewolf watched all my hand signals Im not sure how many of them he actually got. But when I was done, he pointed to Enzo and Magdy, then to me, and then in the direction of the colony, as if to say, Let me make sure Ive got this right.I n odded, said yes, and then repeated all the hand signals again. We were actually having a conversation.Or maybe we werent, because what followed was an explosion of chittering from my werewolf, along with some wild gesticulating. I tried to follow it but I had no idea what was going on. I looked at him helplessly, trying to get what he was saying.Finally he figured out I had no clue what he was doing. So he pointed at Magdy, and then pointed at the rifle one of the other werewolves was holding. And then he pointed at his side, and then motioned at me as if to take a closer look. Against my better judgment, I did, and noticed something I missed before My werewolf was injured. An ugly cut into was carved into his side, surrounded by raw welts on either side.That idiot Magdy had shot my werewolf.Barely, sure. Magdy was lucky that his aim continued to be bad, otherwise hed in all likelihood already be dead. But even grazing it was bad enough.I backed up from the werewolf and let him kn ow Id seen enough. He pointed at Enzo, pointed at me, and pointed back to the colony. Then he pointed at Magdy and pointed at his werewolf friends. This was clear enough He was saying Enzo was free to go with me, but his friends precious to keep Magdy. I didnt doubt that would end badly for Magdy.I shook my head and made it clear I needed the both of them. My werewolf made it equally clear they wanted Magdy. Our negotiations had just hit a really big snag.I looked my werewolf up and down. He was stocky, barely taller than me, and covered only in a sort of misfortunate skirt cinched up with a belt. A simple stone glossa hung from the belt. Id seen pictures of knives like it from history books detailing the Cro-Magnon days back on Earth. The funny thing about the Cro-Magnons was that despite the fact that they were barely above battering rocks together, their brains were actually larger than our brains are now. They were cavemen, but they werent stupid. They had the ability to think about serious stuff.I sure hope you have a Cro-Magnon brain, I said to my werewolf. Otherwise Im about to get in trouble.He tilted his head again, trying to figure out what I was trying to say to him.I motioned again, trying to make it clear I wanted to talk to Magdy. My werewolf didnt seem happy about this, and chattered something to his friends. They chattered back, and got pretty agitated. But in the end, my werewolf reached out to me. I let him take my wrist and he dragged me over to Magdy. His three friends fanned themselves out behind me, ready if I should try anything stupid. I knew extraneous the clearing Hickory and Dickory, at least, would be despicable to get better sight lines. There were still lashings of ways this could go very very wrong. Magdy was still kneeling, not looking at me or anything else but a spot on the ground.Magdy, I said.Kill these stupid things and get us out of here already, he said, quietly and fast, still not looking at me. I know you know how. I know you have enough people out there to do it.Magdy, I said again. Listen to me carefully and dont damp me. These things want to kill you. Theyre willing to let Enzo go, but they want to keep you because you shot one of them. Do you understand what Im saying to you?Just kill them, Magdy said.No, I said. You went after these guys, Magdy. You were hunting them. You shot at them. Im going to try to keep you from getting killed. But Im not going to kill them because you put yourself in their way. Not unless I have to. Do you understand me?Theyre going to kill us, Magdy said. You and me and Enzo.I dont think so, I said. But if you dont chuck out up and actually listen to what Im trying to say to you, youre going to make that more likely.Just shoot Magdy began.For Gods sake, Magdy, Enzo said suddenly, from Magdys side. One person on the entire planet is risking her own neck for you and all you can do is postulate with her. You really are an ungrateful piece of crap. Now would you please shut up and listen to her. Id like to get out of this alive.I dont know who was more rampd by that outburst, me or Magdy.Fine, Magdy said, after a minute.These things want to kill you because you shot one of them, I said. Im going to try to convince them to let you go. But youre going to have to trust me and follow my lead and not argue and not fight back. For the last time Do you understand me?Yes, Magdy said.Okay, I said. They think Im your leader. So I need to give them the idea Im angry with you for what you did. Im going to have to punish you in motility of them. And just so you know, this is going to hurt. A lot.Just Magdy began.Magdy, I said.Yeah, all right, whatever, Magdy said. Lets just do this.Okay, I said. Sorry about this. Then I kicked him in the ribs. Hard.He collapsed with a whoosh and fell flat to the ground. Whatever he was expecting, he wasnt expecting that.After he had gasped on the ground for a minute I grabbed him by the hair. He clutched at my hand and tried to get away.Dont fight me, I said, and gave him a quick punch in the ribs to make the point. He got it and stopped. I pulled his head back and yelled at him for shooting the werewolf, pointing at his rifle and then the wounded werewolf and back and forth several times to make the point. The werewolves seemed to make the connection and chittered among themselves about it.Apologize, I told Magdy, still holding his head.Magdy reached out to the wounded werewolf. Im sorry, he said. If I had known that shooting would mean Zoe got to beat the crap out of me, I would never have done it.Thanks, I said, and then let go of his hair and smacked him hard across the face. Magdy went down again. I looked over to the werewolf to see if this was sufficient. He didnt look like he was quite there yet.I loomed over Magdy. How are you doing? I asked.I think Im going to throw up, he said.Good, I said. I think that would work. Need any help?I got it, he said, and retched all over the ground. T his got impressed chirps from the werewolves.Okay, I said. Last part, Magdy. You really have to trust me on this one.Please stop hurting me now, Magdy said.Almost done, I said. Stand up, please.I dont think I can, he said.Sure you can, I said, and wrenched his arm to give him motivation. Magdy inhaled and stood up. I marched him over to my werewolf, who eyed the both of us, curiously. I pointed at Magdy, and then to the werewolfs wound. Then I pointed to the werewolf, and made a slashing motion on Magdys side, and then pointed at the werewolfs knife.The werewolf gave me yet another head tilt, as if to say, I want to be sure we understand each other, here.Fairs fair, I said.Youre going to let him stab me? Magdy said, his voice rising dramatically at the end of that sentence.You shot him, I said.He could kill me, Magdy said.You could have killed him, I said.I hate you, Magdy said. I really really really hate you now.Shut up, I said, and then nodded to the werewolf. Trust me, I said to Magdy.The werewolf drew his knife, and then looked back at his companions, who were all chattering loudly and beginning to chant what they were chanting earlier. I was all right with that. The difference now was that it was my werewolf who would do whatever violence would be done.My werewolf stood there for a minute, soaking in the chant of his fellow werewolves. Then without warning he sliced at Magdy so quickly that I only got him moving back, not forward. Magdy hissed in pain. I let him go and he fell to the ground, clutching his side. I moved in front of him and grabbed his hands. Let me see, I said. Magdy moved his hands and winced preemptively, expecting a gush of blood.There was only the thinnest red line on his side. The werewolf had cut Magdy just enough to let him know he could have cut him a lot worse.I knew it, I said.You knew what? Magdy said.That I was dealing with a Cro-Magnon, I said.I really dont understand you, Magdy said.Stay down, I said. Dont get up until I tel l you.Im not moving, he said. Really.I stood up and faced the werewolf, who had put his knife back on his belt. He pointed to Magdy, and then pointed to me, and then pointed back toward the colony.Thank you, I said, and gave the werewolf a little nod of my head, which I hoped would convey the idea. When I looked up again, I saw him staring at my jade elephant again. I wondered if hed ever seen jewelry before, or if it was simply because an elephant looks like a fantie. These werewolves followed the fantie herds they would be a main source of food for them. They were their lives.I took off my necklace and handed it to my werewolf. He took it and gently touched the pendant, making it twirl and glitter in the dim light of the night. He cooed at it appreciatively. Then he handed it back to me.No, I said. I held up a hand, and then pointed to the pendant, and to him. Its for you. Im giving it to you. The werewolf stood there for a moment, and then uttered a trill, which caused his friend s to bunch around him. He held up the pendant for them to admire.Here, I said, after a minute, and motioned to him to hand me the necklace. He did, and I very slowly, so I wouldnt surprise him put it around his neck and fastened it. The pendant touched his chest. He touched it again.There, I said. That was given to me by someone very important, so I would remember the people who loved me. Im giving it to you, so youll remember that Im thanking you for giving me back people I love. Thank you.The werewolf gave me another of his head tilts.I know you dont have any idea what Im saying, I said. Thank you anyway.The werewolf reached to his side, pulled his knife. Then he laid it flat on his hand and offered it to me.I took it. Wow, I said, and admired it. I was careful not to touch the actual blade Id already seen how sharp it was. I tried to return it but he held up his hand or kid or whatever you want to call it, in a reverberate of what I did for him. He was giving it to me.Thank you, I said again. He chirped, and with that he returned to his friends. The one holding Magdys rifle dropped it, and then without looking back they walked to the nearest trees, scaled them at an unbelievable speed and were gone close instantly.Holy crap, I said, after a minute. I cant believe that actually worked.You cant believe it, Gretchen said. She came out of hiding and stalked right up to me. What the hell is wrong with you? We come out all this way and you sing at them. Sing. Like youre at a hootenanny. We are not doing this again. Ever.Thank you for quest my lead, I said. And for trusting me. I love you.I love you too, Gretchen said. It still doesnt mean this is ever going to happen again.Fair enough, I said.It was just about worth it to see you beat the crap out of Magdy, though, Gretchen said.God, I feel horrible about that, I said.Really? Gretchen said. It wasnt just a little bit of fun?Oh, all right, I said. Maybe a little.Im right here, Magdy said, from the ground.A nd you need to thank Zoe you are, Gretchen said, and bent down to kiss him. You stupid, exasperating person. I am so happy you are still alive. And if you ever do anything like this again, I will kill you myself. And you know I can.I know, he said, and pointed to me. And if you cant, she will. I get it.Good, Gretchen said. She stood up and then held out her hand to Magdy. Now get up. Weve got a long way to go to get home, and I think we just blew all our dumb luck for the year.What are you going to tell your parents? Enzo asked me, as we walked home.Tonight? Not a thing, I said. Both of them have enough to worry about tonight. They dont need me coming in and saying that while they were out I faced down four werewolves who were about to kill two more colonists, and defeated them using only the power of song. I think I might wait a day or two to drop that one. Thats a hint, by the way.Hint taken, Enzo said. Although you are going to tell them something.Yes, I said. We have to. If thes e werewolves are following the fantie herds then were going to have problems like this every year, and every time they come back. I think we need to let people know theyre not actually murdering savages, but were all still better off if we just leave them alone.How did you know? Enzo asked me, a minute later. sleep together what? I said.That those werewolf thingies werent just murdering savages, Enzo said. You held Magdy and let that werewolf take a shot at him. You thought he wouldnt stab Magdy to death. I heard you, you know. After it did it, you said I knew it. So how did you know?I didnt, I said. But I hoped. He had just spent God knows how long keeping his friends from killing the two of you. I dont think he was just doing it because he was a nice guy.Nice werewolf, Enzo said.Nice whatever he is, I said. Thing is, the werewolves have killed some of us. I know flush toilet and Jane killed some of them trying to get our people back. Both of us the colonists and the werewolves showed we were short able to kill each other. I think we needed to show that we were capable of not killing each other, too. We let them know that when we sang at them instead of shooting them. I think my werewolf got that. So when I offered him a chance to get back at Magdy, I guessed he wouldnt really hurt him. Because I think he wanted us to know he was smart enough to know what would happen if he did.You still took a big risk, Enzo said.Yeah, I did, I said. But the only other alternative was to kill him and his friends, or have them kill all of us. Or all of us kill each other. I guess I hoped I could do something better. Besides, I didnt think it was too big a risk. What he was doing when he was keeping the others away from you two reminded me of someone I knew.Who? Enzo asked.You, I said.Yes, well, Enzo said. I think tonight label the official last time I tag along with Magdy to keep him out of trouble. After this hes on his own.I have nothing bad to say about this idea, I s aid.I didnt think you would, Enzo said. I know Magdy gets on your last nerve sometimes.He does, I said. He really, really does. But what can I do? Hes my friend.He belongs to you, Enzo said. And so do I.I looked over at him. You heard that part, too, I said.Trust me, Zoe, Enzo said. Once you showed up, I never stopped listening to you. Ill be able to inveigh everything you said for the rest of my life. Which I now have, thanks to you.And Gretchen and Hickory and Dickory, I said.And I will thank them all, too, Enzo said. But right now I want to focus on you. Thank you, Zoe Boutin-Perry. Thank you for saving my life.Youre welcome, I said. And stop it. Youre making me blush.I dont believe it, Enzo said. And now its too blackened to see.Feel my cheeks, I said.He did. You dont feel especially blushy, he said.Youre not doing it right, I said.Im out of practice, he said.Well, fix that, I said.All right, Enzo said, and kissed me.That was suppositious to make you blush, not cry, he said, after we stopped.Sorry, I said, and tried to get myself back together. Ive just really missed it. That. Us.Its my fault, Enzo started.I put a hand up to his lips. I dont care about any of that, I said. I really dont, Enzo. None of that matters to me. I just dont want to miss you anymore.Zoe, Enzo said. He took my hands. You saved me. You have me. You own me. I belong to you. You said it yourself.I did, I admitted.So thats settled, Enzo said.Okay, I said, and smiled.We kissed some more, in the night, outside Enzos front gate.