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I took un shells and stepped out of the water, following the path through the trees that would lead o or stay as far as I was concerned I was on a ht to me by Kowi’s mate, I made my way soundlessly towards the murderers All the lessons Coli had tried to teachto stop until I’d taken them all out

I am Nokosi, and you are done today, canners Done

The idiots had a fire going in theat all that it would likely burn the place down eventually They were too busy eating and drinking so but thee cypress tree Bodo came up behind me a few seconds later

"What is da plan?" he whispered inus, they were being so loud

"I’le one of theot busy untying the knot that held them all in my t-shirt Once they were free, I hurriedly putsure to stay ducked down so they wouldn’t see my arms come up over the branch and the part of the trunk that kept us hidden I shoved the shells ina few et deested

I nodded I wasn’t sure I’d wait for hiet to his final spot before I started, but whatever As long as we took them down, it didn’tanother word and without a kiss goodbye I didn’t know if I was relieved or sad about that or if I would even accept a kiss from him if he offered it There were too ht now

I waited a ure out how h and strangely shaped tree roots, I counted ten in the hut; but that didn’t mean there weren’t more close by The assholes were drunk, and I already knew fro incident that they tended to wander when they were that way

A crunching of leaves off to ht I turnedout ofjust to my left If he turned to look atat hed un, twist, and shoot hiht then, right now before Bodo got in position Or I could wait it out for the few seconds it would take him to pass by Maybe he wouldn’t look I needed more time to plan this attack I wasn’t ready yet Please God, let hio and not seeNo sooner had I decided to wait hi for a couple seconds, frowned, and then opened up hisover there?"

A shot rang out and his body jerked hard as it was flung back into the leaves Two seconds after callingacross his chest froun

Bodo!

Bodo had very possibly just saved un up and stepped onto a root, elevating myself so I could shoot between so and a canner standing near the fire went down, landing right in it He screamed bloody murder as sparks flew up everywhere, but his efforts didn’t last long He stoppedbefore he was fully free of the fla hu nearby dove out of the way, yelling and scra body started to fill the space, choking the his for into the trees and s into pieces as they hit branches or trunks Apparently the drunker canners thought launching empty beers would save their lives It was utter chaos

I wasted no tiuy, I pulled the trigger The kickback was harsh, but not as bad as I’d expected He fell forward, landing on top of the burned guy

I took another shot without stopping to consider what I was doing, bringing another kid down I forced nore the awful realization that I’d just taken two human lives into ht It was them or me and my friends It was an easy decision It had to be

Twodown onethe other intended victiun back and split the barrel away, lifting it up and tipping it so the spent shell casings could fall out I grabbed two more shells out ofthe gun back together when I was done

Sighting down the end of the barrel, I took ai behind trees or dead bodies, but I picked two more off without too much trouble and watched with sick satisfaction as they fell down into the trees

"Who’s there?!" caht

I reloaded and putit over to try and find the source of the yelling I kneasn’t Bodo, and I didn’t recognize the voice as one ofin response

"Co way too happy about ere doing He seeht up in the battle It was probably just the adrenaline talking

He was almost directly across froh the trees, near where the Miccosukee used to put the food

"You’re gonna die, asshole," came the canner voice "Show your face so I can blow it off"