Human Bait

Chapter 41: Letting Past Be Past

Mediation went well.

For thirty seconds.

"We all came to the Refuge for the same reason," said Ivogg, perched on the edge of his chair to my left. "To strive for peace and equality throughout the North and the South."

Evil-grandma snorted and flipped a white curl out of burning green eyes. "So you argue for equality after taking everything from us? The South is gone, fucker."

Oh, did I say thirty seconds?

I meant five.

"But the Implant affected the North almost as much as it affected us, Mazamu," said Zhina. "And we must work together to rebuild."

Ivogg splayed his hands wide enough he grazed my — still flour-dusted — knee. "Exactly. How about we let past be past?"

Bezan snorted. "How about the Northerners fix the problem they created?"

Mekkar's frown scrunched his heavy brow. "We've been killing each other since long before the Implant Era began."

"A war started by Northerners," said Bezan.

"Ha!" Figgel blasted Bezan with a glare. "My father was alive already when the war started, and he said Southies started it."

Evil-grandma — Mazamu — folded wrinkled arms over her chest, propping sagging breasts. "Southies started it? My grandmother fought in the first war, and she told me the North attacked us."

I darted a glance at Rekkan on my right, gauging his reaction. No one here had been as involved in the war as he had.

A Southie blew off my leg, but I probably filled half a graveyard with your people.

Rekkan linked his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. Even though we sat mere feet from each other, he felt like some orbiting moon — visible, but inaccessible.

I turned my attention to the rest of the group. "Southies are taught that Northerners started the war, and I'm sure Northerners are taught the opposite. Whoever started the war is long dead. What matters now is how we move forward."

Bezan stifled a laugh with his fist. "At least, that's what matters to a Southie who has acquired a taste for Northerner."

Rekkan shifted forward, resting his elbows on his knees. His hands closed into half-fists, and his head cocked slightly. His expression still appeared disinterested, but I recognized his stance.

He was ready to defend me.

The reaction was more dog than human, but... I kind of liked it. He could feign ambivalence in our conversations, but he could not ignore any hint of a threat against me.

Ivogg's mouth flopped open, and he flipped up both hands. "Hold on, now. This is not something to scorn. This is a shining example of what our world could become!"

The henchman in the yellow cap nudged the blue-capped henchwoman at his side. "I would rather fuck a man than a Southie woman. Don't you agree, Megg?"

The blue-capped henchwoman tilted her head. "Hard call, Bokk. But yeah, probably."

Ivogg cut in with a too-loud chuckle. "Come, now. I thought we were past this. Only a few hundred Southies remain, and most Northerners are also gone. Do you really still see such a difference between us?"

Bokk and Megg both snorted laughs into their elbows, and Bokk said, "Would you fuck an animal, Doc?"

Rekkan leaned further forward, and his muscles locked, like clamping a tight lid over a boiling pot. Oh, shit, this was too far. This reaction I did not like. I licked my lips, scrambling for a response.