Revolution World by Katy Stauber Page A

thought the better of it and jumped to cover Clio with his body.
    "No, it's alright," she said, pushing him back. "Look, it's alright." She giggled and pointed to a cleared area away from the main group. It was filled with people facing away from the party.
    Seth watched as a line composed of everything from teens to graying ladies took aim with a variety of weapons and suddenly fired off a volley into the trees. As they walked up, he could see two holographic birds suddenly dart out and fly around in front of the line of gunners. They took aim again and fired. One of the birds flickered out of existence.
    "Bubba wins!" called out the woman operating the holograms. The crowd cheered for an older man who accepted the praise with a nod.
    "Sweet! So I guess they are using bullets with RFID tags in them to tell who hits the targets?" he asked Clio.
    "You got it. We have a guy who makes plastic bullets with the tags in them. He can make all sorts of bullets."
    Seth laughed appreciatively. "I guess you couldn't use laser guns?"
    She shook her head. "Nope. They aren't popular around here anyway. They gobble too much energy and most gun enthusiasts here take pride in the old-style shooters."
    "Do they do this regularly? Because I really want to play." Seth rubbed his hands together gleefully.
    "Oh sure. The Lions Club holds practice every other Tuesday. Nancy is the woman running it. Here, I'll give you her contact information." Clio tapped away on her handheld and it was done. Seth smiled at her with satisfaction. Every day he spent here, he was more convinced he'd made a wise choice in moving.
    Seth watched a group of children lead around a small pony with a headless straw man tied to its back. Clio explained that one of Bigfoot Wallace's escapades had been to tie the headless body of a horse thief to a wild mustang and turn it loose.
    "He thought it might get the word out that horse stealing was frowned upon," she said. "That horse ran around with a headless corpse on its back for a couple of years before someone caught it. Scared the bejeezus out of everyone for miles."
    "Charming," he said, looking at the straw man.
    Clio shrugged apologetically. "Not many of his stories are child friendly so we altered a few. In the kid version, he puts a headless straw man on a horse to scare everyone."
    The smile on his face disappeared and he stood up abruptly. Before she could ask what was the matter, he strode off without a word. Her mouth hung slightly open as she followed his path. Then she looked beyond him and understood his alarm.
    *****
    In the distance, she could see a group of men surrounding Max and Gloria. They were too far away to hear, but their gestures and posture were obviously hostile. She darted after Seth. Her pulse raced as Max backed away from the men with his hands up in an entreating gesture. He was clearly trying to diffuse whatever the situation was, even as they pushed him roughly. Max backed up and the group disappeared from view into the brush.
    Seth plunged into the woods. As Clio hurried after him, she caught the eyes of Kalliope and Harmony and gestured to indicate that trouble was brewing. They quickly followed her.
    Harmony made her way through the crowd, but her path attracted notice. She heard some of the workers from the next town over grumbling that these foreigners were asking for trouble and deserved what they got.
    Clio knew she was just behind Seth, yet it seemed like hours before she caught up to him in the woods and stopped in amazement at what she saw.
    There were five large, red-faced men wheezing on the ground in various poses of pain. Gloria was gently dabbing blood off Seth's lip while unleashing a tidal wave of curses. Max was leaning against a tree, breathing hard and probing his jaw tenderly.
    "What happened?" Clio cried. Max gestured to the men but didn't elaborate. Clio had trouble believing that Seth and his uncle could have taken out five corn-fed rednecks even if they had some weapons.