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Johnnie-O left, but not before matching Isaiah's glare. With Johnnie-O gone, it was no longer three against one, but the tension didn't drop in the slightest.
Isaiah looked at Zin, then back to Nick again. Nick could tell he was afraid, but he hid his fear behind anger. "You take that thing and you get it out of Atlanta. Now."
"Who's he calling a thing?" growled Zin.
Nick firmly clasped Zin's shoulder with his chocolate-free hand. "Remember your orders," he said under his breath. Zin bit her lip--literally--as if the only way for her to shut her mouth was to clamp her bottom lip between her teeth.
It was then that Nick realized that Zin was a double whammy. Not only had he brought "Zach the Ripper," but he had brought a Confederate soldier into a city run by a kid who may very well have suffered the life of a slave when he was alive.
"Her name is Zinnia," Nick told him, "and she means you no harm."
"You mean to tell me that thing is a girl?"
Zinnia bristled, but kept her mouth shut. "She's a ripper and she's here to help all of us."
"I don't care what she can do--I don't need help from someone wearin' the gray."
Then Zinnia took a few steps forward. Nick tried to stop her, but she shrugged him off. So much for obeying orders.
"I don't recollect all that much 'bout my life," she said, "but I do know I didn't join the war to protect slavery. I did it to protect my family--and I'd take off this here uniform if I could, but I can't any more than you can take off those torn pants and rope belt. We's all stuck with what we wore, but not with what we were."
Isaiah still looked angry, but he didn't respond. He just waited to see if there was any more to her defense. To Nick's surprise, there was.
"The way I sees it," said Zin, "there ought not to be problems with skin color in Everlost, cuz Afterlights ain't got no skin, technically speakin', right?"
Isaiah nodded. "I'll do you one better than that," he said. "Hold out your arm."
Zinnia held her arm out, and Isaiah held out his right beside hers. "See that?" he said. "Our glow is exactly the same."
"Yeah, how 'bout that!"
"You remember that," said Isaiah, "and maybe I won't have to run you out of town."
"Fair enough," said Zin.
Now that their peace had been made, Isaiah turned to Nick. "So are you just passing through again, or is there something you want from us?"
And that's when the real work began.
Chapter 21 Let 'Er Rip
Winning over the Atlanta Afterlights was a delicate matter, as painstaking, as ... well ... the making of chocolate. Too hot and it would burn, too cool, and it would lump. With Isaiah's reluctant permission, Nick introduced Zin to all the Atlanta Afterlights. There were almost four hundred of them. Once more they filled the streets of the Atlanta underground-- this time without weapons.
As they gathered, Nick stood patiently with an impatient Zin. Johnnie-O and Charlie provided security, keeping space between them and the curious crowd.
"If things get out of hand, do I got permission to knock some heads?" Johnnie-O asked.
"Absolutely not," Nick told him.
"You're no fun," he grumbled.
When all of Atlanta was there, Isaiah came up to Nick. "Do I introduce you as Nick, Nicholas, or the Chocolate Ogre?"
Nick's instinct was to simply go by Nick, plain and simple--but if Mary was the Sky Witch, how could he hope to be taken seriously if he was just "Nick"?
"Go with the Ogre," he told Isaiah. Mary had invented the name as a smear tactic. Well, it was time he used it to his advantage.
Isaiah raised his hand to get everyone's attention, and in a few moments the murmuring crowd quieted down. "Hey y'all, everybody," he said, in an informal, yet commanding voice. "This here is the Chocolate Ogre, as I'm sure you already know. I've checked him out, and he's okay. He wants to talk to you, so listen up--and don't make him mad, or he'll turn you into chocolate chips or something."
