Ryken listened intently, his face betraying no emotion as Cameron wrapped up her story and made the request. Silence permeated the room for a few moments before Ryken responded:
"We'll have to convene with the rest of the Council." He snorted, then added:
"What's left of it, anyhow." He looked back at the shopkeepers once more, shaking his head before his eyes locked onto Cameron's, attempting to gauge the sincerity in her eyes. The box obviously gave some weight to her story and so did the attackers, but would she cause more trouble? Justin obviously believed in her, otherwise he wouldn't have brought her here. In any case, he couldn't decide just yet. 
"Maybe the Lord brought you here for something we don't know about yet." He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, commenting:
"You need to get that treated. The medical staff we have should be tending to the wounded at the hospital. Come with me, I'll show you where it is. From there, you rest and meet us at dusk at the same location you broke us out of. We'll hopefully have the place cleaned up enough for a private audience with the Council." He turned around, walking out of the shop, then paused, looking to Cameron as he told her:
"Your eyes are sincere. I hope that reflects what's inside your heart." 

___________

"No, that can't be what happens! We can't just stay put! What if they attack again?" June Mansfried, one of two women on the Council, sat back in the folding chair, arms folded across her chest as she looked around the room at the other participants in the meeting. There were seven chairs set up, two of which were occupied by June and Wynne Carter, both of whom were dedicated protectors of Omega and had served in the militia and medical fields of the colony, respectively. 
"You of all people should know what's out there, June. Nothing but raiders, crumbling ruins and a basic lack of resources. We were blessed to get what we did, you know that. Where are we going to find something like this?" In another chair sat Ryken, next to him were Justin and Cameron. They had found the fourth and final Council member, Lao Johnson, with two bullets in his stomach and a knife jutting out of his chest. 
"Before we start talking about relocating..." Wynne sat forward, her green eyes sweeping the room before looking at Cameron.
"We need to find out what they came for."
"We already explained this." Ryken then added:
"But that is a reasonable request, seeing as we need to know what's inside." The meeting at dusk had started with yet another request for Cameron to tell her story along with an account from Justin. Once completed, they had been debated for the past twenty minutes how to handle the remnants of their once proud settlement. 
"Cameron, please remove your box and place it in the center of the room." Ryken requested. They had asked her to show it to them once before, but Ryken wanted it in the open for a longer period of time. 
"The lock that was on the side...I think I've seen that before on a couple of other lockboxes." June commented, hand on chin before her eyes widened.
"Yeah, yeah, that's it! When we went down to Philadelphia to investigate those flashes over the radio." Wynne looked to June and responded:
"Right, I do remember that you all came back with lockboxes in a similar design. Those boxes were government issue, had pieces of purification equipment and medicinal formulas that really helped us. It was a shame that the research facility that SOS'ed us was wrecked beyond repair. If only..." Wynne then looked to Cameron.
"Please, give us the box. If it has what we think it does, then..." She trailed off as Justin turned to Cameron, whispering:
"Did you know about this?"